Ask the Author: Rod Miller
Answered Questions (7)
Rod Miller
Capitalizing on the ambiguity of “fictional couple,” I’ll ignore romance and go with the prickly pair of Augustus McRae and Woodrow Call from Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove.
Gus and Call share very little in terms of philosophy or personality, but their differences are in many ways complementary and add up to a combination that gets things done. The strength of their relationship is most evident after Gus’s death, when Call faces down every challenge to returns Gus’s whittled-up carcass to Texas for burial.
No kisses or hugs or even handshakes for this couple, but it’s a relationship stronger than the romantic kind.
Gus and Call share very little in terms of philosophy or personality, but their differences are in many ways complementary and add up to a combination that gets things done. The strength of their relationship is most evident after Gus’s death, when Call faces down every challenge to returns Gus’s whittled-up carcass to Texas for burial.
No kisses or hugs or even handshakes for this couple, but it’s a relationship stronger than the romantic kind.
Rod Miller
Rawhide Robinson Rides the Tabby Trail features a character in an earlier book (and in a third book currently in the publishing process). I read that in the mining boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona, there was such a plague of rats that people would roll over in their sleep and crush them. That, combined with the familiar idea that doing difficult things is "like herding cats" provided an adventure for Rawhide Robinson, an ordinary cowboy who often finds himself involved in extraordinary events.
Rod Miller
It's hard to say. In a general way it just seems like an enjoyable way to spend time, I suppose. In a specific way, a scene or a line or a character will show up and you want to get it down. Sometimes that results in a poem or a short story or a novel. Even nonfiction and magazine articles can come about that way, inspired by the appearance of an interesting character or incident.
Rod Miller
A new history-related nonfiction book is in the research stage, and I have two novels simmering.
Rod Miller
Learn the mechanics. Many aspiring writers are so caught up in telling their story they forget the basics. Spelling, grammar, syntax, clarity, and the like are important. If your words and phrases and sentences and paragraphs don't make sense neither will your story. Getting the basics right shows respect for readers.
Rod Miller
Getting into the minds and lives of other people--whether real or fictional--and trying to figure out what makes them tick is interesting and enjoyable. I find spending time with characters in a book more fun than the real world.
Rod Miller
I don't know what writer's block is. For nearly forty years I have written advertising copy, a very deadline-driven career. When something has to be written, you write it. The same is true of writers who come up through journalism. The same applies whether I am writing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or magazine articles--when there's writing to be done, you write. Writer's block, to my way of thinking, does not exist.
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