Ask the Author: C. Craig Coleman
Answered Questions (12)
C. Craig Coleman
I wrote and published a book. It got no reviews.
C. Craig Coleman
I guess this is a given, but I'd go to Powteros, the continent where my epic fantasy series is based. I worked on that six-book series for over a dozen years, so it's truly dear to my heart. I know all the nooks and crannies.
C. Craig Coleman
I have 140+ books on my Kindle to read and more hardbacks and paperbacks stacked all about. I read mostly mysteries and epic fantasies since I write in those genres. I try to read and review for other authors as I know how important that is for my books.
C. Craig Coleman
I used to have a very imagination as a child. A teacher/friend told me as a kid I should write down some of my tales. When I lost my career about forty-five years later, I thought it might be a good idea. I had to learn to write from my mistakes, but once I started, there was no going back. The epic fantasy books took on a life of their own. I was along for the ride. It took many years to perfect those books but with each element learned, like 'show don't tell' the inspiration elevated. The better you tell your story, the more exciting it becomes for the author as well as for the reader.
Positive feedback from professional reviewers like Readers' Favorite and Midwestern Book Reviews has added more inspiration. What could be more inspiring than the feeling an author gets when a reader 'gets it!'
Positive feedback from professional reviewers like Readers' Favorite and Midwestern Book Reviews has added more inspiration. What could be more inspiring than the feeling an author gets when a reader 'gets it!'
C. Craig Coleman
I remember growing up hearing that some prominent wife or wives had a history of working as prostitutes. I can see a murder mystery based around one such person wanting to keep that past a secret.
C. Craig Coleman
Scarlett and Rhett in 'Gone with the Wind' I guess. She represents exceptional strength in life going after what she wants and trying to preserve the life she knew. When her world came crashing down, her society toppled under the Yankee strain, she drew on her strength to fight incredible hurdles to survive and refocus in the new order.
Rhett represents another rare strength in the face of their crumbling world. He could see the old order failing and moved forward when those around him clung to the shards of their social order and went down with it.
The sheer power of these two people in adversity is most inspirational. Though they both survive and prosper materially, they are so human and vulnerable emotionally, two ships passing in the night through life, unable to find happiness in love and life.
Rhett represents another rare strength in the face of their crumbling world. He could see the old order failing and moved forward when those around him clung to the shards of their social order and went down with it.
The sheer power of these two people in adversity is most inspirational. Though they both survive and prosper materially, they are so human and vulnerable emotionally, two ships passing in the night through life, unable to find happiness in love and life.
C. Craig Coleman
I thought I might have a trilogy in me. I sat down at the dining room table and drew a map. I placed magical names that had appeared in my head over the years. When I started writing, the opening was the most difficult. As the Chinese proverb goes, 'the hardest part of a thousand mile journey is the first step.' Once started, the story took over collecting characters and situations along the way like a caddis fly larva collects stones in the riverbed and glues them to its casing defining it. Before long, I found myself going along for the ride.
C. Craig Coleman
Career ended when a foreign company bought the company I worked for and threw most of the employees out. When my savings disappeared in the tech crash 2000/2001, and with no job prospects, a seed planted more than forty years before germinated. I'd write a book I'd thought about over the years, but never really thought I'd write. I'd make a million.
Yeah, right, It's been a fourteen year saga, learning to write... backwards. While I'll never make a profit, I discovered along the way, I got my reward through the years writing and perfecting the works. Thanks to the professor friend in my youth that casually said one day, "You should write some of this stuff down." That 'seed' germinated nearly half a century later and has grown into a mighty tree.
Yeah, right, It's been a fourteen year saga, learning to write... backwards. While I'll never make a profit, I discovered along the way, I got my reward through the years writing and perfecting the works. Thanks to the professor friend in my youth that casually said one day, "You should write some of this stuff down." That 'seed' germinated nearly half a century later and has grown into a mighty tree.
C. Craig Coleman
I've just published the first book, The Dragon Ring of my epic fantasy series. Having spent almost a month marketing it, I'm now starting back on another edit of the second book, The Crown of Yensupov, which I hope to publish in about a month.
C. Craig Coleman
If I'd known what was involved, what I've been drawn into, I'd never have started writing. It's not something to do for money, financial rewards are as likely as winning the lottery. You must love writing and do it for your soul. You must be persistent, be willing to take criticism, and accept you must learn the craft of writing no matter how wonderful your story is. If you're willing to invest the time and effort to learn to write well, you will be richly rewarded in the end, even if not financially.
C. Craig Coleman
The freed imagination is wonderful, but unless you write things down, the visions evaporate. When you start writing the ideas down, they morph into characters, personalities, and situations that take on a life of their own. Allowed to flow freely, a story grows like crystals in a saturated solution. Then standing back and see what you gave birth to is miraculous.
C. Craig Coleman
I find a brisk walk, especially in a wooded area, clears the mind, unravels dilemmas, and frequently sends me off on a new mental adventure. When I get home, I'm heading to the keyboard.
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