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Collin Piprell

Goodreads Author

Born

Canada

Website

http://www.collinpiprell.com/

Twitter

collinpiprell

Genre

Science Fiction, Thriller, Humor and Comedy

Member Since

July 2010

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Collin Piprell is a Canadian writer and editor living in Thailand. He has also lived in England, where he did graduate work as a Canada Council Doctoral Fellow (later, a Social Sciences and Humanities Fellow) in politics and philosophy at Pembroke College, Oxford; and in Kuwait, where he learned to sail, waterski, and make a credible red wine in plastic garbage bins.

In earlier years, he worked at a wide variety of occupations, including four jobs as a driller and stope leader in mines and tunnels in Ontario and Quebec. In later years he taught writing courses at Thammasat University, Bangkok, freelanced as a writer and editor, and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics (most of these pieces are pre-digital, hence ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Collin Piprell As a writer I get to engage with activities and ideas that interest me and, sometimes, synthesize these in the course of spinning stories. Whatever I…moreAs a writer I get to engage with activities and ideas that interest me and, sometimes, synthesize these in the course of spinning stories. Whatever I learn, and however I learn it, tends in some often pre-articulate way to shape my overall fiction project—both the books I’m writing and those I’m hoping to write in future.

Another pleasure: as I draft and revise fiction I learn more and more about the craft of writing and the art of making prose as readable as I can.

Being a writer can also enrich the experience of reading. Not that I tend to read fiction very analytically, but I can’t help but appreciate good writing on levels I might not see if I hadn’t faced similar challenges in my own writing.

But the real payoff as a writer, at least for me, comes after I’ve been banging my head against some story for days, frustrated with my wooden prose and dumb ideas. Then one morning I go straight to my computer of clipboard and start churning stuff I must’ve been struggling with all night long, on some unconscious level. It can be magical; I have no idea where some of it comes from. This may be the experience that, all those thousands of years ago, inspired the legend of the Muse.
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How do you get inspired to write?

Collin Piprell Being a fiction writer sensitizes you to finding inspiration almost anywhere. An idea for a character, a bit of color, a snatch of dialogue, an…moreBeing a fiction writer sensitizes you to finding inspiration almost anywhere. An idea for a character, a bit of color, a snatch of dialogue, an interesting metaphor, and arresting idea or fact — any of these things can in itself feel pregnant with story. Often I have no idea where the words are leading me, yet I’m confident on a gut level that, if only I persevere, the story will emerge.

That makes a good argument for jotting such obervations down and keeping them somewhere to hand.
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Collin Piprell’s books

Average rating: 3.48 · 186 ratings · 25 reviews · 12 distinct works

	Kicking Dogs 3.59 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 1991 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bangkok Knights 3.92 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 1989 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yawn: A Thriller 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2000	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Too Many Women it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	MOM (Magic Circles Book 1) 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2009 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Genesis 2.0 really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bangkok Old Hand: A Collection Of Stories liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nixon et autres oiseaux exotiques 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	New Millennium English Dictionary: First Unabridged Edition 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Genesis 2.0 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Collin Piprell is now friends with Derek Williams
Dec 09, 2019 04:31PM · like
Collin Piprell wants to read MOM (Magic Circles Book 1) by Collin Piprell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 03, 2017 01:56AM · 2 likes · like
Collin Piprell rated a book really liked it Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 06, 2017 07:14AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Collin Piprell joined the group Favourite Detective (Fiction)
Jul 19, 2017 07:11AM · like
Collin Piprell answered Goodreads's question: Where did you get the idea for your most recent book? The following is from a Kevin Cummings interview with me on his 'Peoplethingsliterature' blogsite (https://peoplethingsliterature.com/20...) What inspired you to write MOM? When did you first know you had a series on your hands? * Having read about... See Full Answer
Jul 19, 2017 03:22AM · like
Collin Piprell is accepting questions on his profile page.
Jul 18, 2017 12:48AM · Be the first to ask Collin Piprell a question
Collin Piprell made a comment on Anette Pollner’s review of Fatherland " I've long admired Karen's writing, and I've been looking forward to reading Fatherland, the more so after reading this review. The review's concluding ...more "
Jan 31, 2017 04:42PM · see review
Collin Piprell and 4 other people liked Anette Pollner's review of Fatherland: "This is a long, deep, important book. It tells the story of the emerging Nazi regime in Germany in the 1930s. But it tells that all too familiar story from a new and unique perspective, making it very relevant to today. In the early 1930s, people a..." Read more of this review »
Jan 31, 2017 04:38PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fatherland by Karen Schur-Narula. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fatherland by Karen Schur-Narula <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Collin Piprell made a comment on his profile " I've read it twice. I also slam my fingers in car doors for fun. Just joking. If I should live a very long time, I may well read the book a third ...more "
Mar 19, 2013 07:10PM