10 Questions with WJR Parks
1. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
I couldn't put one single author as my influence. Multiple writers have influenced me. Perhaps Edger Poe would be the one that started me in writing. Poetry captured me when I was younger and I wrote hundreds of poems. Mostly, I kept to dark poetry so I didn't win very many competitions or get published since there isn't a demand for it. Most people like to read light or inspirational poems.
Other writers such as Shakespeare, Ann Rice, Steven King, Dean Koontz, Lee Child molded my style of writing and taught me about scenes and action. I will say, my biggest influence for action scenes is R.A. Salvatore and his Drizzt books.
2. Tell me more about your Raven’s World series?
Well, Raven will start with the first three books focusing on her creation, but I plan to grow her world. I do wish to branch off into the stories of my vampires and half angels.
Eventually werewolves will join along with witches and other hidden groups. I have outlined various characters in her world, but for now I'm just trying to get her books out which is a journey in itself. I'd like to have stand alone novels of her come out every couple years if I can that will lead into the future a few hundred years in her story.
3. What current writing projects are you working on?
The second book in Raven's series. I have many stories stored on my computer along with characters and drawings, but I usually take on one main project at a time and roll with it until it's finished. I do have another big project I eventually hope to make into an epic series. Solare is more of a fantasy based world and will be my main world that I plan to keep working on till I'm dead and gone. It will be filled with gigantic dragons the size of mountains, wizards, warriors, assassins and all the things readers would come to expect from such a world.
4. How has role playing games influenced your fiction?
Well from all the games I played since 14 years of age, I made journals and timelines of the world I created for Dungeons and Dragons. From that I created Solare and outlined my characters from the friends that played in it. I also have about 500 pages worth of gods, characters, events and history of Solare. So with that, when my Raven series is taking a break, I aim to finish my first three books of Solare. Playing role-playing games helped me add color and depth, because well my friends made all the characters unique with their own personalities.
5. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
By far, action scenes are my favorite. I would like to say that I have lots of action in my writing and it keeps me interested as a writer as well. I can't have my stories slow down too much or I lose attention. I try to study authors that create great actions scenes in their writing and take what I can and add to my own stories.
At the same time, I also try my best to bring out the people and subplots. I hope the story grips readers and they become emotionally involved with the characters. So, I have to make sure I don't go overboard with action and also remember to give life to all other elements of story.
6. What made you start writing?
I was trying to draw comic books since 4 years old. I learned that I hated drawing, inking, coloring and creating the stories for my comics. I actually got burnt out on drawing and only once a year do I get the drive to pick up my pencil. Now writing, well that really captures my attention and I can write a story faster than I can do all the drawing and everything else involved with comics.
7. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
I don't think there is, well that I know of yet. I mean Raven is fantasy based, but eventually I do plan to delve into serious issues that our world faces. For me, the first books are just testing the waters and honing my writing. But my hope is to be able to write subject matter that may make people angry or shock them. I'll use my vampires as tools to say something to the world.
8. What is your best quality as a writer?
I'm not really sure, I think perhaps that I try not to keep going back and fixing my story once I start. I just write to the finish, even if there are typos, broken scenes, dialogue issues and what not. Nearly every writer friend I know keeps going back to what they have already written and begin to doubt or change scenes, then they go back again. I like to finish the story, then go back and polish.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
It would have to be R.A. Salvatore, I just trust his way of writing action and his stories keep me interested.
10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
I would have two characters from my worlds for dinner. I would invite Raven from my vampire series and Perserphina from Solare series, Drizzet Do'Urden from Forgotten Realms, The Mother of Dragons from Game of Thrones. My last one would be a close tie between Lestat De Lioncourt or Niklaus from The Originals.
I couldn't put one single author as my influence. Multiple writers have influenced me. Perhaps Edger Poe would be the one that started me in writing. Poetry captured me when I was younger and I wrote hundreds of poems. Mostly, I kept to dark poetry so I didn't win very many competitions or get published since there isn't a demand for it. Most people like to read light or inspirational poems.
Other writers such as Shakespeare, Ann Rice, Steven King, Dean Koontz, Lee Child molded my style of writing and taught me about scenes and action. I will say, my biggest influence for action scenes is R.A. Salvatore and his Drizzt books.
2. Tell me more about your Raven’s World series?
Well, Raven will start with the first three books focusing on her creation, but I plan to grow her world. I do wish to branch off into the stories of my vampires and half angels.
Eventually werewolves will join along with witches and other hidden groups. I have outlined various characters in her world, but for now I'm just trying to get her books out which is a journey in itself. I'd like to have stand alone novels of her come out every couple years if I can that will lead into the future a few hundred years in her story.
3. What current writing projects are you working on?
The second book in Raven's series. I have many stories stored on my computer along with characters and drawings, but I usually take on one main project at a time and roll with it until it's finished. I do have another big project I eventually hope to make into an epic series. Solare is more of a fantasy based world and will be my main world that I plan to keep working on till I'm dead and gone. It will be filled with gigantic dragons the size of mountains, wizards, warriors, assassins and all the things readers would come to expect from such a world.
4. How has role playing games influenced your fiction?
Well from all the games I played since 14 years of age, I made journals and timelines of the world I created for Dungeons and Dragons. From that I created Solare and outlined my characters from the friends that played in it. I also have about 500 pages worth of gods, characters, events and history of Solare. So with that, when my Raven series is taking a break, I aim to finish my first three books of Solare. Playing role-playing games helped me add color and depth, because well my friends made all the characters unique with their own personalities.
5. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
By far, action scenes are my favorite. I would like to say that I have lots of action in my writing and it keeps me interested as a writer as well. I can't have my stories slow down too much or I lose attention. I try to study authors that create great actions scenes in their writing and take what I can and add to my own stories.
At the same time, I also try my best to bring out the people and subplots. I hope the story grips readers and they become emotionally involved with the characters. So, I have to make sure I don't go overboard with action and also remember to give life to all other elements of story.
6. What made you start writing?
I was trying to draw comic books since 4 years old. I learned that I hated drawing, inking, coloring and creating the stories for my comics. I actually got burnt out on drawing and only once a year do I get the drive to pick up my pencil. Now writing, well that really captures my attention and I can write a story faster than I can do all the drawing and everything else involved with comics.
7. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
I don't think there is, well that I know of yet. I mean Raven is fantasy based, but eventually I do plan to delve into serious issues that our world faces. For me, the first books are just testing the waters and honing my writing. But my hope is to be able to write subject matter that may make people angry or shock them. I'll use my vampires as tools to say something to the world.
8. What is your best quality as a writer?
I'm not really sure, I think perhaps that I try not to keep going back and fixing my story once I start. I just write to the finish, even if there are typos, broken scenes, dialogue issues and what not. Nearly every writer friend I know keeps going back to what they have already written and begin to doubt or change scenes, then they go back again. I like to finish the story, then go back and polish.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
It would have to be R.A. Salvatore, I just trust his way of writing action and his stories keep me interested.
10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
I would have two characters from my worlds for dinner. I would invite Raven from my vampire series and Perserphina from Solare series, Drizzet Do'Urden from Forgotten Realms, The Mother of Dragons from Game of Thrones. My last one would be a close tie between Lestat De Lioncourt or Niklaus from The Originals.
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