Ten Questions with… Charles Verhey
The author of Firecracker, Charles Verhey, is visiting for Ten Questions with Mia Monday. Welcome!
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Author Bio: I am a storyteller, in the classic sense of the word. This is best represented in my love of tabletop role playing games, which are nothing more than an excuse for me to invent new characters, new stories, and new adventures every week.
My Creative License states: I believe characters develop better than settings; love and faith are powerful and sometimes dangerous forces; physics and science are just toys for me to play with; anything and everything that can go wrong with a plan WILL go wrong; evil doesn’t always need a motive; and the light will always triumph over the darkness — though it’s never an easy victory.
Author Website: http://openspace2499.blogspot.com
You can find his book at Amazon or Barnes & Noble!
About the Writer
1. What five words describe you?
Tenacious, Kind, Addicting, Childlike, Patient
Note: When I say addicting, I don’t mean people get addicted to me necessarily. I mean I quickly and easily become addicted to things — which is why I have stayed clear of World of Warcraft for all these years. I know if I got involved, I’d not let it go and end up on the news as one of those guys who forgets to eat and dies in front of his computer.
2. What was the first story you ever wrote? I mean the really bad one we all have that you’re trying to hide in the back of closet now that you’re published?
Ha. Wow. Well, I’ve always been pretty big into Anime. The one thing it’s good at is not revealing everything, and often the violence trumps the story, so I’m often left imagining how I could have made it so much better or how I would have done things differently. One in particular that I was a fan of was 3×3 Eyes [by Yuzo Takada], and I thought it was so good yet so lacking at the same time. I remember watching the show and reading the comics and thinking “I know what he’d be thinking right here,” or “I wish they could better describe how he’s feeling”. So I took it upon myself to detail it all out and wrote a 90,000 word novel adaptation for it. It’s not exactly my best work, and it’ll never see the light of day — but I realized something important when I was done. I’d written a novel. A whole novel! How many people could say that? Good or not, it was an accomplishment I was pretty proud of. And if I could do it once, I could do it again.
3. What inspires you?
My friends. I have some pretty awesome friends who also happen to be tabletop role players like me, and during a session of Dungeons and Dragons or whatever game we’re playing they often inspire me with their creativity and ingenuity. Plus it’s great practice for me to come up with stories and plot elements on the spot.
4. What distracts you?
Everything. Seriously, I’m pretty easily distracted. A new television series, a new book, a ball of yarn… I think “scatter brained” is a good phrase for it. The trick for me is not to fighting it. Let the distraction take me, as long as I can come back from it and keep writing. Sometimes my best ideas come during a moment of total distraction.
5. What’s your favorite story? This can be specific, as in a particular book or even story-driven movie, or general, like “I’m a sucker for a hero looking for redemption story.”
I’m not sure I can narrow down my “favorite story” — I have many — but my favorite kind of story would be just about any story where good overcomes evil. I’ve been told that’s not very realistic, but that’s why I’m a fiction writer. And I’m not saying every story has to be bubbles and gumdrops, it should be a struggle where anything and everything that can go wrong for the hero goes wrong. But in the end, good trumps evil. The stories where you walk away smiling and nodding your head thinking “yeah, I’d love to be that guy or that girl”. People daydream of being John McClane and Indiana Jones, and maybe someday they’ll daydream of being one of my characters too.
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About the Writing
1. Tell us about your currently available titles.
Currently I have one book in publication. “Firecracker”. I have a handful of other books I’ve written that I’m editing and considering publishing, but Firecracker was the one I was most proud of. I thought, if I’m going to get published and basically introduce myself to new readers for the first time, then this is how I want to do it. Authors are often judged based on their first works, and I wanted to make a good first impression.
2. What’s your favorite part about writing these stories?
I love setting my characters up with a good plan, then diabolically sabotaging them so that everything goes wrong. It’s in that struggle that I get to see what my characters are made of, what truly motivates them, and I love that sense of discovery and overcoming adversity that often surprises even me.
3. What would your characters say about you? Be honest!
“Hey! Cut us a break once in a while, would ya?! Just once it’d be nice to come away from one of your stories without third-degree burns and broken limbs.”
4. Who would play your favorite character if they made a movie of their story?
That’s a tough one. I sort of pictured Agent Li being played by Jason Scott Lee or maybe that Korean pop star / actor Rain. But for Aideen, I’d love to have a young Alyson Hannigan. She’s just so spunky and can go from laughing to crying to screaming to demon-like rage all in one scene, and that’s what would be needed to pull off Aideen. Plus I think comedians can pull off the best action / drama roles.
5. Do you have any projects currently in the works you want to talk about?
Yes I do, actually. I’m currently writing the next book in the Firecracker series, where Cass learns she’s not the only pyrokinetic in town. My new villain is like the polar opposite of Cass, and hopefully people will really enjoy the conflict that brings to the cast. Plus we get to find out what happened to Voss. I sorta left him bleeding in a cave.
I’m also working on my first young adult book, which is a modern day fantasy tale about a kid possessed by a demon. I’m not going to get into any more detail beyond that for right now, but the book will be geared towards a teen+ audience with a sense of humor and heart that I think anyone will be able to enjoy.
But the most exciting project for me right now is the Firecracker AUDIO BOOK, narrated by the very talented Jill Melancon, which is due for release sometime later this fall through Audible / Amazon.
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Charles, thank you for being with us today! Good luck with your story!
