SOMETIMES I GET ASKED STUFF 4

My 1st conOne of the best parts of being a writer is the interesting people you get to meet at conventions, store signings, through the Earth Station One podcast, and on social media. Sometimes I get asked questions so I thought it would be interesting to share some of them along with the answers. Some of these are questions asked to me directly, some come from social media, and others are asked to a group of writers. Regardless of where they come from, here’s a few of the latest questions.

Check out Sometimes I Get Asked Stuff Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.

My 2nd conQ; Do you remember what your first convention was & how was the experience?

My first convention happened in 1989. It was the Atlanta Fantasy Fair in Atlanta, GA. My second con was Dragon*Con that same year. I’ve been attending cons ever since. I love ‘em. I would do more if I could, but they can get expensive and sadly, very few cons are offering to cover my travel so I do the ones I can.

Q: Have you ever created a character that you didn't connect with but audiences loved?

Good question. I don’t know of any of my creations off the top of my head that fit the bill. I can say that there have been characters I’ve worked on that I didn’t connect with. A good example of that was The Avenger. I wrote the character in an anthology that came out earlier this year. It took me a while to really connect with the title character, but even then I didn’t feel the spark like I do with say, Domino Lady or The Spider.

Q: Do you ever see an end to your Harold Palmer series or do you intend to write him as frequently as you are allowed?

I would love to do a new Harold Palmer thriller every year. We’ll see how that goes. As long as the stories continue to work and I’m having fun with him, I want to keep doing novels with the character. I do not have an end planned for Harold Palmer yet.

Q: Which of your original characters is heavily based on someone you love or admire in real life?

Although the characters were not originally intended as such, I found that giving Harold Palmer and his brother, Franklin in my novel, Evil Ways the same personalities as myself and my brother helped bring them to life. I also created comic strip characters out of my parents and brother for a kid’s magazine once. Strip ran for 12 years. Since they’re all copyrighted, I like to joke with the family that I own them.  (HA! HA)

Yep. I own 'em. :)Q: For those who write a series, how much do you rewrite and how many drafts do you do? Do the number of drafts decrease as you go on with the series? Especially as you come to the end of a mini-series and your intent and focus on the story become more and more clear?

It depends. I definitely want to make sure I'm planning for reveals that happen later so I have to get ahead of the plot. That sometimes means rewriting. I don’t have a set number of drafts per project. I give each story the amount of time it needs. Some need more than others. Deadlines also determine how much time I can spend on subsequent drafts. Sometimes you just have to stop and call it finished otherwise you could tinker with a story forever. Just ask George Lucas.

Q: After finishing a first draft, do you wait before editing? How long?

Sometimes I wait a day if I can. This is dependent on deadlines, of course. There are times where you don’t have the option to wait so then I dive right in.

Q: Who is your favorite Super Friend?

Superman.

Q: When was the last time you threw up your hands and stepped away from a work in progress? What inspiration brought you back to that project?

It’s not usually frustration that causes me to step away from a work in process so much as it is getting other writing assignments. As a freelance writer, I often get gigs that cause my novel work to go on hold. Once I finish, I generally go back to work on the novel.

There have been times when I'm just not in the mood to work on a particular project and will step away for a bit. A little distance, I've found, helps from time to time.

Q: Why are so many Pulp Fictioneers in the South? What's in the water? ;)

Pulpsters on paradeGood question. I wish I had a good answer. I’m just glad to have my pulp brothers and sisters close by.

Q: What's the first thing you ever wrote? The word experience that told you that you wanted to be an author?

I started out writing comic books for the purpose of having stories to draw. When my first comic was published, I was over the moon and it inspired me to continue. It wasn’t until I started writing prose stories, starting with short stories that I thought that writing might be a good career for me. When I wrote (and completed) Evil Ways, I was hooked.

Just another day at the conQ: Do you take reviews from critics into account before deciding to see a movie?

No.

Do you have any questions ? Post them here as a comment or send them along to bobby@bobbynash.com and I’ll answer them in a future installment.

Also, please sign up for my mailing list. Drop me an email at bobby@bobbynash.com and I'll happily add you to the list.

Thanks.

Bobby