David’s Comments (group member since Sep 15, 2011)

David’s comments from the Q&A with David E. Hilton group.

Hi Edwin,

This is actually what many people always want to know, and I'm happy to share. There is no secret to getting published, or any magic recipe. There is only the book, and how good you make it. After that, a little luck never hurts either.

I began writing short horror stories first, because I wrote what I read. I published most of them to small markets that probably paid either less than 5 bucks or maybe just in copies. After that, I knew I wanted to write something longer, and so I rolled up my sleeves. This first attempt resulted in a horror novel that was honestly so bad I had problems just reading through it without my stomach hurting. I realized that I wasn't writing about something I was passionate about, and so, I went back to work (yes, though a 8-5 f/t job and with an infant in the home) on another novel, which turned out to be KINGS. Once I was done, and once I'd gone through 3 self-edits, I sent it out on submission to literary agents. I ended up going with one that turned out to be a not-so-great experience as she hardly knew what she was doing. She closed shop not 3 months after signing me, and so KINGS went back out on submission. This time, I was very fortunate to forge a relationship with a wonderful agent who knows her biz. She helped me clean the story up so much more, and then subbed it out to publishing houses. Two weeks later, I had a deal with Simon & Schuster. Of course, this didn't mean my work was over! Once my editor, the wonderful Kerri Kolen, got her hands on it, the manuscript looked to have been massacred with red ink, so to speak. But that's a good thing. And so KINGS went through the edits, then the copyedits, etc until the final version. It honestly was a wonderful journey that I'll never forget, even if I publish a dozen more novels.

JJ,

I forgot to answer that one, didn't I? Sorry 'bout that. Yes, I am currently working on a new book. I can't give too many details away, but only because I simply don't know them. I am not a plotter nor do I even use outlines. I sit down, I write. But the new story is a good one I think, that is to say, I'm excited about it.

Thank you, Kathy for the kind words! I've actually had many many people tell me that Coop was their favorite, maybe something to do with that studious, sarcastic nature of his.

To answer your question, well, it's sort of a combination of everything, really. But I will admit that many traits of these main characters did indeed come from friends I had as a boy, growing up in West Texas. I also, probably more than I like to admit, put a bit of myself into some of them as well. I relate more to Will than any other, I believe, but there's also a great deal of myself in Coop as well.

Thank you for submitting and also for the question!

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by and welcome. As the week goes on I'd love to field any questions you guys might have for me or to simply speak about the book or writing in general. You can post questions or comments in the KINGS thread for now. I'd like to start by asking you a question - who was your favorite character in KINGS, and why?

Hi everyone - For any questions regarding the novel itself, feel free to drop them in this thread!

Thank you for joining the group. I'll return October 24th to kick off the discussion!