Aisling asked A.G. Riddle:

This is fantastic- I only JUST picked up your book "The Atlantis Gene" yesterday when I was looking for something to read on my kindle. . . I'm new to goodreads, I joined only today, and I see there's a Q&A with the author. Either way, I mostly wanted to just talk about this coincidence- but I do have one question, a question I have for most successful authors. How do you plan out your books? What's the secret?

A.G. Riddle Hi Aisling,

I'm sure each author has a different method but I like to outline my novels prior to starting. If I'm working on a series, I will do a brief outline of the whole series. The novels are very intricate and the outline gives me a lot of confidence when I begin writing. When I'm writing a first draft, I find it best to write every day; I like to keep the momentum, but I also think it helps maintain a consistent narrative voice.

At some point in all my novels, however, the outline gets rewritten. Characters surprise me. Scenes I had planned don't pan out the way I imagined. Some twists turn out better than expected, some fall short. It's always a process of reflecting and adjusting course as I go. Smaller issues get taken care of during editing, but I like to zoom out occasionally and make sure I feel like the story is on track.

Take care,
Gerry

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