Author Interview - Brandon

Well folks, we’re in for a treat today. I found a fellow named Brandon and he’s interesting enough that I figured we could get some cool stuff out of him…

Er. What I mean is, I’ve got a good friend named Brandon who’s a writer and blogger. We’ve been friends and beta readers for each other for… quite some time now. It’s great. Today I invited him to stop by here and answer some questions for us. Let’s get to it:

Hi Brandon, and welcome to Story Forger! Tell us a tidbit or two about yourself, if you don’t mind.

Thanks Aidan, I’m glad to be here.  (Well not here but… you get the point.)  A tidbit or two?  Okay.  I’m a young adult who writes young adult fiction.  (Usually sci-fi or fantasy.  Never both.)  I’m single.  My friends say that’s not likely to change.  But being single gives me time to write, read, and answer random questions (see below) for other cool bloggers. 

 Well let's get right into this: how/when did you start writing? Why?

When: When I turned 13.  Actually, a little before that.  I’d always been a storyteller.  To myself, anyway.  When I learned how to write (well)(enough), I started sharing those stories with the world.  (Or at least friends and family and lovely blog readers such as yourselves.)

How: My mom (cruel mother/teacher that she is) made me take a creative writing course that my church organized.  Yeah.  I hated every minute of the drive there the first day.  Loved every second after that.  (How do moms always know best?  Is it even fair?)  When the class ended, I kept writing.  Slowly.  Then my grandparents (a close second on the always-know-what’s-best list) bought me OYAN for my birthday.

Why: I’ve tried to stop for various reasons.  Time commitments.  Other dreams.  “Writer’s block.”  Haven’t been able to keep away.  Hopefully, that won’t ever change.

What are you currently writing? What is it about?

My current work in progress is an extended NaNoWriMo called Beta Sun.  Here’s my synopsis:

No one believes those old stories about Earth.  Everyone knows they are fake.  Were fake.  Now there are holes in the sky, wars on the ground, and a lot of past in the future.  The powers that be are scraping and clawing to stay on top of a world turning upside down.  Can anyone stop the madness before the connection between the worlds destroys them both?

Also, the sun may blow up.

Did anything inspire this project? If so, what was it?

 I’d read a lot of epic/high fantasy, but never any epic/high Sci-fi.  I knew there was some out there, but I wanted to take a swing at the genre.  Also a “mid-NaNoWriMo my story is over but I’m only at thirty thousand words panic attack”.  Kind of made me start moving.

Any other stories you’re meddling with that you want to talk about?

I had one really good one, but then I watched Inception and it was the exact same thing, down to military training simulations and losing your grasp on reality.  So at the moment, no.

But that’s not likely to last.

What does your writing process look like?

Like someone scrambled a bunch of scrabble pieces and let a monkey sort them out.

Okay, maybe it just feels like that.

Actually, it’s still a process in development, but this is what it looks like right now.  I start by “pantsing” the first five to ten thousand words, then I sit down and write a full outline.  Once that’s done, I rewrite what I’ve already written and go from there.  I usually lose a lot of time on the rewriting part though, so I guess I’m still trying to tune the process.

What sort of things do you do besides writing?

Well, being the coolest dude on the block is exhausting so…

No, it’s not quite like that.  I spend a lot of my time wrapping up high school and preparing for college.  I’ve got my acceptance letter and everything, so I guess I’m going to school next fall for a computer science degree.  When I’m not doing school things, I enjoy play football (or any other sport if football isn’t available), listening to Lord of the Rings music, and watching movies/tv shows.

Interesting stuff, I know.  :P

Who is your favorite fictional character (feel free to list a top three or something)?

 Just one?  Come on dude, play fair.  There’s so many.  There’s Robin Hood.  Peter Pan.  Thor.  Nick Wilde.  Frank Walker.  Elliot Spencer.  Skye. I can’t just pick one.  Because if I do, I’ll regret it tomorrow.  Characters are my friends.  And I don’t play favorites.

So here are three:

Robin Hood.  He’s caring.  He’s selfless.  Sometimes his words seem harsh, careless, or hurtful.  But he’s not that kind of guy. He gave up his wealth to help the poor.  He gave up his status to remain loyal to his king.

Peter Pan.  Not the part of him who won’t grow up.  I want to grow.  I want to mature.  I want to live.  I admire the part of him that is always a child. The part of him that never loses the boyish twinkle in his eyes.  The part of him that never loses sight of the magic in the world.  The part of him that isn’t afraid to fight an evil which curses his world.

Frank Walker.  His own machine predicted the end of the world, but he remained willing to hitch his wagon onto hope and fight against the fatalism of Tomorrowland.  (If you haven’t seen Tomorrowland, go do it.  It’s crazy, silly at some points, but heartfelt.)

Do you have any advice for the readers (now is your chance to impress on our young minds your opinions)?

If you want to be a writer, start now.  Right now.  Go write.  Just a little.  And tomorrow, do it again.  And again.  And don’t stop.  Write every day.  Whether you write a hundred words in a day or a thousand.  Write every day.

After all there are two kinds of people: writers, and procrastinators.

Finally, if you were a pelican, what kind of pelican would you be?

Bird-brained.

Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to take some of the complimentary coffee and donuts before you… Oh, it seems we don’t actually have coffee and donuts. Ahem. Well, before you leave, is there any way the readers can connect with you and/or your writings?

You don’t have coffee and donuts?  I need to talk to my agent.  I don’t do gigs without donuts.  (Coffee, sure.  But not without donuts.)  And usually I prefer hot chocolate to drink with them.  Hot chocolate with marshmallows and—

Oh, right.  We’re still interviewing.  Readers can connect with me on my blog, woodlandquill.com.  If you have questions, feel free to shoot me an email at thewoodlandquill@gmail.com.

Can’t wait to hear from you!