The Order of Winter

Hi all,

A brief interlude of blog touring as the month of chaos gets into full swing.

First off, many thanks to Andrew Knighton of Andrew Knighton Writes for the tip-off and the opportunity! At the end of this post, I will have some folks of my own who will be following up soon enough (about this time next week). The blog tour sponsor in this case is I C Publishing (www.ICPublishing.ca).

 Now, the Q&A itself!

1. How do you start your writing project(s)?

At the moment, I’ve got a series ongoing, The Grenshall Manor Chronicles. Having started the first one, I elected to ensure the main three protagonists all took the lead in a story of their own, and decided to work from there. Oblivion Storm, the first, is the tale of Mary and the last chapters in the tales of the noble house of Grenshall. Primal Storm explores Jennifer Winter’s past, present and to some extent, future destiny. And Book Three will follow Kara, the one who has no supernatural power of her own, carrying us through that particular plot arc.

In terms of inspiration, I find it comes from many a source at any given time. Book One came about a combination of an interesting news article I read and my enjoyment of the London Underground. Book Two got heavily inspired by films and short videos of parkour, hence the high pace of the novel. My next takes very different origins, but will again have elements of history within it, alternative or otherwise.

As for research? I can do some, but not all. It’s just not always possible to know the level of detail you’re going to need for a given scene. I can find I get bogged down by history books trying to figure out the name of a bag some days, and on others, you just need to know what was happening in a given country on October25th!

2. How do you continue your writing project?

Once I get going on a project, I try and set aside time daily, as long as I’m not away or anything, to give myself a fighting chance of staying within deadlines.

3. And how do you finish your writing project?

 Finishing is again dictated by deadlines and editors, I don’t generally have time to have a hard time letting go! I am generally satisfied as long as I’ve told the story I set out to.

4. One additional tip that our collective communities could help with or benefit from.

Remember: writing is not the start and end of it. Nor is editing. Network! Go to events, talk to audiences, get out there and do other cool stuff that people may notice. This brings me nicely on to my upcoming presence on several panels at LonCon3! If you would like to know more, stay with me for my post immediately following this one!

Next up:

Joy K Phillips, who is working on a very exciting project, let me tell you! Can be found at:

Scott E. Tarbet, spinner of steampunk tales, is the author of A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk from Xchyler Publishing, Tombstone, in the paranormal anthology Shades & Shadows, and the forthcoming Lakshmi, Dragon Moon, and Nautilus Redux. He writes enthusiastically in several genres, sings opera, was married in full Elizabethan regalia, loves steampunk waltzes, and slow-smokes thousands of pounds of Texas-style barbeque. An avid skier, hiker, golfer, and tandem kayaker, he makes his home in the mountains of Utah. Follow Scott E. Tarbet online at http://scotttarbet.timp.net/ or on Twitter @SETarbet

Ben Ireland, author of Kingdom City.  

Some bios to follow, but thought I’d just get us out there and take it from there. Any questions, you know where I am! Thanks for reading 🙂