10 Questions with Novelist Mark Everett Stone (@M3verettStone)
This Author Spotlight
features
novelist Mark Stone
author of
and the sequel
1. How did you get into writing?
Like most people, I guess, I found out I had an aptitude for the craft. Even better is the fact that I enjoy it. It took several years of maturing and acquiring discipline for me to actually produce something.
2. What do you like best (or least) about writing?
What I like best is being in the zone, when the words come so quickly to mind that your fingers can hardly move fast enough across the keyboard.
3. What is your writing process? IE do you outline? Do you stick to a daily word or page count, write 7 days a week, etc?
I write 7 days a week, about 3-4 hours a day. Sometimes I don’t write, I merely ponder the storyline and jot down notes, but I try to type about 3k words a day.
For anyone who may be a wee-bit innumerate, that's 90k words in 30 days. Or, more aptly, that's a book per month. That's prolific.
4. Who are some other writers you read and admire, regardless of whether they are commercially “successful?”
I have just discovered Steven Montano and I love his wordcraft. I think the man has serious potential. If I don’t mind my Ps & Qs, I could become seriously jealous. The others would be Larry Niven, Tolkien (of course), Dave Duncan and Julian May.
5. Should the question mark in the above question be inside or outside the quotes?
On the outside, I believe.
6. What’s your stance on the Oxford Comma?
About two feet to the left.
Ha! Good one, Mark.
7. What is your book ‘Things to Do in Denver When You’re Undead’ about and how did it come to fruition?
An emotionally damaged man who belongs to a secret government agency tasked with policing the supernatural world. While watching the Andy Garcia movie ("Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead"), the title just hit me, then the story. I knew exactly how the story would progress before I wrote a word.
8. What’s your current writing project?
I have decided to join the mainstream and write a vampire book. I am somewhat ashamed at my willingness to follow the crowd, but I had a good idea and I want to see where it takes me. It is called ‘The Catholic Vampire’.
9. What book(s) are you currently reading?
‘After America’ by John Birmingham. ‘Black Scars’, ‘Age of Odin’, ‘The Zombie Bible’, and ‘Redlaw’. My TBR pile is off the chain…
10. Who or what inspires your writing?
My kids provide the motivation, my wife the inspiration while I provide the perspiration.
Nice.
Finally, is there anything you’d care to add? Please also include where people can read your published stories, buy your book, etc.
To would-be writers: Discipline! Stick to a plan and don’t hold back. If the product sucks, don’t be afraid to stop and start something new. It has happened to all of us.
As for my books, you can purchase them at any e-book seller. The sequel to the ‘Denver’ is out. It is called ‘What Happens in Vegas, Dies in Vegas’. The third book in the series-‘I Left My Haunt in San Francisco’- will be released nationally this Sept. My fourth book, ‘The Judas Line’, will be released May 15. All are published by Camel Press.
Thank you for sharing with us, Mark.
Let's chat again in May in order to help spread the word for THE JUDAS LINE.
If you are a writer and would like to be featured in an Author Spotlight, please contact me at AuthorRyanSchneider@gmail.com.
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