Sandscriber

Okay, I love answering questions. So I’ll take this gladly. But this is the third time I am nominated for this award. Forgive me if I don’t relay the award. I am looking for places to relay it to. Here are my eleven questions/ answers. Thank you Julia Koslowski for the questions and the nomination.

1. Who is your favorite main and supporting book characters and why? (they don’t have to be from the same book)
Hmm. I read a large amount of epic fantasy with shifting viewpoints and such. So my main characters might not be considered one. Still.. I consider Tyrion Lannister a main character. I know, I’m cheating a little. Tyrion has everything going against him. A family who is ruining itself through war. A body half the size of a man. A father who looks down on him in more ways than one. I think Tyrion has every reason to be a weak character. But he’s the strongest man in the field.

My favorite side character would be Samwise Gamgee. Frodo failed. Like everyone, Hobbit, Man or Elf, would have done. He took the ring for himself. If Sam hadn’t been there Middle Earth would’ve fallen into ruin. And you know what? Sam didn’t have to be there. He never went along to see the world. He would’ve been just fine smoking pipeweed with his old gaffer, thank you very much. And yet he did. He went out to the world and did only one thing: he stayed loyal. His loyalty saved the world.
2. Are any of the characters you’ve ever written based on you, whether solely or loosely?
I don’t believe in basing characters on myself. But “Why Wolves Fear Humans” takes place on a farm. I grew up on a farm and that obviously played into what I  wrote about my main character.
3. As a writer, do you prefer writing a story on paper or typing it on a computer?
Typing… I’m someone who would have a page filled with crossed out words if I didn’t type.
4. What inspired you to become a writer? Another author, person, or story?
I was seven and I was sitting in a treehouse in the farm. I had just started to read and writing was still hard but I made little doodles. In our farm we had an attic. I never went there but the attic was filled with hay and mice. I sort of imagined there living ghosts in the attic.Just a tiny little family drinking tea and making jokes with one another. I couldn’t write it down but I sure as hell kept it in my mind. Later in elementary school I started to read. I read everything I could get my hands on. Most I didn’t understand, but I did enjoy Lord of the Rings. In Highschool instead of studying I wrote page after page after page of story. No one noticed. It just seemed like I was someone who wrote a lot while studying and my grades were good enough. Then the realization came: I want to do this all the time. So I’m doing everything in my power to make it so.
5. How do you cope with writer’s block?
I keep writing. I sit down and right the worst story in the world. Eventually I find some gold among the rubbish and I’m off again. Though it is very hard to get myself to start writing again.
6. Do you consider yourself to be more of an architect or gardener type of writer?
I do both. I know where it ends and how it begins. What happens in between is decided on a whim.
7. Has anyone in your family ever inspired a character, perhaps without you realizing it?
My mother scares me. When I was younger she was the sweetest mother a boy could ask.When I turned 12 she became vile and vicious to everyone. Especially my father and I. She left us. Never looked back. Last text I had from her was her laughing at the passing of my grandfather. I avoid writing about my family in fear of her appearing.
8. Is it harder for you to come up with your protagonist’s quest or your antagonist’s scheme?
The hardest problem is to make them not look as blundering idiots. An antagonist is harder because it’ll rarely succeed. So you have to write a solid plan WITH a flaw. It makes it very difficult.
9. If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?
1. I want to have a bigger audience. More people who read my books. I want to know if they are good or not. I sometimes feel like I’m a guy preaching to a wall.
2. I want to be able to be with my girlfriend whenever I want to be with her. She’s a bit unreachable at the moment.
3. I want to be able to write without any other responsibilities.
10. How do you normally react to criticism, especially negative criticism?
Every critique is valuable. Especially the bad ones. I learn more  by talking to people I disagree with. Will it make me angry? Yes. Will it make me sad? Probably. Will I stop writing because of it. Never.
11. What is your writing environment like?
A cluttered desk with way too many distracti- OOOH KITTEN.

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