Word Pursuit-Jason G. Anderson

Today I have an interview with Corinna Underwood. Corinna as published a huge number of articles and short stories, in publications as diverse as Ultimate Athlete, The Herbal Collective, and Planet Magazine. You can find out more about her, and what she has written, via her website at http://www.ambiguousmedia.net/

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JGA: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. To start with, can you tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got started writing?

CU: I grew up in Stoke-On-Trent, England and now live in Rome, Georgia. I’ve been writing stories as long as I remember, but became a professional freelance writer in 2000. My first book, A Haunted History of Atlanta and North Georgia, was published in 2005.

JGA: How do you go about the actual process of writing?

CU: On week days I do most of my fiction writing during the night. During the daytime I write content for magazines and websites. Fortunately I only sleep for around four hours each night, so I have plenty of time. Weekends are a different story – this is my luxury time and I write as much as I can throughout the weekend.

I usually sit at my desk at this time of year. During warmer weather you’ll find me on my porch or out camping. If I’m starting a new story or working on a first draft I will often start on my story whiteboard or blackboard, brainstorming and outlining ideas. Next I go to my note pad. There’s just something about having a pen touching paper that helps me flesh out those first scenes. After the initial draft I type the chapters onto my website, adding to them as I go. All subsequent edits are done via keyboard.

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I received a very nice letter the other day from someone who had just read Gears of Wonderland (hi Amanda!) She commented that she thought it should be made into a movie. She wasn’t the first person to say that, but it got me thinking about what my “dream cast” would be if by some miracle a movie was made.

While I tend to think of the scenes as I’m writing as movie or TV scenes, I rarely cast an actor in the role of the characters. So the task of trying to find the “right” person to play each characters is proving rather fascinating! I’ll probably end up splitting this over several articles as there are a number of minor characters who, I think, are just as important as the main characters. And, I have to confess, the main characters are the ones I’m having the most trouble with!

There may be a few spoilers in these articles if you haven’t read Gears already, but I’ll try to keep them to a minimum.

Torre – Jason Momoa

I’m casting Torre first not only because of the actors first name ( ), but because he was the one character I did visualize as I was writing Gears. I first saw Jason in Stargate Atlantis, and his Ronon character was a huge influence on how I wrote Torre. Jason is able to play the “wildman” role perfectly, which fits how Torre has lived (and survived) in Tulgey Wood for five years. At the same time, Torre does have a tragic past, and I believe Jason could handle that with equal skill. Finally, it’s pretty obvious that fight scenes wouldn’t be a problem for Jason to carry off.

Lahire (Knave of Hearts) – Benedict Cumberbatch

I’ve only seen his work in the recent Sherlock series done by the BBC, but Benedict has the perfect intensity for a character who thinks he is doing the right thing for his people, but who everyone else despises (and fears). Able to change emotion and mannerisms at a moments notice, and having no problem delivering a rant if needed, I think Benedict would be perfect for the unpredictable character.

The (Real) King of Hearts – Anthony Hopkins

I admit, the King of Hearts doesn’t have much screen time in Gears, so “wasting” a big name actor on such a minor character might seem crazy. But the sequel for Gears (if I ever get it written!) has the King of Hearts have a larger role. And an actor with the skill of Anthony can handle pretty much any role you throw at him, so there’s no doubt he could take the character and own it.

General Ariston – Stephen Lang

Hmm, I seem to be on a role with bearded guys!

I admit, this pick sightly type-casts Stephen Lang, as I made the choice based on how he played the role of a military commander in both Avatar and Terra Nova (more so Terra Nova). But he does such a good job of it! The actor playing Ariston has to portray the confidence of a man who is not only one of the best generals in Wonderland (“the famed Club Army general who outmaneuvered the Spade armies and tied up several divisions for a week without losing a single man”, if Torre is to be believed), but has also been in charge of the resistance within the Club kingdom for decades. Stephen can definitely do that, and the few fight scenes that would be required of him.

So, that’s it for part 1. What do you think of the picks? Good? Bad? Have a better suggestion? I’d love to hear from you!

When I first started formatting books back in May last year, having it on this site as another page seemed like the logical thing to do. But as I’ve gotten busier, and gained more clients, I’ve come to realize that my formatting should really move off to it’s own web site. This was the second part of the “big things” I alluded to back in this post – I had planned to have the site ready in early January, but managed to procrastinate when I had free time (and then got swamped with work when I began to realize I should sit down and finish it).

I’m happy to say that I’ve finally got the new site to a level where I can unveil it to the world

If you want to know more about my ebook formatting service, please visit my wife and I over at Polgarus Studio.

Why “Polgarus”?

The second cat my wife and I ever owned together was named Polgara. She was very much my cat, and was rarely friendly with other people. She passed away a few years ago from heart troubles. The name comes from there.

Today’s interview is a bit different from normal (and sure to be controversial with a few!) Blanca Beyar is a writer (among many other things), but she isn’t a novelist. She writes non-fiction books, with the aim of helping more people than she could ever coach personally. Having dabbled with a few non-fiction projects in the past, I know that writing non-fiction can be just as difficult as writing fiction

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JGA: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. To start with, can you tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got started writing?

BB: I am an old spirit who truly enjoys working and helping people to discover happiness and wholeness in their lives. My inspiration to write came to me as a complete surprise because I never had a passion to write. Yet, when I began my spiritual journey, I was prompted to journal write and it was during this time that I received the “calling” to begin writing.

When I am not writing or working with students, I enjoy music, dancing and taking weekend retreats to high vibrational places like nature parks and towns that have little shops. I love the different flavors of foods and enjoy eating in different restaurants. Above all, I love spirituality and breathe it in my life 24/7!

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(NOW CLOSED) It’s a new year! I finished out the year by participating in a blog hop, and now I’m starting the year by joining in the New Year Blog Hop! If you’ve never seen a blog hop before, it’s a series of giveaways that are run across a huge number of authors blogs. Each blog has their own giveaway, which you can enter (click on the image to the right for the full list of blogs participating). And the main site (that links everyone together) has it’s own giveaway where you can win a Kindle Fire HD, a $100 amazon gift card, 15 signed paperbacks, or 30 digital books.

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