{"id":48513,"date":"2023-07-25T17:29:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T00:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=48513"},"modified":"2023-07-25T17:29:09","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T00:29:09","slug":"the-most-common-questions-i-am-asked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=48513","title":{"rendered":"The Most Common Questions I am Asked"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When someone suggested this topic, I thought it was going to be fun! But now that it’s time to write it, I’m drawing a blank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get asked tons of questions at work, many of which repeat, but I don’t really get asked that many questions outside of work. I have a lot of experience as a writer, and I take my craft very seriously, but I don’t think anyone thinks of me as an authority on the subject. I still talk about writing all the time, but not because people are asking me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s just try this and see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are you doing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m fine, thanks! Even though my day job is brutally busy, I’m doing okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where can I find your books?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I finally updated my books and stories<\/a> page at the top. I currently have one book out, The Repossessed Ghost<\/em>, which so far has been very well received. You can go straight to the publisher<\/a> to buy it, in which case it will likely be sent to me first to be signed, or you can find it on Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also have a short story in an anthology called Tales from the Goldilocks Zone<\/a>, which is also on Amazon. Not a lot of people have purchased or seen that anthology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a couple of other unpublished but finished novels, and I’m working on follow-up stories to The Repossessed Ghost<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the inspiration for The Repossessed Ghost<\/em>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chronologically speaking, the character of Mel Walker started off as someone I played in a roleplaying game over 20 years ago. He had a fun voice, and I wrote a few short stories featuring him back then. The game didn’t last long, but the character stayed in my head for years and years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of November 2013, in the middle of binging The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, I decided I’d give Mel a shot at his own novel. I wanted to write something light and fun like The Dresden Files, and Mel was perfect for the job. Now if I could just borrow Jim Butcher’s fans for a little while, that’d be great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you believe in ghosts?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I do not. Ghosts are fun to write about, but as far as an afterlife, I find that being turned in to a ghost to be the most repugnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa believes in ghosts most of the time, so she can believe enough for both of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why a ’74 Nova in The Repossessed Ghost<\/em>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The car featured on the cover of the book, and that plays a critical role in the story, is sort of a combination of two cars I remember from my late teens. I used to get to borrow my brother-in-law’s ’74 Ford Torino, and I loved that car. It was blue like the car in my book, but it was not fancy. It had rust spots, and honestly wasn’t worth much money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My girlfriend’s Dad at the time had the mid-70’s Nova. It was dark gray, and the engine was so chromed out that you could lift the hood and use the insides as a mirror. I never drove that car, but like the Millennium Falcon, it had it where it counts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you working on now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m about 5000 words into a short story about Mel Walker on a jury. I’d like to get it finished before the summer is out, and see if there is a home for it with Water Dragon. Once that story is finished, I’m going to outline the sequel to The Repossessed Ghost<\/em>, and then I’ll consider which story I want to work on next. I have a lot of ideas I’d like to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s your writing style?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People don’t actually ask me this in so many words, but the question comes up in a roundabout way when I talk with other writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to be a pantser, but now I outline. I do not outline as thoroughly as most plotters because I still like to have lots of room and leeway to discovery write. In fact, sometimes I’ll put in my outline, “You’ll figure this out when you get there.” And I usually do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I’m drafting, I wind up reading a bit of what I last wrote at the end, in order to recover the flavor and voice. As long as I can pick up my threads of thought, I’m good to go. When I have to reforge, I slow down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first draft usually comes out relatively clean, but I no longer share first drafts with anyone. Once I’ve finished the first draft, I’ll let the story sit. I’ll try to work on something else. When I come back to it, I want my eyes as fresh as they can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revisions involve reading the story to Melissa. My ear catches more than my eye. When I’ve finished the second draft, I start looking at my critique group, in the hopes that I might be able to submit it and start getting external feedback. I miss things, and my critique groups are vital, because when I can see my story through their eyes, I find the things that are missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two times I’ve worked with an editor, things went very easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do you write?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is another question I don’t usually get directly, but the idea of the question comes up from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write because I have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I don’t write, the depression gets me. Writing is my favorite way of expressing myself. My writing voice is stronger than my regular voice. Writing brings me peace and fulfillment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to entertain people. I want to connect with people through my writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be a dream to be able to write full time. Maybe it will happen, still. My dream had been to get one of my novels published, and that happened this month. Now I want to get another book published, and hopefully reach more people with my stories. If enough people gain interest in what I have to write, maybe this could become my full time job, and I would be very satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions for me that I have not answered, please let me know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When someone suggested this topic, I thought it was going to be fun! But now that it’s time to write it, I’m drawing a blank. I get asked tons of questions at work, many of which repeat, but I don’t really get asked that many questions outside of work. I have a lot of experience […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48516,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48513\/revisions\/48516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}