Persistence and discipline are the keywords to success.

Persevere through the toil of writing and editing, and persevere through the arduous task of getting published, and then through gaining and maintaining an audience. Like most things in life, those who are successful are not necessarily the most talented, but rather the ones who did not give up. I am not sure if anyone ever told me this, but it's still the best advice I'd personally give to an aspiring writer: persevere. What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author? I can hear the other books on my shelves rattle with envy now. The Gormenghast trilogy is a good example. Perhaps the most interesting books to me are those that are slightly strange (which is perhaps why the fantasy genre appeals to me) and use words to really drive home the story, or accentuate the characters. So I like the classics, and I like more modern, language-defying works. I can say the following, however, and that is that I like variety. Just as the stuffed bear or robot will invariably take offence at not being chosen, I could not possibly limit my choice on this. It's like asking a child what is their favourite toy. That's a very difficult question to answer. On one hand a good book helps us escape our troubles, and on the other hand it can help us face up to those troubles by bringing real issues to the fore, often in a more manageable way, since the problems are experienced vicariously through the eyes of another.īeyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre? At a basic level they are great entertainment, which is essential for living a happy and healthy life, but on a deeper level stories help us explore issues that are otherwise difficult to address. Why is storytelling so important for all of us? I wanted the latter, which, in retrospect, is an odd choice for a kid, but it certainly helped my writing. For my 12th birthday I got a PC, and the guy in the store offered a choice between a gaming system or a computer with Microsoft Word.

Before that I was doing bits and pieces, but it was at 11 that I started my first novel. Was there a defining moment during your youth when you realized you wanted to be a writer?

The Call of Agon by Dean F. Wilson