Thought it was due time to give you a little more insight into me as a writer and me as the average Joe.
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Do you have any advice for beginning writers? Be consistent and persistent. You have to keep pushing and pushing. I’m seeing slow progress (a steady incline!), but it is definitely not an overnight-success kind of thing. It takes a lot of work and faith in yourself. Right now is a fantastic time to be a writer as there are tons of advice columns, writer blogs and mentoring sites out there to get any of your questions answered.
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What is your writing routine? How do you discipline yourself to keep at it? I work on my writing every night — usually between 10 through 2 AM. It’s become my passion and my stress release, so when I don’t get to it or have no energy to do it, I feel even worse actually. I have three kids and I do have a full-time day job as a sales supervisor for a medicare healthcare company which occupies the majority of my life. So those few hours of the day that I can spend on my writing is crucial. I don’t waste them or take them for granted. My writing is a lengthy process so if I want to share more stories, then that is what it takes.
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How do you begin a novel? My novels are first outlined and broken down into scenes. Some people are plotters and some can do it by the “seat of their pants” (called pantsers). I tried for many years to be a pantser, but it finally became apparent to me that I NEED AN OUTLINE in order to stay on track and not lose my place in the storyline. Plus I tend to weave subplots within the main story and that can be a very delicate surgery sometimes!
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Do you go through a lot of drafts? I tend to do a very involved outline now (what I call my Bullet Outline) and then I write the first draft. Then I make another two rounds of personal editing if possible. My editing skills are nowhere near what I thought they were — you will find real quick what your level of editing skills are when you send it to a professional! YIKES! I am trying to get better and now that I see the trends, I try to avoid those mistakes in my initial writing or I will go back through and weed them out.
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Where is your favorite place to write and why? I am not a picky person when it comes to where. Some writers have to have everything precise and always uniform (same place, same time, same paper or same coffee mug, etc). I am flexible, but that’s also because I had to learn to be. I don’t have an office — I write in the living room! The only thing I really need is isolation — I immerse myself into the writing and focus on the picture forming inside my head to find all the needed details and imagery I can put upon the page. Other than that, I am good to go.
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What is the first book you remember reading? I read Watership Down by Richard Adams in sixth grade. It sucked me in even though it was a novel all about the desperate lives of wild rabbits. From there I read The Hobbit and became addicted to fantasy stories. Later in my teens (go figure!), I couldn’t pass up any horror novels I found. Thus, I have an attraction to writing in both genres. And often times, there are elements of both in my stories.
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Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? I am definitely working to have a body of work that has some common connections. My fantasy stories are all in the same world and same characters for now… But my horror novellas are also linked. A minor character, a Detective Chad Ellis in the novella In Four Days becomes a key figure and character in my Elude series. Finding those little threads which bind a story with another always entertained me as a reader so I wanted to give that back to my fans as well.
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What was your hardest scene to write? In Consequences Within Chaos, I found the hardest scene to write for me was the first major battle my heroes faced with the Viestrahl (a beast race intent on destroying the humans colonizing their lands). I had never had experience writing one and unless you know exactly all the details, you really can’t just write the scene out. Even though I had an outline and I knew the generalities of what I wanted as an outcome, I didn’t have the specifics. In other words, who goes where, who comes in later, who gets injured, how do they get injured, who dies, etc. It is a lot to take in and it daunted me horribly. I put the book aside for several months before I took the plunge and bulldozed through it. Once I got into it and learned the process, I was able to take up other battle scenes quicker and with better organization.
Okay… now for a little less serious insight into me!
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DO YOU PLAY BOARD GAMES? WHICH ONES? Yes. My wife’s and I’s favorite is a game called Lords of Waterdeep. We also like games that have links to the Call of Cthulhu stories by H.P. Lovecraft.
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WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO? When I am in the car, it’s heavy metal. When working out, it’s techno or dubstep. When I am writing I love epic classical going in the background.
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DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN? Sometime after 6 AM (probably the only time in my life I chose to wake early!)
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WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? Make enough book sales to write professionally, but I would also love to have a much bigger fan base.
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WHAT’S YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Don’t have one. My parents hated theirs so they decided I didn’t need to be stuck with one.
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THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED? Game of Thrones and close behind it Dexter (hmmm there is that fantasy and horror combo again!)
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DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK? No. But I do like to come up with ideas for horror stories while sitting or walking in the dark.
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WOULD YOU RATHER BE SMART OR FUNNY? Can I go for both and be a smartass?
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COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS? With my late hours, I am a double Rockstar morning person. I know it’s not the best for me, but I don’t drink or smoke so this isn’t such a horrible vice.
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WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING? Hawaiian Pizza baby!!
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IF YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Snow Crab Legs or Prime Rib.
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WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? Red Chevy Nova
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WHAT IS YOUR FANTASY CAREER? Screenplay writer
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ARE YOU A LEFTY OR A RIGHTY? Righty.
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DO YOU LIKE SPICY FOOD? Nope. I have been accused of saying vanilla ice cream is spicy!
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WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST? Tone of voice. So easy for people to say stuff “jokingly” but their tone says what they are really feeling.
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HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY? WHERE DID YOU GO? Yes. Canada and Mexico a couple times. That’s it. Someday I would love to see Austrailia and Scotland.
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FAVORITE FOOD? Chinese
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FIRST JOB? Busboy at a buffet. HATED IT! Only restaurant job I ever worked.
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HAVE YOU EVER RIDDEN A MOTORCYCLE? Yes, my father and I would go on rides when I was younger.
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WHAT TV SHOWS DO YOU WATCH CURRENTLY? Game of Thrones, Criminal Minds, Mr. Mercedes, Face-off
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CAN YOU PLAY AN INSTRUMENT? I used to play Alto & Baritone Saxophone in middle school but doubt I would do very well with it now. I can’t read music anymore that’s for sure!
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FAVORITE VACATION SPOT? Sedona, AZ or there’s a cabin rental property in Strawberry, AZ.
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HOW MANY (MORE) KIDS DO YOU WANT? No more thank you… We are a complete family.
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WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Ugh… I don’t really want to answer this… Fine… I was named after Derek & The Dominos. *Shaking my head.
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DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SWIM? I can. Grew up around lakes my whole life. And now that I live in the desert, I swim in pools on occasion.
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DO YOU GET SEASICK? Horribly! I cannot even play first-person shooter video games due to motion-sickness. And don’t get me started about the night I went to see Blair Witch in the movies!
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ARE YOU MARRIED? Yes, for five years and counting!
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WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Warsaw, Indiana — it’s near Fort Wayne, Indiana.
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WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE TOYS AS A CHILD? Stretch Armstrong, Army Men and Hot Wheels
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DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS OR PIERCINGS? I have one large Tribal tattoo on my shoulder that has three dragon heads circling a Celtic knot. It represents my Past, my Present and my Future.
The Official Website of Author Derek Barton 