Author Interview: T.E. Bradford

Good morning, everyone! Today, we have a special guest, T.E. Bradford! Make sure you check out the interview and then check out the giveaway on my other blog post here.

Author Interview

1. What is your writing process? Do you outline before you start? I’m somewhere between being a plotter and a pantser. I call myself a POTSI. LOL  I usually do a rough outline or idea, and maybe I’ll plot out a few chapters at a time, but not the whole book. Plotting out the whole book would ruin it for me. I’d feel too much like I was already done, and wouldn’t have the motivation to write. I need the thrill of not knowing completely where the story will take me.

2. How do you develop your characters? Do you use images found online, a Pinterest board, character sketches, or develop them as you write? One thing I do take the time to do is determine my character’s weaknesses and how they will change over the course of the story. Then I think of as many ways as I can to throw them into exactly what challenges them most. For example, in Child of Prophecy, my MC Nova is great at defending others, but horrible at standing up for herself. So of course, I thought of as many ways as I could to put her into situations where she had to stand up for herself.

This will probably make some plotters moan and go looking for ashes and sackcloth, but I don’t storyboard or pin pictures up around my desk. I will go looking for images, but that’s generally after I already have a pretty solid idea in my head of who my characters are and what they’re like. The key character point for me came from Maas, in listing out the challenges for a character from most to least, and then turning that list on its head and making the last, first. That opened up a whole new side of Quentin – Nova’s next-door-neighbor and best friend – to me.

3. What is your best advice for getting rid of writer’s block? Write through it. Seriously. Write gibberish if you have to. Write a poem. Write a sonnet. Do a writing challenge. Anything to get those creative juices flowing. Once they’re going, you can always go back and rewrite the gibberish.

4. If you could share one piece of advice that you wish someone else had told you to an aspiring writer, what would it be? You can (and will) learn tons about the technical aspects of writing as you grow. You’ll learn to do things better, and you’ll learn what you’re not so great at. There will be tons of ups and downs, praise and criticism. In the end, remember that writing is your passion. It’s your dream. Don’t let everything that comes with that make you lose sight of what you love. Because if you’re doing what you love, nothing can bring you down.

5. What is your favorite genre? Well I love to read Fantasy just as much as I love to write it, but I also have a few guilty pleasures. Like dystopian, and post-apocalyptic stories.

Fun (optional) questions:

Pizza or Pasta? Pizza!

Favorite movie? Contact (followed VERY closely by Twister, Aliens (the second one), Galaxy Quest and Spaceballs).

Favorite Bible verse? That’s changed for me over the years. When I was young, it was Isaiah 40:31 – They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings, as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.  As an adult, and one who faced cancer, I found a new favorite in Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Coffee, tea, or water? Dr. Pepper. Gimme cold caffeine, baby. LOL

Favorite movie adaptation?  I really enjoyed the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I know some avid Lewis fans felt it was not the greatest, but I thought Will Poulter was absolutely brilliant as Eustace. I fell in love with the character all over again as I watched the movie. And who can’t love that moment with Reepicheep at the end of the world, preparing to go into Aslan’s country? Seriously. Awesome. Stuff.

Good morning and welcome to my blog! I’m excited to have you here and hope you have some fun with these questions. Since this blog is about and for writers, most of the questions will be about writing with a few optional, fun questions at the end.