Alrighty everyone… Now that we have seen some basics about Dennis Timothy, and gotten to know a little more about an amazing book by such a creative author…. How about a little interview to get some insight into the man himself hmm?
Heck yeah!!!
Why did you go Indie?
There were a
variety of reasons. I belong to the Nebraska Writers Guild. The Guild contains
a lot of talented authors, including Alex Kava. In listening to the experiences
of those members who had been traditionally published, I decided the process
was just too slow and intimidating. I didn’t want to wait years to see my
stories in print. And I remembered the agonizing workshops I attended where I
learned to compose working log lines and query letters. I just didn’t feel I
could take the risk of letting my stories languish in a slush pile because I
broke some rule of the trade.
Also, I was very
hesitant about giving up the rights to my stories. The odds of having one of my
books complete more than
a five to ten thousand first printing seemed slim. After that, it’s uncertain
when I could re-publish. I just wanted more control over my intellectual property.
What was one of the most surprising
things you learned in creating your books?
I think I was most
surprised to learn that people were interested and entertained by what I wrote.
For me, it is so gratifying that someone would actually buy something I have
written and leave a positive review. I really enjoy engaging with my fans. I’m
not English major or a student of journalism. As a youngster I didn’t fill
notebooks with poetry or story ideas. I actually entered the writing field much
later in life. I had several story ideas that had just meandered, and then petered out completely. So, I took
some writing courses from the local community college to learn how to
discipline myself and structure a story. When I sold my first short story to
Golden Visions Magazine I was bitten by the writing bug and have been at it
since.
Which of your characters are you most
like - least like?
In my upcoming
historical action/adventure series, The Whiskey Scrolls, I have developed a
character named Cannon. He’s middle-aged, a cynic with a passion for life, and
has a very dry sense of humor. I think I drew a lot of me into this character.
In my story, Merry Hell, I created strong female leads. It works perfectly in
the story, but I don’t resemble any of them.
Do you have a particular writing habit?
I never start a
story without visualizing the opening scene and the final scene. I always
outline the story using either the ladder method or the snowflake method. I’m
not a pantster; I applaud those who are - but I need something more
disciplined.
Which writer would you consider a
mentor?
Victorine Lieske.
She’s a member of the Nebraska Writers Guild and a celebrated author. One of
her books, Not What She Seems, was self-published and for two weeks she held
the number two spot on the New York Times Best Selling digital book rankings.
She’s my go to person for questions and the guru for all things digital.
What is the hardest part of your
writing?
Finding the time to
write. I work full-time, so my writing is catch as catch can most days. For me,
a negative day can just suck the creativity out of me. So I try to schedule
four writing vacations each year. I hole up in a cabin somewhere and just
concentrate on writing. It’s amazing how productive one can be if there are no
phones, no traffic noises, and no distractions.
Do you have any advice for other
writers?
Yes. Find a good
editor. Steph at “edit-my-book” was a godsend. A good editor can find continuity errors,
misnamed characters, factual errors, and all the other stuff I’m capable of
balling up. A review that says “couldn’t get past all of the typos and
punctuation errors” will kill an otherwise good story.
Also, have your
covers produced professionally. If you’re a graphic artist with a knack for
writing you can ignore this piece of advice. If you’re not, then you’ll want to
take it to heart. People do judge a book by its cover, and you have only one
chance for a first impression. There’s too much competition out there to ignore
this.
The last piece of
advice I would offer is show, don't tell.
I once had a fan remark that my writing is like "watch a movie play
out in your head". I try to deliver
just enough description so that the reader's imagination is engaged with the
story. In my upcoming series, The Whiskey Scrolls, you
can feel the weather, smell the leather, and see the scenery - and most of it
is through the eyes of the characters.
Describe yourself in three words
Show, don‘t tell.
What is your favorite character from
your books? Of all time?
Again, this is
probably unfair to the audience, but my favorite character appears in my future
release, The Whiskey Scrolls. The character’s name is Brother O’Frell. The story is set in the
Seventh Century and follows a young, naïve Irish monk who is tasked with the
journey to the Church of Alexandria, Egypt, to return some property. So he
leaves the protective walls of his monastery and begins his adventure of a
lifetime. To aid him in this adventure, he is accompanied by a former Roman
Legionnaire named Cannon. The give and take between O’Frell and Cannon is
exquisite. And O’Frell’s coming of age as he experiences real people and an
unforgiving world just makes him a gem of a character. This is not a religious
story: it’s funny, gritty, has elements of romance, and a ton of action.
This is probably
fairly pedestrian of me - but my favorite character of all time was Paul
Brenner from Nelson DeMille’s book Up Country. Paul was jaded and wonderfully
flawed. He was relentless, focused, and had the mental and physical resources
to just meet whatever obstacle was placed in his path.
Any song or songs that could basically
sum up the overall mood of your writing?
I write about
everything except romance. My subject
matter is all over the board and some of it is completely over the top. In my
first book Merry Hell, the protagonist is a strong-willed, middle aged woman
named Angie Timmons. She is hosting
Christmas dinner for her friends and family, and has an important event the
next day. Everyone is trapped in her
house as the blizzard of the century blows through the area. The power fails; one daughter has
life-changing news, another daughter goes missing in the storm. The main part
of the story is about Angie’s struggles to hold it all together as these
problems develop. In all of my stories
my characters face conflict and problems in a resolute manner. So I think the
song which best describes the mood of my writing would be Steppenwolf's “Born
to be Wild”. “Looking for adventure and whatever comes our way.”
I want to close
with a big thank you to Jenny Bynum, Bridgette Bandell, and all of my
fans. Writing can be a difficult task
sometimes, but people like you make it worth the effort. Again, thank you.
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