I've got a special treat for you this month. I'm going to devote Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays to writers from eSpecs Books. They're a great bunch of folks whom you need to get to know.
First up is Danielle Ackley-McPhail!
Tell us a bit about your latest work.
I just finished Daire’s Devils, a military science fiction novel I’ve been working on off and on for twelve years. It was shelved for a good part of that time as I worked on other projects, but it was always in the back of my mind. One of my friends/fans kept poking me to finish it and I guess the time was right. It is about an elite military team (because aren’t they all?) caught up in a power play between forces inside and outside their command structure. There is espionage and betrayal and loads of action.
The book is set against the backdrop of the Alliance Archives universe created by my husband and fellow author, Mike McPhail, for a role-playing game he’s had under development longer than we’ve been married. (I’m now poking *him* to finish.)
What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?
When I was about five or six years old, my mother took me to the library and got me my first library card. Once I had it in my hands she turned me toward the stacks and said “You can chose as many as you can carry.” From that point on she was doomed, and my fate was set. I read constantly until even she could tell me over and over to ‘put the book down!’ I would read long after I was supposed to be asleep and even then I would continue the stories in my head once I closed my eyes because I never wanted them to end. With so much immersion into the written word and storytelling it was only natural that English would become my ‘easy’ courses and from there I learned to put my own bend to the tale.
What inspires you to write?
Finding the twist. Taking the unanticipated path. Observing a designated theme, but turning expectations on their collective ear. I love building a world and populating it until the reader is immersed as I was as a child, and still am as an adult.
What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?
I don’t know that I consciously set out to write with a message. My writing is entertainment, not political. I more tend to find an interesting tale and explore where it takes me. If I’ve done my job correctly there is growth and consequence and hard choices, but I feel that a reader finds their own messages as the words speak to them, and for every person that is different.
What writers have influenced your style and technique?
I have writers that I enjoy and that I feel my work is similar to, but I can’t really say I am influenced by anyone. I’m just not wired that way. I have and always will do my own thing, the way that I would do it.
If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?
Oh… oh my. I am and have always been a small-press author, mostly because I am impatient and don’t want to wait years just to be told my work isn’t what they are looking for right now. That means I step in when opportunities present themselves. Unfortunately, with small press there can be a lack of stability in publisher and business models. I have encountered this several times in my career as an author, which has resulted in my first novel, Yesterday’s Dreams, having been published by no less than four different publishers. Each time it has been revised and cleaned up, but there is only so much you can do without rewriting the whole thing from scratch. While I love my first trilogy, it is some of my weakest writing, despite repeated revision. But I wouldn’t be where I am today without those experiences, and even if I find aspects of them cringe-worthy, there are plenty of people out there who have loved them.
Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?
Hmmm. Art, definitely art, because I am fully aware of my artistic license and exercise it regularly. Rules and facts are fluid things when writing creatively. Know the rules, but don’t be afraid to break them for effect and with clear intent.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
I am a non-linear pantser. I cannot write an outline. My mind just doesn’t work that way. I discover my story as I am writing and rather wander down a rambling path to see what is there, than to feel tied to a structure predetermined before I start. It means that things do not always go smoothly, or quickly, and occasionally I get lost, but oh, the tales I can tell 😉
How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not?
I have a few select friends that will read my work and help me beat it into shape, or who will spend some time with me to brainstorm a particularly problematic scene. Other than that, they are primarily support.
What does literary success look like to you?
Keeping ahead of obscurity. I don’t have to be known around the world, as long as I make a connection with my fan base and can share my worlds with those eager to explore them. My greatest joy as a writer is when someone knows of my work and they didn’t hear about it from me, but I am also more than glad to make that direct connection when and where I can. This is one of the reasons I promote my work primarily through fan conventions.
Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?
I am currently working on a new book for the Systema Paradoxa series of novellas, which are featured quarterly in the monthly subscription box, Cryptid Crate. The books in the series are individual tales.
For more information, visit:
Website: www.sidhenadaire.com
Online Store: https://especbooks.square.site
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/989939.Danielle_Ackley_McPhail
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Danielle-Ackley-McPhail/e/B002GZVZPQ/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMcPhail
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielle.ackleymcphail
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/danielle-ackley-mcphail
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzaURWImlDd-w9o_YMte0cVZKKviZTLbo
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