Tad answering questions
German book community website SKOUTZ recently conducted an interesting interview with Tad that is now online on their website in German.
Since this is a great interview, we are very happy that we can present Tad´s international readers with an exclusive English version as well! Enjoy!
Please describe yourself in one word!
Storyteller
How do you write? Are you a well-structured planner, a creative chaotic? Or member of a gang of writers? Describe the way from the idea to the book, where would we find tiny notes? What about word wars, NaNoWriMo, battles or else?
I’m a planner, an architect. I generally work alone because I like to move plots and characters around like chess pieces until I find the right balance between drama and naturalism. I keep it all in my head as I’m working because it’s more flexible that way — I can try a dozen different possibilities in my thoughts and never have to rewrite a thing after I decide what works best.
My ideas stay in my head a long time before they turn into stories, and often accrue bits of other ideas along the way. Then, when I start to see it all fit together, I begin worldbuilding, creating geography and history that will complement the story.
Which button on your keyboard is most worn-out?
Probably the comma, I’m sad to say, because that’s what I have to remove the most in rewrite. I tend to put one in at every pause, but then when I go back each sentence is like a drag line from a fishing boat, full of hooks, and I have to remove a ton of them to make the words flow.
If a friendly fairy offers you a perfect writer’s day – how would it look like?
Knowing what I wanted to write before I sat down, and it having had a chance for it to percolate into more than just plot points. (I like to think about how I’m going to tell the story as much as the story itself). A brisk ten (good day) to twenty (exceptional day!) pages of manuscript, then the guilt-free time after having done a good day’s pages. And some kind of massive reward system could be in there at the end, too.
Honestly, how much autobiography is hidden in your stories?
Not that much, at least on a one-to-one-correspondence level. There are certainly ample bits of the real me in War of the Flowers and the Bobby Dollar books (Dirty Streets of Heaven, etc.) but I’m sure the largest part is subconscious and just bubbles up — my background and experiences (including all the zillions of other books I’ve read) permeate everything I do.
What is your secret to attract your muse and to get over writer’s block (minor or major)?
I have a theory that most writer’s block is not a “block” at all, just a temporary pause when the writer’s not ready to write something yet. But some writers tend to see that as a failure, or the exposure of a weakness, and get panicky. That leads to more problems.
I know sometimes I just have to leave it alone for a bit, and then it will show up in its own time, wagging its tail behind it. That’s why it’s good to have other projects, whether writing-oriented or not, to give me something productive to do when I hit a snag. Sometimes you’re just not ready to write the next bit yet. Don’t panic.
What part has the pure writing in an author’s job and what is the other part(s)?
How much time needs the preparation, the research, the revision, marketing and so on? What about your covers?
I like to spend thinking time separate from actual writing time every day. I’ve found over the years I’m more productive if I think first without the impatient tapping finger of a blank page or blank screen, then — when I’ve made sense of what I want to do — I actually sit down at the keyboard.
But I do a lot of worldbuilding too, so part of that thinking time every day is me also ranging far afield to make sure the ideas I’m working with are supported by the world of the story, and if I’m not sure, I spend time thinking about what I don’t know about the world in which the story happens. Worldbuilding does not end with the beginning of writing the book — far from it.
Revision, marketing, and everything else are just as important, but those are collaborative processes, so I am limited/helped/inspired by other people’s contributions.
As far as covers, I’ve had quite good luck. My American publishers know my own art background and have always included me in conversations about covers and such, and of course when you’ve got pictures by Michael Whelan and some of the other excellent artists I have, there’s not usually a lot of input necessary from me.
What makes a book to a good one? What are your standards as an author, but also as a reader? Are you still able to loose yourself in a good book, without the inner editor?
It’s harder now than before I was a writer myself, because the inner editor is always at work. But if anything, it makes me value really good writers all the more, because I’m always grateful when I can shut off the nagging critical voice and just enjoy someone else’s work.
My standards differ depending on the book. Is it High Art, or just entertainment? But even “just entertainment” must have a level of skill and cleverness I admire or I don’t bother.
What separates you from your story? Which dangers lurks behind your desk?Nothing except what makes it a better story. It’s dangerous to assume every idea is good, and that’s one of the reasons I put a lot of time into thinking before writing, but even so I sometimes have to look at what I’ve done and admit it doesn’t work as well as I hoped it would. But I’m pretty dogged in pursuing my story, and I think about whatever book I’m writing constantly, so things are always changing, bubbling, transforming.
What do you do, to get your mind clear after an exhausting writing session?Generally watch or read something nothing like what I’m doing, often comedy. I find Rifftrax and Mystery Science Theater 3000 particularly good for decompressing — shows that make fun of bad movies. But I also watch sports, which is another good way to clean the mental palate.
With which of your characters would you describe the relationship as “complicated”? Why?
Only the villains. As in real life, I try to find something to like and enjoy in everyone I meet, but sometimes it’s a bit difficult to find areas of commonality with sociopathic murderers. And thank goodness for that, I guess. For the less terrifying characters, I have a great deal of patience, especially the young ones.
Which height has your PUM (Pillar of unwritten manuscripts)? How much time do you need for a novel? Are you writing one after the other or more at the same time, depending on your mood and motivation?
I always have several books I’d LIKE to write. Those that stand the test of time — in other words, that survive in my imagination while I’m writing other books — are likely to eventually get written. Others may be demoted to short stories or elements of other novels. But there are usually about three or four possibilities hovering in the back of my brain, waiting for a chance.
What was the most emotional moment in your writer’s career? Do you mind telling us some weird, funny or crazy details or episodes of your writer’s career?The first and most affecting was selling my first novel, Tailchaser’s Song. I found out by mail, and then went out to walk my dog, feeling like something important had just happened in my life. And it had.
Consider that I like to tell stories about weird things, I haven’t really had that much weird happen to me during my career. A lot of nice things, some frustrations (of course), but nothing too strange. I’ve been doing it long enough now that it almost seems like a normal career for a normal person, which may be the weirdest thing of all.
What is your definition of success? Do you check bestseller ranks? Literature awards? What would be the greatest praise for you?
It used to be about obvious benchmarks — money, bestsellers. Now I’m more and more convinced that simply continuing to do something I love doing, and making a living at it, is a gift far greater than anything else my career could give me.
And I’ve met a LOT of really cool people, both famous and not. That’s been great too. And it brought me to my wife Deborah, who was my British publisher. All wins.
And finally: Which question would you like to answer with a simple “YES!”?
“Will you live forever and never die and yet remain able to enjoy ice cream and salty snacks throughout your eternal span?”
Thank you very much!