What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Cut From Stone?
It really began with me thinking about how my friends and I would react to a Red Dawn situation and then the main character and supporting cast grew from there. I always got stuck in my head as a kid, thinking about what would happen if the world were to really fall apart. How would everyone respond? What would my friends and I do?
As I grew older, I wrote down some of the ideas on paper and started with writing a sequence from the third book in the series. After I read it over, I realized that if I wanted to tell a great story I would have to go back to the very beginning, so I kept the title and shifted the story back in time to flesh everything out more.
Just a mere ten years later I finally focused and finished Cut From Stone!
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Cut From Stone, what would they be?
I’d Love to Change the World by Ten Years After.
What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I do love to read my genre, but am a huge fan of history and historical fiction. I normally read any Erik Larson book and am a big fan of arctic, jungle, or any exploration between the late 18th and early 20th century.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
I’m reading 100 Years of Solitude and enjoying it a lot, but am reading it much slower than anticipated because I’m working on the second book for Crafting Humanity too and have an aggressive schedule I’m trying keep myself to. After that I will read Dead Mountain about the Dylatov Pass Incident, I’ve heard great things.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
I loved writing the settings for the book. It was fun to go back in my memory to the places I based the book on and recreate them from my own perspective.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
Not really, I do find myself waking up at odd hours to jot something down and stuff, but nothing partiucarly strange.
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
I believe in the value of hard work and dedication to your craft. There’s always something you can dream of doing, you just have to work to get there.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
The characters. They are the central focus of the book and I really care about how I created them, their personalities, and story arcs.
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