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mcfrankauthor · 28 days
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mcfrankauthor · 4 months
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"I'll never stop, baby."
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mcfrankauthor · 5 months
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mcfrankauthor · 6 months
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mcfrankauthor · 6 months
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Interview With The Vampyre Writer
- The Robin Hood Series Diaries (23)
Everything I Do, my Robin Hood/brotherhood/female assassin/romantic adventure novel, comes out in less than a month.
So I have decided to interview myself. I love giving interviews, and I have a TON of questions from Instagram (@mcfrank_author) but no one is asking the REALLY important questions, like what do vampires eat for lunch (noodles). So I’ll do it myself.
All jokes aside, I thought this Q&A might help some aspiring or published authors as well, since we all face similar struggles, after all. (Feeling alone while you’re writing is REAL. I’ve been through it, and I’m so grateful to the writers who shared their journey and made me feel understood, so I’m hoping to do the same.) Also, I need to get a few things off my chest, and this is the perfect opportunity. The interview will include personal questions, as well as EID ones, so I’m sure you’re all at the edge of your seats.
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WHY are you a vampire writer?
Because I sleep during the day and write at night, most days until 5 am. Also, I am allergic to the sun (real fact).
WHY Robin Hood?
I’ve loved him since I was 10. I read my first Robin Hood story when I was 9, and he’s been in my head ever since. I watched the Disney version when my brother was 4 (I was 16) but by then he had been in my head for over six years. My own story had begun to take shape in my imagination already, crazy as it sounds.
I love that he’s the hero of a broken, troubled land, and the fact that his legend emerged from really dark times, such as the ones my own country is in right now makes me feel so much kinship with him and his company. Also, I’ve always (since I was 10, so literally always) wanted to explore his burden of responsibility and torture for all the lives lost under his leadership. So, a thousand years later, here we are. The epic begins.
 WHY should I read Everything I Do?
Because tough guys, blood, cats, girls dressed as boys, female assassins, Robin Hood, hotness, metal illness rep, boy band, POC rep, bromance and disability rep (unfortunately I can’t mention all the reps because SPOILERS. Will do for book 2, though.)
WHY do you write?
To stay alive.
I have been diagnosed with pretty bad stuff that I can’t mention or it would give you nightmares for the rest of your life. Let’s just say that the words “resistant” and “clinical” have been thrown in by more than 3 docs. (If you have what I have, then I am truly truly sorry, but you get what I’m talking about.) So I spent about 5 years in bed, literally. I was so heavily medicated that I don’t remember ANYTHING from these 5 years. I lost them. One day, I thought of an idea for a book. (It was about a little dead five-year-old girl. Coincidence?) I got out of bed and wrote non-stop for a week. It was finished, all 100Kish words of it in 7 days. Then, I showed it to the dude and later, my dad. They both cried (but not in front of each other.) So I threw it away and sat down to write what would later become Ruined.
Since that day, I’ve gotten up every day in order to write. Along with writing, other things came: I stopped taking any meds completely, I dropped most of the weight, I got my Physics Uni degree. Did a few of other cool things as well. But it’s the writing I wake up for every day.
It’s the stories that keep the nightmares at bay.
 WHY cats in a Robin Hood book?
Because tough guys covered in blood from a recent duel purring at a cat are life.
 WHY Greek mythology?
I’m Greek. (This question refers to Salt for Air, I think, and not to Robin Hood.) I got tired of everyone and their mom saying how much they adore Greek mythology and then getting it COMPLETELY wrong in their books. Please get it right. We deserve your respect.
 WHAT do you expect from the release of Everything I Do?
A few cool people posting about my tortured, gorgeous Robin boy, and a lot of cool people reading his book.
 WHAT inpired you to write this particular story?
My “story”. You know how you have a particular story constantly in your head? How you keep adding characters and scenes to it, and keep daydreaming through boring old school and university classes and…No? Just me? Oops. *Crawls back into a corner* Anyway, that’s my inspiration.
 WHAT is your favorite part of Everything I Do?
The tree/rain scene. *dies of feels*
 WHAT is your favorite book of all time?
Now, that is a question I get more than any other, and its. just. cruel. Daughter of Smoke and Bone, let’s just say. And Bleak House. And Persuasion. That’s one book, right?
 HOW did you meet your dude?
You’re too nosy, that’s how. (We were friends for years, and then one day he called me and said… well, stuff… *blushes*)
 HOW did you make the decision to self-publish?
After years of research. That’s literally all it took. Getting allll the facts, and then making a list of pros and cons. The pros won by a landslide and I am so happy with my decision.
 HOW old are you?
110
 WHEN will the next book after Everything I Do be out?
Winter of 2019.
 WHAT is your favorite and least favorite part of the writing process?
Favorite: Writing my most anticipated chapters yuummm and least favorite: the final rounds of editing  are sooooo tiring.
WHAT book/author inspired your love of reading early on and how did that affect  you as a writer?
The books that inspired my huge love of reading were the Chronicles of Narnia, as these were the first books I fell in love with. However, they discouraged me from writing, if anything, because they were so awesome and complex. The author that inspired me was and still is my dad. I grew up watching him write all day, every day, even on vacations, and then when I was a teen I started reading his short stories and plays. And that was it, I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life. I just didn’t know how.
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DO you listen to music while writing?
No, I find it too distracting.
WHAT’s your favorite genre to write?
Scifi. BUT I get tired of writing the same genre, I always have to take a break after each book and go write a completely opposite genre.
DO you remember your first story you’ve ever written?
Yes, very well. I was 11, I think, and it was about a bird being safe in its nest during a sea storm. I showed it to my best friend and she took it home and read it to ALL of her family and friends, and she came back to school and told me that I should publish it for money (it was less than 100 words). Everything I Do is dedicated to her.  I also showed it to another, older “friend” of the family, who made fun of me and it. She is no longer in my life.
HOW do you overcome writer’s block? (This was the most popular question asked ever)
I do a few things:
I go work on something else for a while. My brain just opens up when I stop thinking about the story/scene that’s blocking me.
I try working on a different medium, or a different computer.
I rest, because more often than not burnout is the cause of author’s block.
I take Ray Bradbury’s advice very seriously (another author who hugely impacted and influenced my writing) who said that writer’s block is your brain’s way of telling you that you shouldn’t be writing this story, because it’s no good, or because this isn’t the story for you. So I reevaluate what I want to write, if it’s something I am in love with, and if it’s the right story for me at this time in my life.
I seek inspiration in nature and books. Reading always, always does the trick for me.
WHEN did the idea of writing a book come up in your head first?
When I was 8 and in the summer my dad used to sit outside, by the beach, and write and write. I wanted to be like him, so I sat down and little stories began to pour out. My sister did the same. We thought that all kids were like that, and dad didn’t tell us any different, lol. He must have been cracking up inside, though, now that I think about it.
HOW long does it usually take you to finish a book?
Three months at the least, a few years at the most. I’ve had both of these happen to me, and everything in-between. So there’s no standard answer for me, maybe because I write in a few different genres.
WHAT is the process before getting your mind in the game and starting to write?
I read my notes, so that I know what I’ll be writing about, and think about the beginning of my first sentence for a bit. I don’t sit down to type until I have “daydreamed” about my characters a bit, so that I’m in the world I’m writing about. This is necessary for me, because my head is constantly filled with stories and thoughts, and they are not always relevant to the story I’m writing at the time. They might be of another story I’m planning out, or of a story I’m reading (I constantly read while I write, I have no problem with that, I even take breaks from writing to read a chapter—it’s my reward).  So I need to get inside that world. And I love it, once I’m in there. But it’s necessary.
I also look at my aesthetics (now you see why I make so MANY of them), as I am a very visual person,
HOW long have you been writing?
Since I was a kid, in general, but more seriously since 2009.
WHEN developing a new story, what part is the most exciting?
Brainstorming and outlining.
HOW do you write so many different genres so awesomely? 
This question was submitted by Aisha, who is seriously the sweetest person ever. And the answer is, I don’t know about awesomely, but I read all these genres extensively, continuously, one-book-a-day-ly. I know them intimately, that’s why I feel confident enough to write in them. (ish)
WHAT is your writing routine like?
I kind of wake up, grab my laptop from my nightstand and start typing (still half-asleep).
DO you prefer pen and paper or typing?
Pen and paper for outlining and thought-dumping for sure, sticky notes and a million notebooks for planning, and typing for actually writing.
IF you create a small playlist for your latest book, what songs would be on there?
Here is the Everything I Do playlist, enjoy (includes Muse, Twenty-One Pilots, Aurora, My Chemical Romance, opera, EXO-K, Lorde and medieval tavern songs, among other things)!
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Kindle
Hardback
Goodreads.
Read all the Robin Hood WIP diaries
Read all my Robin Hood WIP snippets
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mcfrankauthor · 6 months
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when he says he loves you but he lets you go to sleep crying
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mcfrankauthor · 6 months
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mcfrankauthor · 6 months
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I am never going to complain about Greek Duolingo again
I mean, I am. But still.
So, as some of you know, my family has been coming to this tiny Greek seaside village for several years. Just over a week ago I came out here with my mum, under the impression that early September, after the height of the summer heat, would be a good time to have a holiday. ANYWAY Storm Daniel had other ideas about that. Locally things are improving (I'm actually really pissed off about the disaster-porn tone of most English-language media coverage, but that's another post). The power is back on, there's running water most of the time, and though the latter is not drinkable, a truck from the government came and handled out free bottled water yesterday. But we are currently kind of stuck. Can't do tourist things. Can't go home. There aren't any local flights out until Saturday and the road to Thessaloniki is still closed.
So this evening, feeling kind of aimless and depressed, I go down to the nearest beach with a couple of binbags and start cleaning up in an effort to at least do something positive. I always try to do this at least once out here and obviously, after the storm, there's a lot more plastic and rubbish than usual.
At some point I find this large, round bit of metal - some kind of machinery part, I think -- that's too big for the bag, so I take it to the bins on its own, leaving the rubbish bag on the beach. And when I come back for it, something among the stones beside it moves.
Specifically, it pulls its head sharply inside its shell
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So, meanwhile I've been trying to learn some Greek with the help of Duolingo.
I currently have a 33-day streak and... I have questions. Shouldn't I be able to use the past or future tenses by now? Shouldn't I be able to say "x is like y"? I can't do those things. But one thing I absolutely can say all day long is έχω μια χελώνα : I have a turtle.
This is far from the limit of Duolingo Greek's turtle-related content. "An obsession with turtles" is my mother's characterisation. I can inform you that the turtle is not a bird, and, improbably, that the turtle is drinking milk. I can introduce you to a turtle in company with a horse and an elephant. As far as Duolingo is concerned, it really is turtles all the way down.
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Now this, you may be able to see, is not a turtle. It has claws rather than flippers. It is a tortoise. I know there are wild tortoises in Greece: my aunt once rescued a pair of them shagging in the middle of the road -- but that was up in the mountains. I've even seen one myself, but it was also on a road and very dead.
I am 95% certain they don't belong on beaches. There's nothing for it to eat, except, unfortunately, a lot of plastic. Even if it gets off the beach it will immediately find itself on a road where it could get hit by a car. I'm pretty sure it must have been washed down by the floodwater and has been just sitting there, dazed, ever since.
Now obviously the first thing I want to do on encountering this unusual animal is to go and tell my mummy, so I do. The tortoise immediately brightens her day. She agrees that the tortoise is not happy on the beach and needs to be taken somewhere safe. it gets surprisingly wriggly when picked up so we put it in a carrier bag with some grapes and cucumber and go looking for somewhere to rehome it.
We find a path leading up between the houses towards a likely-looking field, but before we get very far a dog in a yard goes berserk and a man's head pops over a fence and demands to know what we're doing. He does this in English, as evidently we're just that obviously tourists.
"I found a tortoise on the beach!" I explain. "We want to find somewhere to put it."
"A what," he asks.
"It's like a, you know," I begin and then to my astonishment I find myself saying... "μια χελώνα"
"Oh! A turtle!" he says.
"But from the land. δεν είναι χελώνα", [it is not a turtle,] I say, as I am worried he will tell me to put it back near the sea where I found it. As it turns out it actually IS a χελώνα, Greek does not distinguish between turtles and tortoises, but I don't know that; I can't even name the days of the week or identify any colours other than pink yet, give me a break.
The man's entire demeanour changes and thaws. He does not worry about my turtle-that-is-not-a-turtle conundrum. He knows where οι χελώνες come from and where η χελώνα μας belongs. He leads us through a gate into a courtyard area.
"[somethingsomething] μια χελώνα," he explains to the assembled onlookers, of whom there are, suddenly, a surprising number.
"ΜΙΑ ΧΕΛΩΝΑ!!!" crows the throng of delighted small children, who are, suddenly, everywhere.
"μια χελώνα!" I agree, accepting that at least for current purposes, that is what it is.
"Μπορούμε να δούμε τη χελώνα σας; [can we see your turtle?]" asks an adorable little girl, shyly, and I understand??
The children fucking love looking at the χελώνα and showing it to them is kind of magical?
I finally put the tortoise down on the grass of this wild area off to the side of the courtyard, and marvel aloud that it is weird that I barely know any Greek except how to say μια χελώνα.
"I think she will soon run off," a kind lady called Aspasia assures me, seeing I remain slightly anxious about its fate. "I don't know why I'm saying 'she'. I suppose because χελώνα is feminine in Greek."
"Yes! I know that!" I exclaim, thrilled.
"Well done!" she says. And also she asks if we are OK for drinking water after the storm and if we need any help with anything and is just generally incredibly lovely and now we know more of the neighbours!
So "μια χελώνα" has just become, by a long way, my most-used and most understood and all-around most conversationally successful phrase in Greek. So I guess I have to admit I was wrong to doubt Duolingo's wisdom: it is correct to be obsessed with turtles. And I concede that prior to learning how to count to ten or to distinguish right from left, the simple ability to yell the word TURTLE over and over again is, it turns out, a crucial element of the responsible traveller's social skills.
(I am pretty fluent in Italian and turtles haven't come up in conversation even once?)
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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You might be poor
Your shoes might be broken
But your mind is a palace
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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Hope Crowley gets to be extremely dramatic in S3
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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Do you write music with the view of being politically active and delivering a message or does it just happen and the rest follows? 
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mcfrankauthor · 7 months
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— Anne Sexton, Imitations of Drowning
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