Brian Clopper is one of my favorite indie authors. His books are packed with fun and adventure and I'm looking forward to having you meet him. On a side note, Brian and I have collaborated along with
three other authors on a fun short story fantasy anthology entitled
Wonderstorms. Highly recommended! ;)
Here now, 7 Questions for Brian Clopper:
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you
got involved in writing books.
I'm a father of two. I teach fifth grade in North Carolina. The writing
bug hit me later in life. I wrote for comic books, mostly
self-published projects that I also illustrated. During the time I
worked in comic books, I started writing fantasy novels, Graham the
Gargoyle and Monsters in Boxers back in 2000. I even had an agent for a
time who was shopping Monsters in Boxers, but nothing came of it.
When
my family made a major move to North Carolina, I stopped working in
comics and focused on teaching and being a dad. After a few years, my
daughter asked me if I would write again as she had never seen me do any
of my books. I was so excited by her enthusiasm that I dove in. I made
friends with Keith Robinson who was instrumental in helping me publish
my books electronically and four years later, I have sixteen books
available, one under a penname.
2. What effect, if any, does your day job have on
your writing?
In my day job, I teach writing and science to three classes of fifth
graders. This year, I even get to teach my son those subjects as he is
in fifth grade. He is a talented writer. In fact, both my children are
incredible storytellers and have surprisingly sophisticated
vocabularies. I wonder where they get that from.
Working
with students daily to inspire them to be creative in writing is
inspiring to me as well.They
love that I'm a writer and push themselves
even more to excel. The climate in the classroom when they write is so
exciting. Each of them sees themselves as a writer and they drive
themselves hard.
When
I come home, I write for an hour about three nights a week and then get
another three hours on the weekend. I get even more time when I track
out. I teach at a year-round school where I am in for nine weeks and
then off for three. During the four three-week breaks I get a ton of
writing done. I find I can write 3-4 books a year with this schedule and
have done nothing under that range in the four years since I started
working on writing with a serious desire.
3. As an author, what draws you to the fantasy
genre?
Fantasy is such a rich genre. I love monsters and magic. I love the
possibilities inherent in fantasies. I also think science fiction is the
bee's knees too. While most of my books are fantasy, I have done two
science fiction books, Fractured with Keith Robinson and my penname
book. My heart belongs to fantasy though, so while I will dabble in other genres, I come back to fantasy often.
4. What
are some of the challenges and benefits of being an indie author?
The biggest challenge is I lack the knack for self-promotion. I'd even
go so far as to say I hate touting my books. I would much rather devote
any time I have to writing over promoting, which is probably why so few
people have discovered my work. Part of me wonders if that's a form of
self-sabotage. Do I avoid drawing attention to myself so I can
deliberately avoid the exposure that comes with driving readers to my
books? My shy personality draws a little nourishment from going
unnoticed. I sometimes fear that success will come only if I let it
catch me.
5. Take us through your process (from idea to
publication) when working on a book.
I write very loose. I don't create an outline or a sophisticated map of
events. I do write a brief two or three paragraph summary before I dive
in, but the final product bares little resemblance to that initial
summary. I do jot down signpost scenes of elements I need to include. I
let the characters and setting organically grow the plot. I find
pleasant discoveries in story elements happen often and never write
myself into a corner.
It
takes me three months to write the first draft. During that time, I
will reread and edit after completing each new chapter. I reread and
edit after I reach the halfway mark and then I read it again when the
first draft is complete. I then send it out to beta readers and that
takes another two months. One of my trusted beta readers, Keith
Robinson, reads the book in a google doc and gives me gobs of immediate
feedback. You, yourself, Roger, have helped me in this fashion several
times as well.
I
then take another month to do final edits and one more read-through
before publishing. During the three months of beta reading and editing, I
am busy writing the first draft of my next book. I am a restless soul
and find that pushes me to be more productive. This schedule helps me
put out 3-4 books a year.
6. Name a few of your favorite authors growing up
and describe the influence they may have had on your own writing.
I loved Andre Norton. Here Abide Monsters is one of my favorites. An
author that not many know of who really inspired me was Sterling Lanier.
His fantasy is an assemblage of frontier savagery and mysticism. It
also helps that he lived only about twenty miles from my hometown.
Something about knowing that an author is so close at hand creates an
immediacy to their craft. I plowed through tons of Piers Anthony and
Robert Heinlein.
In
my teen years, I couldn't get enough of Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle,
and Steven Barnes when they worked together. Michael Crichton's books
made my twenty-something self pleased as punch. I think my short quick
chapters and propensity for cliffhangers can be traced back to his work.
I like stories that explore underground worlds, war-torn futures and can't get enough of zombies.
On
the humor side, I delight in Douglas Addams and rank Good Omens by Neil
Gaiman and Terry Prachett as one of my all-time favorites.
In
the comic book world, Ty Templeton's Stig's Inferno along with Scott
McCloud's Zot! are two series that shaped my writing philosophy.
7. What are you working on these days and what kind
of projects do you have planned for the future?
I am finishing up the last 10,000 words of Irving Wishbutton 2: The
Revision Ravines. That series is
set for four volumes and I plan on
delivering a new one every May.
Up
next is Overwhelmed, Book 2 of Turncoats. This is my zombie series and
has been well reviewed. I get a lot of readers asking me to get book 2
out.
I
just published Graham 3 and plan on working on Graham 4 and Monsters in
Boxers 2 in the latter half of 2014. If it sounds like this is the year
of follow-ups, you'd be right. I am making a focused effort to finish
up the series I start. I want readers to know that I am driven to
creating new concepts but won't be ignoring the rich fantasy worlds I
have already unleashed.
In
terms of new concepts, I want to do Evil Impire as a short 40,000 word
novel. It is a zany fantasy that ties into the Graham series but can
exist as a standalone.
After
all that, I really want to work with Keith Robinson on our follow-up
book to Fractured, Unearthed. That series has strong reader support and
both of us are eager to finish it off. I also want to do another humorous science fiction book under my penname.
It looks like the next two years are going to be busy as all get out. I wouldn't have it any other way.
##
Thanks Brian!
Brian
Clopper is an elementary school teacher and lover of monsters. He has
been a prolific writer over the past four years, producing over fifteen
novels. He enjoys tacos and sushi but never together. When not on the
field helping coach his son's baseball team and his daughter's softball
team, he can be found reading comics, books and playing far too many
video games. His lovely wife Michelle is a big supporter of his creative endeavors.
To learn more about Brian and his books, visit him here:
Twitter: @brianclopper
