Ask an author: An upcoming interview with Simon Haynes
Mikey 12 comments
It's my pleasure to announce we have confirmed an interview with science fiction/comedy writer Simon Haynes. As usual we are giving you the opportunity to submit your best questions, and those deemed worthy enough will be hastily put forward for the interrogation interview.
For those unfamiliar with Simons’ work, he is the author of the celebrated Hal Spacejock series.
The first Spacejock novel was a Dymocks best seller, the second was nominated for a West Australian Young Readers Book Award, and the 3rd won the WA Science Fiction Foundation award for best long work novel (source).
If you want to get acquainted with Hal Spacejock, the first edition is available as a free e-book. If you like what you see, grab the rest of the series.
What would you ask a successful published author? Perhaps questions about the industry, professional tips, what we can expect from the forthcoming Hal Spacejock 5, or how he is able to keep his goatee so perfectly trimmed, post your questions in the comments below.
Update: Question time is over, and Simon has responded.
Travis
Saturday 15th November 2008 | 04:46 PMHi Simon. What hoops can I expect to be asked to jump through by a publisher for my first novel?
Anders
Saturday 15th November 2008 | 04:47 PMI started reading the ebook from the link you sent and its hilarious so far. When I think of some questions I will post them here. Thanks!
Davo
Sunday 16th November 2008 | 08:17 AMI've read Hal 1 and 2 and thought they were lol-tastic. Thanks for the opportunity to ask Simon some questions, and here are a few I just thought of:
How has your life changed since being published?
Who are your favourite authors?
When is the next book due and what can we expect?
Does each successive book get easier to write?
Any plans to write something outside of the Hal Spacejock universe?
All the best.
Davo.
...in response to this comment by Davo. Hi Davo. You might be interested to know that Hal Spacejock 3 and 4 have already been released, and number 5 is expected for November 2009: http://www.spacejock.com.au/
I've admittedly only just finished the first book but have it on good authority the others will be in my Christmas stocking this year :-)
Janine
Sunday 16th November 2008 | 09:02 AMI've bee looking for a new book - never heard of Spacejock but reading some reviews here and there its appatrently pretty good. Tah for the lead.
Wendy W
Sunday 16th November 2008 | 09:08 AMHi Simon. Is it possible to make a living from writing this early in your career (without another day job)? If not is it something you are working towards?
Eater Bunny
Monday 17th November 2008 | 06:46 AMWhere do you draw your inspiration from which I think really means what science fictions books and shows do you like?
John F Q
Monday 17th November 2008 | 06:29 PMYou know I've thought about getting published so here are a few questions for Simon Haynes.
What advice would you give to anyone starting out?
Is there much financial outlay or does you publisher take care of all expenses?
Is the promotional budget for any of your books open to negotiation with the publisher?
Are you committed to deadlines or are the Hal books at your own leisure?
Thanks a bunch Simon!
Jen
Monday 17th November 2008 | 09:15 PMHow much freedom are you afforded when composing a new novel? Are there restrictions put in place like minimising adult content, profanity and things like that? Or can you go nuts?
Jake
Tuesday 18th November 2008 | 08:02 AM1 - Hal Spacejock is delightfully crafted to be readable by those who prefer generas other than sci-fi and at virtually any age; how would one craft their writing style in such a way as to target such a wide demographic?
2 - Like you (Simon), I really enjoy writing humerous sci-fi short stories, so at what what point, or rather, what process did you go through to alter your writing style to the more descriptive, character and story-line driven form of novel writing? Was it ever daunting?
3 - Again on novels, before you begin putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard, as it were) do you prepare/craft the storyline and characters, or do you just take the idea/concept and run with it? Or, do you have another way?
4 - Because most sci-fi publishers will not accept unsolicited manuscripts, how do you get your foot in the door?
5 - Do you think it is possible to become ones own literary agent?
6 - At what point during the exercise of writing a novel can you definitively say, "that's a wrap"?
7 - How do you manage the to continue both the momentum and storyline into followup novels?
Cheers for the oppotunity Mikey!
Franken
Tuesday 18th November 2008 | 08:52 PMHi Simon:
Is Hal based on a real life character in your life?
Why the culinary references in the titles for the first 4 books but not the next 2?
Would you give me a free copy of Legacy when it's released?
Who are your favourite authors?
Laiste
Wednesday 19th November 2008 | 06:17 AMWhats your all-time favourite question you've ever been asked in an interview? What was your answer?
Do you think things like Nanowrimo work? Would you recommend a budding author take part?
Can you tell us more about why you allow free downloads of yWriter and all your other programs (which are awesome by the way). What led you to that decision?
What do you like to read that you think other people would be surprised about? What genre or type of writing would you not touch with a ten foot pole?
Aside from the actual writing part, what is your favourite part of life as an author?
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