Today I'd like to welcome fellow Texan Dale Briton. Tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up in the Buffalo, NY area,
went to school in Utah, spent two years in France, and now live in Arlington,
Texas. Still not sure how that happened. I met my wife in college, and we have
three beautiful daughters. I teach high school math and computer science, and
spend most of my free time writing young adult novels. Learning to be an author
has been a wonderful adventure.
It is definitely a learning process. Being an author is a lot more than just writing a good story. What brought
about the idea for this book?
Strangely, the idea for this novel came from a list of writing
prompts. One of them was “Everything in your house has been replaced by
identical copies of the originals.” I thought it was kind of silly, but I
couldn’t stop thinking about it, and it evolved into the premise of The World I Know.
Dale, where do you
see yourself in five years?
My dream is to progress to the point
where I can earn enough from my writing to cut down on the extra work I do at
my second job. My goal is to release two novels a year, so in five years I
should have twelve out.
Two a year is a lot of work. I am presently attempting the same goal. Good luck! Hopefully we can both keep up the momentum. Currently, what are you working on?
I’m finishing the novel I started for
National Novel Writing Day, and planning the next one (Everyone Knows Jane). I’m also beginning the editing process on the
book I’m planning to release this summer: Too
Much Information.
Congrats! A new release is always an exciting time. What has
been the most difficult thing you have struggled with since you began a career
in writing?
For me, the hardest thing is finding time to work. I have two
jobs, a family, a house, commitments at my church, and a hundred other things.
It’s really hard finding time to write, edit, and promote my work. It’s gotten
harder now that I’ve already released two of my books.
I hear you. There are only so many hours in the day, and there is so much work involved after the release of a book that I had no idea of before publishing a book. Dale will you tell us a little bit about your main characters.
Leo, my main character, is a popular
high school jock (so I’m definitely not
writing what I know) who slowly starts to realize that the world is changing
around him. A lot of the story deals with his interactions with his girlfriend
Shelly, a stereotypical cheerleader, and Cassidy, a girl who has magically
appeared in his school. Leo’s experience helps him to rethink his priorities.
Do you have people read your drafts before you
publish? How do you select beta readers?
I show my work to anyone I can
convince to look at it. I need as much feedback as I can possibly get. I’m a
member of a number of critique groups, and we read each other’s books to offer
advice and suggestions. I would not have been able to do this without all of
the people who have helped me.
I agree the more eyes the better. Who designed the artwork for your cover? Or did you
design it yourself?
Unfortunately, I’m not at a place
where I can afford to pay for artwork. I design my covers myself, again with as
much input as I can get from others.
How do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?
Fortunately, I’m aware of the fact
that I have room to improve in my writing. I need criticism. I can take it.
I’ve gotten a lot of good advice, and fortunately I haven’t had any overly
harsh criticism. Not yet, anyway.
Dale, is there something you learned from writing your first
book?
I learned that I actually could write
a book. I wrote it over five years ago, and I had no idea what I was doing. It
needs a ton of work before it will see the light of day. I really liked the
premise a lot, though, so I’m hoping I’m be able to find the time to work on
it.
How many times do you think you read your book before
going to print?
I read it so much that I’m totally
sick of it before I finally publish it. At least, that’s what’s happened so
far. I’ve only published two.
Thanks so much for sharing with us today. Don't forget to check out all of Dale's books. Happy Reading!!
Blog: dalebritton.wordpress.com
Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Dale-Britton/e/B06XXMGSN8/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
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