How did you feel when you finished your most recent project?

One thing I've come to appreciate.

"Finished" is hardly ever a point in time.

I reach a stage but there always seems to be another one. There's always one more thing to fix, an error to correct.

I've stopped thinking of my books as finished. Only done for now.

But I do love that feeling where they've been turned loose on the world and no longer require my day-to-day attention. The opportunity to start with a fresh file and Chapter 1 again.

But maybe after I've had a break to refill the well.

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If your creative work could speak, what would it say about you?

I have no idea.

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What’s a creative habit you’ve wanted to adopt but haven’t yet?

I think the only 2 I haven't tried yet are pottery and painting.

I played several instruments in my youth.

Tried sketching. Never stuck with it long enough to develop proficiency beyond rough doodles. The lure of photography keeps me using my phone's camera occasionally. My Canon M1 lies ignored in a cupboard.

Spent a lot of time doing fiber arts like knitting, crochet, and macrame. Even took up basket weaving for a time.

I'm working on calligraphy by trying to get my daily penmanship up to snuff. I still type when I need to read it later

At my age, I think my best bet is to double down on my current creative efforts and see how far I can go before I can't.

I'm good with that.

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Convince us to read a book you don't care for yourself.

An interesting question because of all the responses that are direct answers without following previous instructions.

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Is the time you've had for creativity this month what you expected?

Yes, but it's not the time.

It's how I use it.

In my dotage, I'm finding a lot of what I do is creative, even when it's not productive.

Sometimes those are the most satisfying.

It's too pretentious to say "I trust my Process." Like some kind of auteur or something.

Yet in the last few days, that dry wellspring has started filling again. Enough that small splashes moisten my dried ideas. A few fresh shoots breaking through and I'm delighted.

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Our featured creator writes both novels and short stories. How do you feel about short fiction? Do you read short stories as often as novels?

It's probably a character flaw, but I'm not a fan of short stories. As a rule, I don't read them. I don't write them. Although I've done both in the past.

They fall into a weird space that, no matter how good they are, they're not satisfying.

If they're good, they're over too soon. A couple of minutes reading. Maybe five. Then they're gone. No more. A delicious artisanal potato chip, one per bag.

If they're not, I'm left without even that.

I read too fast. Even standalone novels can leave me looking around for dessert. Give me a beefy series, something that can keep me entertained for more than a day or two. Characters that live for more than a few minutes in my mind.

Maybe I'm just lonely and these are my imaginary friends filling in the spaces left open from childhood. 😅

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Our featured creator has an em dash key on his keyboard. Do you do any customizations for your creativity?

Only in Spell Check in my word processor.

I try to keep text as clean as possible.

I tried programming function keys once. I realized, eventually, that I didn't have the habit of hitting function keys.

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Are you able to communicate in sign language?

Sadly, no. So many languages I don't know, can't speak. So many modes lost on me.

I'm not even sure I can communicate effectively verbally.

At least written communication gives me time to change my mind about what I might say before I actually - you know - say it.

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How do you choose a title for your book?

No single path. Since I write novels in a series, they all relate to the series title somehow.

Most often they come before the story, shaping the narrative.

"Oh, that's a cool title. Wonder what book is behind it!"

Occasionally, like this next one, I know it'll be The Wizard's Something but the final title? I have contenders but the finalist will have to wait until I'm further along in the writing.

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