Ask the Author: Michael Shotter
Answered Questions (4)
Michael Shotter
Virtual Voice, at least in its current form, requires a lot of editing to produce the results you hear in my finished audiobooks. In an average book, there are hundreds, or even thousands, of pauses, pronunciation changes, and reading-speed tweaks that have to be manually identified, added, adjusted, and confirmed, and even then, it's never absolutely perfect. Basically, it takes at least 5 to 10 times as many hours as the book is long to do everything properly, so it's definitely not a "push a button, get a viable audiobook" sort of process. Still, it does save a noteworthy amount of time and effort versus recording my own narrations and the technology is improving all the time, so I generally consider it a very helpful tool that can produce fairly impressive and enjoyable results for readers with effort, which is why I've opted to make use of it for several of my books. Thanks for the question!
Michael Shotter
Without getting too specific, I think it's fair to say that several of the stories in the short-fiction anthology I'll be releasing next year have some fairly strong dark-fiction and horror overtones. Some of that is definitely on display in my recently-released novelette, "Academic Displacement," which will also be included in that aforementioned collection.
That said, I'm always reluctant to label my works with a particular genre because one of the main things I strive for as an author is to defy typical genre norms and boundaries.
When reading, one of my greatest joys comes from being genuinely and pleasantly surprised by where a story goes. As much as genres can be useful for organizing stories into categories, I think they often do a disservice to those stories and their readers by setting expectations, rather than allowing the narrative to be experienced without bias or preconception. As a writer, I'm always hoping to surprise and delight the reader with something unexpected, regardless of whatever genre the core of the story may evoke.
Thanks for the question!
That said, I'm always reluctant to label my works with a particular genre because one of the main things I strive for as an author is to defy typical genre norms and boundaries.
When reading, one of my greatest joys comes from being genuinely and pleasantly surprised by where a story goes. As much as genres can be useful for organizing stories into categories, I think they often do a disservice to those stories and their readers by setting expectations, rather than allowing the narrative to be experienced without bias or preconception. As a writer, I'm always hoping to surprise and delight the reader with something unexpected, regardless of whatever genre the core of the story may evoke.
Thanks for the question!
Michael Shotter
I'm very fortunate in that I rarely suffer from this condition as I generally have a solid idea what I want to write, and how I want to write it before I sit down to work; however, I think a good technique for dealing with any sort of productivity-related issue is to embrace the notion of stepping away from a task to reset one's mind. In my experience, it's far better to take a few minutes to read an unrelated article, or play a short game, or engage in some other task that stimulates the mind in a different manner. I've consistently found myself to be more focused and productive when returning to a task after a brief, structured diversion than I'd ever be from simply sitting and staring at a blank screen or sheet of paper.
Michael Shotter
I'm preparing to release my new novel, "309," which is currently available for pre-order as a Kindle eBook via Amazon. Additional formats will be coming soon after the book officially releases on Friday, September, 21, 2018.
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