Ask the Author: Ed Gray
Answered Questions (4)
Ed Gray
It's certainly not my boss -- he's an unforgiving tyrant. And it's definitely not the hours -- that tyrant keeps assigning them at random and without much notice.
I'm not sure what's best. Maybe it's that stage late in a work when it's still all yours, when the space you've carved and the characters you've enlivened are known only to you, when all their ticks and tocks are still exactly as they presented themselves to you as you created them, when the stories they're living are still just for you. That stage vanishes like a dream as soon as you submit the thing to someone who has purchased it. Because they will change it. Quite possibly for the better, but they will change it.
I'm not sure what's best. Maybe it's that stage late in a work when it's still all yours, when the space you've carved and the characters you've enlivened are known only to you, when all their ticks and tocks are still exactly as they presented themselves to you as you created them, when the stories they're living are still just for you. That stage vanishes like a dream as soon as you submit the thing to someone who has purchased it. Because they will change it. Quite possibly for the better, but they will change it.
Ed Gray
I've been an editor for more than 30 years, so I've handed out lots of advice, almost all of it specific. In general I'll say this: Ask yourself which describes you better -- you want to be a writer or you have something you really, really want to write, something that nags at you and demands that you bring it to life. If it's the former, don't start till it's the latter.
Ed Gray
Not counting my forthcoming novel due out in May 2016 (see my answer to "What are you working on?"), "Dancaster's Pardon" is my most recent. It's based on a 1352 event I found in John Carey's indispensable compendium, "Eyewitness to History." Everyone should own a copy.
Ed Gray
My new novel due out in May 2016 from Pegasus Books. We're still in the editing and setup phase. Set in 1587-90, its working title is "Left in the Wind: The Roanoke Journal of Emme Merrimoth." It's the fictional journal of one of the members of the Lost Colony.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more