Ask the Author: Russ Colchamiro
Answered Questions (5)
Russ Colchamiro
Thanks Belinda. Look for more giveaways throughout the year. Plus ... final book in the Finders Keepers series due to land either October or March, depending on how things go!
Russ Colchamiro
Being a writer isn't just what I do, but who I am. I love the writing process itself. Clacking the keys, doing revisions ... letting these crazy ideas flow from the ether and out through my fingertips. Maybe I'm an addict, I'm not really sure, but at my most basic level I'm happiest when I'm writing and grumpiest when I'm not! Writing isn't so much a choice for me, as a calling. I simply have to do it. Aside from being with my children, nothing energizes me as much as when I'm writing.
Russ Colchamiro
A: Write because you love it, write for yourself, and write every day. And if you can make money at it … all the better.
On a more technical level, work with beta readers and editors who will give you actionable feedback that helps you improve the story you’re working on — and your craft — in very specific ways.
If you’re getting feedback like, “oh, I like that” or “eh, I didn’t get it,” then they’re not really helping you.
Be highly selective, choosing people who will tell you what you actually need to hear, not what you want to hear. And keep your world of trusted ‘advisors’ on the small side. Feedback from too many people will distract and confuse you.
Ultimately … only you can decide what having “success” means to you. There’s lots of disappointment and rejection in being an author, so having a healthy sense of self-worth and realistic expectations will go a long way towards keeping your sanity.
Remember that once you’ve finished your novel and, if it’s published, you are no longer in ‘author’ mode, but in ‘retailer’ mode. You’re trying to sell your books, and that’s an entirely different skill set and experience than writing.
That’s why it’s important to try to manage your expectations and define how you define success.
Being an author is a lot of work, so try to have as much as you can along the way.
On a more technical level, work with beta readers and editors who will give you actionable feedback that helps you improve the story you’re working on — and your craft — in very specific ways.
If you’re getting feedback like, “oh, I like that” or “eh, I didn’t get it,” then they’re not really helping you.
Be highly selective, choosing people who will tell you what you actually need to hear, not what you want to hear. And keep your world of trusted ‘advisors’ on the small side. Feedback from too many people will distract and confuse you.
Ultimately … only you can decide what having “success” means to you. There’s lots of disappointment and rejection in being an author, so having a healthy sense of self-worth and realistic expectations will go a long way towards keeping your sanity.
Remember that once you’ve finished your novel and, if it’s published, you are no longer in ‘author’ mode, but in ‘retailer’ mode. You’re trying to sell your books, and that’s an entirely different skill set and experience than writing.
That’s why it’s important to try to manage your expectations and define how you define success.
Being an author is a lot of work, so try to have as much as you can along the way.
Russ Colchamiro
My debut novel Finders Keepers is a scifi backpacking comedy ... think American Pie meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's loosely based on a series of backpacking trips I took through Europe and New Zealand, set against a quest for a jar that contains the Universe's DNA.
My newest book that just launched --- Genius de Milo --- is the second book in the trilogy, where our bumbling backpacking heroes Jason Medley and Theo Barnes are once again tasked with retrieving a radioactive jar filled with the Universe’s DNA … before it wipes out the galaxy.
Genius de Milo (and Finders Keepers) is for fans of authors such as Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Christopher Moore, and movies and TV shows such as Harold & Kumar, Bill & Ted, Hot Tub Time Machine, Time Bandits, Quantum Leap, Groundhog Day, Northern Exposure, and Third Rock from the Sun.
And whereas Finders Keepers was set predominantly in Europe and New Zealand, the action in Genius de Milo has shifted mostly to the U.S. And, of course, there's lots going on in Eternity, the 'cosmic' realm where the Universe is created.
So for Genius de Milo, think Midnight Run meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
As the second book in the series, I wrote Genius de Milo with the understanding that it needed to work on three levels:
• as a satisfying, self-contained novel that new readers can enjoy even if they haven’t read Finders Keepers
• as the second novel in the Finders Keepers trilogy that both continues and enhances the overall narrative and individual story arcs
• structurally as a lead-in to the final, upcoming novel that will conclude the trilogy
My newest book that just launched --- Genius de Milo --- is the second book in the trilogy, where our bumbling backpacking heroes Jason Medley and Theo Barnes are once again tasked with retrieving a radioactive jar filled with the Universe’s DNA … before it wipes out the galaxy.
Genius de Milo (and Finders Keepers) is for fans of authors such as Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Christopher Moore, and movies and TV shows such as Harold & Kumar, Bill & Ted, Hot Tub Time Machine, Time Bandits, Quantum Leap, Groundhog Day, Northern Exposure, and Third Rock from the Sun.
And whereas Finders Keepers was set predominantly in Europe and New Zealand, the action in Genius de Milo has shifted mostly to the U.S. And, of course, there's lots going on in Eternity, the 'cosmic' realm where the Universe is created.
So for Genius de Milo, think Midnight Run meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
As the second book in the series, I wrote Genius de Milo with the understanding that it needed to work on three levels:
• as a satisfying, self-contained novel that new readers can enjoy even if they haven’t read Finders Keepers
• as the second novel in the Finders Keepers trilogy that both continues and enhances the overall narrative and individual story arcs
• structurally as a lead-in to the final, upcoming novel that will conclude the trilogy
Russ Colchamiro
I'm a big self talker -- don't be surprised if you see me talking robustly to no one in particular. But it helps me think out why I'm stuck. My family is 'mostly used to it, but I've actually been stopped on the street before.
One time in particular that stands out ... about 15 years ago I was walking home from work, along the West Side of Manhattan. I'd had just the crappiest day and I needed to work it out. So there I am ranting and raving like the world's coming to an end, and a guy walking towards put his hands on my shoulders and said, "Dude. It's going to be okay."
It doesn't always look sane, but talking it out is my process.
One time in particular that stands out ... about 15 years ago I was walking home from work, along the West Side of Manhattan. I'd had just the crappiest day and I needed to work it out. So there I am ranting and raving like the world's coming to an end, and a guy walking towards put his hands on my shoulders and said, "Dude. It's going to be okay."
It doesn't always look sane, but talking it out is my process.
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