Interview with G.R. Holton

I would like to thank G.R. Holton for taking time to guest post on my blog. This is a Q and A we had.

1. What kind of books do you write and how many have you written so far? 

I have written four books so far with three being science fiction and the last is a children’s picture book. My first book which started out as Journey to the Edge was reworked and released as Soleri which won the Books and Authors.net Science Fiction – reworked for 2010. I then wrote Guardian’s Alliance. Both Soleri and Guardian’s are YA. The other science fiction is my award winner, Deep Screams. It has won Books and Authors.net’s Best Science Fiction for 2011. The fourth book is called SQUAZLES!. It is a children’s picture book about not judging others by how they appear.

2.  When is your next book being published?

Hopefully by the summer of 2012. It is a science fiction/fantasy called, “Dragon’s Bow”.
    3.  When did you start writing, and what inspires you the most?

I have actually only been a writer for just over two years. Before that I didn’t even like books. But I made a friend on Facebook playing a game called Farmtown. She was a great person and introduced me to her husband who is a screenwriter and movie director. He allowed me to read a couple of his screenplays and I was instantly hooked. I knew that I had to write. Usually it is my dreams that give me my inspiration. All three of my sci/fi novels have come after having a dream of a situation or place.
    4.  Why did you pick the genre that you currently write in, and are you currently considering writing in a different genre?  Why or why not?

I have always been a science fiction fan ever since I could watch television. I was weaned on the original Star Trek (yeah I am dating myself a little). I loved anything to do with sci/fi or superheroes. Writing has become an escape for me. I don’t think that any genre is off limits (although I don’t see myself writing a romance novel). My current WIP is more fantasy than sci/fi, so crossing genres for me seems to be the ticket . Deep Screams is the one that brought me to the knowledge that you can cross any genre as long as you have a great story. After winning the award for best sci/fi really cemented that for me.

5.  Tell us about your creative writing process.

Hmmm…a process huh. I really don’t have a true process for my writing. I usually come up with a storyline after a vivid dream and then let the characters run the show. They control the plot and the outcome. Which I never really know until I have a few chapters written down. The names of places and beings always seem to just be there like they have lived in my head all along. I do write some stuff down to keep things straight, but not like a outline. I am a definite pantser letting my fingers do the talking as the story progresses.
            6.  Who is your favorite author, past and present, and why?

Favorite authors…that’s a tricky question for me since I don’t do much reading. I have read some Stephen King and Isaac Asimov. Two different styles completely, but they each held my easily wandering attention.

7.  What motivates you to continue writing?

Writing for me is therapeutic. I continue to write because I have so many pent up ideas in my head (most from my Bipolar issues) that writing seems to be able to calm my soul. If I were to sit and think about it I could probably start twenty different stories at a time and they all would be completely different. In fact, I always have at least two going at a time in case I get bored with writing one, I can go to the other.
8.  How do you get ideas for your stories?

My dreams are my biggest contributor. The rest is an imagination for the obscure. Part of the reason that my work has won awards is that I don’t read to many other people’s works. I have done some reviews for friends, but most of them are not in my genre. This keeps everything fresh.
9.  If you didn’t become an author, what do you think you would be doing now?

Playing silly facebook games and maybe go fishing a little. I like fishing, though I stink at it. Just being somewhere else unlocks my mind and allows for free thought.
10.  Give us an insider look into your latest novel.

By the year 2145, the nations of Earth had finally gotten past their differences, and the Earth Coalition was formed. The people of all countries were now united as human beings, not segregated by nationality or race since multiple wars had left parts of the planet uninhabitable, the Coalition decided that a space station would be launched into deep space on a twenty year mission to find  planets in other solar systems that could  sustain human life. Six years into the mission, all signals from the Omega Space Station had suddenly stopped.  The Coalition called for an emergency mission to intercept the space station, to ascertain what had happened to the ship and crew,  and to do whatever was necessary to bring the station back online.

As they embarked on their mission, the new team had no way of knowing what they were going to encounter when they reached the Omega Space Station. It was not the station that was dead, and they are not going to be alone.
    11.  If your novel made it to the big screen, what actors do you see playing the key characters?

Okay…The main characters are Commander Milton who would have to be played by George Clooney, Captain Craddock would be cool if it was Gerard Butler, and the Computer Engineer would have to be Xavier Samuel from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
    12.  What’s the worst experience and best experience you ever had as a writer?

The worst thing was my second publisher. I got taken there. I learned a valuable lesson with them. RESEARCH…RESEARCH…RESEARCH!!! It cost me a lot of money and in the end had nothing to really. The best thing was winning Books and Authors.net best science fiction for 2011 for my novel, “Deep Screams”. I literally did the happy dance in my office!. 

13.  Where do you see yourself in five years with your writing and your life?

I plan on at least one of my books to be optioned as a movie. I am doing screenwriting for Deep Screams and already have one from Soleri. My dream is to be on the big screen and I just know it will happen.

14.  Where can people find you and your books on the Internet?

They can find them at all the online book sellers or directly from me at www.grholton.com.

http://www.amazon.com/G.-R.-Holton/e/B004NORNHM/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1324514305&sr=8-2

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/g-r--holton?keyword=g.r.+holton&store=nookstore