This last month, I had the opportunity to connect with fellow young author, Spencer Brokaw. He offered to interview me on his blog. In exchange, I offered to spotlight him on The Dreamers Adventures. That post will come soon. As for now, the interview!
What is your book about? Where can it be purchased?
The Dreamers is about a kid named Sam, who becomes a Dreamer. This means that he can live inside of his dreams, and also affect events on earth through his dreams. He and the other Dreamers have to band and work together to help save the Dream Realm, (the place where all dreams take place) from an evil villain, Malfix. There always seems to be one of those little nasties somewhere, doesn't there?
As for where it can be purchased... I am always so thrilled to tell anybody the answer. Which is...well, practically anywhere online! Amazon has it in print for $9.99, the list price, and as an eBook for $2.99. Barnes and Noble has it in print and on their Nook eReader. Most online Print book stores have it as well, including Books-a-million, Powell's, and plethora more. To get links to these pages, check out Bookstores for print books, and eBooks for eBooks. Thanks to BookBaby, The Dreamers is available on 8of the largest eBook distributors in the entire world. This number will undoubtedly grow! In addition, it is available to most eReaders through GoodReads at The Dreamers
When did you begin writing in general?
I began writing when I was in kindergarten. In messy crayon, I'd take pieces of printer paper, write brief sentences and little pictures on them, staple them together, and call them books. Yep.
During my early elementary years, I didn't really write much, I did, however read a lot! (more on this later, I think). In the fourth or fifth grade I began writing what is now a 550 page epic...which has to be rewritten...again. :) When I first finished it, it was less than a hundred pages long...in a rather large font size. During middle school, I rewrote it to its current length. My writing abilities have since dramatically increased, and so I now see this book as not up to my current par.
What gave you the idea to write your book?
I originally got the idea for The Dreamers when I was still just starting to write my first book. I had a dream that I was running through a jungle, and some spies were chasing me. I hid under a tree, but one of the spies shot me in the leg. I woke up. When I did, I realized that my leg was hurting. Pulling up my pant leg, I saw a bruise there... In exactly the same place the spy shot me. This got me thinking. What if what happened in our dreams happened to us on earth? I wrote the idea down in my little notebook, and held it off. When I discovered NaNoWriMo, in 2010, I decided to use that idea to write for during that crazy month. (if you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, go check it out!)
How did you come up with the title?
I have to say, I didn't really think very much about a title. Sam was a Dreamer, and that was pretty much the main idea behind the book. I believe that most things you hear or see about a book from the author should be relevant and important to the message of the book. The Dreamers: A Story of Sam Kullen seemed to do the trick for me.
Who designed the cover?
To be honest...I have NO idea. I'm not kidding. I get a lot of comments about the cover, (hey, it does look pretty sweet!) and am asked this question a lot at book signings. I put the cover as a whole together, but I don't have a clue as to who made the cover image. As far as I can tell, someone made it for a desktop background. I wish I knew, though, so I could thank them!
If your book was a movie, who would you pick to play the main characters?
I thought long and hard about this one. The 3 main characters in this book are Sam, Thep, and Flitch. I think that Sam, the ”mainest” character could best be acted by Alexander Ludwig, or Aaron Johnson. They don't really look alike, but a mix of the two of them would be good, I think. For Thep, Jeff Bridges was the only guy I could find that really matched the way I imagined Thep. Think of him as from the movie Tron, but a little younger. And Flitch... Well, he's his own character. I don't think any actor could really do his part the way I imagine him.
What books do you plan on writing in the future?
Wow. I could talk about this question forever, but I'll try to keep it brief. :) I have a sequel to The Dreamers in the editing process, and possibly a third one, though nothing solid yet. Another series called The Stone Chronicles,which. Consists of my 550 page epic. I hope to publish it through Shadow Mountain, but, like I mentioned before... It's still got a ways to go.
Were you an avid reader before you began writing?
Yes! I was a very avid reader! In elementary school, I think I was one of the top 5 kids with the most hours read. This was in 3rd grade! I remember in kindergarten, I was reading easy chapter books on my own, and writing down dreams I had while other kids were learning the alphabet! The fact that I was in challenge, (the gifted-talented program) also helped boost my creativity.
What TV shows, books, and movies inspire most of your stories?
Not many media sources really helped inspire The Dreamers. It was all kind of in my head already. However, after I had written the book, movies like Inception and Tron reminded me of my own book.
How did you go about publishing your book? Did your parents help you, or did you do most things on your own?
This is another topic I could talk forever about! You'll have to check out my huge blog post on it at Self-Publishing. If you threw in copyright law, you'd be in trouble! These kinds of things usually end up in what could be an hour long heated discussion about the difference between a copyright and patent, or a time when my parents just nod and agree with everything I say as I discuss the frustrations if making a cover or registering a copyright. Do yourself a favor and just look at this post if you're really interested. There's no way I can abbreviate it this much, though others undoubtedly can.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Music! I love music! When I'm writing, I LOVE listening to the Piano Guys. Go check out their YouTube channel right now! They do a ton of amazing, inspiring things that just suck the writing juices out of you into the keyboard. (If you play piano, their stuff is also a ton of fun to play!)
When I'm not writing, and even when I am, I listen to a lot of weird music. Stuff not a lot of people like. I won't go into artist names, or else I'll get infinite blackmail. :) some of the bands I like are: Owl City, The Fray, OneRepublic, Coldplay, and many others. I don't ever listen to songs with vulgarity in any form if I can help it. That stuff doesn't help creativity.
What are other hobbies you have outside of writing?
I have a lot of hobbies outside of writing. I'm involved in Boy Scouts of America, Nstional Junior Honor Society, (not exactly sure that's a hobby... :/ )
I enjoy playing piano, (watch me play an AMAZING song at About-Me)
I also enjoy reading, drawing, building, blogging, photography, and a host of other activities
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