Interview with Andrew Joyce
What motivated you to start writing?
One morning, about five years ago, I went crazy. I got out of bed, went downstairs, and threw my TV out the window. Then I sat down at the computer and wrote my first short story. I threw it up on the Internet just for the hell of it, and a few months later I was notified that it was to be included in an anthology of the best short stories of 2011. I even got paid for it! I’ve been writing ever since.
Since your latest novel is a historical adventure featuring some infamous literary characters, have you always had an interest in history and/or classic American literature?
Yes, I have always loved to read about history, and I think I’ve read most of the classics—American and otherwise.
How many hours of research were involved in the writing of “Resolution: Huck Finn’s Greatest Adventure”.
I don’t measure research in hours. Depending on the book, it could be months or years. The book I am currently working on took about a year of research. Resolution took about three months.
I have not yet had the opportunity to read your novel, but from the description I see it is based in Canada’s Yukon Territory during the time of the gold rush. Yet… when reading some reviews of the novel many reviewers mention Alaska. Are they incorrect? Does this annoy you?
The novel starts off in Colorado, progresses to Alaska, then to the Yukon, and then back to Alaska. It ends up in Montana. But to answer your question: If someone is kind enough to buy the result of my labors and then take the time to leave a review, anything they say is fine with me.
Do you always have a full story mapped out from beginning to end before you start writing?
I usually sit down to write a book with no idea where my characters will lead me. I start out with (I hope) a killer first sentence and the last paragraph of the book. Then I set out to fill the in-between space with 100,000 words. I find that the easy part. Sometimes I will bring my characters to a certain place, only to have them rebel when we get there. They tell me they want to go somewhere else and take off on their own. I have no choice but to follow.
Writers are also avid readers. What type of book do you like to read for pleasure?
I love to read Steinbeck, Jack London, or Beryl Markham when I want to experience beautiful writing. When I just want to sit down with a book and read it in one sitting then Lee Child or Baldacci will do (I can’t put their stuff down).
Do you want your novels to simply entertain readers, or are they meant to didactic in nature?
My mission, first and foremost, is to entertain. I tend to be a bit didactic on occasion, but the message is always embedded between the lines. Some people pick up on it, some don’t. But my job is to keep people turning pages.
Have you got any advice for those budding writers out there?
Read, read . . . and then read some more. Read everything you can get your hands on! Reading to a writer is as medical school is to a doctor, as physical training is to an athlete, as breathing is to life.
Published 2016-07-02.
Note: These questions were originally asked by Lynne over at https://fictionophile.wordpress.com/2016/07/02/guest-post-interview-with-novelist-andrew-joyce/
Check her out. Her blog is sensational.
Resolution: Huck Finn’s Greatest Adventure by Andrew Joyce
They had come to that neck of the woods seeking adventure. Someone should have warned them, “Be careful what you wish for.” When disaster strikes, Huck and Molly volunteer to save the day by making an arduous six hundred mile journey by dog sled in the depths of a Yukon winter. They cannot stop. They cannot turn back. They can only go on. Lives hang in the balance—including theirs.
Like your style with the TV, I suggested it to DH and I did not get a favourable response – he muttered something about divorce but whether from me or the TV I’m not sure!
That’s funny.
Reblogged this on Kate McClelland.
Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog.
Alas, there are those with no scruples about making the TBR pile grow… it is on the list.
Well, thank you very much.
Some of the questions in this interview are directly taken from MY interview with Andrew Joyce: https://fictionophile.wordpress.com/2016/07/02/guest-post-interview-with-novelist-andrew-joyce/
Yes, they were. They were some of the best questions I’ve ever been asked. Thank you, Lynne.
Excellent interview. I read and enjoyed Reslution very much. Great adventure which Andrew made believable. Highly recommend it.
Reblogged this on Pete's Poetry.