C.B.'s a lovely friend of mine, and was a beta reader of LDTD. I love and recommend her superhero novel Twinepathy.
C. B. Cook
Christian/Superhero/Contemporary
Ask away!
The blog of a girl who's looking for God's plan for her life. In the mean-time, she's knitting books and writing scarves ... or something like that.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Q&A with C.B. Cook
I have C.B. Cook here today to answer any questions you might have about writing, her writing, her writing process, or any other questions you might have for her!
C.B.'s a lovely friend of mine, and was a beta reader of LDTD. I love and recommend her superhero novel Twinepathy.
Ask away!
C.B.'s a lovely friend of mine, and was a beta reader of LDTD. I love and recommend her superhero novel Twinepathy.
Ask away!
Hi, everyone! I'll be checking around for comments all day, so feel free to ask anything you'd like!
ReplyDeleteHi C.B.!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever had problems with Amazon paying you directly into your bank account? Another words, payments not showing up?
Also, do you know of anyway to track sales or downloads on your Amazon books?
Thanks!
WHEN IS LIGHTPORTER COMING OUT? I NEED IIIIIT! Ahem. XD
ReplyDeleteHow did you come up with the superpowers for your characters?
Are you a pantser or a plotter?
How much do you usually write in a day?
And do you have any tips for making scenes/stories more streamlined and quick and focused?
Hehehe, that is a great question. I have absolutely no clue. XD I'm hoping for late fall or December 2017, possibly earlier, depending on how motivated I get. Hopefully I'll have a lot of time to work on it in the summer!
DeleteThat's a hard question, as they came from lots of different places. Some, like telepathy, telekinesis, and various manipulations like metal and electricity just came from the general superhero genre, including movies (Marvel!) and books. Jen's power, the ability to "read" or gather information from people and objects, came from Gabrielle Massman at writefortheking.wordpress.com, who was really awesome and let me use the idea. And the twins' twinepathy was inspired by all of the twinepathy challenge videos I'd seen on Youtube. I also have a couple more unique powers that either me or my friends have come up with, but I'm not ready to spoil them just yet. :)
I'm more of a plantser. I plot out a general plot, but just the major events of the book. I leave out a lot of little details and let some of the scenes surprise me on the way.
Hahahahahahahahaha... 0 words. I usually go a week or two without writing anything, but then over the course of a few days, I write anywhere from 200 to 2,000 words. It's hard for me to write if I don't have the right atmosphere or if I don't feel like it.
Oddly enough, focused writing is what comes most naturally to me. I find it very difficult to write detailed descriptions and scenes, since I'm very action focused. So I've been able to figure out what I do that could help others. ;) The best way to make your stories or scenes more streamlined and focused is to keep your wording simple. In a more action-intense sequence, you can also make shorter sentences, even a few one word sentences for emphasis. In a fighting sequence, you could put "Kick. Punch. Duck," or something to that effect. Short sentences can get annoying and choppy if they go on for too long, obviously, but they can make a scene quicker and more focused. Also, using shorter words and less words can help out, too.
I hope that helps you! Thanks for the questions, and feel free to ask more. :)
I haven't read Twinepathy yet, but I look forward to getting the chance!
ReplyDeleteWho designed your cover? It's SO stunning!
How did you decide on your author name? What factors went into that?
I decided to go by my first and middle because I don't mind people knowing my name and my last name might change at some point. I really thought about initials, but I didn't like the sound of A.C. ;)
Hi, Abigayle! I hope you get the chance to read Twinepathy soon, and I'm looking forward to reading your books as well! I actually designed both of my covers myself, since I'm going to school for graphic design. Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it!
DeleteI decided to go with C.B. Cook because I wanted a unique name, and while my real name would be somewhat interesting, it wouldn't stick in the mind as much as C.B. Cook. It also reminded me a bit of C.S. Lewis, and that didn't hurt my decision at all. :D I got lucky with initials that flowed well, I think.
Thanks for the questions, and I hope you get a chance to read Twinepathy!
Whoa! Your design skills are really awesome! You seem to have really great taste for what's going to look amazing and catch someone's eye.
DeleteThat makes sense! I think the name works very well for you. I cannot WAIT to read your book!
Thank you so much! :D I've always enjoyed working in Photoshop, so I've spent a lot of time practicing.
DeleteAt first it was weird, but now I'm used to it. I hope you get a chance to! And also, congrats on all of your awards! :D
Hi CB! I enjoyed reading Twinepathy a few months ago and loved how you write the characters, especially the twins. Do you know any twins for inspiration, or did you do any research into sort of twin psychology? I've always enjoyed real or fictional stories about twins so I was curious :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Hazel! I'm so glad you enjoyed Twinepathy! The twins were a lot of fun, since I've always loved reading and writing abouttwins, too. I've known two sets of twins, so I based the twins' relationship in part of of theirs, but they were also based partly off of me and my own sister. We're not twins, but we're fairly close in age and we often get mistaken for twins, so while I haven't actually experienced having a twin, I've had a similar experience. That probably helped me a lot when writing the twins. Great question!
DeleteI absolutely LOVE the cover for Twinepathy, C.B.! I've heard lots of good things about it, so I might have to read it soon ;). What's your favorite thing about cover design?
ReplyDelete~ Savannah
scattered-scribblings.blogspot.com
Thank you so much! I hope you get the chance to pick it up. I love cover design because I get to explore a lot of different ideas and create things. The cover you see for Twinepathy was actually my 6th or 7th design that I tried.
DeleteGreat question, thanks for asking!
Ooh, sixth or seventh? You're dedicated! But the work definitely paid off - I would almost pick up Twinepathy for the cover alone!
Delete~ Savannah
scattered-scribblings.blogspot.com
Thank you so much! It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad you like the final product!
DeleteHey CB... I am a quadriplegic from a spinal cord injury. I took the first contract offer I received on my book 3 years ago and have regretted it every day since. Now Tate Publishing is out of business and I know I can work my book and get paid. The title of my book comes from Acts 16 where Paul and Silas were in prison and in the midnight hour were praising God and their chains fell off. On the cover there is a man standing on a mountain top with his arms raised towards a crescent moon praising God. There are chains falling off his wrist. The title, "The Midnight Hour: An Amazing Journey from Paralysis".
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about changing the word Amazing in the subtitle to Inspirational so it would show up in more searches, or at least be closer to the top. Can I do this with the version of photoshop that you have or can you offer any advice? In about a year to a year and a half I will be a black-belt in Taekwondo. Since starting Martial Arts I have started walking again. There is going to be an article about me in the ATA Taekwondo World magazine this month. My next book will be "The Midnight Hour: Black Belt Heart".
Hi, JD! Wow, that is an amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm sorry about Tate Publishing. Changing the title might take some time, depending on whether the background behind it is a solid color or not. It would probably be best to find a small cover designer who will do the change for free or for a small fee. You might also be able to do it yourself with a free online photo editor. I hope this helps!
DeleteThanks for getting back to me. I have a meeting Monday with a company about building a website and we are going to talk about them doing the title as well. Turns out this guy was the IT guy at Longview Metro Church and built a webpage for me when I started speaking to youth groups. This company was my first pick because it is real close. How cool is God! I am working on my Master's online and trying to make time to write, but I definitely want to read Paralyzed Dreams.
ReplyDelete