Challenge Participant Feature - Roland Yeomans

This month’s Challenge Participant is the amazing author, Roland Yeomans! His theme was Words of Wisdom for Writers, something he offers on a regular basis at his blog.


Please welcome Roland in an interview like none other!




Meilori's was empty for once: everyone was out Christmas shopping. What do ghosts give one another? Don't ask. You'll sleep easier.

Alex sat opposite me, toying with his Romulan Ale.

Alex:
You know, Roland. After our "Hangover" adventure with Mark Twain, I don't touch this stuff.

Roland:
Mark wanted to show you Asgard next ... with Jamie Alexander ... as his date.

Alex (rolling his eyes):
Of course as HIS date. Your blog always offers words of wisdom. Was it hard matching letters to your topics?

Roland:
With as varied a place as Meilori's and as populated as my linked novels are, it was fun. Sort of like bobbing for ideas.

In fact, some of my literary friends fought for some topics. Some letters were challenges, of course -- like Q or X or Z. That's what makes the A to Z Challenge fun.

Alex (sipping at his Romulan Ale):
Hey! This is Ginger Ale!

Roland:
I didn't want to risk you with Loki.

Alex:
Thanks for having my back.

Roland:
This way I get to accompany Jamie Alexander to Asgard.

Alex:
Oh, it was Jamie's back you were interested in. I should have figured. Your F post was on Frost. Do you really think poetry is dead? And just how important is poetry anyway to a prose writer?

Roland:
If poetry is dead, we prose writers are in the next ward over, wheezing noisily, with our family gathered around looking concerned and asking about our DVD's.

There are about six people who buy new poetry, but they are not feeling very well. I joke, of course. But poetry is becoming a lost taste in reading. A shame really.

Ernest Hemingway said that the best writing was poetry in prose. Read some of the early Stephen King and you will see what Hemingway meant.

Alex (stiffening in his chair):
Was that Carl Jung who just strolled by?

Roland:
Yes, and we writers can learn alot from him.

Carl Jung was a “spiritual thinker” who offered Western culture a way back to religion that places no shame on being human.

He said: "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." And isn't that what fiction is meant to do as well?

Alex:
What are some of the keys to writing success, do you think?

Roland:
Well, Mark Twain had some keys:

#1 - Write without pay until someone pays you to do it.

#2 - Don't say the old lady screamed. Drag her out on the stage and have her caterwaul herself.

#3 - Do not hoard.

Give each paragraph all the dynamite you possess. Do not save "a good bit" for later. Your reader may become bored and wander off before your novel explodes.

Alex:
Which post was your favorite and which one was the readers' favorite?

Roland:
The post I am working on is always my favorite, for everything seems possible and the only limits are my imagination and my skill -- so I constantly push myself.

The readers' favorite is WHY FRIENDSHIP? (A RETURN VISIT) See it HERE.

In this digital age, we have never been so connected, yet so alone. Yvette Vickers, star of ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN, was found mummified sitting in front of her computer, having lived the last tragic days of her life, touching people only digitally.

Alex:
So tragic. But enough gloom. My favorite post was our Galactic Hangover adventure. How much fun was that for you?

Roland:
Immense fun. You got the hangover. I got the laughs. Flying through space in Ming the Merciless's space ship was a hoot. And I hope it got people to read about Gordon R Dickson's HOKA. :-)

Alex:
If you do tackle the A to Z Challenge again, what do you think might be your focus?

Roland:
The world is changing so, especially the publishing one. I might write on CHANGE.

You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past.

The only way to learn the secret of life is to press "Play."


Thank you, Roland!

Co-host Ninja Captain Alex is the author of Amazon Best Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire and CassaStorm, and his blog can be found HERE