Spotlight on: Don McCann
Hello Writers,
I hope you enjoyed last week’s post about Facebook Group and The Time is Write blog member, Terrah Cooper Pena. This week’s spotlight is on Don McCann.
Don is a wonderful writer whose books lean a little on the dark side. Who doesn’t like that? I hope you enjoy his questionnaire responses and you’ll purchase his works. We’re all here to help each other.
If you haven’t yet, go to the Facebook Group: The Ins and Outs of Novel Writing and add your name to the post about being featured. I’d be happy to do this for you. Now, without further ado, let’s chat with Don McCann.
Spotlight on: Don McCann
Tell us about your projects.
Main project – The EDO BLOOD Series. Book I is already out and Book II, Part One is finished, but in the thick of the editing process. It should be out by the end of summer. Book II, Part Two is in progress (on pg. 65).
I’m part of a small (4 of us) writer’s group that gets together every other month, or so (it would be more, but everyone else has crazy schedules). We come up with an idea for a short story and, the next time we meet, we read our stories to each other. The last one was to write a story based on a game. I originally chose UNO, but the story ended up being 25 pages long. The 8 players are shackled to ‘special’ chairs and are forced to suffer painful consequences when they don’t have a card to play. Think of UNO played like a ‘Saw’ movie. Since that one was too long, I chose a different game, Battleship. 2 kids are playing the game, but one of the kids, who happens to be a boy-genius, modifies the game with dud grenades he’s found in his dad’s old war chest. So, the loser goes ‘boom’ but, what he doesn’t know is, the grenades are really live. His dad just marked them duds so he could bring them home. The conflict is…well, you’d have to read the story. I’m keeping the UNO story, though. It’s all finished, so I’ll find somewhere for it one day.
Another project I’m in doing is trying to put together a band. It’ll be kind of a RUSH band, featuring their songs from the first album, “Rush” though “Signals”. There will be some other band’s songs in there but mostly RUSH. I play drums and am currently interviewing a bassist and desperately seeking a singer—the 2 hardest pieces to come by in this type of band.
And, of course, stuff for this page.
Where do you get your ideas? I see, read or hear something I like and I think, “Hey, what if that went like this…?” or, “Hey, what if he/she/it was this or that…?” or, “What if the ______ was the villain…?” I think that’s my strong suit. Taking an idea and growing it into something with a twist…or, something twisted. Yeah, that would have to be my favorite. Like, the most innocent thing I can think of right now is a scene where a sweet old lady is working in her garden, raising beautiful roses. So, what’s a nice twist for that? The roses are really aliens and she’s helping them come to earth, where they eventually plan to take over. The conflict would be, someone from the neighborhood walks by her window and sees her communicating with the Overlords through her secret portal. The Overlords detect the peeper and have her invite them over for tea, scones and murder. She protests that she’s never killed anyone before and has no idea how to do it. So, over the next few days, the Overlords give her a crash-course in homicide and she performs beautifully. Of course, she buries the body in the garden. What the Overlords didn’t know, but are grateful to learn, is human corpses make great fertilizer. The roses grow thick and strong, as they’re fed more corpses, which allows them to accelerate their plans for domination. And, the rest, of course, is history.
What are your writing achievements? One published novel, EDO BLOOD Book I. Straight As in Creative Writing. I got to autograph my first novel for my Creative Writing teacher. Latest 1st Place Winner “The Time is Write” writing contest. 5-star reviews for EDO BLOOD Book I on Amazon and Goodreads.
Do you run a blog or website (add links)?
I made a website for EDO BLOOD, but it’s horribly out of date. It still has good content, though. https://dmccan0.wixsite.com/edo-blood.
Also, a Facebook page, slightly less out of date. https://www.facebook.com/The-EDO-BLOOD-Series-by-Don-R-McCann-1707962719417973/
Do you have any published works (add links)? EDO BLOOD Book I – https://www.amazon.com/Edo-Blood-Book-Don-McCann/dp/1681602962
What is your writing process like?
I start with an idea and an opening scene, or chapter. Next, I think how I want it to end and usually write the ending, or at least, a rough outline for it. For example, the EDO BLOOD series has a fairly explosive ending, with a catastrophic multi-opponent fight scene. But, once that’s all done, there’s an epilogue, but that’s not even the real end, because that segues into the next series. And, even though there are 4 books planned for the first series, the first spinoff will come from Book II, Part Two. But, I digress.
Once I have the beginning and the ending, I fill in the middle. The beginning and end are the frameworks. The middle, which is written after those, has to serve the beginning and end. As the middle is getting written, it has the possibility of changing the beginning and end, but that almost never happens, as I tend to write pretty tight. By that, I mean there’s not usually any room to add anything, once I finish a scene. I wrote a scene one time and realized I wanted more atmosphere, so I was going to add some references to the weather—but I couldn’t fit it in anywhere! Turns out, it was fine like it was and I had to add the atmosphere into the previous chapter. Almost too tight!
Do you have any advice for beginning writers?
Something I read once, “Write now. Edit later.” To me, that means, don’t worry about getting every word perfect during the first draft. Write the idea, get down the gist of what you want to say, then go back and polish it up. It’s like a painter. The finished portrait always starts as a rough sketch.
Look at writing like seeds that you grow with questions. Say you want to write about a truck. What color is the truck? Make and model? Old or new? Driving or parked? Driver or no? And that’s just the truck itself. What about its surroundings? Outside or in a garage? Season? And who owns the truck? Man or woman? Individual or group? Are they taking the truck anywhere? Where? Why? Is the truck carrying anything? Is it even that kind of truck? The answers to all these—and many more—become your story. And, if you get stuck, ask more questions! If you ask the right questions, you’ll never have writer’s block.
Are you friends with any authors and do they help you become a better writer? No, I wish I was, though. A friend of mine corresponds regularly with Brian Lumley (The Necroscope Series) and got me a personally autographed copy of the last book in the series, but that’s my closest encounter with any famous author.
What was the best money you’ve ever spent as a writer? $40 on my first electric word processor. I’d wanted one for years but only had an IBM Selectric. It was great, but I knew I could save stuff with a word processor, so that’s what I wanted. I was in a pawn shop one day and saw a Brother 2400. They wanted $50 for it, but the floppy drive didn’t work. I gave it a close look and saw some kid had stuffed paper in it. I pulled a piece out and saw more jammed in there. I offered them $40 for it and took it home. When I got home I got all the paper out and it worked perfectly. I started my first novel on that (still unfinished) and have never looked back. Now, I have a PC that writes as fast as I can type, which is about 60 wpm.
How many unpublished and half-finished works do you have? 10, I think. When I get a really, really good idea that I’m absolutely in love with, I write a basic outline, which is enough for me to remember it later. That way, when I’m ready, I can just jump right back into it. I’ve had these 10 for around 10-15 years and any one of them, if I picked them up right now, I could hit the ground running and start writing the story.
What’s your most successful form of marketing? Sadly, right now, it’s Facebook. If I had more time, I could do more marketing. Then again, I’d probably spend it on more writing.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
I don’t know, really. Not trying to brag, or anything (really), but writing has always been pretty easy. It feels like, with all the words and ideas in my head, it’s hard for me not to write. I guess, if I had to find a difficult part, it would be that sometimes, I write too much.
When I’m reading, I like a lot of detail and backstory. I like knowing where the characters came from, what shaped them, their motivations, and all that. Since I like to read it, I tend to write it into my stories. That’s how my UNO story blossomed to 25 pages; I thought every character deserved a little history. Looking back, there are places I can cut, but I like it all, so I’m leaving it. Maybe I’ll turn it into a novel one day. The villain’s story is really interesting….
Describe the support system you have around your writing? My imagination, my vocabulary and my computer. I did a lot of writing while I was married but, unfortunately, she wasn’t very supportive. She’d say she was, but I never felt it. Now that that’s over, I can write whenever I get the chance and it feels amazing. Anyway, the people I tell about my stories all enjoy them, and some have even bought my book, but that stuff feels kind of surface. There’s nobody really standing at my shoulder, cheering me on, or anything. I don’t know if I’d like that, anyway. I feel I write better without a lot of external input.
What, in your opinion are the most important elements of good writing?
1. An active and fertile imagination,
2. A killer vocabulary,
3. Time to fuse 1 & 2.
How do you develop your plot and characters? No matter what’s going on, I work hard to keep some sort of tension going. In the book I’m working on now, there’s going to be an elaborate wedding. I put a lot of time and effort into it because I wanted it to be very clear where the bride’s head was at about the whole thing. 3 chapters later, I had a lot of intricate detail about the wedding and how she felt, but there was nothing happening. I stopped and it took me a couple of days to figure out what was missing. I asked myself, “Where’s the conflict here? Is there anything going against this beautiful wedding? What can I do to make it more than the wedding—even though it is the wedding?” Once I had that, I found the perfect conflict. In fact, that’s the part I’m writing right now. It’s beautiful!
What is the most difficult part of writing for you? Making time to write.
Is writing your full-time career? No, but that’s the dream, isn’t it?
Do you have any new projects on the horizon? Once I finish the EDO BLOOD Series (and this includes the spinoffs, of which there will be several), I have a werewolf story. I really love that one and can’t wait to finish it. I also have a story about a Christian vampire. As revenge for trying to kill him, a vampire bites a priest and turns him. The priest then has to decide how to go on, reconciling his faith with the new monster inside him. I really love the twist in this one.
What do you like to do when you are not writing? Practice my drums, in preparation for the band I’m trying to put together. Read. Serve in my church. Collect Hot Wheels cars. Plan (in my head, for now) my giant HO Slot Car diorama.
Share something your readers wouldn’t know about you.
I cut my own hair.
I’m 100% committed to never date again. Not for any bitter, or resentful reason. My relationships have been, mostly, pretty enjoyable. But, I’ve always dated with the intention of getting married and, since I’m not getting married again, there’s no reason to date. Every once in a while, I miss the feel of a warm, voluptuous woman, but then, I think of all the things I’d have to give up and I’m like, “Naahhhh.” I actually think, living in this house, all alone, I’m the happiest, most content I’ve ever been in my life. I mean, I have my 11-piece drum set in my living room. Why would I give that up?
I hope you enjoyed meeting Don McCann up close. Feel free to click on the links above to order any of Don’s works.
Happy Writing! Gina
