About David R. Bishop & J. Scott Cordero:
This is the bio of two friends who share a passion for storytelling. Scott loved telling stories through music and received a degree in music theatre. He and David met while David was finishing up a degree in Creative Writing. The friendship was almost instantaneous. Not surprising, given the number of similarities in their lives. Both had served in the military; Scott in the Navy and David in the Army. Both were raised in small Florida towns. One day, after long conversations about their love of all things storytelling, they decided to give collaboration a try. They wrote a few short plays and decided to try their hands together writing a novel. What they found was storytelling together was much more rewarding and satisfying than writing separately. They wrote that first novel just to see if they could. And the rest, as the cliché says, is history.
What inspires you to write?
Scott and I have written three novels together, though The Children of Cain: House of Dvanaesti is the first book we felt was strong enough to publish. We’ve also written several short plays and a couple of Christmas pageants for Churches together. That’s where we got our start. Scott has a degree in Musical Theatre and I have a degree in Creative Writing and another in Writing for Stage in Screen. We enjoyed working together on those short plays and pageants and wondered if we could write a novel together. We’d both received awards and accolades for our individual efforts and we wondered if two strong personalities each with his own laurels could learn to put his ego aside for the good of the story. So we tried it. That first novel has few good parts and a lot of bad parts, but we proved not only could we write a novel together we enjoyed it. We also recognized and respected the strengths each of us brought to the table. For Scott, it’s the ability to see the big picture and for me it’s the details. Our latest novel is entitled The Children of Cain: House of Dvanaesti. It’s the first book in a series. Scott and I are both horror fans in general and vampire fans in particular. After we’d finished our second novel, we were playing a game of pool while we discussed what our next project should be. We spent a couple of hours throwing out ideas which neither of us were excited about. I mentioned that I had always wanted to write a vampire novel to which Scott smiled and said he was just about to say the same thing. He then went on to say he didn’t want to write the stereotypical vampire story. He wanted to re-imagine the birth of vampires and their place in history to which I smiled because I was about to say the same thing. We had no idea the story we wanted to tell would lead to a series, but we’re excited about how well the first book is being received. People keep asking us, “When is the second book coming out?” or demanding, “Tell me you’re writing the next book!”
Tell us about your writing process.
Well, outside of the fact we must save three times before any work we do is considered saved, and that a slinky tossed from hand to hand helps to break a block, probably the most unusual habit isn’t a habit at all but a necessity. When we started writing novels together, we each had full time jobs and families to raise so we could only write in the evenings once a week and if we were truly lucky, two evenings a week. Then David’s bride received an opportunity in her career they couldn’t refuse and they moved across country. So David and I now write one day a week (two if we’re lucky) via Skype.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Absolutely! Many time after creating a character, we will allow it to tell us what course of action they are going to take to progress the story. We discovered that if we simply hold to whatever characteristics or moral compass we gave the character at the beginning will show us what they want to do in a situation that will ring true of the reader.
What advice would you give other writers?
In one word: Perseverance.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
We self-published. There’s an old adage which states that any publicity is good publicity. When you decide to independently publish or self-publish, you have to remember that social media is by far the cheapest and most effective method of promotion. You have to learn how to. as another old cliché states, “toot your own horn.” You must spend the time to look for great sites like this one to promote yourself and your work.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It’s hard to say. There is an obvious demand for all things to be in a digital format. I’m more old school. Even though I love technology and the convenience it brings. I still love the feel of a book in my hand when I reading for entertainment.
What do you use?: Co-writer
What genres do you write?: Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
David R. Bishop & J. Scott Cordero Home Page Link
Link To David R. Bishop & J. Scott Cordero Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.