Author Bio:
Born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri, Joshua Danker-Dake now lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his wife and two children. A writer and editor by trade, he also serves as the Strategy and Tactics Editor for Diplomacy World, the flagship publication of the Diplomacy hobby. Other things he gets rather excited about include He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, bombastic European power metal, and St. Louis Cardinals baseball.
What inspires you to write?
I am *compelled* to write. I stay up too late too often, spending too many hours writing, because creating and telling stories is fulfilling for me in a way that no other activity is.
Tell us about your writing process.
I am an outliner. I have written without an outline, and I will never do that again. My first draft takes three times as long that way. I have to have, at the very least, the complete skeleton of the plot. I just use plain old MS Word to outline—it’s certainly not the most organized way to go about it, but it works for me.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I listen. Within the framework of the plot, the characters have to have the freedom to speak and act in ways that are true to their character. They aren’t believable otherwise.
What advice would you give other writers?
Like Dorothy Parker said, “Writing is the art of applying the ass to the seat.” Getting it done, getting it on the page—that’s job one. Making it good once it’s there is job two—the foundation of that, at least for me, is two-fold: working to improve your language skills and learning to read critically (and doing it as much as you can).
How did you decide how to publish your books?
With THE RETAIL, traditional publishing said, “We like your book. We think it has market appeal. We’re going to pass.” I’ve since moved on to other projects; why should such a funny book sit on my hard drive? I self-published it to get it out there and because I completely believe that it’s good enough that it deserves to be out there.
For future books, traditional publishing is absolutely still on the table.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Perhaps we’re heading toward a dystopian age in which you can publish any sort of book you like as long as it’s a paranormal romance. Perhaps we’re not far away.
What do you use?
Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?
fiction, humor, satire, science fiction, fantasy
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Joshua Danker-Dake Home Page Link
Link To Joshua Danker-Dake Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/joshuadankerdake
https://twitter.com/JoshDankerDake
