About Michael C Bland:
My debut novel was published in 2020. Though released during a global pandemic, The Price of Safety reached #7 in Amazon’s rankings for Dystopian novels and received Finalist awards three times: by the Indie Book Awards for both Science Fiction and Thriller, and by National Indie Excellence Awards for New Fiction. The second novel in the trilogy, The Price of Rebellion, was released in May 2023. It won Best Science Fiction Novel of 2022 by Indies Today.
I am a founding member and the secretary of BookPod, an online book support group. “Elizabeth”, one of my short stories, won Honorable Mention in Writer’s Digest 2015 Popular Fiction Awards contest, and two of the short stories I edited have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
I’ve experienced the white nights in Helsinki, snuck onto a Russian battleship, toured Broadway backstages (Cats, Wicked), explored restricted areas of West Point, lived in three different time zones, and seen Lenin in his tomb. Yet writing is still one of my biggest thrills.
What inspires you to write?
I get inspired by many different things: a new technology that comes out, a 'what if' scenario that intrigues me, a difficult choice that someone has to make, and so on. I'm fascinated by where we are heading, how fragile our existence is yet how resilient mankind has proven to be. I continue to obsess about our future and how we will face it.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Pierce Brown, Terry Goodkind, and Stephen King are three of my favorites.
Tell us about your writing process.
I have to outline my stories before I write it. I tried to be a "pantser", just writing without a plan. It was a trainwreck. So I outline. Besides, I find that some of my best ideas occur to me after I've been working on a story, and it's easier to tear up an outline than rewrite major sections of a novel.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I do listen to my characters. As I outline the story, they become involved as they are integral to the plot. The two have to work hand in hand. Having said that, I have had times where a minor character leaps off the page in a way I hadn't expected.
What advice would you give other writers?
Find a beta reader–preferably another writer–who will give you honest feedback. No one's writing is perfect. Find someone who will push you and challenge you to write better than you currently do. Writing is like anything else: you have to practice and practice to improve. By having a reader who will help you see what works and what doesn't, you will become a better writer.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I wanted to be traditionally published so I could focus more on writing and less on publishing. Yet even with being traditionally published, writers still have to do virtually all of the promotion for their books. Few publishers provide support in that department until you become a big-name author.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think it will continue to evolve. I believe AI will have a negative impact as people use AI to generate books, adding even more content though not necessarily good content to the marketplace.
What genres do you write?: science fiction, thriller, near future
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Michael C Bland Home Page Link
Link To Michael C Bland Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on World Castle Publishing
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
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.
