Author Bio:
R.G. Triplett – Bobby, as his friends call him – is an artist at heart. He is a professional musician and private chef – not to mention a husband, daddy of two, and self-proclaimed nerd. Over the last decade he has had the privilege and responsibility of sharing his heart and his inspirations with thousands, and his writing is an expression of his rather epic view of the world.
What inspires you to write?
I think stories with layers and histories and depth and allusions can reveal truth that could never be as easily understood any other way. Truth is a tricky thing sometimes. We can dissect it, quantify it, and fit it into our neat and clean doctrines. We can theorize and organize it while we annotate and regulate every single step
of our process, and if we are not careful, we will find ourselves murderers of the very thing we set out to understand. But if we approach it differently, something mysterious can, and hopefully does, happen to it; something that, if I am honest, I do not claim to completely understand.
We might never be able to systemize something as seemingly elusive and enigmatic as truth. We can, however, muse about it; we can wonder and revel in its complexities. We can let its multi- faceted flavors roll over the palate of our souls, and we can take its heartbeat, its rhythm, and set it in a whole other creature altogether; a new world of myth and song and story. We might find that the very thing we longed to study in the sterile, nonsense-free environments of fact and reason might only be truly understood, or at the very least wholly felt, in the messiness of a story. In doing this, we just might find that it is not so unfathomable as it first seemed, and perhaps we might discover something that was never really hidden to begin with.
Tell us about your writing process.
Well, I’ve got an old leather journal that I draft ideas and chapter outlines into. I usually run all my ideas past a couple of trusted friends before I begin to write. After that, I write chapter by chapter, going back after each chapter to do one pass and make sure I like it.
Then I send the draft off to my editor, and the real work begins when she sends me back a manuscript filled with more red than black.
But, in the end, we end up with something that we are pretty proud of.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
There is definitely a couple characters that I find myself having conversations with frequently. There are bits of me and my heart in each one of the characters, parts of my story and those who have influenced me (whether good or bad). I think the character I love the most is Engelmann the Arborist. He is the sage that I never had in real life… the one that I have always prayed for. I guess since I never had an older man to want to walk with me through the minefields… I had to write my own.
What advice would you give other writers?
Create in a community. I have 2-3 trusted dreamers that help me process the plot lines and flesh out the motivations of the story. They make it better every time.
Also, a HUGE part of our process was kickstarter. We were able to raise over $12,000, which completely covered all marketing, design, printing, and distribution costs of the book. Plus, now we have an army of kickstarter backers who are excited to help promote the book and be a part of the dream. It’s been a really incredible process.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I originally thought I would go through the traditional publishing hoops, but after talking to several published authors and researching the industry, I discovered that I had access to a team of people that could produce a far superior product to most publishers out there. By self publishing, not only could I invite others into the process of this dream coming to life, but I could maintain creative control of the work that I spent a year of my life refining. And I could keep a lot more of the profits too! So… Lost Poet Press was born.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Self-publishing is the way to go. I can’t imagine having done it any other way.
What do you use?
Beta Readers
What genres do you write?
Fantasy/allegory
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
R.G. Triplett Home Page Link
Link To R.G. Triplett Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20631751-the-great-darkening
https://www.facebook.com/epicofhaven
