About Tegan O’Ryan:
A Canadian resident and the youngest of three siblings, Tegan O’Ryan has been an avid writer of poems and short stories since the age of eight, gradually honing her craft by slowly plucking away at each piece. An admirer of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare and The Princess Bride by William Goldman, as well as a fervent reader and huge fan of cinema, O’Ryan has a particular affinity for action and adventure stories and the vivid worlds of magic and fantasy novels.
What inspires you to write?
It’s hard to really nail it down to just one thing that inspires me. I find inspiration in people, snippets of overheard conversation, a line from a poem, a quote from a movie, the way a stranger executes a gesture that I find fascinating in some weird way. I guess you could say I’m one of those people who has to write, and I’m not so much as inspired as triggered to do so most of the time.
Tell us about your writing process.
I create characters, or rather they create themselves, I meet them, ask them questions and they tell me about themselves, their views on life, bits of their past, defining moments, favourite colours, ect. When all that’s done and I know my cast, they tell me a story and I write it.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I do both but mostly I listen, after all it’s their story! I’m just an observer. I don’t write down everything they tell me but the more they “talk” the more I understand them and where they are coming from, and I’m better able to write them. Their stories are very fluid in that things change based on the questions I ask. “why would you do that? why wouldn’t you just do this?” and then their story changes; sometimes a little or sometimes a lot, it’s a lot of fun for me.
What advice would you give other writers?
Questions! Oh dear god, you can never ask too many questions! Accept nothing just as “oh, ok, they did that or said that, moving on.”
Why did they say that? Why did they do that? The more questions you ask the more your story will grow and evolve. Always feel free to experiment with your writing and last but not least, writing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. It’s not always going to be easy and sometimes it won’t even be fun, but it’s worth it, stick to it!
How did you decide how to publish your books?
By chances I was introduced to two writers, years apart, who used Create Space to get their books published. Both highly recommended it, so I decided to give it a go and here I stand (*cough* sit in front of a computer *cough*) a published author!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Like every other market, it’s constantly growing and evolving. It’s getting easier for indie authors to get their work to the public and that’s the big goal! But because it’s getting easier I also see it getting only more and more competitive, so like all things competitive, it’s only going to get more interesting.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer
What genres do you write?: Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Romance, general fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Link To Tegan O’Ryan Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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