Please tell us about your latest book.
Those Who Are Invited In - Longtime partners Bernard Yates and Sofia Wren are traveling to Besimeni, a quiet fort town on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, to visit her grandparents who are in self-imposed exile on their nearby farm. Meeting them for the first time, Bernard seeks their permission to propose to their granddaughter. The Wrens may welcome him into the family but not before they test his mettle, for they possess more sanguinary and otherworldly secrets of their own to disclose.
Internal Exile - A twin-tale of isolation and terror, it explores the abyss through the eyes of a nine-year-old sleep-paralysis sufferer Lucy Wren. On the eve of her first family reunion, she is once again tormented by the same three shadowy figures who have made a habit of haunting her. However, tonight there is a fourth and things are getting worse.
What can we expect from you in the future?
I’m currently writing a novel about capital punishment as seen through the eyes of a reluctant, medieval executioner. I am also wading into the waters of a screenplay covering the real-world issue of mistakenly being declared dead by the Social Security Administration.
How do we find out about you and your books?
You can find out about my current releases and upcoming works on X @DoublePlusDanny and on my author website - www.danielrichardsonauthor.com
 | Author website for Daniel Richardson. www.danielrichardsonauthor.com |
How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?
I think the adage “write what you know” only goes so far. I like to sprinkle in bits of my personality and experiences, but I equally draw from people I’ll never meet and places I’ve never been.
When did you first think about writing and what prompted you to submit your first MS?
I started off writing in the non-fiction space, specifically literary and legal analysis in my bachelor’s and post-bachelor’s programs. I mustered the guts to plot out a few potential novels from kernels of stories, more like loglines, and selected the one I felt I could best write. Fortunately, my first MS was accepted and published. I’ve been digging in ever since.
Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?
Yes. I think it’s important to have a schedule. Sometimes I’m not in the mood, but I’ll still sit down and mull over ideas until the mood strikes. Other times, I’m furiously writing notes into my phone, a scrap of paper or anything else I can get my hands on.
What about your family, do they know not to bother you when you are writing- or are there constant interruptions?
I had that chat with a family member. It wasn’t pleasant, and I’m sure I could’ve been less curt about it. Folks who don’t write don’t understand the emotional and physical toll it can take. Once I’m in the mood to write, I need to be alone and without distraction.
What do you do to relax and recharge?
I devour books, fiction, non-fiction and writing style guides. I highly recommend On Writing by Stephen King and Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. I watch films, build and play instruments, and watch European football.
Where do your ideas come from?
I’m not telling you! Just kidding. Many come from strange things I’ve read about, experienced or heard about. I like to have ideas collide to build something new, so it’s never just one idea that gets written out but a few that dovetail into one another.
Do you feel humor is important in books and why?
Yes, but not all the time. It depends on the tone. Usually relegating those light moments to specific characters or settings is the best way. I never want a novel to be devoid of it, as I’m trying to depict real-life, and even in the darkest moments we can find some levity.
What kind of research do you do?
A painstaking amount, first of all. I come from the non-fiction/academic space, so I know my professors would be irritated if I inserted historical inaccuracies. I shy away from falling down rabbit-holes as that’s an easy way to lose hours of writing time. However, I make sure that details, spanning from boat specifications in 17th century Ireland, to modern-day technologies are precise, concise and clear for my readers. There’s nothing worse than getting bogged down in details that distract from character or story for the sake of proving how much the writer knows.
Please tell us about yourself.
I’m a Maryland native living in the Midwest with my two dogs, Jack and Sugar. I hold a bachelor’s in Russian literature and International Relations from Beloit College and a master’s of law from Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law. I’m even-keeled and passionate about what I love.
What are some of your favorite things to do?
I build folk and blues instruments from scrap wood, watch European football and horror films.
What are some of your other favorite authors to read?
I studied Russian literature in college, so I’m biased towards Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bulgakov and others from those eras. I’m also quite keen on Camus, Voltaire, Rushdie, and so many others. My favorite stories are mythic, like Tolkien, and intrusive, like Kafka.
What do you think of critique groups in general?
No one is a harsher critic of my works than I am. I want my works to be broken down so I can build them up again. Groups are great for that, but I’d rather have a trusted editor destroy my first or second draft before I think it’s ready for submission. Perhaps it’s because I don’t want to be vulnerable to a group in that way, preferring my madness to be directed at a trustworthy individual.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Working on my fifth or sixth novel and perhaps my second or third screenplay. Writing will always be in my future.
How many books have you written? Two. How many have been published? Two. I’m working on a third now. Fingers crossed!
After you’ve written your book and its been published, do you ever buy it and or read it?
I certainly buy them. It’s a lovely feeling to see the spine of your own book next to your inspirations on a shelf. I do flip through them, but I don’t go front to back. I’ve read them so many times before that I’m mostly checking for formatting and other technical aspects. I know how they end!
A favorite amongst my books? Favorite hero or heroine?
Picking a favorite book is like picking a favorite child, easy. Just kidding. There are aspects of both of my published novels I like, and parts I wish I could go back to and change just a bit. I’ll always have a soft-spot for my first novel, Those Who Are Invited In, as it kicked off my professional career as an inkslinger. I’m finishing up my first draft of a novel called The Blizzard and The Sieve. The protagonist is a medieval carpenter’s apprentice who is compelled into becoming his town’s executioner. Writing that transition in his life and delving into his psyche is making him quite a challenging but enjoyable hero. For my heroines, Lucy Wren, a deuteragonist from my second novel Internal Exile. She is a sleep-paralysis sufferer desperate for friendship.
Most rewarding thing about being a writer?
Crafting ways to approach questions I do not have the answers to and meeting my readers. They’re the best barometers for what’s working in my stories, so I love to hear from them.
If you weren’t writing, what would you be doing?
Procrastinating.
Greatest Desire?
Give my dogs the life they deserve.
Words of encouragement?
Writing is a skill like any other. You need to carve time into your schedule to hone your craft. Get it down, get it good, then make it great.
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