Thank you so much to author, Dan Alex, for taking the time to answer some questions for us. We appreciate it, and we know that your readers will as well!
1. What inspired you to write this book?
Answer: The story and the whole DeadSpace universe. And when I saw that the franchise was being discontinued, I took it upon myself to continue the legacy.
2. Can you tell me about the book?
Answer: Isaac Clarke is Alive and the Earth is infected by the Necromorphs
3. What is your writing process like?
Answer: I sit and write. Due to family and job, the only time I have is Friday and Saturday nights.
4. Was the character inspired by a real person? If so, who?
Answer: No.
5. What do you think happened to the characters after the book ended?
Answer: Sitting in limbo until the next one.
6. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Answer: It takes energy to write and be in the moment.
7. What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Answer: the Internet
8. What is your writing Kryptonite?
Answer: The Internet
9. Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
Answer: I can do both
10. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Answer: Depends on the story. Some are better as stand alone.
11. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
Answer: 6
12. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Answer: I don’t. I get ideas, work on them during my commute and before I sleep, and when I get enough pieces, I start writing.
13. How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?
Answer: Still not full time.
14. How many hours a day do you write?
Answer: Can’t write daily. Average 6-10 hours a week.
15. What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)
Answer: None. All fictive characters.
16. What did you edit out of this book?
Answer: Nothing.
17. How do you select the names of your characters?
Answer: Google
18. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
Answer: Well, I was a music producer and dj, that didn’t work, I guess, car mechanic.
19. What was your hardest scene to write?
Answer: When Isaac was in a gross liquid full of decomposing tissue.
20. How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Answer: With the time I have, this one took 3 years. But the one I’m working on seems to flow a bit faster.
21. Do you believe in writer’s block?
Answer: Hell yeah!
22. What works best for you: Typewriters, fountain pen, dictate, computer or longhand?
Answer: You know, I had a keyboard shaped like a typewriter, biggest mistake I made. My fingers were looking like Shrek’s ears after a few runs. Very inconvenient to use. Laptop and ergonomic keyboard. All the way.
23. When did it dawn upon you that you wanted to be a writer?
Answer: When my head started to fill with stories and couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve been daydreaming all my life.
24. How hard was it to sit down and actually start writing something?
Answer: At all. Well, the sit down part was easy.
25. Do you aim to complete a set number of pages or words each day?
Answer: No.
26. Do you set a plot or prefer going wherever an idea takes you?
Answer: I have a plot in my mind before I start writing.
27. Do you read much and, if so, who are your favorite authors?
Answer: Not really. Again, time.
28. What is the most important thing about a book, in your opinion?
Answer: Itself. A book is not a book without readers.
29. Do you recall the first ever book/novel you read?
Answer: Soldier Svejk.
30. How much of yourself do you put into your books?
Answer: 20%
31. Who are your books mostly dedicated to?
Answer: The printing press.
32. Who is the most supportive of your writing in your family?
Answer: My wife. She doesn’t really have a choice.
33. Writers are often believed to have a Muse, your thoughts on that?
Answer: Each with his own I guess. For me, long drives seem to work. I made Batman Beyond completely during my daily commute.
34. Is it true that authors write word-perfect first drafts?
Answer: Only guided by unicorns.
35. Did any of your books get rejected by publishers?
Answer: Yes, due to licensing rights.
36. What is your view on co-authoring books; have you done any?
Answer: No. Seems very complicated.
37. Is writing book series more challenging?
Answer: No. One can tie any lose ends in the following book.
38. Does it get frustrating if you are unable to recall an idea you had in your mind some time earlier?
Answer: I got used to it. I bought a voice recorder that I seem to have lost, phone is full of memos but still, when it’s gone, it’s gone.
39. Have you ever destroyed any of your drafts?
Answer: I see no reason to.
40. Can you tell us about your current projects?
Answer: Damion – Horror novel
Teddy Bear knight – children’s book
Super hero novel (don’t have a title yet)
Last of six – Sci-fi movie script
Steve and the aliens – animation project
Batman Beyond feature script
To love and to lose – could be novel could be movie script, haven’t decided yet
Lightspeed – Movie script
Rick and Morty (spec script) – done that for a competition
Black mirror spec script – struggling not to forget the idea before I write it. It has to have that B.M feeling in it.
41. Had any of your literary teachers ever tell you growing up that you were going to become a published writer one day?
Answer: Haha! No. I had no prospects in the eyes of my teachers. I was the class clown, always with a red hat, baggy jeans and obsessed with hard house music. I kinda weaseled my way out of high-school and college. I didn’t learn a thing.
42. Were your parents reading enthusiasts who gave you a push to be a reader as a kid?
Answer: No. they were pretty much oldschool rigid type of communist regime leftovers.
43. Do you enjoy discussing upcoming ideas with your partner? If yes, how much do you value their inputs?
Answer: Yes. I need to know an outside opinion so I can appeal to the ordinary and casual reader.
44. Have you ever turned a dream or a nightmare into a written piece?
Answer: Not dream I had over night. But daydreaming….that’s another story.
45. How can readers find out more info about you and your books?
Answer: fb –Dan Alex
Want to be part of our blog as one of our guest author interviews? Email us at ridenourpublishing@gmail.com