Name of Author: Bob Sellers JR
Title of Book: Blood-Lines
Favorite Authors: Kelley Armstrong, John Sandford, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Laurell K. Hamilton, Ann Rice, Patricia Cornwell, Stieg Larsson, Ann Rule, Stephen King and of course fellow Wattpader Catrina Burgess 8)
Bio:
Married with two daughters, I currently reside in Southern Minnesota (USA). I started writing as part of the Forever Knight Fan Fiction Wars and got into writing as a hobby when I joined the on-line writers group once offered by Kelley Armstrong.
Currently employed as a Senior Programmer Analyst for Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; I bleed purple and gold as a fan of the Minnesota Vikings and compete as a BBQ Pit Master
A long time fan of the supernatural, I've always enjoyed the dark tales of things that go bump in the night.
I thoroughly enjoy using the readers imagination against them not unlike Hitchcock did with his movies and King did with his many stories.
Blood-Lines
https://www.wattpad.com/story/44466377-blood-lines-wattys2015
Can you explain what your book is all about?
Welcome to the Weird Wild West where both men and women have to be tough to survive. It's a place with horsepower measured by hands or hooves and the number of cylinders in a long gun or pistol makes the difference between life and death on the open frontier of the Western United States.
There are people here who are not as they seem and others who watch them. Supernatural and mortal alike unite to reach what peace that can be found between them. Hunters can become prey, and prey can become the hunter.
This is their story.
Who is your target audience - and why?
My target audience would be those who might be interested on a different twist on how paranormals might have existed between current decades and the dark ages or even as part of historical events where they might not have been otherwise expected but may have had a subtle hand in.
What is 'paranormal' about your story?
My stories involve mortal and immortal interactions across many class lines be they vampires, various flavors of lycans, witches, warlocks and other magic users, demons, voo-doo practices and fey during the late 1800s in the outback of the U.S. Wild West.
Does it contain other genre elements, if so which ones - and why?
Roman and Pict mythologies. Picts were tribes involved in uprising against Romans in Scotland and Ireland. In particular I delve a bit into the disappearance of the infamous Roman Ninth Division (along the lines of the story depicted in the movie Centurion only with my own twist).
Tell us about your writing process - how do you get from story idea to a Wattpad published story?
I start with a general idea for a story path/theme from start to finish and then begin with the opening line and possibly the ending. Once I have one or both the middle tends to develop as I go.
For me the opening line is as key an element for any chapter as the closing line.
Did you encounter any challenges when writing, if so - how did you overcome them?
Sometimes writers block does become an issue, not so much that I don't know what to do next but how to present what I want to do and how best to do it.
I use a Holo-Deck methodology (ref: Star Trek) where in a pinch I can run a chapter idea through several times to see how it plays or doesn't in my mind visually
To get around otherwise I often write ahead. I have certain ideas of what is coming down the road and script it out. Quite possibly I may even write the last chapter and epilogue as I give myself a target to shoot for while writing the current story or part.
You often hear that 'writing well' is the baseline for success. What does that mean for you?
It means rereading my story or chapter until I do not find any questions or problems with flow in the read. Rereading a story in a different medium also helps, for example on my phone versus my PC screen. Sometimes too much detail can be bad or not enough allows for expansion.
Syntax is also very important along with avoiding such things such as replication in either terms or words along with tense as in "-ing" vs. "-ed" consistently.
