Australian author DL Richardson interviewed me recently for her Coffee Chat series, so I wanted to return the favour. DL writes speculative fiction for anyone who likes a twist in their tale, from the YA books One Little Spell and The Bird With the Broken Wing to the scifi series Welcome To the Apocalypse. Find out more at www.dlrichardson.com.
You can read DL’s chat with me here.
How do you take your coffee, and what is your favourite time of day to drink it?
DL: I take my coffee black. I didn’t always, but I got so tired of people making my coffee too milky. I love my coffee first thing in the morning, and I require at least one large mug to get going. Any time I see someone on TV drinking coffee, I automatically want one. But I’ve learned to ignore that little voice because I find I only like my morning coffee.
Serene: I’m the same! Whenever I see someone making tea, or read about it in a book, I immediately want to brew one too. I didn’t realise how often my characters drink tea until someone told me how many cups of tea they drank while reading Mists…
Are you a biscuit or a cake kind of person?
DL: I like both, but the fact that I can eat a whole packet of biscuits in one sitting, yet I can’t eat a whole cake, sort of decides which I like best. My favourite biscuit is the crunchy Gingernut.
You used to write music and play in a band – what similarities/differences are there to dreaming up stories rather than songs, and what made you switch from writing music to writing books?
DL: The two are very different. Writing songs is very personal. When I was on stage singing, everyone believed I was singing about myself, and that can be scary, because I’m basically a private person. So I wrote a lot of vague lyrics. I admire writers like Pink who can come right out and say what’s on their mind. When I’m writing a novel, maybe a tiny part of me is injected into the character or maybe none at all. Most people don’t think I’m writing about myself.
We met for the first time in real life at Supanova – what do you like best about comic-cons like that? Do you do any other live events?
DL: I only started attending comic-cons a few years ago. I knew they had them in America but I didn’t think we had them in Australia. Up to that point, I’d attended writing events and I thought being amongst other writers was amazing. It’s nothing compared to cons. There, I’m amongst all sorts of people who love the things I love. I’ve never felt more at home.
DL and I will next be neighbours at Oz Comic-Con, in Sydney on September 29 and 30.
You’re currently writing a new series, can you tell us a bit about Earth Quarantined?
DL: Earth Quarantined is the story of humans who were trying to get off the planet because a deadly virus was wiping us out in the millions. This brought First Contact from peace-keeping aliens who gave us the cure, yet because of the virus, our planet was placed on quarantine. The universe doesn’t want this virus getting out into space and the aliens have promised to help humans achieve space travel if we adopt strict laws to modify our war-like behaviour. The story takes place at the time when there has been peace on earth for two centuries, but humans are getting frustrated with waiting for the technology to leave our dying planet.
What’s your best advice for people wanting to write books?
DL: The best piece of advice I’ve ever heard is “Nobody asked me to do this.” Those words help with the mental strength required to write, publish, and sell books. It’s helped me to look at this business as a business. If something isn’t working, I don’t complain, I find a way to change it. That’s the best part of indie publishing. I’m in control.
Buy the books
www.dlrichardson.com/dlrichardsonbooks
www.amazon.com/author/dlrichardson
Find out more
Website: www.dlrichardson.com
Blog: www.dlrichardsonwrites.blogspot.com
Get Social