We continue with part II of an interview with
Cowboy/winemaker/musician Boo Walker.
Did you miss Part I?
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
BW. I think so much about procrastination. It gets us all. Like I mentioned, I love the Be Focused app. That and setting a word count. I have word counts that I force myself to hit, and I don’t allow myself to enjoy much more of the day until I hit my count. In other words, once I clean my room, I can go out and play! Hit the word count and the rest of the day is mine.
Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?
BW. They come to me on walks and in dreams. Often, they start as real people and begin to morph into a more exaggerated persona. I find that when I try the least to find them is when they come to say hello, and that can be any time of day. The muse is full of characters, but she waits until you’re quietly listening to share.
Q. What first inspired you to write?
BW. I read Plum Island by Nelson Demille while trekking across Ireland in the late nineties. From that moment on, I wanted to create a character as cool and funny as John Corey.
Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?
BW. Depends on the book. I’m open to both, whatever the muse leads me toward.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?
BW. Totally. That’s what keeps bringing me back. If you sit long enough typing a story, you’ll enjoy such a feeling. It’s the best in the world, better than any drug. You’re writing and suddenly you’re pulled in and become the character. When I wake from this daydream thirty minutes later and realize my fingers have been flying over the keys, I know I’ve written something special. But it wasn’t me at all, was it? My best writing is when the muse is the one writing. I’m just a conduit with fast fingers holding on for dear life.
Q. Are you working on something now? If so tell us about it.
BW. I can’t share much, but I’ve recently moved to St. Pete, Florida from Washington State, and I’m in love with this place. The next two stories take place in St. Pete and will be chock-full of familial dysfunction, love stories, and characters searching for meaning. I like throwing difficult circumstances at characters and seeing how they overcome.
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
BW. Perhaps ten years ago, but what led me to becoming a pro is reading the life-changing book The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
Q. How long after that were you published?
BW. Until recently, I’ve always self-published. It took me a few years to write my first book, Lowcountry Punch. I did a lot of reading at first, learning the craft. And I interviewed the Charleston DEA and did some serious research. Then I wrote and rewrote and burned drafts. Finally, four years later, my book hit the shelves.
Q. Do you think we will see, in our lifetime, the total demise of paper books?
BW. No, I don’t think so. I suspect there will always be a place for them. How sad to think there would be a world without bookstores. But for me personally, I have gone almost entirely digital.
Q. What makes a writer great?
Don’t miss the conclusion to this wonderful Interview ~~ May 31st.
Watch for my review of Red Mountain Rising (sequel) Coming soon!
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MY BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! February: Rick Lenz, March: Patrick Canning, April: Poet, Joe Albanese and May: Boo Walker, June: Anne D. LeClaire, July: Catherine Ryan Hyde
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