Interview with Daniel Ticknor
Published 2016-03-03.
What do your fans mean to you?
I have fans? You mean, somebody actually read my book without me nagging them? Wow!
Who are your favorite authors?
Tolkein, Poe, Norton, the usuals in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category. Except H G Wells - his stuff is too outdated to enjoy. And Asimov. He is so far off the mark for what computers actually -are-, that his stuff just comes off as silly nonsense.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
My pill alarm (Parkinson's is not fun).
Why is your picture upside down?
Because I was feeling mirthful when I posted it up. Being runner-up for "World's Worst Selling Author", can either make one depressed, or mirthful, depending on how seriously you take it.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Yeah, this is it. Song of the Fallen Star. Wrote some nice 1-2 paragraph stuff over the years, but never before a complete story.
Are you driving a car in your upside-down picture?
1964 1/2 Mustang Convertible. Robin's egg blue with white top and white-and-black interior. Very pretty, my parents ordered it that way new. Only a six, not so fast, but with 4-on-the-floor it is still fun to drive, at least for the three months per year of convertible weather in the Pacific Northwest.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Started collecting Dahl's work after that. I can only recall one "grown-up" book in the mix, so I can't really say he had much literary impact on my life.
How do you approach cover design?
First, I empty my head, except for the topic. Then I look through my own photography collection, and try to see if I can find a fitting theme. Then I go take any more photographs I can that I might need, and harvest the Internet for non-copyright material to add in. The cover for Song of the Fallen Star is a late evening midwinter photograph of the treetops in Mt. Scott Park in Portland, OR. The starfield in the background I got from NASA, as an artists rendering of what the Milky Way might look like in 2 billion years. (US Government cannot copyright anything, ha-ha!) I drew the falling star on this by hand. This beat the living daylights out of the prior cover, which was hand-drawn by me (I am a terrible artist).
What is your e-reading device of choice?
I like my e-paper Nook best, easy to read in any lighting, and very low power requirement lets it run a long time. Kind of buggy, though, I should probably buy a more current model.
What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?
Marketing? Hmm, maybe that's why I don't sell any copies...
What's the story behind your latest book?
Originally, it started out as an idea for Lord-of-the-Rings-from-the-bad-guys-view, but that would have run afoul of other people's rights. I took the core ideas, and remolded them into a new world, and found new ways to explore the primary theme ("Good" and "Bad" from different points of view). Between that, and my writing being nowhere near the mastery embodied in Lord of the Rings, it now bears very little resemblance to the original inspiration. It does, however, touch near the plot for the early 1970's movie Zardoz, but the presentation is well away from that work, allowing it to stand more on its own.
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