LitPick Interview
I had a great time sitting down for an interview with the great folks over at LitPick. They do an amazing job of encouraging young folks to read and it was my pleasure to part-take in an “Extra Credit” interview with them. Cheek out some of the highlights in below and then zoom over to their website to take in the rest of the interview in it’s entirety.
From Amazon.com:
Award Wining Author Braxton A. Cosby is a dreamer with a vision of continuously evolving and maximizing the untapped potential of the human spirit. Braxton received a lot of his inspiration from watching the accomplishments and exploits of his famous uncle, comedic legend Bill Cosby. Braxton’s fascination of science grew into an obsession of Sci-fi and on one unassuming Sunday, this self-proclaimed romantic decided to pursue a ‘calling’ to create a new genre of writing- Sci-Fance. Braxton’s first novel, The Star-Crossed Saga, has won the Readers Favorite book of teh year award for the Romance/Fantasy Sci-fi category. Braxton lives in Georgia with his wife, two children and a troop of African Cichlids.
EXTRA CREDIT INTERVIEW WITH BRAXTON COSBY:
Hey, LitPickers! Today, frequent contributor Braxton Cosby joins us for an “Extra Credit” interview. Braxton is a dreamer with a vision of continuously evolving and maximizing the untapped potential of the human spirit. He received his Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Miami. His first novel, Protostar: The Star-Crossed Saga has won the “Readers Favorite Book of the Year Award” for Romance: Fantasy-Sci-Fi category and the “Literary Classics International Book of the Year Award” for Sci-fi Young Adult published under Cosby Media Productions/Tate Publishing. His novels are available in print and e-book formats.
Do you have a solid outline before writing, or do you usually get ideas as you go along?
I always write from some form of an outline, albeit the one I create is usually very short. What I do is set up the chapter by jotting down three to five sentences of what will happen. Then, I begin to write. My stories are very character driven, so the characters actually ‘write’ the content and I just help to guide them on the path of the outline.
Has someone you knew ever appeared as a character in a book (consciously or subconsciously)?
Yes. I think that a lot of my stories incorporate people I’ve met before or who I know now, because I write from life experiences. This can be either consciously or subconsciously. To be honest, my latest book Supernova (Book 2 of The Star-Crossed Saga) was something I wrote about two years ago and became somewhat prophetic concerning my personal life. It was very powerful to see it unfold in my world, and that’s when I knew that my writing had elevated to another level beyond what I could interpret.
What do you do when you get writer’s block?
Take a big break! lol. I had only one instance of writer’s block, and that was early on when I first began writing Protostar (Book 1 of The Star-Crossed Saga). I was really intimidated by the idea of creating such a compelling story that spanned over three books. Creating the world of ‘The Gemini Chronicles’ made it even bigger, and I was totally thrown off the path just two chapters in. But I collected myself when I heard God offer the idea of choice. Whether I took the opportunity to try something new – with the chance of failure or great gain – was entirely up to me. I couldn’t pass it up. So I went back into the manuscript and continued, never looking back again, and I’ve been amazed at what God did with the story ever since. Also, I don’t get writer’s block anymore because I don’t attempt to write when I’m not in the mood to write. It’s just not something I like doing. I find that the story feels forced. It is important to me that everything read, feels and sounds natural, and that it only accomplished when I am relaxed and motivated.
If you could live in a book’s world, which would you choose?
It’d be a toss-up between the book I co-wrote with Bill Hughes of Star Wars fame, Matt Mercury: Plot of The Galactic Mastermind and Beserker Star by Fred Saberhagen. Both are sci-fi tales with an epic scope, and I love their flow. Matt Mercury is sci-fi lite, while Beserker Star is really heavy. I get my fix of both when I read them. It’d be cool to ride around with Matt Mercury and be one of his Rocket Rangers protecting the galaxy, and hunt down bands of Berserkers in Saberhagen’s novels.