Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
This is a story about the dangers of normalizing malignancy. The demons make that case pretty bluntly, but you can see it in the mundane world as well. The world is unkind, and it is that way largely because people collectively decided that was okay. They accepted institutionalized poverty and oppression as normal and it was allowed to spread.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
The biggest issue that has plagued me is volume. Too many characters, plot threads, themes, things I want to address. I either drown in it or develop a story that’s spread too thin or is gargantuan. The best thing I ever did for myself is break the writing process down into smaller and smaller pieces. Not only did this make the daily tasks of the process more manageable and something I’d do more consistently, but it also slowed me down and gave me the time to consider if I needed everything I was dumping into the mix. Now, I’ll notice when something is interesting but not the best fit and file that away for another story better suited for it.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I’ve written three books. Only one has been published. The other two won’t be, not in their current state anyway. The jury is out if I ever return to them. Daemones Ex Machina is my favorite, not only because it’s actually in print, but because I learned a lot from writing it and it was in the process of crafting it that I had several epiphanal moments that I think will serve me well for the rest of my writing career.
If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
I think Denzel Washington would make a great Guion with his casual and commanding power. As for Friedy, the low hanging fruit is Steve Buscemi. I picture Friedy younger, but Buscemi can do the nervous, twitchy energy perfectly. And Jon… maybe Andrew Garfield? His brooding and heartfelt performance in Spider Man: No Way Home feels like a good fit for Jon’s introspective fits of conscience.
When did you begin writing?
I don’t remember ever not writing. I was forever interrupting my mother’s bedtime stories with my own takes on what should happen next (my father sidestepped that by reading me his medical textbooks instead). The first time I can remember really sitting down and planning a story was in 6th grade when two different classes gave me two very different stories to write, and I went to the wall with both of them. After that, I was always scribbling in a notebook until my father bought me a typewriter (I wouldn’t own a computer until college), at which point I’d bang on the keys after finishing my homework.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
My first book is one of the unpublished ones and it took me a solid decade to write because I made every mistake a fledgling writer could make. I was editing while writing, which lead to chronic writer’s block and a ton of wasted time. I also decided I needed to write exactly like Stephen King because I wanted to be like him. Years later, I’d come to understand I am the antithesis of a pantser and without structure I was going to wander in the wilderness forever and never reach the end. That first book took forever to write and would take someone forever to read because it’s so long.
Daemones Ex Machina took me roughly a year to write, not counting my pre-writing research. I had a highly regimented, step-by-step development plan that I used and refined. It helped keep me on track and made the creative process so much easier on me. It also helped me write a better book by pre-emptively cutting out all the narrative wandering.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
My all time favorite author is Stephen King, even if his creative process doesn’t slot well with my brain. Before him, however, I fell in love with Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, specifically the Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragonlance Legends. These books showed me the power of characters so well crafted that they became real people to my childhood mind. I felt a magic in their prose and it left me not only wanting to experience more of it, but to become that kind of wizard myself.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
The flow state, hands down. When the characters or events take on a life of their own and start telling me what’s going to happen next instead of me deliberately moving them down the path. Not only does it feel good in my soul, but invariably that’s when I do my best work.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Inner demons made real.
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?
I’m at a crossroads right now. I was considering trying to shape up one of those old fantasy books, but I was convinced by a friend and fan that I should let that go and concentrate on cyberpunk, which she insists contains a fire my fantasy doesn’t. So, okay, cyberpunk. On one hand, I’ve got 38 pages of research and discovery writing done for the next book. I miss writing and I’m eager to get back to it. On the other hand, I’m researching what it takes to produce an audiobook of Daemones Ex Machina, which I’d really like to do. I’m going to do both of these. I just haven’t figured out the rhythm of how to juggle them both yet.
About the Author
At the age of four, Russell Anders started telling stories, often
interrupting his mother during bedtime reading to ask, “Then what
happened?” She always answered, “You tell me,” and his
imagination conjured fantastical tales of dragons and dinosaurs.
He gravitated toward a career as a technical writer and writing coach for
software companies. He also briefly served as a columnist for Dragon
Magazine. One of his favorite hobbies includes tabletop role playing,
especially as the game master. And yes, he's as cruel to the characters in
his games as he is to the characters in his books; his players love him for
it.
Russel lives with the constant canine companionship of whip-smart but goofy
Sigurd, an English Mastiff (the best breed ever).
Daemones ex Machina is his debut novel.
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