Author Interview: William Cureton
JC – What inspired you to start writing?
WC - I always loved reading. Things I read would stick in my head and mix together, and eventually I just had to write the ideas down. Afterall, I didn't want my head to pop.
JC – What are some of your other interests?
WC - Watching TV and playing games, mostly.
JC – How do you start writing on a story? How do you come up with ideas? Do you have a routine or write whenever you have an opportunity?
WC - I generally start writing longer stories with a short prologue, which can sometimes stand on its own, to test out ideas. Short stories I just write when inspired. Most of them are drawn from and inspired by things I read or see, and others just hit me like a proverbial sledgehammer. I only write when I have the opportunity and inspiration, though.
JC – What kinds of books, stories, and authors inspire you?
WC - Writers like Isaac Asinov, Orson Scott Card, and others inspire me. Stories that look deeper than superficial aspects of society, generally, regardless of the genre. For example, I like To Kill a Mockingbird just as much as Ender's Game.
JC – Your story, “Assassination in the Arcology,” has the feel of a murder mystery. Where did you get your ideas for the characters and the plot?
WC - The characters...I have no idea, really. They just happened as I started writing. I'd been reading a lot of mystery stuff recently, so that probably inspired the detective main character, and most of the plot. The setting was mostly inspired by the novel Red Mars.
JC – What are some things you learned from your first experience with professional editors and an independent publisher?
WC - Editing with someone who's paid to do it is harder than just looking over your own work. But it brings out a much more polished result. So it's worth it! And exciting! Makes me more eager to finish other projects and try to get them published, as well.
William Cureton is a junior in high school and has been writing on and off for a few years. His main interests, both in reading and writing, are with fantasy and science fiction. This is his first story accepted into publication.
