Spotlighting my fellow writers at SHU and their works in progress.
Hello, Todd! Welcome to Amy's Book Den!
Todd Moody
Blog
Pilot and author, father and husband. I like to tinker with web stuff, read, draw in pencil and pastel chalk, listen to music, play poker and design stuff in photoshop. I also like to write. When I'm not writing, I am probably checking my twitterfeed or facebook or listening to music or reading a blog. I also love to read SF or paranormal romance and have been spending my evenings doing the P90x workout to fight off old age. It doesn't appear to be working, but at least I feel better about it.
Did you always know you wanted to be a professional writer?
No, I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was about 43, five years ago.
Who or what has influenced your writing?
Star Wars sparked my interest in Science Fiction and opened up a whole new world. It's why I'm a pilot now. CJ Cherryh is the author that inspired the type of fiction I wanted to write with her Union/Alliance stories, but it was Stephanie Meyer that actually made me decide it was something I could do. I felt like I could write at least as well as she could and it got my off my hiney and writing with a purpose to publish.
A pilot because of Star Wars. Now that is inspiration!
What is your favorite part about writing?
I love it when characters do things that surprise me. Sometimes in the course of writing, in the moment, the scene comes out of nowhere and you realize that it wasn't what you originally had in mind. Sometimes it's great and generates an entirely new thread. Sometimes it's not so great, and it takes you way off course and you end up having to backtrack. But even when that happens it feels like real magic. I think it's one of the reasons people believe in a muse.
Is there anything you must have when you sit down and write? Coffee, Music, Cookies?
There aren't any must haves, but I like a calm mind, a block of time and music. Science Fiction soundtracks work great, like Tron, or something unobtrusive, like Radiohead or Muse.
Soundtracks are awesome. My music library probably has more soundtracks than anything else!
Tell us a bit about your Thesis Novel?
In 2052 lifelogging is the law. Marin Cappelle is the right hand of the CEO for the company that manufactures the wetware chips that make lifelogging such a ubiquitous fact of life. When Marin wakes up one cold February morning, with her cloud memory and lifelog offline, the fidelity of her world is blown apart. People are dying by the dozen with millions more lives at stake, as Marin struggles to solve the enigma and get her life back in the process.
Describe QUINTESSENCE in five words or less.
1984 meets facebook on steroids.
What sparked the idea for QUINTESSENCE?
A blog post by Sci Fi writer Charles Stross about lifelogging. People are actually starting to do it now.
Treat us to a snippet of a favorite scene you've written so far.
“I need you to take off your glasses though. I don’t want where we’re going to be recorded.”After reading about lifelogging and then reading this snippet, I'm so hoping to get to read Quintesscense one day!
I looked back at her. “Are you serious? That’s against the law.”
Both of Kasia’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously? Well, we don’t have to go there then. I don’t want what we do there compromised.”
“Then why are you taking me there?”
She laughed at me again. “To be honest with you, I think you would be a great addition to our cause.”
“Your cause? I thought you helped people that were disenfranchised or something,” I said.
“We do help those people, but I’m not saying any more until you turn off your lifelog.”
I pulled the glasses off and stuffed them into the little case that came with them and put them in my jacket pocket. “My lifelog's still offline anyway.” Why did I tell her that? Maybe it was her cavalier attitude.
“You’re full of surprises. I didn’t expect that, but it makes things a lot easier,” Kasia said.
“What kinds of things?”
“Things and stuff,” she said whimsically and then snickered.
That wasn't an answer, but I was coming to expect nothing more from her. “What does CAD stand for anyway?”
“It’s a leftover from a bygone era. My Grandmother started it as a halfway house about forty years ago. She named it Control –Alt –Delete. I guess that meant something back then, having to do with restarting. She thought it was funny, but the name stuck and we shortened it to CAD when people didn’t get her joke anymore.”
Share with us one tip or advice about writing that has helped you a lot.
For each scene the POV character should have something at stake. If they don’t have anything at stake for that scene then someone else should be the POV. If nobody has anything at stake you might want to rethink keeping that scene.
That is some great advice! I didn't learn that until my second term lol
Thanks for stopping by!
