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Randall Platt |
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Randall’s 18Q |
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The Eighteen Questions |
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18Q |
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The Likes of Me - Silver Medal, Willa (Cather) Literary Award, an ALA Best Book Honor Bright - Winner, Keystone State Book Award The Cornerstone - optioned for feature film by actor/director Tom Skerritt Out of A Forest Clearing - an environmental fable And the fe-as-kos! The Four Arrows Fe-As-Ko - filmed as Promise The Moon, Sullivan Entertainment |
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Bibliography |
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1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you? I knew from a very early age I wanted to create magic... at first, through art, then theater, music and dance. But each time I tried one of these artistic pursuits, I found myself writing. At first, I wrote teleplays that showcased this fantastically talented 12 year old girl - moi! I would send these off to the studios with the offer to guest star for free. It took me many years to figure out I was not trying to be an actress - I was trying to be a writer.
2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.) I take pride in having been kindly asked to leave the finest colleges in Oregon.
3. When did you ‘know’ you were a writer? Shortly after I reached the legal drinking age. It was a sobering discovery.
4. How would you describe your style of writing? I let my fingers do the talking. I just type. I can type faster than I can think. Guess all those years of working as a secretary have finally paid off!
5. What is your writing process? A very fast first draft - followed by cutting at least a third, then rewrite after rewrite. I over-write the first draft - sometimes just to follow the ‘what if’ ideas that spring forth. Some ideas work out, others go down in a ball of flames.
6. What was your path to publication? Write, submit, revise, resubmit. I had a very nice, loyal agent for nine years who didn’t sell a thing. Sacked the agent and then I sold three books within six months. I have heard it said that a rejection is a redirection.
7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? Thinking outside of the box when it comes to book signings - I have found that people don’t come to bookstores, but they will come to other venues, especially if they can drink and/or get fed or shop. Ballparks, taverns, wineries, toy stores. I send postcards with personal invitations several weeks before I hit town. I figure no less than five sets of human eyes see a postcard before it gets to its destination.
8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer? That the world will not beat a path to your door. That a critic always gets the last say. That just because you sold one doesn’t mean you’ll sell the next one. That your best friends and/or family may not read your book. That people will assume you are now a millionaire just because your hardcover sells for 25 bucks and you can surely give them an autographed copy. That you won’t get the 12 city glamor tour or a booking on Oprah. That you have to relearn how to put on panty hose for appearances. That a kid might ask for your autograph.
9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity? Coffee at 4 am helps. Fear inspires me, too. Fear that if I don’t write it, someone else will and that will really cheese me. I find music helps me get through any blocks in the road.
10. What is your proudest writer moment? Seeing my name on a screen that said “Based on The Four Arrows Fe-As-Ko by Randall Beth Platt” - maybe sending those teleplays to Warner Brothers back when I was twelve finally paid off!
11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing? That it is a business and the savvy writer will approach it as a business. Hard to do when you are gushing with tears over a rejection letter or a glowing review.
12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment? Let’s just say it this way: The best way to save face is to keep the lower end of it closed.
13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer? Figuring out what is cost-effective when it comes to promotion.
14. What is your writer life philosophy? Life is short. Write it now. Stories are meant to be hatched, not just incubated.
15. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? I play handball, run, workout. Writing is so solitary and confining. I need to get fresh air and talk to real live people.
16. Who do you like to read? I am always rediscovering the classics. As a writer of fiction, most of my reading is taken up with research. Let’s hear it for audio books! (pun intended)
17. What’s your advice for new writers? Sit down. Write. Repeat as necessary.
18. What are you currently working on? Two novels, one screenplay, and my on-going, never-ending slang project, Slangmaster. |
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