Q: What’s your name and where are you from?

A: Bruce Buchanan from Greensboro, N.C.

Q: Talk about your journey as a writer. Was there any inspiration you can recall that started it all? When did you know writing was a passion for you?

A: I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing. But I seriously started to think about it as a path as a high school junior. I had a wonderful English teacher who encouraged me. From that point forward, writing has been a constant in my life—although it took me a long time to get around to writing fiction.

Q: Have you had any formal education in writing? If yes, what did you find most useful from the education? If no, how did you learn everything you currently know about writing?

A: Yeah, I have a master’s degree in English literature. I realized as a grad student that I wanted to focus more on writing, rather than teaching the classics. So after graduation, I began working as a newspaper reporter and that was a great experience. Getting to write every day helped me improve my skills so much.

Along the way, I made three attempts to write a novel. But I ended up abandoning them for a variety of reasons. The biggest reason was that I tried going at it alone. Finding the support of a writing community made all the difference.

Q: Do you have a writer’s group that you work with? What other resources have you found that help you out?

A: I’m in a small group with two other writers, and we read each other’s work and share feedback. But more importantly, we’re there for each other when impostor syndrome kicks up, or when we’ve gotten a particularly painful rejection. That sort of emotional support is more important than the actual beta reading, in my opinion.

I’m also friends with more experienced writers, and I lean on them to help me navigate challenges. Making writer friends has been one of the most rewarding parts of this experience.

Q: What are some of your goals for your writing career?

A: Well, I’m checking off one of those big boxes on August 12. That’s when my debut novel, The Blacksmith’s Boy, will be released by Wild Ink Publishing! It’s a NA sword & sorcery fantasy—kind of a throwback to the fantasy novels of the 1980s and ‘90s.

SUMMARY:

Bok Omat thought his place in the Kingdom of Imarina was settled. The 19-year-old served as his rural community’s healer and helped in his family’s blacksmith’s shop. It was an unremarkable life in Imarina’s peasant class, but as long as his parents, sister, and young nephew were safe, a fine one under the protection of the Inishari royal family.

But when an ancient spell threatens Bok’s family and the safety of the entire kingdom, he answers an unlikely summons from Princess Isabella to join her in protecting all they cherish. Despite their vastly different pasts, Bok and Isabella become close friends as they race to counter this deadly incantation and the mysterious mastermind behind it.

Bok learns secrets that force him to reconsider all he has ever known about the world and his place in it. But will this knowledge come at the price of his life, Imarina’s freedom, or even his burgeoning friendship with Isabella? 

Q: What does your writing process look like?

A: I set aside a minimum of 20 minutes every day for uninterrupted writing time. No phones, no social media, no distractions. You can get a lot done in quick bursts if you focus just on writing. Ideally, I can spend more time on writing, but small, consistent efforts still add up.

Q: What do you do for work? What other hobbies or interests do you have besides writing?

A: I work in corporate communications, and pretty much everything I do involves writing. Beyond that…I’m pretty boring! I like reading, of course, and I enjoy watching basketball.

Q: As we all know, most people make little to no money for their writing, yet it’s still an important part of any writer’s life. How do you make time to write? Is there a particular time of day you prefer to write?

A: I’m not a morning person, so I tend to write more in the evening. Even when I’m tired after work, I try to power through and get in a quick writing session.

Q: What are you currently reading?

A: I just finished Mad Girl’s Love Song by Romany Heartford and, oh man, this book did an emotional number on me. It’s about a group of emotionally troubled kids sent to live at a remote research facility. But the doctors are more interested in using the children as test subjects than in helping them. I fell in love with this group of teens; this novel is just so good.

In April, I’m looking forward to reading Ask Grace by S.E. Reed. She’s an amazing YA author, and this work is a young adult thriller.

Q: Are you currently working on any projects you want to talk about?

A: Yes! The Goth Girl Who Saved the World is my WIP and I think it’s the best thing I’ve written. It’s a YA contemporary fantasy novel right at 70,000 words.

SUMMARY:

It’s 1989 and bookish 16-year-old Charlotte Sumner spends most of her days avoiding eye contact with the popular kids at her high school. After school, she either works at the public library or holes up in her room, listening to the alt-rock bands that get her out of bed: The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, etc. But one day, Ian Morris, a dark-haired newcomer with a radical taste in music and an unspoken past, turns the goth girl’s world upside down. But the new kid at school isn’t the only one with secrets: Charlotte learns that two feuding covens of witches operate in her town. She and Ian find themselves squarely in the middle of a deadly, centuries-old conflict!

Q: What is one piece of advice you can offer to new writers?

A: Find your writing friends and be good to them! Again, the feedback and advice is helpful, but their support is what will make the difference. In return, you’ll need to support them. Sometimes, writing can feel like everyone else is having success and you’re watching from the sidelines. But just hang in there—your turn will come. In the meantime, support your fellow writers, because they need you.