Robert N Stephenson has authored two full length novels, Life Light published by Satalyte Publishing is available from amazon.com and other outlets. He was sold over 100 short stories around the world, have published and edited Altair Magazine, from 1996-2000, Runs and Edits Altair Australia Publishing, has worked as a literary agent and works as a writer and writing teacher full time. He has won the Black Dog Award and the Aurealis award for his writing, and has received 2 honourable mention in the Writers of the Future contest in the same year.
1. How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I have bee writing fiction since 1995, though I wrote poetry for many years before this. I am a writer because there is nothing else I want to do. It is me and I love the passion.
2. What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
Listen, learn, edit, change, edit again. Nothing is set in stone and you aren’t the best writer in the world. Just never, ever give up, never.
3. Are there any writing resources, such as books or websites, you’d like to recommend?
I have a new writing book for FREE on smashwords.com ‘The Writing Soldier’ it isn’t for everyone, b ut some will enjoy the straight forward and direct guide
4. What is your favorite type of fiction and who are your favorite authors?
I love science fiction, my favourite authors are Robert J Sawyer, Nancy Kress, Asimov and James P Blaylock
5. What tips do you have for finding time to write?
You don’t find time, you deliberate set out to make the time, you steal time from other things to write and when ever you are not writing you are thinking of writing so you are ready to write whenever you make that precious time. You get what you will from writing by what you put in. It is hard work, but trust me, it is also fabulous.
6. Do you prefer to outline a story in advance or write on the fly? Why?
I write on the fly, though I see the merit of an outline – each writer is different, so you write in the manner that best suits your thinking. I can construct a full story on the fly, some can’t, it doesn’t make one better than the other, they are just different approaches.
7. How do you deal with rejections?
I got 450 straight rejections before I sold Alone With Ghosts to Tailbones Magazine, then I got another 50 rejections until I sold my second. These were all paid markets. The secret to rejections is that they are a no, not a vote of no confidence, just a straight no – you spruce up the story a little more and then send it out elsewhere. Remember what I said. Never, ever, give up.
8. What are your writing goals for the next twelve months?
Complete my current novel and maybe sell a few more stories for the year. I have sold 3 so far this year, one of the better starts. I only sold 2 for the whole of last year.
9. For the next five years?
I plan to be doing what I am doing now, only with another five years experience. I have been in the business for 20 years and every day I learn something new about writing and about me. If I learn nothing in 5 years, then I have wasted that time.
10. Is there anything you’d like to plug? Feel free to share a link.
There are some FREE book on smashwords under my name. One is an anthology I launched in 2015, it is free, along with some other works there. If you want to buy a book, then of course there is the SF mystery Life Light by Robert N Stephenson on amazon.com, plus some other works. Thank you for your time and I hope I have been helpful to someone in some way.
