It’s the best because I would go for weeks without ever having to put on shoes. WOTS: Describe your studio or usual work space for us.ĭJM: For the longest time I wrote in my home office. Over the years I’ve written so many stories that for one reason or another haven’t seen the light of day, so I’m going to wrap them all up into a nice little package of fantastical tales and see if anybody wants to put them out.
DJ MACHALE SYLO SERIES
This last year I wrote a short story for Jon Scieska’s “Guys Read” series and had a great time doing it. I’m also beginning to compile a handful of short stories that I hope to get published. I have to keep reminding myself that readers will only get it one chapter at a time, and be careful not to let slip something that will happen in future books. Since I will probably be close to finishing the third book before I go on tour with the first, it’s going to be tricky to keep spoilers under wraps because as I said, it’s all one big story to me. WOTS: Are you working on any new projects that you can tell us about?ĭJM: Right now I am working on the second book in the SYLO trilogy. But the main thing is I always know where I’m headed, and what the major touchstones will be along the way. I don’t like being locked into an outline if the story takes me somewhere else that’s better. Though there will be times that I get stuck and refer to the outline…only to find that I have veered far off into the woods. It’s not about that document, it’s about having gone through the thought process of creating the story. It isn’t until then that I go back to the beginning and type: “Once Upon A Time…” I rarely even refer to the outline that I wrote. Each “chapter” (or book) is treated with its own outline that I tinker with until the story and the journeys of each character feel right. Whether it will be three books or ten, I look at it as one big story, broken up into chapters that eventually evolve into individual books. When I start a new series, I first outline the entire thing. I never get caught up with missing the forest because I can’t see through the trees. It’s an incredibly pure way of creating a story.
I take notes…which nobody will ever read. I don’t stress over coming up with the perfect words, I simply think through the story, the character arcs, the twists and the conclusion until it takes on a definite shape. It’s my favorite part of writing a story. I go through the same process as writers who sit down and begin by typing: “Once upon a time…”, it’s just that I do it in broadstrokes first. WOTS: Can you tell me a bit about your writing process? Do you plot or not?ĭJM: My stories all have very intricately interwoven plotlines, which I feel makes it important to think things through before ever writing words that other people will read. So the heartache, frustration and tenacity were all there, it just happened in a different way.
DJ MACHALE SYLO MOVIE
So by the time I came up with an idea that turned out to be too long for a movie and too expensive for a TV show and decided it would work best as a book series, I was already known as someone who created entertainment for kids and that made it easier to get published.
But the real story is that I had been paying my dues for DECADES getting a TV career going, and then creating a few very successful TV shows for young people. My agent sent the proposal for Pendragon to an editor, the editor liked it and the rest is history.
The short answer is that it was incredibly easy. lives with his family in Southern California.ĭJM: My route to publication was different than most. In addition to his published works, he has written, directed and produced numerous award-winning television series and movies for young people including Are You Afraid of the Dark? Flight 29 Down and Tower of Terror. The first book of his new adventure trilogy, SYLO, will be published in the summer of 2013. MacHale is the author of the bestselling book series Pendragon – Journal of an Adventure Through Time and Space the spooky Morpheus Road trilogy and the whimsical picture book The Monster Princess. When I saw that he was embarking on a new series, I thought it would be a great time to shine the spotlight on this talented author.ĭ.J. I met DJ last year at the Children’s Book Festival in La Mesa. I am thrilled to introduce best-selling author DJ MacHale for our author spotlight today.
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