Blog Tour Stop: The Circle of Tivedon

If Pfizer only made a pill for writers…

By Ryan Shorten

It comes up often enough in casual conversation when I tell people I’ve written a novel. Generally it happens somewhere between the questions “I never would have thought you’d write a novel” and “Oh, that’s great, hopefully you’ll make some money at it.” It’s the question that I’m sure every writer at some point gets asked, and that’s the question of “So what inspires you to write?”

As you can imagine, the answers will be as unique as the person who is answering it. Some may call it an addiction, and perhaps even on those terrible ‘writer’s block’ days, would describe it as an affliction. For me, it’s always been a mixture of both. I spent ten years writing my first novel and most would agree that’s an awful long time. And it was…

Probably like most first time writers, I always enjoyed reading and looked for creative outlets. I wrote stories all through grade school and went to university for Media Arts. However, life has an odd way of disrupting things. Once I finished my degree, and five or so years in the Media and Communication industries, I ended up moving away from a career in the Arts and have spent more than a decade in the food service industry. I’ve done very well for myself, but it’s left my writing as a hobby more than something that could (or would) pay the mortgage.

So, this is where the addiction/affliction comes in. Suffice to say, the completion of my first novel (The Circle of Tivedon) went something like this; I got an idea and feverishly typed out twenty pages and then I stopped. Then two years passed….then ten more pages…and another year passed….and so on until about three years ago.  This is when the affliction gave way mostly to the addiction and I started writing nearly every day. I wrote in airport terminals and hotels (I travelled regularly with work) and evenings and weekends at home. Writing the novel became a life goal for me and I didn’t stop until I had a draft good enough to take it to an editor.  

My inspiration also came from the unfolding of the story as I typed it. I had an overall story line when I started, but as the details of dialogue and action took shape, I had to keep writing. It was almost if I had to see what my imagination would come up with next.

For me, inspiration to write comes from within. It gives me an outlet for my imagination and my passion for the Fantasy genre. As much as crafting a story and the almost endless editing of it can be frustrating at times, I really couldn’t imagine not wanting to write.  And since, I planned this story as a Trilogy…I’ve got something to keep my addiction going for quite some time.

Book Links:

Goodreads

Amazon

Author Links:

Amazon Author Page

*Announcement* Ryan Shorten is offering a free Kindle download of The Circle of Tivedon on Jan. 21st! Don't miss this awesome opportunity to pick up an exciting new read!