Please welcome W. Lawrence (@SyncingForward) to the blog today!
What
name(s) do you write under? If you write under a pseudonym, what
helped you choose that name?
W.
Lawrence. My
real name is William Sturtevant, but 40 years of experience has
taught me there is no end to the amount of butchering somebody can do
to my last name. Thanks
to Jennifer Lawrence, everybody can spell my middle name and that’s
how W. Lawrence came to be.
Where
are you from?
San
Francisco, California. I
left when I was 18 years old and since then I have lived in Arizona,
Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and
Washington, D.C.
What
is the name of your most recent or upcoming release?
Syncing
Forward.
Can
you give us an idea of what the story is about?
Syncing
Forward follows Martin James who is unwillingly injected with a drug
that slows his metabolism to a crawl and causes him to experience
years in a matter of days. Martin
watches his wife grow old, misses his children growing up, and
watches history unfold in an unsettling manner. As
the story progresses, his two daughters cope with his condition in
very different ways. One
becomes his caretaker while the other does everything she can to find
the antidote to stop Martin’s relentless drive to the future.
What
genre is it?
I
will pigeon-hole it into science fiction, but I do that
reluctantly. Syncing
Forward is a thriller, dystopian, speculative fiction. I
never set out to write a science fiction novel, but you simply cannot
write a book about a man who travels decades into the future without
talking about technology. However,
the larger picture here is a love story of the family, about how far
we are willing to go for the ones we love.
Where
can we find it?
Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Bowker, Book Depository, and a handful of
other dot coms. It
is available in print and ebook formats.
When
did you start writing, and when did it turn professional?
This
is my first published novel. I
have written some short stories in the past for gaming websites, but
really this is a brand new activity for me.
What
is your writing process? Do you use an outline, fly by the "seat
of your pants" or some other method?
For
Syncing Forward I flew by the seat of my pants. I
had to. The
story was pushing its way out of me and I was typing like a mad man,
then going back for multiple rewrites. My
next book I am outlining due to the complexity of the storyline.
What
or who inspired you to being writing?
Syncing
Forward was inspired by a lucid dream I had about three years ago. I
wish I could say I came up with the plot on my own, but this one was
given to me.
Did
you hire or use an editor prior to publishing?
Yes. C.S.
Lakin did my manuscript critique and proofreading, and Rachel Starr
Thomson was my copyeditor. Both
were fantastic to work with.
Did
you use a graphic artist to create your cover art? If so, what helped
you decide on the cover(s) of your books?
Lasse
Perala is an artist from Finland who I found on Deviant Art. After
the first cover I commissioned received poor reviews, I was hesitant
to hire a new artist, but Lasse did not disappoint.
The
cover itself is a broken clock face, representing how time is broken
for the main character. The
ocean plays on the word syncing/sinking (which is a theme in the
book), and on the back cover you can actually see that SYNCING is
reflected as SINKING in the ocean waves. The
structure in the background ties in very generally with the story.
What
have you learned on your journey from writing to publishing that you
think should be passed along to those interested?
I
have learned not to be impatient. There
are so many different tasks to accomplish for publicizing your work,
but there really is an order to it all. I
managed to do it all back asswards and it caused me to waste a lot of
time and money with nothing to show for it. Best to get a plan
together and get advice from people who are more experienced than
you.
I
know some authors set writing goals, such as so many words per day.
Do you set any goals for your stories?
For
Syncing Forward I set goals of scene completion as opposed to word
count. I
made a note in my calendar that this or that scene had to be
completed within X number of days. I
tried a word count goal, but found I lost a lot of emotional ties to
certain parts of the story when I focused on word count.
Do
you have a favorite character of your own and what makes him/her your
favorite?
Amara.
She’s the oldest daughter of Martin James and tremendously
dynamic. Amara
is terribly flawed. Brilliant
yet emotionally stunted, she can’t accept her father’s fate and
grows into a tragic yet dangerous character. Writing her took a toll
on me because she became very real, and I wanted so much more from
her. But
in the end, I decided that she had to become a result of the choices
she made.
Do
your characters "talk" to you?
Often.
Realistic dialogue is important to me, so I would frequently sit and
have conversations in my head so that they played properly on
paper. My
new manuscript is going much the same way, but decidedly lighter.
Who
controls a story when you write; you, your characters or a
combination?
It’s
a combination, but I have to say that most elements of Syncing
Forward were decided by the characters themselves. Choices
and consequence play a large role in the story, both on a character
and macro level.
Do
you have any projects you’re working on now?
My
new manuscript is a brain twister for sure. If
you read Syncing Forward and think it has some twists, you ain’t
seen nuthin’ yet. I’m going to yank the readers sideways
quite few times. Syncing
Forward has a rather somber tone; the next novel is going to be fun.
How
do you juggle time between all your responsibilities?
Poorly. My
wife is ready to kill me because there are items that have been on my
to-do list for years. There
is a certain irony about a man unable to spend time with his kids
because he is writing a book about a man unable to spend time with
his kids.
How
do you feel about publishing in a digital age?
It’s
a double edged sword. I
love the ease in which I can publish, but there are millions of
titles to get lost amongst. Standing
out is by far the largest hurdle- to think I actually believed I was
finished once I published!
Do
you have any blog tours or upcoming events we should know about?
Just
yours for now. I
finished up three book signings at Barnes & Noble, Moravian
Bookstore, and the Quadrant Bookstore and now I’m taking a break to
focus on my day job.
How
can we connect you?
I
post interesting articles weekly on my site and have ordering
information for bookstores and media kits for bloggers. I’m
also on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. I’d
love to hear from the readers!
SYNOPSIS
Would
you ever travel forward in time if you knew it was a one-way trip?
Mr.
Martin James has no such desire, but after being injected with a
mysterious drug against his will, Martin hurtles through the years.
This cruel twist of fate forces him to watch his children grow up and
his wife grow old in a matter of days. Only an elusive group of
scientists have the ability to stop his nightmarish journey; the very
people who injected him in the first place. And while Martin James
hopes to find a cure before everyone he loves is gone, others are
uncertain if his journey can be stopped at all.
W.
Lawrence weaves a future history filled with the best and worst of
humanity, highlights the blessings and curses of technology, and
pushes the limits of faith and hopelessness. Above all, Syncing
Forward is a tale of one man's love for his family, and their
devotion to saving him from being lost forever.
Where
to purchase Synching Forward
The
Author
W
Lawrence was born in San Francisco, California, and moved two dozen
times before settling in Pennsylvania with his extraordinarily
patient wife and two precocious daughters. He wants a boy dog. He
works in the world of corporate security as an investigator and
professional interviewer/interrogator.
Lawrence is obsessed
with 5K zombie runs, comes home empty-handed from hunting turkeys,
and loves non-fiction books about pirates. He has no problem
reconciling that his two favorite shows are Downton Abbey and The
Walking Dead.
ENTER
THE GIVEAWAY
Follow the entire
Syncing
Forward tour HERE
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