Wha What?!?!?! Kimmi Got to Sit Down with Mr. Ryan Mitchel Collins, drink some coffee, shoot the shit, and then he tried to get me drunk there at the end, who the hell am I kidding, I was already lit ;)
Hey babe, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my author interview Q&A ;)
Interviewing authors is probably the most awesome kickass part of being a blogger. I freaking love it!!!! Thanks again for this opportunity !!!
Kimmi:
*Alright! Let's do this damn thing babe, here.... *hands over a cup of coffee, grabs a comfy spot and settles in* Sugar??? Creamer? What's your poison?*
(I would like to add right here, that if your first name was David, Dave, Don, anything with a D, my little ________: with your intitials would be fucking awesome, you know that right? Don't kill me for adding this comment AFTER we finished this, muah!)
RMC: <-- DMC, much more badass, just sayin'
~Well, Thanks for having me Kimmi. I'm a Colorado boy, we like our coffee strong, and our tobacco wacky. I'll go with a strong cup of black coffee, and my favorite morning poison, a black American Spirit, aged in whiskey barrels of course.
Kimmi: (ok, well shit, maybe you don't need anymore badass points, you're handling your own against the LipSmacker just fine)
1) Just from reading Everyone Dies Alone I quickly noticed that you buddy are not only a people watcher but from reading your stories I learned that you also seem to be a keen observer to everything around you. Would you agree with that assumtion and if so can you pin point when this started or when you realized others don't pay as much attention to their surroundings?
RMC:
~It was really something that sprang out of reading and watching elders in my family people watch. When I would travel, they would instill in me a keen sense of my surroundings. It rubbed off on me, and the more I read and traveled, the more I realized there is an interconnection weaving us all together. It fascinates me. All I can do is try to understand and express this interconnection we share through observing and writing. There wasn't an exact moment when I realized some people don't pay attention, I think it was a lifelong process of seeing it happen over and over again. People see what they want to see.
RMC:
~It's hard to be a rookie. You've got to come out swinging. I'm 26 years old with a keen interest in the American literary styling's of the greats. As a young writer I think you must balance your inspirations with the creation of a unique voice. The night before my ACT's, I was diverged in "extracurricular activities" until very late. I believe I got a 32 on the English portion and did very bad on the math part, I think I got a 26?
Kimmi:
Oh, well...... glad you're in the hot seat and not me, lmao, we aren't discussing me and mine...And carrying on......
RMC:
~The turning point was when I started to group an anthology of works together. After college, I had a handful of short stories. I thought they were worth working on and improving. When I had five of the stories in Everyone Dies Alone revised and finished, I wanted to add a few more in the style of how I had progressed as a writer. When I added four more short stories, I was ready to release it on the world.
RMC:
~In order to progress as a writer I would say. I was once told, "Short stories are like dating, and the novel is like marriage." I wasn't ready for marriage yet. I tried to model the route writers like Hemmingway and Fitzgerald took with their first works. I believe in order to write a great novel, you must be able to master what comes first, the short story. I have by no means mastered the short story, but I will continue to write short stories as an means of stimulation, or distraction from writing a novel.
Kimmi:
6) What do you have in the works for us right now?
RMC:
~I'm very excited about the release of my first full novel, For the Sake of Tomorrow. It's scheduled to come out at the end of this year. It's very different from Everyone Dies Alone in the fact that it's a novel obviously, but tones of For the Sake of Tomorrow can be felt near the end of Everyone Dies Alone.
Kimmi:
8) What do you find is the most enjoyable aspect of writing as well as the worst aspect?
RMC:
~Writing is a therapy for me. Whatever is wrong with the world or my life, I can always escape and immerse myself in another dimension. This is the most enjoyable aspect of writing for me; it's a sheer escape from the bullshit that surrounds day to day life. My least favorite part of writing is the accountability you must face when you release your work on the world. This can be anything from critics, discontents, haters, lovers, family, ect. I think it's hard for some people to accept what a writer does.
9) Using one character from Everyone Dies Alone which character do you most relate to.
RMC:
~ The character I most related with in Everyone Dies Alone comes from Shiva's Kiss. The story of those two brothers was difficult for me to write and I really related with the younger brother Mike. It was a true story here in Colorado about two years ago. My heart wrenched for that family and I hope I did the story justice.
RMC:
~ If I could put one character at the forefront of this book to convey a message, it would be the Bloody Prophet. In a society wrought with contradictions and hypocrisy, he chose madness as a form of sanity in an insane world. I find this contradiction to be significant in the challenges many young people face today.
*Slow Claps.......* Well said Sir, very well said.
~It was really something that sprang out of reading and watching elders in my family people watch. When I would travel, they would instill in me a keen sense of my surroundings. It rubbed off on me, and the more I read and traveled, the more I realized there is an interconnection weaving us all together. It fascinates me. All I can do is try to understand and express this interconnection we share through observing and writing. There wasn't an exact moment when I realized some people don't pay attention, I think it was a lifelong process of seeing it happen over and over again. People see what they want to see.
Kimmi:
2) Your writing style and the way you use your words to create even the simplest of sentences mimics that of a seasoned writer. So my question is how old are you? And sheesus christ WTF was your ACT/SAT score you baby genius, you.RMC:
~It's hard to be a rookie. You've got to come out swinging. I'm 26 years old with a keen interest in the American literary styling's of the greats. As a young writer I think you must balance your inspirations with the creation of a unique voice. The night before my ACT's, I was diverged in "extracurricular activities" until very late. I believe I got a 32 on the English portion and did very bad on the math part, I think I got a 26?
Kimmi:
Oh, well...... glad you're in the hot seat and not me, lmao, we aren't discussing me and mine...And carrying on......
3)How much of your beliefs on political, economical, and spiritual theories do you think are influenced by conspiracy?
RMC:
~ I have a healthy skepticism when it come to politics, religion, and economics. I think one should try to expose oneself to as many of the different theories on these subjects worldwide. It's fun to play devils advocate with a dose of seriousness, and skepticism. I try not to form any concrete beliefs in these subjects because I know nothing as absolute, but I find exposing the depths of human beliefs takes some conspiracy and uncertainty.
Kimmi:
4) Explain when and what was the turning point or driving factor that led you to share Everyone Dies Alone with the world?RMC:
~The turning point was when I started to group an anthology of works together. After college, I had a handful of short stories. I thought they were worth working on and improving. When I had five of the stories in Everyone Dies Alone revised and finished, I wanted to add a few more in the style of how I had progressed as a writer. When I added four more short stories, I was ready to release it on the world.
Kimmi:
5) Why a collection of short stories and not a full length novel? Please explain. RMC:
~In order to progress as a writer I would say. I was once told, "Short stories are like dating, and the novel is like marriage." I wasn't ready for marriage yet. I tried to model the route writers like Hemmingway and Fitzgerald took with their first works. I believe in order to write a great novel, you must be able to master what comes first, the short story. I have by no means mastered the short story, but I will continue to write short stories as an means of stimulation, or distraction from writing a novel.
Kimmi:
6) What do you have in the works for us right now?
RMC:
~I'm very excited about the release of my first full novel, For the Sake of Tomorrow. It's scheduled to come out at the end of this year. It's very different from Everyone Dies Alone in the fact that it's a novel obviously, but tones of For the Sake of Tomorrow can be felt near the end of Everyone Dies Alone.
Kimmi:
7) If you could give debuting authors your best piece of advice, what would it be?
RMC:
~If I could give debuting authors a piece of advice it would be: never give up! Learn from your mistakes and don't lose sight of the dream. Keep trying to progress and make connections!
Kimmi:8) What do you find is the most enjoyable aspect of writing as well as the worst aspect?
RMC:
~Writing is a therapy for me. Whatever is wrong with the world or my life, I can always escape and immerse myself in another dimension. This is the most enjoyable aspect of writing for me; it's a sheer escape from the bullshit that surrounds day to day life. My least favorite part of writing is the accountability you must face when you release your work on the world. This can be anything from critics, discontents, haters, lovers, family, ect. I think it's hard for some people to accept what a writer does.
*Best damn answer I've ever heard to that question*
Kimmi:9) Using one character from Everyone Dies Alone which character do you most relate to.
RMC:
~ The character I most related with in Everyone Dies Alone comes from Shiva's Kiss. The story of those two brothers was difficult for me to write and I really related with the younger brother Mike. It was a true story here in Colorado about two years ago. My heart wrenched for that family and I hope I did the story justice.
Kimmi:
10) If you could name one character from Everyone Dies Alone, what character would you choose to put in the forefront and more stongly convey their message to the entire world, and why?RMC:
~ If I could put one character at the forefront of this book to convey a message, it would be the Bloody Prophet. In a society wrought with contradictions and hypocrisy, he chose madness as a form of sanity in an insane world. I find this contradiction to be significant in the challenges many young people face today.
*Slow Claps.......* Well said Sir, very well said.
Ryan thanks so much again for the chance to not only have you push me past my normal reading boundries and open my tunnel vision of what I believed was literary entertainment, but also the opportunity to meet a cool ass, laid back and friendly guy like yourself. I had a blast doll! Muah! ~Kimmi
Thanks for taking the time to chat with me Kimmi, now will you fill my wine cup, or is it too early?
Salud,
RMC
This looks really good.
ReplyDeleteGreat post !
<3