Interview with Braden Bell

Today I've got author Braden Bell on the site.  

What is your favorite place to write? Do you have anywhere that is your ‘man cave’?

In nice weather, I write at a table on my back porch. The rest of the time, I write on my laptop in bed. I wish I had a mancave--but I have five kids, so space is at a premium in our house.

Do your set goals for your writing? If so, how do you decide what goals to set?

Given a variety of responsibilities--church and family and work--I don't have a great deal of time and so I'm not able to set goals like a certain amount of words or pages or minutes a day. Instead, my goals are a little more general--for example, finishing anything I start, no matter how long it takes or how tempting new projects are.  

Do you think male authors face any challenges that women authors do not?

Well, that's a good question. I guess that if you are a breadwinner with a family you have one set of challenges. If you are staying home with children you have another set. Most of the others in my critique group are mothers of young children. Our challenges are different, but it all has the same effect in that we struggle to find time to write.  

What books have your writing and what is coming out next?

My next book will be released in the summer and is called "The Kindling." It's the first in what I hope will be a series. I'm also working on two other books right now. One is a YA paranormal romance called the Soulstealer's Child that occurred to me on a long drive to Texas. The other is a YA contemporary with a premise I don't want to give away. I've also started a small side business doing content editing and manuscript critique, which I've really loved. 

What’s your favorite new project you are working on?

 Probably the Soulstealer's Child

What hobbies other than writing do you have? Do you ever include things from your other hobbies in your writing?

I like to garden and work in my yard. I like long walks in the Tennessee hills and I love to read. I did a lot of theatre as a teenager, and now I teach theatre. All of my books have some kind of theatrical background in them--not intentionally, but just because it's what I know.

Where can people go to learn more about you and your writing?

www.bradenbell.com 

If you could meet any author living or dead, who would it be and why?

Charles Dickens. I am amazed at the variety of characters he created and the vivid characterizations he crafted. I also love the complexity of his plots. I can lose myself in his books and am always happy when I realize that I'm in a good Dickens novel and have hundreds and hundreds of pages yet to go.

What’s one thing you want your readers to know about you?

I'm not sure--I'm not terribly exciting. I teach middle school and write a weekly blog for parents about understanding their adolescent.  

Thanks Braden!  Please check out Braden's writing at http://www.bradenbell.com.