Ask the author...

[Charlie Sheldon]

Which is your favorite character from Totem or the series and why?

This is an impossible question to answer, though when I first read your question I thought you write "the Totem series..." and it strikes me that might be a better overall name for the series than the Strong Heart Series...as the author every single character needs to be the favorite one for me when I am writing from their point of view, as otherwise they will not seem real to me or the reader. So I like them all, even the bad guys.....

[AvishaJain_13]

Is there a personal connection between you and any of the characters? They are all really well written. And also, why this particular theme?

[Christabel18+]

How was keeping to the storyline for you? Did you find it difficult at any point?

[Charlie Sheldon]

"Is there a personal connection between you and any of the characters? They are all really well written. And also, why this particular theme?" None of the characters are based on anyone real, with one exception, and that is a minor character. Look at some of the other earlier questions where I think your theme question is answered.

"How was keeping to the storyline for you? Did you find it difficult at any point?" This question too has already been answered earlier, I think.

[Brett Linette]

This is an impossible question to answer, though when I first read your question I thought you write "the Totem series..." and it strikes me that might be a better overall name for the series than the Strong Heart Series...as the author every single character needs to be the favorite one for me when I am writing from their point of view, as otherwise they will not seem real to me or the reader. So I like them all, even the bad guys.....

It makes perfect sense that you'd have to like the bad guys as much as the good guys in order to fulfill them all the same. Solid answer!

[Brett Linette]

Which character are you most like? Which character are you least like?

[Brett Linette]

What motivated you to start the first book in this series and also what made you to continue?
Secondly, did you ever had the fear of what if I lose creativity and it stops being interesting and how did you overcome it?

PS. This questions are actually personal

It's true that one book is hard enough to get through. I can't imagine how Charlie Sheldon got through all three, and one can only hope four.

[Brett Linette]

If you could add an additional scene anywhere in the novel, where in the novel would the scene be, and what would the scene consist of?

[Chinaka94]

What did you enjoy the most about writing this book?

[Akangbe Opeyemi]

How did you maintain the balance in the story? Wasn't it hard giving enough information about the cultures and all the adventures? How did you not lose focus of the original plot in a bid to captivate readers with details?

[Charlie Sheldon]

Which character are you most like? Which character are you least like?

This is an impossible question to answer.

[Charlie Sheldon]

If you could add an additional scene anywhere in the novel, where in the novel would the scene be, and what would the scene consist of?

The whole point, to me, of finishing a story is removing everything not needed in the story, not essential to the arc of the narrative, and I'd like to think I did that; in other words, I would not add anything more.

[Charlie Sheldon]

What did you enjoy the most about writing this book?

Watching it appear.

[Charlie Sheldon]

How did you maintain the balance in the story? Wasn't it hard giving enough information about the cultures and all the adventures? How did you not lose focus of the original plot in a bid to captivate readers with details?

Generally in the process from first draft to the final draft there is a lot of removal, taking away text that is redundant or too flowery or unnecessary. In the end you try to have just the story, just that, nothing else, so the reader is in the arc of the tale totally. It is hard to give the right amount of information but not too much, otherwise you sound like a preacher or parent, but you need to give enough to the reader can see the scene and knows what is happening. Adrift the second book is a sea story, basically, with lots of things happening on a tugboat and a ship, and there it was always a balance between too many nautical terms and breaking the flow of the story to explain what the terms mean (which I chose never to do by the way). I would say that a lot of research helps, then you know the subject and can pick and choose. I don't think the plot and the details are different (your third question). I tell a story, period. That story includes scenes, events, characters, what they say and think. I write what I see. If the story is told properly the reader is there, in the story, filling in a lot of the details him or herself. I don;t try to captivate a reader with details, I try to tell a story and if the reader falls into it then it works. To do that needs many things, among them details, but not any more than needed to move the story along. Writing to "fill" space or text is a sure disaster, because readers are smart and know when they are being strung along. The only words in a story should be those needed to tell the story, and no more. In my opinion, anyway.

[Mildred Echesa]

Do you have any relations in India and why did you decide to base on India