Daniel Peyton
Morristown, Tennessee,
USA
Good morning, Daniel, And welcome to Vision and Verse, the Place for Art and Authors. What have you written?
Published: Legacy of
Dragonwand trilogy, The Cyrstal Needle books 1 & 2, The Winter Wizard,
Wisdom Springs.
Pre-Publishing: Bark:
Origins of a Superhero, How a Robot Weeps, The Winter Wizard 2, The Crystal
Needle 3, Remnant.
What is your favorite
genre to write?
Fantasy
Favorite food.
Chinese
Tea or coffee?
Tea (however, I do
enjoy coffee)
Pizza or ice cream?
Ice Cream
Where would you like to
visit?
Japan
Favorite musical
artist. Do you listen to music when you
write? What?
Enya is a personal
favorite, but I love a diverse selection of music. I do not often listen to
music when I write, but I do when I brain storm about my stories. I usually
stick with symphonic styles for my brainstorming.
What makes you laugh?
Classic television. Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglasias, lots of stuff. I stick with
mostly clean humor.
Favorite work of art or
sculpture.
Anything Michelangelo, I have a minor background in art history and
Renaissance was my specialty. Studying his art and sculpture inspired me to
develop my own art skills, though I am no where near the master he was.
How old were you when
you started writing?
I was 11 when I started writing my first books.
Describe your perfect
evening.
It starts with a good cooked meal, I love to cook. Then I spend a
little while working on brainstorming with some music. Around nine o'clock I
take an hour to work on my bible study. Then, I spend an hour writing on a
story. At eleven, I get comfy, turn on something mindless on netflix, pull out
the art supplies and practice drawing for a couple hours, then off to bed.
Where do you get your
inspiration?
Life mostly. I do love to go to Panther Creek State Park near my
house. It is a beautiful place that inspires fantasy in me. Reading great
stories and watching good movies also keeps me inspired.
What do you do when you
get a writer's block?
Cry, mumble, gripe about it. Okay, you want to know how I
break through? Relax. If I fight and fight against that wall between me and the
next scene, it will never break down.
Who is your favorite
author?
Me, of course...kidding. I love classics, so C.S. Lewis and Charles
Dickens are both greats I read often. I also love J.K. Rowling, not just for
her writing but her passion for writers and readers.
Best book you ever read.
How Much for Just the Planet by John M. Ford. Perhaps not as great as Harry
Potter, or Classic like Christmas Carol, but I am a long time Trekkie and this
was an incredibly well written, hilarious Star Trek story. It is hard to think
of Star Trek being a comical, slap stick musical, and yet he accomplished this
and I have probably read that book more than any other book.
Last book you read.
Fablehaven
What would you do for a
living if you weren’t a writer?
I dreamed of being an actor. But, with my looks,
that's not likely to happen. However, I have discovered a passion for graphic
design.
Who is the one person
who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
My mother. First, she
got me into fantasy and sci fi, and the love of books. Second, she was the one
who pushed me into actually attempting to becoming a published author. I did
not believe in myself and only wanted to write fan fiction. She convinced me to
try, in spite of myself.
If you could sit down
and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who
would it be and why?
Betty White. I love classic television and she has been a
part of it for decades. She also has a wonderful grasp of humor that it would
be fun to pick her brain about that.
What advice would you
give someone who aspired to be a writer? Finish your book. I have done
conventions and book signings where many people come to me and tell me about
how they long to be an author. They have a book they've been working on for
years. In fact, they'll tell me about the five, six, twenty books they have in
the works, none of which are actually finished. It isn't starting a book that's
the hard part, it's finishing it. Once you break through that barrier, it
starts to make more sense.
Do you have some links for us to follow you?
I could go on for days on this
one. Lol. Let’s just go with the longest standing one, the fake publishing
houses. The ones that truly aren’t publishers at all, but really just a vanity
press and not up front about what they truly are. If you’re paying for an
editor, and for graphics for your cover, and everything else, then you are not
with a legit publisher; you’re just self-publishing and don’t even realize it.
A true publisher is one that believes in you enough to invest in you. After
all, if you aren’t selling they aren’t earning. It’s more than a win win, it’s
a partnership. 
What
was your hardest scene to write?
What makes you laugh? 
How old were you when
you started writing? 
If you could sit down
and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who
would it be and why? 
