Liam Gibbs
but “Aren’t You the Guy Who Owes Me Money” to some
Ottawa, Canada
Good morning, Liam, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the site
for books, art, and authors and those love them. Love your puppy.
Can you tell us a little about what you’ve written?
I’m proudest of In a Galaxy Far, Far AwRy, the best sci-fi space
comedy since the last sci-fi space comedy!
What is your favorite genre to write?
Science fiction, but I like to dabble in horror and tall tales about saving
orphans from fires.
Favorite food.
Peanut butter. I’d swim
in it if I could. Hmmm...
Tea or coffee?
Tea
Pizza or ice cream?
Both, but definitely not
at the same time.
Okay, at the same
time on a dare.
Wine or beer or soda
or what?
Soda, if I had to pick
from the three of
those. Or maybe
what. I’ve heard good
things about what. I think they’re making cherry what now.
Haha! I can't wait for Cherry What!
Where would you like to visit?
Downtown Cybertron, but failing that, Europe
Favorite musical artist.
Faith No More
Do you listen to music when you write? What?
I can, but I have to turn it off if my concentration gets wonky.
The “what” is up to my mood.
What makes you laugh?
Just about everything. I’d like to say decisions from government,
but I think those should make me cry instead. Or maybe a good
quirky outlook on life.
Favorite work of art or sculpture.
Where I live, there’s a stainless-steel spider outside the National
Gallery of Canada. It’s a 30-foot-high monster sculpture, and if
you look at its underbelly, there are 32 marble eggs hanging off.
It was built in 1999 and still stands there.
How old were you when you started writing?
I’m told I was four years old when I first wrote a tiny book about
a cow going into a field and eating grass. It was coloured and
everything. My parents lost that book somewhere in their
keepsakes, but if they’re telling the truth, apparently I’ve been
writing for over 40 years.
I mean for over 15 years. Because I’m not in my forties. I’m
young. Right?
Yes, right.
Do you plan out your book with outlines
and notecards? Or just write?
I’ve gone back and forth. I’ve planned my current work in
progress up to about halfway, give or take. But there have been
times I just winged it. Both methods give me degrees of
success. I’ve been really proud of ones I’ve planned and ones
where I winged it. On the flipside, there are ones that I’ve
planned and ones that I didn’t plan where I thought I could have
done better. I’ve even planned things and then abandoned the
plan partway through. All depends on what I feel I need to do to
start it off.
Describe your perfect evening.
Either calm, relaxing, and quiet, or raging and bustling. A party
exploding like dynamite. Two polar opposites, and I’ll take either
of them, but I’ve definitely got to have company along the way.
The middle ground is too boring.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Would it be weird if I said comic books inspire me to write
prose?
No.
Aside from that, I get inspired from funny things: anything from
movies to TV shows to stories I hear online to even just a witty line or
comeback.
What do you do when you get a writer's block?
Go for a walk. Walking helps pump blood, and if there’s anything my
discount brain needs, it’s a good blood pumping. Walking helps me
wake things up, but it’s not too intense that I can’t think at the same
time.
F. Paul Wilson, Fabian Nicieza, and Dean Koontz all come to mind.
Best book you ever read.
Not sure if I have just one, but if I had to pick, The New Warriors Vol.
1 Omnibus. My stories are heavily inspired by New Warriors, and that
omnibus has the first 26 issues with a bunch of guest appearances and
side stories thrown in.
Last book you read.
The Bible and Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by
Adrian Harte.
What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?
Meh. Probably a web designer or a waiter. I’m serious on that last one.
People always think of being a world traveler or a hotshot actor. I just
like talking to people in a low-stress setting. There’s nothing more
low-stress than getting people their food…unless you have a problem
customer.
Oh, ugh, Liam. I think people are at their worst when they're
hungry. Rude, impatient. HANGRY!
But no one bases their dreams on the bad times, only the good times.
So in my dreams, there’s no such thing as a problem customer.
Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the
most and why?
Maybe my grandfather. He’s been gone for about 20 years, but he was
the one who told me to push my writing hobby to the next level. The
question was about my personal life and not my writing life, but my
writing life has affected my personal life in a huge way, so there it is.
If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person,
living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
Probably Stan Lee. I never got to meet him in real life, and I want to
dig into his thoughts about...well...so many subjects. To make me pick
one conversation to have with him would take me pages upon pages
here.
Apart from him, my grandfather from the previous question. “Hey,
Papa, look what happened.”
What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a
writer?
Learn your craft. Read everything on the subject. They say that
doing is the best way to learn, and that’s totally true. But there’s
no reason you have to bump around in the dark while you learn.
Also, don’t stress it. I’ve been to the edge of burnout and back
with my writing career. Or “career.” Not sure which. Burnout
steals everything, even the joyful parts. It makes you scared of
everything. Don’t go there. Stop kicking your own butt. Take it
easy. Laboring over everything to the point of exhaustion does
nobody any good.
Do you have some links for us to follow you?
Definitely.
Amazon: http://tiny.cc/iagffa_amazon (where the first ebook of my In
a Galaxy Far, Far AwRy series is free at http://tiny.cc/iagffa1_amazon)
Website: https://www.inagalaxyfarfarawry.com
Facebook: http://tiny.cc/iagffa_facebook
Twitter: http://tiny.cc/iagffa_twitter
LinkedIn: http://tiny.cc/iagffa_linkedin
VISION AND VERSE DISCLAIMER
Note:
Vision and Verse does not store any personal information like email addresses, home addresses, etc. We do not give any information to third parties. And cookies? We eat cookies.
No comments:
Post a Comment