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This guy is so cool! He just wrapped up one of his MANY movie projects - which is a feat in itself - and still took the time to answer some questions for the group. And he didn't skimp on a damned one.
Check out the Press Release for his newest book HERE.
So, I asked Corin my standard "gotta-knows", and here's what HE SAID...
1) So tell us a little about yourself, the person, not just the writer...
I was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to parents who are both artists, my father an architect, mother a graphic designer. She went on into the music and theater business while my father went into film and television, so I was surrounded by arts and entertainment my whole life. It was destiny that I became an artist. I moved to Hollywood at age 11 where I met several excellent graffiti artists in an art class and immediately began doing graffiti art as well. I got into acting a short time later after joining a highly reputable children's acting workshop called Center Stage LA. Both choices would lead me on a very unexpected life journey.
2) The moment you knew you wanted to be a writer...
I started writing earlier than I can remember, that and drawing. I wrote short stories, poetry, and thousands of rap songs. I began writing screenplays in my late teens and continued writing the stories I wanted to tell for many years after. I love telling a story, even if others think it's shit, I still have to tell it. I wrote a script for a TV show a few years back titles 'Venice High' loosely based on my life growing up as a graffiti artist in Hollywood As the months passed I felt compelled to get the story out there to the world whether on the page or on the screen. So I rewrote the screenplay as a novel, but keeping with a similar formatting style that scripts have as I find it easier to write and cleaner to read this way. I will begin the arduous process of changing the rest of my scripts into novels as well, so there are more to come!
3) Give us a short bibliography of your books, include a one sentence blurb for each...
1. VENICE HIGH is about an impoverished graffiti artist trying to survive and make sense out of this crazy world he was born into without getting killed first.
2. PIMP'S PARADISE is a photo book put together from a photo shoot I did of alternative rap artist Mickey Avalon for his debut album.
3. THE PAPER CHASE is a selection of photos I have taken of my own street art I have put up all over the world accompanied by lyrics from a rap a wrote many years ago.
4) Awards or recognition...
I have been nominated for one Emmy Award and have won 2 Youth in Film Awards, plus some other stuff I cannot remember.
5) Tell us all about your current project. When does it launch? You can add a 200 hundred word excerpt if you like...
I have numerous films coming out, one based on a cultish graphic novel playing the title character ROTTENTAIL, an insane mutant man-bunny. Another film titled SLEEPING IN PLASTIC which is a gritty thriller about white-trash drug dealers in a rural town. Two Lifetime Movie Network films, SNATCHED and A PARENT'S NIGHTMARE, plus a horror film HAUNTED: 333.
6) The biggest influence on your writing style...
I don't have an influence for my writing style, perhaps some of the beat generation writers but I would surely not directly compare myself to any of them, but I think my style may be similar.
7) How many drafts do you usually go through before you know your book is ready for the world?
None of my scripts are really ever finished and I think that is the same for the books. Even if I write it to the end and publish it or film it, I will always be editing it and adding to it in my mind forever.
8) What’s your best advice to new writers on promoting your own books?
My best advice to anyone publishing anything... just say yes!
9) Writer’s block… Myth or Reality? What’s your view of it and how do you deal with it?
Writer's block is surely for real, generally if I feel blocked I just put it away for awhile and do some other activities while my mind clears and some new creative thoughts manifest.
10) What’s your method of naming and developing your characters?
Creating well rounded character for me is a lot about back-story; where they are from, where did they grow up, how did they grow up, what was their level of education, etc... Answering these questions gives the character a voice and perspective unique to that creation alone.
11) How do you find your ideas?
My ideas for stories generally come from non-fiction books or documentaries; one may be surprised to learn that I really don't read any fictional novels, 99% of what I read is all historical based or philosophical.
12) Are you a “plotter” or a “pantser” (writing by the seat of your pants)?
I do a little of both, plotting and writing by the seat of my pants, but creating the story for me definitely starts with an outline, very rough, maybe one paragraph. Then I expand that into a detailed synopsis which is expanded into a beat-sheet (a series of events simply describes telling what happens from beginning to end) and the beat-sheet then is expanded into a detailed version of the story.
13) While writing, do you: blast your favorite music; enjoy dead silence; write while the world is sleeping; etc.
Writing the main storyline is better done in silence but music sets a certain tone which can be helpful creatively or I put on a documentary that may have something to do with the subject matter and let that play in the back ground.
14) Do you write it all out first or do you try to edit as you go?
I do both, write it all out and edit some as I go, but I am not learned in the art of classical writing, never went to school for it, so I am sure my grammatical and spelling errors are abundant. Very frustrating for me during the editing process because I make the stupidest mistakes ever.
15) Favorite snacks or drinks to keep handy while writing...
I generally do not eat much while writing, I do drink a lot of water and coffee though. Sometimes a spot of tea is nice though.
16) Tools of your trade? (laptop, pen & paper, tablet, typewriter, voice recorder, etc)
I generally write my rough ideas down on paper freehand then once I feel I have a grasp of it I will transfer that to my PC, then it's grind time.
17) To aspiring writers, what would be your most serious advice?
Believe in yourself more than anyone else will because no one will ever believe in you as much as you do. Do not get discouraged by the struggle, do it because you have to, do it because it feels right. Do it because if you don't you will regret it for the rest of your life.
You can follow Corin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/imcorinnemec