{"id":2249,"date":"2019-04-20T11:22:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-20T15:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/?p=2249"},"modified":"2022-12-28T20:42:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T01:42:37","slug":"meet-the-irregulars-w-b-j-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/meet-the-irregulars-w-b-j-williams\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Irregulars: W. B. J. Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Thirteen Questions with W. B. J. WILLIAMS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ww.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2250\" src=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ww-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ww-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ww-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ww.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I have walked to the locations identified in the Maltese Falcon in San Francisco, eaten in Joe\u2019s restaurant the same meal as Sam Spade, and taken photographs of the surviving buildings.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What is the first book that made you cry?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The first book I read which brought me to tears was the Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What are common traps for aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Aspiring writers tend to get trapped into formulaic plot structures such as the \u201cmonomyth\u201d, instead of writing a story built from the tension between what the character wants and the obstacles to achieving this.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What is your writing Kryptonite?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The one thing that destroys my ability to write is exhaustion.\u00a0 I have a very demanding day job, whose funds I need to pay for the needs of my family.\u00a0 Some days I come home from this job too tired to do anything but stare into empty space instead of writing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As I\u2019ve many friends who are writers, I\u2019ll mention Leo, Tracey, Helen, Alan, and Rich, all of whom have read stories of mine and offered constructive criticism.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot\/avatar\/spirit animal?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I can\u2019t imagine a mascot, as I\u2019m not a sports team, nor do I play one on TV.\u00a0 Avatar?\u00a0 Well, you could say that my most recent story was inspired by Cthulhu, nor not, as you will.\u00a0Just don\u2019t say it out loud seven times on the night of a new moon while walking naked in Western Massachusetts WHERE NO ONE CAN GO.\u00a0 IT IS MYTHICAL.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I have four unpublished and one half-finished book.\u00a0 I am actively seeking publication for two of those unpublished books.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not all books I\u2019ve written have required research.\u00a0 When they have, I don\u2019t wait on starting to write the book while I do my research, but plan to incorporate the research into a later draft.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I view writing as a spiritual practice, and all my writing is regarding the spiritual theme of reconciliation.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What\u2019s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All my characters are sex positive.\u00a0 Even the unicorn.\u00a0 Especially the unicorn.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I write about my post-death experience mostly.\u00a0 That and kadath.\u00a0 Yes, especially kadath.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What was your hardest scene to write?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The hardest scene I ever wrote was the scene where my protagonist tries and fails to torture the person he blames for the torture he suffered in prison.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do you believe in writer\u2019s block?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I do not believe in writer\u2019s block, as I\u2019ve never been blocked when I\u2019m not exhausted.\u00a0 I believe that stress and other factors can impede creativity, but too many people aren\u2019t self-aware enough to understand what stress does to them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_3875.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2251\" src=\"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_3875-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_3875-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_3875-scaled-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_3875-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_3875-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>BIO<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>W. B. J. Williams<\/strong> holds advanced degrees in anthropology and archeology. He is an avid historian, mystic, poet, and author who manages an information security program at a prominent New England firm. He is noted for his bad puns, and willingness to argue from any perspective. He is endured by his beloved wife and two daughters, and lives in Sharon Massachusetts. When he is not at home or at his computer, he can often be found haunting the various used bookstores of Boston.<\/p>\n<p>Websites: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wbj-williams.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.wbj-williams.net<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wbjwilliams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wbjwilliams<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wbjwilliams.wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/wbjwilliams.wordpress.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Twitter:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wbjwilliams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@wbjwilliams<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thirteen Questions with W. B. J. WILLIAMS What literary pilgrimages have you gone on? I have walked to the locations identified in the Maltese Falcon in San Francisco, eaten in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-2249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meettheirregulars","tag-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2252,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249\/revisions\/2252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}