#WriterWednesday with Edward Willett

Edward Willet is my guest today for #WriterWednesday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Finding the uninterrupted time to write.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Typing fast.

Things you need for your writing sessions: My laptop and some place to sit.

Things that hamper your writing: People talking around me. Chatter is fine, but if I can make out individual conversations, I have to put on headphones.

A few of your favorite things: Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.

Things you need to throw out: Brown paper packages tied up with string.

Something you’re really good at: Singing.

Something you’re really bad at: Dancing.

Favorite smell: Bacon.

Something that makes you hold your nose: Rotting grain (I worked as a college student in a grain elevator.)

Things you always put in your books: Whenever possible, some sort of nod to Saskatchewan.

Things you never put in your books: Preachiness.

Things to say to an author: I couldn’t put it down.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Books are boring, why do you write them?

Favorite books (or genre): Science fiction and fantasy.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Political screeds.

Favorite things to do: Read, write, sing, eat.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Yard work.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Marrying my wife.

Biggest mistake: Not finding and marrying her sooner.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Skydiving.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Performed in musical theatre.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Starting a publishing company.

About Edward:

Edward Willett is the author of more than sixty books of science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction for readers of all ages. Marseguro (DAW Books) won the Aurora Award (honouring Canadian science fiction and fantasy) for Best Long-Form Work in English; his young adult fantasy Spirit Singer won a Saskatchewan Book Award. Several other of his books have been shortlisted for those and other awards.

Ed's most recent novel is the far-future humorous outer-space adventure The Tangled Stars (DAW Books). His nonfiction runs the gamut from science books to biographies to history. He hosts Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers (theworldshapers.com), in which he talks to other authors about their latest books, and has Kickstarted five Shapers of Worlds anthologies featuring guests of the podcast, with Shapers of Worlds Volume V being the latest and last.

In 2018, Ed founded Shadowpaw Press, which publishes an eclectic list of books ranging from children's books to literary fiction to young adult novels to science fiction and fantasy.

In addition to being a writer, Ed is a professional actor and singer. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, with his wife, Margaret Anne Hodges, P. Eng., a past president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan. They have one daughter, Alice, and a black Siberian cat, Shadowpaw.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: http://edwardwillett.com

Shadowpaw Press Website: http://shadowpawpress.com

Facebook: @edward.willett, @shadowpawpress

X: @ewillett, @shadowpawpress

Instagram: @edwardwillettauthor, @shadowpawpress

Bluesky: @edwardwillett.bsky.social

YouTube: @edwardwillett

#WriterWednesday Author Interview with Edward Willett

I’d like to welcome author, Edward Willett to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

The thing you like most about being a writer:

Readers telling me they enjoy my work!

The thing you like least about being a writer:

The extremely irregular and sometimes entirely lacking income.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night:

Coffee cream.

Things you never put on your shopping list:

Heart of palm.

The coolest thing you’ve bought online:

Antique champagne glasses with hollow stems that show the bubbles rising—found on eBay for my wife for an anniversary present.

The thing you wished you’d never bought.

Two wireless mics for my iPhone for livestreaming, when a cheap wired one works better.

Something you’re really good at:

Singing. I’ve sung in very good, national-level choirs, and have performed professionally in musical theatre and opera.

Something you never learned how to do:

Fly. Always kind of wanted to but it’s never happened.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid:

Astronaut.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do:

Own a publishing company, and publish and edit internationally bestselling authors (in the Shapers of Worlds anthologies).

Things you always put in your books:

Almost always, there’s a little nod to Saskatchewan—it might be the landscape, or a place name, or a character name.

Things you never put in your books:

Explicit references to modern-day politics.

Things to say to an author:

I love your books!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:

When are you going to get a real job?

Favorite things to do:

Perform in a musical, preferably one where I’m onstage all the time and have all the best songs.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing:

Attend the political convention of any party.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

Skydive.

Something you chickened out from doing:

Skydive a second time.

The coolest person you’ve ever met:

Alan Doyle (former lead singer of Great Big Sea)

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video:

Pierre Eliot Trudeau (way shorter than I thought).

The best job you ever had:

Musical theatre performer.

The worst job you ever had:

Manual laborer at the Weyburn Inland Grain Terminal.

The one thing you cook/bake that is better than a restaurant dish:

Enchilada casserole, a recipe my mother picked up when we lived in New Mexico that remains my favorite food ever.

The one thing you cooked/baked that turned out to be an epic disaster:

A chocolate cake that fell so badly I took it to work and passed it off as brownies.

About Edward
Edward Willett is the award-winning author of more than sixty books of science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction for readers of all ages. His twelfth novel for DAW Books, THE TANGLED STARS, comes out October 18. In 2018, he founded Shadowpaw Press (www.shadowpawpress.com) which publishes new work by emerging and established authors and new editions of notable, previously published work. Among its releases are the SHAPERS OF WORLDS anthologies, featuring authors, many of them international bestsellers and award-winners, who were guests of The Worldshapers podcast (www.theworldshapers.com), which Ed hosts and which won an Aurora Award for best fan-related work in 2019. SHAPERS OF WORLDS VOLUME III also comes out in October. In addition to writing, editing, and publishing, Ed is a professional actor and singer who has performed in numerous plays, operas, and musicals. Ed lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, with his wife, Margaret Anne Hodges, P.Eng., a past-president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan.

Let’s Be Social

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ewillett

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edward.willett

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwardwillettauthor

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/edwardwillett

Website: www.edwardwillett.com