Author Interview with Ross Buzzell

Ross Buzzell is a world traveler, coffee enthusiast and animal lover. He was born to be a storyteller and absolutely LOVES writing. He also enjoys connecting with indie authors to see how they develop their worlds and their thoughts and processes for writing books. Keep reading below to find out more about Ross, including his recent LitRPG book!

When did you first start writing fiction?  

In book form about three years ago. However I started taking it seriously 8 months ago

What kind of books do you enjoy reading? Paper or eBook?  

I prefer ebooks. I move a lot and they take up less space. 

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? 

Hangman’s curse by Frank Peretti. It was the first book I read cover to cover so it holds a special place in my heart. 

Of your books, which is your personal favorite? Why?  

My personally favorite book of mine is “The Boronian a Rising Tide. Because I developed the character to help cope with things like the culture shock of moving so much as a kid. I was able to put a lot of myself into that character in a therapeutic sense. 

You can make one LitRPG book (not your own) a movie. Which is it and why?

If I’m being honest I haven’t found a LitRPG book that has captured me like a film would just yet. I’m new to reading the genre so I’m sure I’ll find one soon and can’t wait until it do!

Do you believe in writer’s block? 

In a manner of speaking. Ive read that writers block is when your imaginary friends stop talking to you. I have a lot of imaginary friends right now and when one group doesn’t feel like being chatty another tends to be. 

Are you an outliner or pantser?

I write the beginning incident, the middle incident, and how the story ends. I let the characters fill the world for me. The way I see it, it’s THEIR story and I’m just the instrument of that. 

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What is your writing process like?

This is a bit tricky. I’ve written in three different genres now and each one has had their own process. The Sci-fi series was in development for over a decade with a trilogy of movie scripts before I turned it into a book so that world had been refined and tweaked for YEARS. My dark fantasy series was inspired by a song from JT Machinima called “undead lullaby” and the world seemed to just come to me through that song. The LitRPG books have been a collaboration with another talented author who I’d toss ideas to him and he’d let me know if they’d work or not.  So that was the first time I actually had a sound board so to speak he was invaluable and I’ve grown as an author several times over working with him.

How many hours a day do you write?

It depends on if it’s a day off or not. On days that I work I write when I get home for about three to four hours (or until my wife gets home). When I have a day off and my wife’s at work I’ll write for eight to ten hours.

Share a photo of your workspace and tell us about it? 

Attached!

Who are some of your favorite authors of all time?

Frank Peretti because he captures the “supernatural” then explains it with real world science.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I LOVE this question. I ask everyone I work with this. It would be Boro-electron deficiency. If you’d like to know what that is check out The Boronian series it’s about a superhero with that power.

Where do you get your ideas?

Everywhere!  A song has inspired an entire series. A fleeting form of a cloud has inspired an entire storyline. Or just someone giving me a writing prompt. 

What are your thoughts on how VR will affect the future of humanity?

My father-in-law works in the field of motion capture and VR so I’ve had the pleasure of playing with the next generation of vr equipment and I can say it will revolutionize the world. Couple it with holographics which we are getting close to and we’ll be able to be truly immersed in games as well as countless other applications.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I do all the research. In one of my books one of my characters mentioned how a black hole would affect their ships. I can and have held conversations with people who have degrees in astrophysics and not only kept pace with them but even pointed out aspects that they hadn’t thought of. 

First video game memory?

I had a playstation 1 as my first console. My first game was either Perappa the Rapper or Crash Bandicoot. We got both games at the same time. 

What can fans expect from you next?

In the immediate future I will be working on a sci-fi military LitRPG using advanced military research that I’ve looked into. I will be staggering between that and the Legends Online series. 

Anything else you would like to add?

To tell you a little bit about myself I grew up in a military household. I have moved I think 11 times they all blur together after a while. I went to high school at a boarding school in Sweden called Sigtuna (for very short). The culture shock of being a fourteen year old in a foreign country for the first time and being in a boarding school came with culture shock. I wouldn’t trade it for the world!  I had the time of my life there and more importantly it directly led to my passion for writing where I have had the honor of interacting with amazing people like yourself.