Today we’d like to introduce you to Gerald L. Coleman.
Hi Gerald, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey to becoming an author began in elementary school. My mother was adamant that my brother and I read. She knew intimately, as research would later tell us, that a love of reading is the biggest metric for success in a child. So our house was a house filled with reading. At school, that reading was bolstered by the magic of the Scholastic Book Fair. It was there that I discovered Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Watership Down, and so much more. That was my first introduction to science fiction and fantasy. What followed was comic books and SFF novels like The Lord of the Rings, Elric of Melniboné, Dragonriders of Pern, The Faded Sun series, The Guardians of the Flame, and even The Three Musketeers and the Count of Montecristo. I read voraciously. My writing journey began in high school with poetry. In college I co-founded a poetry group called the Affrilachian Poets and we are still together to this day. By the time I was preparing to leave undergraduate school I knew I wanted to write my own epic fantasy series but graduate school and life intervened. It wasn’t until about fifteen years ago that I was finally able to really dedicate myself to writing prose. I had been publishing poetry for decades but I was ready to focus on science fiction and fantasy. That led to where I am today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been an interesting journey. You think the biggest part about being a novelist is writing the novel, but you soon find out that’s just the beginning.
You have to answer a million questions. And if you decide to indie publish there are a million more. What should the cover look like? How’s going to distribute it? How will you find an audience for it? And so much more. In a lot of ways it’s been a wonderful learning experience and an education in what really goes into publishing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a writer. I’m known for poetry and science fiction and fantasy. I’m most proud of my most recent poetry collection, my epic fantasy series, and a number of short stories and essays that have been published by anthologies, journals, and magazines.
Contact Info:
- Website: Geraldlcoleman.com
Image Credits:
Joseph Rey Au
Gerald L. Coleman
