Spotlight: E. R. Yatscoff, Featured Author Interview By Connie Vines # #Author Interview, #MG Fiction, #BWLPublishing

Today's Featured guest is E. R. Yatscoff

Thank you for stopping by today. Please tell our readers about your current release and why you enjoy writing for Middle-Grade readers.😀

E. R.: I like writing MG because it's generally a smaller word count. There tends to be a less intricate background so it’s simpler. I’ve chosen THE FAR BANK as a favorite of mine as there are so many elements of it I’ve lived through.

 Connie::What was the inspiration for this story? 

E.R.: My blue-collar hometown was full of reckless boys who swam the Welland Canal in summer. I was in awe of many of them. Many drowned. The great accomplishment was to swim straight across to the far bank for bragging rights. The massive Great Lake boats would go back and forth along the canal, so timing was everything—no dilly-dallying. We even put rocks in our bathing suits to touch the bottom.  🏊

 

Connie::  What would you like to see more/less of in the MG/YA genre? 

E.R.:  Actually, I’d like to see more crime and less magic/dystopia. I don't follow the genre much. I write about incidents and people when I was growing up and string them together in a novel. The elements and issues of boys during that time are much the same today. Although the pressures on a boy can be even higher now.

 Connie:. Do you believe writers are born, taught, or both? Which was true for you? 

E.R.: Writers can be taught, but the storytelling talent in a person is a big factor. I always was a storyteller and had to be taught to write. I find it easy to write about something, anything and wish I didn’t have to edit. The devil is in the details. My adult crime writing is based on my firefighting career.

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Connie: Do you have a favorite paragraph/line of dialogue in this novel?

E.R.: I  love the twisted logic in this. ‘Drowning is one thing, but it’s the propellors that’ll really kill you.’

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Connie: Did you love scary stories as a kid? Can you tell us some of your favorites? Books or authors? 

E.R.: I read sci-fi mostly as a kid but gave it up when a super ray gun or escape pod would magically appear. I loved Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan of the Apes series. So much so, I entered a Tarzan Father’s Day contest at a mall and won a trip to California! My Tarzan call rocked the mall.🎤

Connie: E.R. That was quite a prize!  

How do you come up with names for your characters? 

E.R.: They are childhood friends or enemies. Everyone had nicknames.

 

Connie: Could you tell our readers about your current release

E.R.:  The Far Bank has a lot of elements: bullying on the paper route from hell, courage, cheating, morals, and of course, action. Many of my MG novels deal with bullies and my protagonists handle them quite well without violence by humbling them. 

Connie: E.R.. thank you for visiting "Dishn' It Out Blog" today.  I've enjoyed our visit, and I'm confident our readers welcomed a look into your writing life! 

E.R. Yatscoff BWL Publisher's Page

Amazon

https://books2read.com/Final-Response