{"id":1786,"date":"2012-01-10T00:15:31","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T22:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.somethingwicked.co.za\/?p=1786"},"modified":"2012-01-09T16:18:29","modified_gmt":"2012-01-09T14:18:29","slug":"writers-cornered-mel-odom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/2012\/01\/10\/writers-cornered-mel-odom\/","title":{"rendered":"Writers Cornered: Mel Odom"},"content":{"rendered":"

interview by Joe Vaz
\n\"\"<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\"\"
\nFrom Issue 17 (Jan 2012)<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Where is home?<\/em><\/strong><\/strong>
\nMoore, Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Do you write full time?<\/em><\/strong>
\nI do write full time.\u00a0I also teach at the University of Oklahoma in the Professional Writing program.<\/p>\n

What inspired this story?<\/em><\/strong>
\nThis story actually came to me in a dream, something that happens every now and again.\u00a0I\u2019m ADHD (attention deficit hyper disorder) though I\u2019ve worked hard to rein that in and my dreams are incredibly vivid and detailed.\u00a0I woke up with this story in my head.<\/p>\n

Do you believe precognition is possible? Have you ever wished you could see the future?<\/em><\/strong>
\nI believe that precognition is possible, more glimpses than true sequences.\u00a0A bad feeling.\u00a0Snippets of conversation.\u00a0Things like that.\u00a0I\u2019ve actually experienced that myself.\u00a0I have NEVER wanted to see the future.\u00a0That would take all the mystery and adventure out of life.<\/p>\n

If you could, would you want to know when you\u2019re going to die? (Why\/why not?)<\/em><\/strong>
\nNope.\u00a0Can you imagine living in fear of that date?\u00a0Maybe you could avoid a car wreck by not being on the road that day, but how do you escape a heart attack?\u00a0How would you enjoy your life?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t put my finger on why, but <\/em>She Can See Tomorrow\u2026 has a classic <\/em>Twilight Zone episode feel to it, was that intentional?<\/em><\/strong>
\nI loved the Twilight Zone<\/em>.\u00a0Still do.\u00a0And I recommend it to my writing students all the time.\u00a0That one-step-past-the-real-world thing just really grabs my imagination.\u00a0This story just seemed to fit right into that kind of tale.<\/p>\n

You have an unbelievable number of books to your name, a lot of which are part of series or adaptations. Which do you find easier\/harder, working completely within your own worlds, or inhabiting others\u2019?<\/em><\/strong>
\nI\u2019m really lucky.\u00a0I can work within an established world\/setting\/context with the same zeal that I approach creating my own worlds.\u00a0There is a different framework of rules, but the work is essentially the same.\u00a0Create a hero, give him\/her something interesting to do, add lots of conflict, and keep the pacing up.<\/p>\n

Are you working on anything right now?<\/em><\/strong>
\nI\u2019m actually working on a new entry in the Rogue Angel<\/em> series and have several projects in line after that.\u00a0Just published a new entry in the Rancho Diablo<\/em> series (Hell On Wheels<\/em>) and a book in the new Fight Card<\/em> series (The Cutman<\/em>).\u00a0Writing is very exciting these days with all the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Where might we find more of your work?<\/em><\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve written fantasy, suspense, westerns, horror, and TV tie-ins that include Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/em>, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch<\/em>, and movies like Blade<\/em> and xXx<\/em>.\u00a0I\u2019m out there. Drop by my website at www.melodom.com<\/a> and my blog www.melodom.blogspot.com<\/a> to see what\u2019s new.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

[hana-code-insert name=’ArticleBlockOpen’ \/]<\/p>\n

Joe Vaz<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Joe Vaz<\/em> is the founder and editor of Something Wicked<\/em>, which occasionally affords him the honour and good fortune to hang out with really cool people.
\nIn his other life he is a film and television actor who gets small parts in big movies, most recently in Dredd 3D<\/em><\/a>, due to be released in September 2012.<\/p>\n

[hana-code-insert name=’ArticleBlockClose’ \/]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Vaz
\n\"\"<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n
\n

I\u2019m really lucky. I can work within an established world\/setting\/context with the same zeal that I approach creating my own worlds. There is a different framework of rules, but the work is essentially the same. Create a hero, give him\/her something interesting to do, add lots of conflict, and keep the pacing up.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nFrom Issue 17 (Dec 2011)<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[63,152,39,154,100],"class_list":["post-1786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-interview","tag-issue-17","tag-joe-vaz","tag-mel-odom","tag-writers-cornered"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1786"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1788,"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1786\/revisions\/1788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somethingwicked.co.za\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}