Tim Byrd lives with his adventurous son and a treacherous cat near Atlanta, Georgia. He is often barefoot, prone to irony, and interested in everything. He knows how to tie a tie, but doesn't care to. He has been a dishwasher, shoe salesman, waiter, soldier, game designer, independent filmmaker, and outdoor guide. He wants to be a kid when he grows up.
Timformation (Frequently Asked Questions)
- How do I contact Tim?
The easiest way is just to use the Contact form on this site. You can also sign the Guestbook, or contact me through Facebook, MySpace, Goodreads, or comments on my blog (all of which can be found on the Links page). I’m friendly and rarely bite, though I am very busy being a dad and a writer and may not always be as prompt in replying as I’d like.
- How do I send Tim a book to get signed?
Click this link to find out all you need to know: SIGNED BOOKS.
- Will Tim read my--
Sorry, no. I won’t read your story, novel, idea, diary, outline, fortune, pie chart, autobiography, recipe, or the bumps on your head. I’m bogged down in research, way behind on personal reading, generally even more behind in my daily life, and have been strongly advised not to look at others' unpublished work for several solid legal reasons.
I am going to try to share any and all wisdom I may gain as a professional writer through this site, though that wisdom is rather slim so far. I recommend a couple of books for writers on the Suggested Reading page. Other than that, the main advice I can give is this:
“Write it. Then send it out till someone buys it. Till they do, write something else and send it out. Repeat."
It’s as easy as that. And as difficult.
- When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
Sometime before I can remember. I learned to read when I was three or four, and was reading novels by five. That was when I wrote my first story, "The Blue Stallion," which I even illustrated in crayon. It was an exciting tale in which our hero, the stallion, fought and vanquished a mountain lion.
I always intended to write, but didn't realize it was to be my absolute calling until I read Ray Bradbury's story "The Fog Horn" when I was about nine or ten. I found it so moving, and was so overcome with the fact that the written word could have such power, I consciously decided that writing would be my main job, whatever else I might get around to doing.
- What are your work habits as a writer?
When I'm actively working on a project, as opposed to pondering ideas for it or doing research or just procrastinating, I set a goal of how many words I'll write each day (usually 1,000, about five pages), then I write that many words. I may knock them out in a couple of hours before lunch. I may have to tear my hair out all day long and finally finish up after midnight. But I'll get the words written.
I do most of my writing in cafes, drinking coffee. It's actually less distracting to me than writing at home, because I don't have ready access to my bookshelves, TV, video games, and refrigerator. I also find myself energized by being around people, even if I'm not actually talking to them, so I produce more when I write in public.
- How'd you come up with the idea for Doc Wilde?
I loved pulp adventure tales when I was growing up, and had a stack of Doc Savage novels in my room. As a father, I looked for books to share with my son that had that same sense of epic fun, but the Doc Savage books were out of print and nothing else quite captured the classic spirit of the pulps. I decided to write a book for him that did. The result was Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom, a modern-day homage to the pulp greats, full of cliffhangers and gadgets and world-threatening villains being vanquished by a stalwart family of adventurers.
- What are you working on now?
The second Doc Wilde book, of course. It's called Doc Wilde and The Mad Skull. It's full of trademark Wilde cliffhanger action, incredible weirdness, and a very strange, very dangerous villain.
Print Version