Rhode Island Authors Showcase - Featuring Tim Baird!
The Rhode Island Authors Showcase is back! Each day in November, I’ll be featuring a different RI author. Each post features a giveaway – a book, an anthology, or something else! All you have to do to be eligible for the daily drawing is leave a comment on the blog post. I’ll use a random number generator to pick a winner one week after the blog post (to give you time to catch up).
By commenting on each post, you’re also entered to win our bigger prizes: GRAND PRIZE is a $250 Amazon gift card, BONUS PRIZE is a $100 Amazon gift card, and the CHEER UP YOU WON SOMETHING PRIZE is a $50 Amazon gift card. The big prizes will be chosen, again using a random number generator, on December 7.
Hey, Tim Baird! Great to feature you today! I'm sure readers would like to know more about you:
What name do you use as an author? Tim Baird
Where is your hometown? Clinton, MA (where I was born) – Holden, MA (where I now type my books)
What genre(s) do you write? SFF (Science Fiction / Fantasy)
And what have you written?
The Dragon in the Whites, 2017
Washington’s Dragon Hunter, 2018
Dragon Liberator, 2019
Eggs in Two Baskets, 2020
Good Night Phobos, Good Night Deimos, 2021
The Dragon in the Lighthouse, 2022
Who are your favorite authors?
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- John Scalzi
- R.A. Salvatore
What were some of your favorite books growing up?
- Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
- Watership Down, by Richard Adams
- A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
What do you like best about writing? My favorite thing about writing is being able to tell my story in an unfiltered manner. I grew up in a large family, spent a long time competing on different teams, and now work for a large corporation. With whatever I did, there were always people who needed to equally contribute, have their opinions considered, and teammates to share the glory with.
In writing, for better and for worse, it’s all on you. You can tell your story, your way, without worrying about what others might think. Sure, you can write some crazy story that nobody will want to buy and read, but it’s your right to do so. Add a character, remove a character, choose a setting, and tell what you want to hear… it’s all on your shoulders and you can selfishly craft a story in your own little world as you want to design it. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of creative power, and opens the floodgates of your imagination to just run wild unchecked. I love it.
What do find most challenging about writing? The most challenging thing about writing, at least for a self-published author like myself, is committing the time and dedication to the process. Because I write ‘for fun’ in addition to my day job, I don’t have a boss checking in on me, I don’t have any deadlines, and I have nobody to answer to. While this is really fun and liberating at times (see favorite thing response above), it also means that I’m 100% accountable to myself. If I’m tired, or have other things going on, or sometimes just don’t feel like writing, there’s nobody to be mad at me or encourage me along. Plus, as a full-time engineer, part-time writer, with a house to maintain and family to take care of, the 24 hours in a day get filled up awfully quickly. So, I’ll often write continuously for several nights in a row after my family goes to bed, but then I might not write for a few weeks. The break gets very nice and comfortable and can be hard to get back to work if you don’t have the personal drive to do so.
Where do you draw your inspiration? I tend to draw my inspiration from the world around me and my family. All but two of my novels have taken place somewhere within New England, with the exception of some forays onto Mars and a little backstory in one book in Iceland, thanks to a semester abroad in college. My family and friends have then been turned into fictionalized characters to embody my tales, lending their likenesses and personalities to add a sense of realism to the dialogue and descriptions.
I also draw from my personal hobbies. I love to hike, just be outside in general, play video games, and stare up into the great beyond outside of our atmosphere. I have put these interests into the personalities of my characters and tried to speak from my own experience through their actions and thoughts.
You’ve just been given the chance to collaborate on a book with R.A. Salvatore. What’s the title going to be? I would partner with R.A. Salvatore to write The Dragons of Waterdeep. In the Forgotten Realms (the story world behind Dungeons & Dragons), Waterdeep has a protective ward placed around it and won’t let dragons in. I’d love to write a story with him about dragons either sneaking in somehow or destroying the ward to enter the land.
Thanks, Tim! Now, to learn more and to check out Tim's books, here are some links:
Author website: http://www.timbaird.us
Amazon author page: https://tinyurl.com/53f43p8e
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16764471.Tim_Baird
Find Tim on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timbaird.author
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/timbairdauthor
And on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG0JPeQhzEMZEAvlc-2Ak-Q
For the first time in her life, Maggie is being selfish. When she suddenly finds herself out of work and divorced, she casts aside her life as she knows it and heads north to the seaside village of Bar Harbor. Looking for a fresh start, she goes to work for her longtime friend Sparu while enjoying the single life. That is, until she meets Seamus: a hardworking and quiet dragon living on a nearby lighthouse, with a sorrowful past which he alone can bear.
Will their lust for each other derail both of their plans, or can they find love again in one another and rekindle the fires in their hearts?
What fun! Want to win a copy? Of course you do. For a chance, answer this question: would you live in a lighthouse if given the chance? Why or why not?
