Robert Marquiss Interview
Q. What do you love most about writing?
  A. Sitting down and creating worlds that others can enjoy and relate to and taking their minds to other worlds they have not experienced before.  Making things come alive where there was nothing there before.  Watching a person read my work and come away having enjoyed something they had never experienced before.  I like seeing people laugh, seeing someone come through hardship, someone winning against all odds.

Q. Do you have any sources of inspiration for your world?
  A. Seeing the creations of others in all aspects of the arts and sciences, from American Indian jewelry and headdress makers, to sculptors and painters in Italy.  Bone carvers in Alaska to aborigine stone painting in Australia.  Every country has unique art forms that can make your mind dance with wonder and excitement if you would only look.  There are those who don't see the flower.  Some will see it but don't pay any attention to it.  But there are those who see it and all the wondrous things that surround it: the rain drops playing on its petals in a storm, the bees' infatuation with it, the sparkle of the morning dew on it.  These things give me inspiration.

Q. What is your main inspiration to write?
  A. Adventure, Love, Romance, holding a woman close and making her yearn for more.  I just love being one of the people in my books.

Q. What is your story Prince of Kartoon about?
  A. It is about a boy who, in a storm, is in a ship wreck and ends up on a beach on an uncharted Island.  There, he discovers wild creatures beyond his wildest dreams and a sorcer who thinks he’s part of a prophecy to free a Princess.

Q. Why did you choose this story/genre?
  A. I love Fantasy, adventure and creating new characters.

Q. Who are your favorite writers?  Why are they your favorites?
  A.  Now that’s hard to say.  There are so many works from different writers that I like.
   The first one that comes to mind is Ray Bradbury.  I spent some time with him at his home.  Now there is a very creative soul and a very generous and compassionate person.  (Did you know he wrote the script of the classic film Moby Dick?)  I was invited to one of his plays in Pasadena: It was fantastic.  I had the honor of sitting next to Ray Harryhausen (Clash of the Titans, Sinbad and The Eye of the Tiger) and we got a chance to talk about film making and special effects.  It was great being with both of them.

Q. What is the most unique aspect of your universe?
  A. It’s still here.  LOL.
   To delve into many aspects of art and science and have people enjoy what I create.

Q. What is your favorite part of your universe?
  A. Writing, film making, drawing, painting, designing houses, (have built 2 in LA) sculpting, model-making, music, special effects, editing, sound effects, mechanical drawing, technical illustrating and prop making.

Q. What do you think people will most enjoy about your universe?
  A. That my work is so diverse and that there is something there for almost anyone.  When you leave it you leave it feeling better and/or happy.

Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
  A. I’m creative, mild mannered, easy going.  But when I’m working, sometimes I go non- stop.  I am a very “A to B” kind of person. I also I really like to make people laugh.  There’s a line from a film that explains me, “When I’m good I’m really good and when I’m bad I’m very, very bad.” :)

Q. What are some of your other hobbies?
  A. You name it I have pretty much done it except for bungie jumping.  Jumping from 3000 feet and higher is a little more exciting to me.

Q. How do your hobbies infiltrate your writing?
  A. They enable me to really know what I am talking about in a story when I use them as a tool.

Q. How has your own past influenced your writing?
  A. My past experiences have given a vast amount of data to work with and to pull ideas from.
  Example:
   There’s a race.  The contenders look at each other.  One thinks, “Does he have a four barrel carb or trips under that hood?”  The other thinks, “God I hope he doesn’t have nitro.  I know he has a 4-11 positraction rear end.”

Q. Any words of advice for struggling writers?
  A. Yes.  Go by your own knowingness, and if you make a mistake, so what?  I have not met anyone yet who can point a finger and that finger doesn’t have some stink on it.  Be your own advisor and keep your own counsel and just write.  And yes there is hatting* that goes along with any subject, but you choose what you want.  I read an article from one writer who said, [sorry, can’t quote it exactly, but you’ll get the idea], “It’s all been done before, just rehashing.”  Now there’s one writer who can’t freely create on his own.

* hatting: training, learning the ropes

Q. What other advice do you have for aspiring authors?
  A. Write, write some more, and keep writing and listen to what Steven King has to say in his lecture.  He hit the nail on the head.

Q. Any final thoughts?
  A. Only communicate to to those who can understand your ability as a writer.  And target becoming a master of your craft.  Also, let’s say your book gets turned into a screen play and you find they have changed some of your great scenes into something you don’t like.  Take the money, get a couple of girls, go to the beach and have a martini.  That works for me.

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