David McAfee Interview

Interview with David McAfee

1: What is the most productive time of the day for you to write?

At the moment I can only write in the evenings after work. Sometimes I am able to squeeze in a session at lunch, but more often than not I have errands to run.

2: Do you start your projects writing with paper and pen or is it all on the computer?

Usually I jot down the general idea on paper or on my iPod Touch first. Then when I have time to visit the subject, I start right from the computer.

3: What do you draw inspiration from?

Everything. Sometimes something as simple as a discarded grocery list puts a story idea in my head. I’m not kidding, either. I once saw a grocery list on the ground and wrote a piece about a serial killer that nabbed his victims going into a Food City. Story ideas are everywhere. Especially horror stories.

4: Do you set yourself goals when you sit down to write such as word count?

Yes. Usually I try to hit 2,000 words per day. I don’t always make that goal, though. Sometimes life gets in the way.

5: Being a self published author how do you come up with your cover art?

I hired out the cover for 33 A.D. The cover he came up with is totally different than my original concept, but I’m not complaining. For my next Kindle release, I’ll be taking the picture for the cover myself. I’ve been learning a little about Photoshop, so I am going to try my hand at creating the cover from scratch, as it were. We’ll see how well it works.

6: What drives you to choose the career of being a writer?

At the moment, a strong desire to be poor and unappreciated.  Kidding. I’ve always loved to read, even as a kid. King, Weis and Hickman, Crichton, etc. I have read some wonderful books, as well as some very bad ones. While reading some of the less than stellar books that made it to bookstore shelves I would think “I can do better than that.” So finally I gave it a shot. Not ready to give up yet, either.

7: Do you own an ebook reading devise?

Kind of. I have an iPod Touch with the Kindle program loaded on it. But I don’t really enjoy reading books on it because the screen is too small and bright. I want a kindle, but I need to sell a few more books first.

8: Who are some of your favorite authors and What are you reading now?

Stephen King, Christopher Moore, Michael Crichton, James Rollins, Terry Goodkind, and the duo of Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman are the names that stand out most in my collection. Right now I’m reading two books: GREGOR THE OVERLANDER by Suzanne Collins, and THREE DAYS TO DEAD by Kelly Meding.

9: What do you think of book trailers and do you have any plans to have any?

I’m not sure, honestly. I can see how they might entice people to take a look at your book, but I have not seen any evidence to indicate they increase your sales. In all fairness, I haven’t seen any evidence to the contrary, either. I simply don’t know enough about them to make an informed decision.

10: What are you working on now that you can talk about?

Heh. LOTS!

I’m editing my next Kindle release, SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SUN, which is another vampire book. This one is far more Paranormal Romance than 33 A.D. It’s actually the first novel I ever wrote, so I expect some people to pick it apart. I had never actually intended to release it, but a friend convinced me to put it out there.

I also have a pulp horror novella titled GRUBS that I’ll be releasing as a Kindle book by the end of June. No vampires in that one. It’s a short, fast read, and I’ll be sticking a bunch of my short stories in the back to make up for the shortness of the book (45K).

I just finished the first draft of a non-vampire horror novel called THE GALLOWS TREE. It’s about a small town in east Tennessee that is haunted by the spirit of a 13 year old black boy who was lynched there in 1959. Once SAYING GOODBYE TO THE SUN and GRUBS are out on the Kindle I’ll start the revising/editing of that book.

Two more vampire novels are in the works, too. Both pretty different from the normal bloodsucker fare that’s out there right now. I also have four or five non vamp ideas jotted down that I need to explore, also. It’ll be a while before I’ve gotten to all of them.

http://www.amazon.com/David-L-McAfee/e/B003DCAA84/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1