1: What is the most productive
time of the day for you to write?
Lately
it has been during my lunch hour at my day job. It is nearly the only time of
day that I have to be completely by myself. My office has served me well for
sure!
2: Do you start your projects
writing with paper and pen or is it all on the computer?
Last
year a friend and I were stranded at the Atlanta airport. I was in the middle
of writing Failing Test at the time, and since I didn’t have my laptop with me,
I bought a notebook and some pens and tried to write. I found it nearly
impossible. I can type far faster than I can write and couldn’t keep from
getting frustrated at the thoughts coming faster than I could get them out. So
to answer your question, always on the computer.
3: What do you draw inspiration
from?
Inspiration
is everywhere. I find it sitting on the porch and watching the sunrise, the
drive to work, even in my dreams. Recently, I took my family on a weekend
vacation and had lunch at IHOP. The variety of people within this one building
was amazing and I caught myself thinking about the possibilities of each
person’s background and upbringing. I definitely got some ideas for characters
that afternoon.
4: Do you set goals for yourself
when you sit down to write such as word count?
I
didn’t until just recently, and the only reason I did was simply because I got
into a rut and wasn’t getting much writing done. I now have the very modest
goal of 500 words per day, although I have been averaging 1500 to 2000 per day
in the last couple of weeks. I have a wife and two kids that are absolutely my
priority and I try not to let my writing interfere with their needs and wants.
5: Are you a published or a self
published author and how do you come up with your cover art?
I
am a self published author. I did have an agent last year that turned out to be
the wrong one for me. Unfortunately, she was the only one to even look at me.
After playing the querying game, I decided to give it a shot on my own. It was
difficult because at one point I was one of those that had been brainwashed
into thinking that it was writer’s suicide to self-publish. Instead of being
narrow minded, I did my homework and found some amazing success stories. Are
those stories common place? No, but neither are huge successes in the
traditionally published world. I’m enjoying the community as it is filled with
MANY wonderful people. There is no shortage of great and honest advice, as well
as that sense of understanding that only someone going through this meat grinder
of an industry can relate to.
The
cover was something I had in mind from the very beginning. It is actually my
hand with a ton of work put into it digitally. I did it myself and actually had
considering hiring someone to do a new cover recently, but FT’s fans quickly
changed my mind for me when I asked for an opinion. The coolest response that
I’ve had to the cover was from a woman that contacted me after she’d read the
book. She said that she’d left it sitting on the coffee table after she’d
finished reading it, and the next day while sitting on the couch, she looked at
the cover and was in awe at how much it matched the vision she’d had in her
head while reading. I’m sure it was a subconscious thing, but it was still neat
to hear her comments.
6: What drives you to choose the
career of being a writer?
I’ve
always been a creative person. My life’s been a series of stages involving
writing short stories, poetry, music, lyrics, and now novels. I love the
release I get when writing. I can really feel my characters pleasures and
pains, and for me, that is what literature is all about. I want to provide that
release and disconnect from the real world to my readers. The real world can be
such a weight at times that I love the thought of providing for someone else,
what other authors have provided me.
7: Do you own an ebook reading
device?
Currently
I just have Kindle for PC. I am BEGGING Santa for a K3 this year, but would be
more than okay with a used K2! I have a good number of books in my TBR right
now on the PC, but it is difficult for me to read on the laptop. I do worry
about missing the feel of holding a book when I do get my Kindle, but I guess
I’ll cross that bridge when I get there!
8: Who are some of your favorite
authors and what are you reading now?
I
love John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men was the first book I read of his and I
really felt every ounce of emotion that his characters were burdened with. For
the rest of that year, I was a Steinbeck hoarder and devoured everything that
my school library had.
As
I grew older, I got hooked on Michael Crichton. I am a bit of a science geek
and I loved how everything in his books carried that air of possibility. It was
fantastic!
I
have honestly enjoyed Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, though that seems quite
the unpopular thing to say amongst most author’s circles; but hey, everyone’s
got their guilty pleasures right?
I
am currently not reading anything as I am trying to get my current work in
progress finished. If I start a book, especially if it’s a good one, then I
won’t get any writing done. I have so little spare time that I have to use it
wisely. Now, when I’m finished with the book, I’ll be reading like an ice cream
junkie eating ice cream in a Baskin Robbins! First up on my TBR is Portal by Imogen
Rose, followed by David McAfee’s 33 a.d.
9: What do you think of book
trailers and do you have any plans to have any?
I
do like book trailers…for the most part. I have one, but it isn’t anything that
I’m glowing with pride over. I
would have to say that the best one I’ve seen in a while was for Amanda
Hocking’s “My Blood Approves”. Whoever she got to do it did a nice job.
10: How did you come up with the
title of your latest book?
The
title came fairly easily after the main characters name, Test Davis, popped
into my head. It was a neat play on words and really fit the story quite well.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, but by the product description alone it’s
obvious that Test’s life is not ideal and not all of it is his fault.
11: What are you working on now
that you can talk about?
Up
until a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been working on the sequel to Failing Test
titled “A Shadow’s Light”. I was approximately 70% finished with it when my
muse stepped in with another idea that he demanded be done first! Seriously, I
couldn’t stop thinking about this new project so after fighting it for several
weeks, I gave in. The book is titled Duality and is in a different vein than
Failing Test or A Shadow’s Light. It is a much darker story with psychological
twists and thought provoking undertones. It is definitely not going to be for
the younger YA crowds. I have already hired a cover artist for Duality and I am
striving to have it published in late October, as well as having A Shadow’s
Light published around Christmas time. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I
think I’m up for the challenge. I have several other idea and starts down on
the keys, but need to keep that muse at bay so I can finish my current work in
process!
Here is my blog link:
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