Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
It all started way back in 77 when my dad took me to see the original Star Wars. I may have only been 4 at the time but I will always be part of a group who KNOWS Han was the only one to shoot. After that came Ralph Bakshi’s animated Lord of the Rings and I was hooked. I started writing goofy comic books, won an award in 10th grade for a very bad (I mean like I try to find it every time I visit home so I can burn it bad) horror novel. After joining the Army I found little time to write, but managed to crank a few out before the War on Terror began. Most people don’t know this but war is very boring when you’re not getting shot at, so I wrote Armies of the Silver Mage in Afghanistan and then The Dragon Hunters when I was in Baghdad 2 years later. I retired from the Army in 11 and have since written over 20 military fantasy and sci fi novels. I have an award around here from the L Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest (4th place for one quarter, but still!), and my Hammers in the Wind has been the overall #1 free Kindle book 4 times since publishing it back in 2013. Throw in a ton of short stories, a children’s book, my combat memoirs from the beginning of the war, and a how to book, and that sums me up. Which ones have you read?
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Coward’s Truth: A Novel of the Heart Eternal. I got the idea from my time in Afghanistan with the tribes and the Syrian civil war where many countries are involved. Throw in a marooned platoon of space marines to a world with gunpowder tech, a city ruled by a god-king who lives for 10,000 years, and an ancient evil from the dawn of time and there you go.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Define unusual?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I started with the classics: Dune, LoTR, Asimov. Since growing up I have been heavily influenced by Steven Erickson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen, David Weber’s Safehold series, and LE Modesitt Jr’s Recluse Saga.
What are you working on now?
I am finishing up the 2nd half of Repercussions, a follow up to my earlier Lazarus Men. Think Maltese Falcon meets Total Recall with a little James Bondesque action in space.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I devour Writer’s Digest and have been a part of the IBPA and NCWN for a few years now.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Listen to the experts and understand that if you are writing a book to be published you are a business, not a hobby. Treat it like such. You are the CEO making business decisions that affect your profitability and name brand.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Who Dare Wins? Not only is this the motto of the New Zealand Special Forces, but they are great words to live by. Never be afraid to take a chance.
What are you reading now?
A few books. I am trying to slog through God’s Demon but man is it tough. Little dialogue and dense prose. Then there is my guilty pleasure of the Black Library’s Horus Heresy series. A little mindless space marine combat to get the heart pumping. I don’t know why, but they always get my attention.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Where do I begin? I am finishing Repercussions, doing my thesis for Chapel Hill- a follow up to my So, You Want to Write a Book? called So, You Wrote a Book, Now What? Then I begin book 5 of my Forgotten Gods series- think Star Wars, Dune, and the Malazan world all colliding.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That’s like asking if I would take my kids or dogs. I mean obviously I’m taking the dogs, but I can’t narrow down books to that few. How about if I take about 5000 sheets of paper and a few pens instead?
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