Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written seven books as of this moment. The first two I consider a learning experience. Tale of the Music-Thief was my freshman publication. Then Last Wave followed, recently. Everything else is in rewrite-edit mode for the moment.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Last Wave which is in the process of being released. It’s about two of the last 50-odd people left on the planet. The idea was, what if humanity came to an end in a more slow way? What if everyone at some point was born sterile and humanity knew it was all at an end? How would those last people live their lives? From there I grew this story about Acharon and Sovelet and with rewrites and edits it became more than just the last people living their last days.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My worst habit is too many projects at once. Even though I’m working hard on one project I’ll get distracted by three or four others. I give them a little attention, but that slows down the primary project.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Andre Norton, Douglas Adams, Piers Anthony, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Allan Poe.
One summer, in high school, I read everything – that I knew of – that Howard had written. I had one album, Blue Oyster Cult’s Spectres, which I listened to over and over while eating bbq corn chips and drinking Dr. Pepper. For years after, whenever I heard the album or heard the album or had a Dr. Pepper, all those stories would come flooding back.
Other stories people might remember from their school days. The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, has always haunted me.
What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working on the book that follows Last Wave. It has become a tetralogy that I call the Last Wave series. Book two is Last Dance and follows the same two characters from Last Wave, Acharon and Sovelet, as they make their way to New York to join the remaining humans in the Western Hemisphere.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still working on this. The sad truth is that it takes money to make money and so the more books I can sell, the more I can advertise.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Write often. Finish what you start. Don’t worry if your first couple of books suck and should never see the light of day. They are part of the learning process.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write.
What are you reading now?
I am reading a non-fiction book called The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis. He wrote the book, Moneyball.
And then on my Kindle I’m reading Feed 2 by Nicole Grotepas. Dystopian future novellas – I’ve already read Feed 1 – where the micro-cameras that watch to keep us “safe” have also become entertainment in the reality TV style.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have several books outlined and one that I’ve written by hand. They are, for the most part, stand-alone, but I want to work on those while still trying to finish my Last Wave series.
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?
Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Watership Down, Richard Adams
Master and Commander, Patrick O’Brian
(A History of Reading, Alberto Manguel. This non-fiction, but his writing is so beautiful, even after being translated into English.)
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