Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a boat bum (lived on retired WWII warship for ten years), editor, freelance writer, poet, musician and traveler. I prefer living on boats, islands and remote (tropical) places and have worked and lived in the Caribbean, Hong Kong and SE Asia. I have written both humor and mysteries that take place in the world I know, including three novels and several short stories. My perspectives are a bit off the norm as I haven’t owned a television since the 1980s.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book is THE INVENTION OF CLAY MCKENZIE, which I wrote with J. Reid Beckett. We were exploring the changing landscape of publishing and this story is about a particular tack one ambitious young New York editor takes.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write full time and prefer to writing at my standing desk so I don’t get too out of shape.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love reading and have adored the books of a range of writers from Hemingway to Milan Kundera, Isabelle Allende, Mark Helprin and Elmore Leonard.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a second book feature Martin Billings, the sea captain protagonist of my Venezuelan-based mystery novel UNDER LOW SKIES.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have no idea. I have spent my life focused on writing and music and never got a real handle on promotion. My writing is not mainstream (nor am I) and when I try what works for others it fails, so I simply relish anything that helps get new readers. That doesn’t mean I don’t promote, but it means that any difference between my best and worth methods is unnoticeable.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write books you would want to read. Don’t chase trends (it is maddening and boring).
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Buy low, sell high. But I’ve never figured out how to follow it. Beyond that, the idea of evaluating if doing something, anything, is worth more to me than writing. Would My Time Be Better Spent Writing? (WMTBBSW) is, I think, the current phrase.
What are you reading now?
Colin Cotterill’s series about Dr. Siri the Laotian corner. After living in Cambodia for two years, I find his descriptions of that part of Asia both brilliant and spot on.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More mysteries. I’ve been reading a lot of them recently and it rekindled my interest in the form–both short stories and novel length. Good mysteries are also good literature and I aim to continuously raise the bar for my writing.
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?
Three I hadn’t read yet. Maybe IN SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW, a recent one by Mark Helprin, something by Allende or even Amy Tam. It depends on what was handy and looked good. Preferably thick books.
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