Interview With Author Ethan Grimes
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Ethan Grimes, I am 31 years old, I live in Mesa, AZ with my wife and our 2 children and I have written one book so far.
Other than writing, I enjoy playing the drums, playing videogames and occasionally doing standup comedy. Of all the things I enjoy, I realized that writing books is the career that would make me the happiest. During the 2020 covid lockdown I poured most of my free time into completing my first novel and self-published it early 2022.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first book is called The Death of Customer Service. They say you should write what you know, so after 10 years of working in Customer Service I decided to write my first book about this industry. I had written pages and pages of interactions with customers that I experienced personally. I outlined a comedic science fiction story and used my personal experiences to string it all together. I’ve had plenty of story ideas that would fit more into more traditional genres, such as fantasy or apocalyptic science fiction but ultimately decided against starting my writing career with these stories. For me personally, it made the most sense to write a completely original story for the far lesser known genre of call center focused, customer experiences.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to rough draft individual chapters by pen and paper, including important moments, quotes and actions that are absolutely necessary for making the chapter progress the story. Then keep I the paper with me for reference while I flesh out the full chapter by typing it up in a google doc. For the first 10 chapters I didn’t have a computer so I had to type them up with my smart phone.
A lot of the time when I write dialogue or character interactions I would make the facial expressions of the characters into the mirror, then try to describe those expressions to the best of my ability.
I stuck pretty hard to the idea of “write drunk, edit sober”, it worked really well for punching up the comedy in the book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
One of my favorite book series is called Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines, its a very different kind of story than what I’ve written but I referenced it frequently while doing my own formatting.
The biggest influences behind the book are Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Rum Diaries and the movie Clerks.
I also really like the books written by comedian Doug Stanhope.
I feel that I don’t read nearly as much as I should.
What are you working on now?
I’m mostly working on promoting the book and outlining my next book. (The current working title is, Crater) Other than that I like to stream on Twitch and watch old movies.
Most of my time is occupied by taking care of my 2 children (My wife works full time so I’m a stay-at-home dad) and doing doordash in a futile attempt to catch up on bills.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
First thing I did was build a website ethangrimes.com where you can purchase the paperback or order the e-book for free. I’ve had a lot of luck posting the book on specific subreddits where its relevant. I’ve also posted the entire book on Twitter as a kind of promotional experiment. It’s going alright.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m not really successful as an author yet so I don’t know what credibility I have, but I would say to just keep writing whenever you can. Keep access to your project at your fingertips, pinning the google docs app to my phone’s home screen worked really well for me. If you think of a new piece for the book write it down immediately, even if you’re not sure that you’ll ever use it. Throughout the writing process of my first book I would frequently write down future events or out of context quotes that I wanted characters to say, I didn’t use all of it but most of my favorite lines from the book I wrote down in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. If had not taken the time to pin that stuff down the second I thought of it, the story would have suffered for it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
C.M. Kösemen (The author of All Tomorrows) said in a podcast that the traditional routes for publishing and marketing are no longer viable methods for modern aspiring authors. I’m paraphrasing because I don’t recall exactly how he said it. I really took that to heart and I’m feeling really good about the future because of it. Once I ditched the idea of “how you’re supposed to write a book” that freed me up to edit and format the book in whatever way felt write for telling my story. I think the end result is a book that may not be for everyone, but it is undeniably unique.
What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Running the Light by comedian Sam Tallent. Its a fictional story that follows a road comic through wild nights in the world of standup comedy. Its fantastic so far, I highly recommend it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I feel like I’m still in the early stages of promotion for The Death of Customer Service, I hope to gain enough traction that I can focus more time on my next book. Hopefully I can have a first draft in the next year or so, and if I have to self publish my second book so be it. At this point I’m all in as an author, so no matter what there will be more books to come.
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?
If I get to pick books that aren’t currently written I would definitely pick Wind of Winter, A Dream of Spring and Ex-Tension, but I’m assuming that’s not an option.
I’d probably take Running the Light, it’d be a bummer to not finish it. Other than that I’d take Fear and Loathing in America, The Lost World, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Necronomicon just in case I lost hope and wanted to commit suicide by Kandarian Demon.
Author Websites and Profiles
Ethan Grimes’s Social Media Links