Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So far, I’ve only written The Tomb Removed from Time, the first book in a planned series of three. I started working on it around six years ago when I was 18, but it’s gone through a couple of iterations. Only a few parts of it have remained the same over that stretch of time and I completely rebooted an entire draft that was over halfway finished. I finally wrapped up writing The Tomb Removed from Time in late 2020. The spread of COVID-19 kept me indoors most days, so I had a lot more time to spare than I would have liked.
Outside of that, I enjoy watching ice hockey and football when they’re on TV. I’m learning about baseball and basketball, but those two sports don’t interest me quite as much. I have a couple favorite teams, but to be honest, I’ll watch whatever is on just to get my fill of sports.
Beyond sports, fishing is my main hobby and interest. I like it almost from an ichthyology standpoint. Rather than just trying to catch something big, I love catching new and interesting fish. I release 99% of what I catch and it’s a blast observing their behavior as best I can. Unfortunately, since I don’t have a proper place that I can fully observe anything I catch, I just have to settle for catching and releasing them. Still, in another universe, I’m probably an ichthyologist.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest (and only) book is The Tomb Removed from Time. Honestly, I was really struggling to come up with a name for it. I had a few kicking around in my head, but the working title I had for it was Astroturf. From the start, I didn’t have any idea what I really wanted it to be, even though I had the entire plot of the story set.
It wasn’t until my illustrator started pushing me for a title that she could put on the cover that I decided to use that one. I wanted something that sounded interesting and kind of pretentious, so I ended up narrowing it down to that one when I wrapped up my final edit of the book.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
None that I can pick out consciously. I’m sure I have some weird bits that someone would point out to me if I asked, but I kind of just write what I like to read. For instance, in my first book, I made it a point to not have any love triangles. In every bit of test writing and every iteration of The Tomb Removed from Time, I’ve been staunchly against love triangles, so I suppose it’s become a habit to not have any.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Consciously, Drew Hayes and his series Super Powereds has. I emailed him a few years ago when I was in the middle of writing and thanked him for inspiring me. It was mostly something I did for my head, but he actually replied, and I thought that was just the coolest thing ever. Everything on his blog posts and social media tells me that he’s a nice and upstanding dude, so I think the way he interacts with his fans has influenced me the most. I want to engage with people if they happen to enjoy what I create.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on spreading the word for The Tomb Removed from Time and I’m working on its sequel. When I would procrastinate on The Tomb Removed from Time, I would instead work on its sequel, so I would always end up working on something. When I’m not working on either of those things, I have a couple of small stories that I like to work on, but those are pure self-indulgence and aren’t things I have any intention on publishing in any capacity.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t had a lot of luck there! I imagine Twitter would end up being my best bet. It’s easy and succinct to interact with people on there, so I’m hoping to make that the main way I engage with people. In the future, I’m hoping to have my own website and mailing list that I can use to promote what I write.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be like me and worry so much about what everyone else does right or wrong. Writing is inherently valuable to those who get something from it, and odds are, you’re going to have people who will get something from your stories. If your stories are a little repetitive or have too much dialogue, there are people who like that. I’m someone who likes reading characters talking, but a lot of people think too much dialogue is boring.
If your target audience is you and you want to make something that you would love, more power to you. You should be able to enjoy writing your stories and there will always be someone out there who enjoys reading them.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Use too much punctuation over too little if you have to. Even if something doesn’t NEED it or you use something incorrectly, it will usually be better than if you leave too much out. Full sentences the length of a paragraph are not always the easiest to process.
What are you reading now?
Right now, I’m rereading The Lightning Thief. It was the first real book I ever sat down and wanted to read. It’s the book that opened the door of reading to me. Before that, I hated reading recreationally.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully growth and a tighter schedule for my next book! Connecting with other writers or fans would be huge for me.
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?
You know, I think I would bring the entire mainline Percy Jackson & the Olympians books. I know there’s five, so I’m cheating, but those are the books I’d bring. I always enjoy going back to the core of why I started reading in the first place. They’re so easy to read and enjoy, and since it’s a complete series, I’d get the full closure of a proper story ending.
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