Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an Aretaic Marxist and a science-fiction/fantasy author. I love writing. I love reading. My favorites include 1984, Les Miserables, the Uplift Saga, Acacia, Neuromancer and the Foundation-Empire-Robot Saga. I also love anime such as Legends of Galactic Heroes and Crest of the Stars. Super-Dictator is currently my only book written.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Super-Dictator is my latest book, and it was inspired by reading about Napoleon and the Ginei Saga. I have always been interested in the issue of democracy vs dictatorship from a relativistic viewpoint. When does a democracy become so backwards it is no longer acceptable and when does a dictatorship become progressive enough to be preferable? These are not easy questions to answer and the recur time and again throughout human history. For my latest book Super-Dictator, I wanted to eschew the idea of a dictatorship as something evil for its own sake, or the typical “I am such an evil ruler” ideology. I wanted to explore a real dictatorship that *gasp* wants to succeed. That means not doing stupid things like pissing people off. That means seeing what the people want and having both a sense of virtue and integrity. Think less Stalin or Hitler, and more Napoleon and Bismarck. Not so much totalitarian collectives as Dictators from the Romantic Era, people one can actually admire.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love writing continuously when I get a chance. I guess my strangest habits would be how I write out of order and constantly research. I like writing on pen and paper first a lot of times then transferring my writing online for a formal draft. Then I do a second, third, and fourth draft at least.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
George Orwell definitely. Darwin’s Origin of Species. Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. Marx’s Capital. Asmov’s Foundation. Stephen King’s Dark Tower. the Uplift Saga and Acacia. There are many more, and not just books but serious anime series like the Sekai series and Ginei series.
What are you working on now?
War and Peace. And Cyborgs. A sort of synthesis of ‘War and Peace’ and ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ with a sci-fi Marxist twist.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am wholly new to this. I guess none right now.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Nope. I am a new author. =)
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” – By Margaret Atwood.
What are you reading now?
“War and Peace.” Along with “A Tale of Two Cities.”
What’s next for you as a writer?
To promote my book and finish my next book.
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?
Les Miserables. The Pillars of the Earth. Brightness Reef. Das Capital.