Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
With or Without Pulp is my first published book. I have written a number of screenplays, Vinegar to the teeth, And Now For My Next Trick, Devil’s Ink, The Language of Leaves that have placed well in various screenwriting contests.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
With or Without Pulp is my first and latest book. It was inspired by the time I lived in West Hollywood.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to walk a lot when thinking through a story.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
James Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane are all the crime and noir influences. I like Jerzy Kosinski, Anthony Burgess and Paul Auster on the more literary side.
For poetry, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and John Ashberry.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a novel about two young men rescuing a young girl from a cult.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not sure how to answer this since I just started. As it solidifies I would certainly update this answer. 🙂
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. And silence the inner critic.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Feed your artist and write three pages a day from Julia Cameron. I took a screenwriting class with her years ago and her approach to writing balanced the discipline and the creative.
What are you reading now?
I can’t give the title away but it’s by Joseph Coulson a fellow writer who wrote The Vanishing Moon. It is his latest book and he was kind enough to let me read it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I will most likely turn Without or Without Pulp and continue with John Smith on his journey to redemption. I also want to finish the current novel I am working on because I think it touches on a lot of that overblown masculinity and fanatical passion for purity that has warped the current state of the States.
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?
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson
Writing Degree Zero by Roland Barthes
Author Websites and Profiles
Michael Elsy Amazon Profile