Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an ex-broadcaster (AM rock & roll disc-jockey), ex-management consultant, ex-production business owner who, at age seventy, decided to do what he had always planned to do, write books. Since my seventieth birthday, two years ago this August (2015), I have written an autobiography and four novels. I am currently working on my fifth novel. I have not yet discovered what subject material I want to write about. I just love telling stories. My first novel, “About Love” is about a man who dies at an advanced age and wakes up in the body of a sixteen-year-old. My second novel, “Just A Messenger”, is about a recent college graduate who finds himself involved, through dumb luck, in a plot to overthrow the President of the United States. My third novel, “The Struggle Within”, is about a woman who has everything, position, power, money, family, and friends, but does not feel right about her success. My fourth novel, “Oscar’s Letters”, is about a realty salesman in North Carolina whose uncle has supposedly found letters from the Virgin Mary to Saint John at Ephesus in Turkey and who must travel around the world proving no such letters exist. My fifth novel, “The New Humans”, which I am currently writing, is about accelerated evolution.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I do not know what inspires my stories. I start with a stupid idea, usually five or six of them, and then start to craft a story. My latest book came about because I saw two TEDx talks about religion and creationism.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write at night after work. I hate television and my wife and mother-in-law watch everything.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many to name. I have, however, stopped reading. I don’t seem to be able to read and write at the same time. If I read a really good book by, say, Daniel De Silva, I will sit down and write what I just read. So, I have been gorging myself on magazines. I take Time, Vanity Fair, Smithsonian, BAR, and People (my wife’s favorite).
What are you working on now?
Besides writing my fifth novel, I am producing videos for several companies and an elementary school that is Title-One (94% or higher free lunch) and has come out first in its category in Florida overall, fifth in math, third in reading, etc.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am terrible at promoting my own books. I did sell one in Italy, which was pretty cool.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write, write…it’s a skill. You have to do it a lot to be good at it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t take yourself too seriously! (from my mother)
What are you reading now?
Magazines
What’s next for you as a writer?
I don’t know. I just like telling stories. I am writing about two books per year. We’ll see if I can continue doing that.
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?
Tolstoy, “The Death Of Ivan Ilyich”, Mark Twain, “Life On The Mississippi”, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, “God and Intelligence”, Aldous Huxley, “Chrome Yellow”.
Author Websites and Profiles
Mike Greene Amazon Profile
Mike Greene Author Profile on Smashwords