Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in Mill Valley, California and as a teenager wrote several short stories. For a number of years work got in the way, and I didn’t write. A few years ago, I started reading more fiction again, and writing. The Gloaming is my first completed novel.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book is called The Gloaming, Rise of the Stealth Vampire Elder. I was always interested in the vampire myth, but it was my travels in Europe especially Amsterdam that inspired the book.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I know of, but I did wait to start writing The Gloaming from page one until I was back in Amsterdam. I had notes and some pages written, just not from the first page.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
For fantasy, it was JRR Tolkien, and CS Lewis. Science fiction was Ray Bradbury, Philip K Dick, Issac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke. As I got older Hunter S. Thompson and John Steinbeck. Cannery Row is still one of my favorites. I think they all impacted me, but I went through a period in my life due to working in technology in which I had to read so much non-fiction that I neglected fiction. It was really George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones series that got me back into reading fiction again.
What are you working on now?
If you have read the book you probably know there is still a lot of unfinished business. The last word in the book, a demand essentially from Karolina to Valentin, is the first word in the title of the second book. Right now, I have notes and pages on two more books in “The Gloaming” series. I also have pages and notes for a few other novels unrelated to vampires one of which is about Silicon Valley. All fiction.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am a huge advocate of NetGalley!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. I know that sounds obvious, but just keep writing. It doesn’t have to be toward a finished project. It can go nowhere, but write. You should read the books out there on fiction, but be careful you don’t fall into trying to follow a formula. It’s about the story above all, let the characters and their situations write the story. The other thing is to read as much fiction as possible. Understand why you like or don’t like what your reading, and apply what you have learned.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’m still waiting to hear it.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading Lawton Green’s “The Resurrector” the latest from his Dominic Grey series. Also, I’ve been doing some research on Druids so “Druids A Very Short Introduction” by Barry Cunliffe. I’ve come to the conclusion we really just don’t know much about the ancient Druids.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m still trying to decide. Depending on the response to the Gloaming I’ll work on the second book in that series. I already have a lot of notes and some pages. I was also recently reading some pages from another book I was working on a couple of years ago about two brothers who have weaponized genetically modified organisms, and have a contract with the defense department. The pages looked pretty good and as you can imagine a premise like that, things just can’t go well for long.
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?
Cannery Row for sure. If I could I’d have my kindle with a hundred books, but that would be cheating. The best would be to find some books on the island I have never read. Perhaps an unpublished Charles Dickens, and an unpublished Jonathon Swift, something after Gulliver’s Travels. They would have washed up in two separate ship wrecks 120 years apart.
Author Websites and Profiles
ML Worthingham Website
ML Worthingham Amazon Profile
ML Worthingham’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account