Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a pretty normal person, I guess. I was born in Portland, Oregon and went to college at Oregon State University before I transferred to Oregon Institute of Technology and got a degree in Applied Mathematics a few years ago. I love rock climbing, motorcycles, playing the piano and following my Ragdoll cat, Mr. J, around endlessly. I wrote a screen play a few years ago that did well in the only competition I submitted it to. It’s a thriller about a young man who was abused as a child and withdrew from society. I’ve written short stories for years. Recently, I realized that Amazon made the publishing process much easier and I was eager to share a few of my stories. So, I wrote the first Sunny book, ‘Welcome to South Dakota’ and published it recently. At the same time, I was working on a sci-fi thriller called ‘Europa Contagion’ that I just couldn’t get out of my head. Europa is done and it’s going through a final review for typo’s, consistency, etc. before it gets published sometime around the middle of 2021. I’ve also got a detailed outline for the second Sunny book, tentatively titled ‘Welcome to Spirit Lake.’
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Welcome to South Dakota’ is the newest book that is published. It was inspired by my increased exposure to Native American culture since I moved to Spokane, Washington. Native culture is more dominant up here than where I was raised and I initially became interested in the language and then the beliefs, traditions, etc. of the Native people. My neighbor has a 1947 Indian Roadmaster motorcycle and I’ve always found it fascinating, too. Somehow, my weird brain put the two together and came up with an idea for a novel.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure what others do so it’s hard to say if my habits are ‘unusual.’ I do a ton of research before writing anything. I also do a lot of ‘rough drafts’ of big ideas for my books so I can refer back to these big ideas while I’m writing. I create character profiles so I feel I know my characters very well before writing. I also create a rough, overall outline of the story – but not too detailed so I don’t feel hemmed in. Once I start writing, it proceeds very quickly and I find that, much of the time, I can’t type quickly enough to keep up with my thoughts. Often, I find my screenplay writing experience causes me to see the action as a movie and that makes it more fun for me during the writing process. Writing novels is much freer than screenplays where the formatting and strict limitations (length, arcs, budgets, etc.) make it much more structured.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a young person, I was impressed with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Later, I found Sir Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, to name a couple, mind-blowing. Orson Scott Card also blew me away with ‘Ender’s Game.’ More recently, I loved ‘The Martian’ by Andrew Weir and it has become one of my top five. I appreciate ‘Lee Child’ and the Jack Reacher series a lot and always have time for Dean Koontz and Stephen King, of course.
What are you working on now?
As I said, I’m finalizing the sci-fi thriller, ‘Europa Contagion’ about the first manned mission to Jupiter’s most-promising moon. I’m also deep into planning for the second Sunny book which picks up shortly after the first one ends. I keep a list of story ideas and there are enough items on the list to keep me writing until I die.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon is about all that matters as far as I can tell for self-publishing. This is my first stab at self-publishing (I was under contract with another publisher many years ago and I didn’t like the process). I’m certainly not a marketing whiz so I don’t have any silver bullets when it comes to book promotion.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I don’t feel I have enough experience as a novelist to offer anything that I KNOW is helpful. If you are curious and find writing is fun and you can’t wait to get back to your keyboard when you have free time, I suspect you’ll do fine. But, as I say, what do I know?
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
With respect to writing, I thought Poe’s advice that he wrote the endings first was outstanding. I have always kept that in mind so I start at the end when I’m planning a book. It’s pretty easy for me to come up with a ton of ideas for stories but, the trick is to come up with good endings. Once I know how my story will end, it’s easier and less stressful to start with a completely blank page (or monitor) in front of me. I used to like to solve maze puzzles and they are far easier if you start at the destination and work backward to the beginning of the maze.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ by Joe Hill. It’s a horror novel about an aging rock start who purchases a ghost. The unique concept intrigued me and I haven’t read a horror book for a few months. I just started it so I can’t give it a review yet.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I will keep writing Sunny stories (action) for a while. To keep it interesting and fun, I’ll also throw in a sci-fi novel once in a while. I’ve written some horror shorts but never a full-length novel so that may happen soon. I don’t have any plans to take over the world or write ‘War and Peace.’
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?
Obviously, ‘How to Thrive while being Stranded on a Desert Island’ would be my first choice. After that, I’d take ‘The Martian’ (which is pretty similar to the hypothetical question) and ‘Mysterious Island’ by Jules Verne (which is also similarly-themed). I’d love to try surviving on a desert island though I’d prefer a tropical island. I’d bring ‘Ringworld’ by Larry Niven. I’d also want a completely blank book with tons of pages to write a really long, but really great, novel!
Author Websites and Profiles
Nicholas Thorp Website
Nicholas Thorp Amazon Profile