Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Dawn of Modern Man is my first full length novel. Most of the writing I’ve done before getting started on it was journal entries, creative writing in school (short stories, poetry, writing prompts, etc.) and critical analysis essays in college, among other assignments I may have been less enthusiastic about. I love to write in a journal. I gained this habit during college when I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Greece for a summer and continued with it when I studied aboard the MV Explorer. I circumnavigated the globe on this ship, hitting ports in Asia, India, Egypt, and Eastern and Western Europe. To me a big part of writing is understanding people and during my travels and my day to day life I do my best to understand people and then write about them. I also like to keep a journal of the fish I’ve caught and what I was using to catch it. I’m not the best at updating this one because there isn’t always fish to report in it when I get back.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest and only book out to date is Dawn of Modern Man. In one word, what inspired my book is Cancer. However, that is not the full story and that is a sad part of what inspired it. I wanted to be a writer ever since I read 1984, when I realized how powerful fiction could be. I would sit down and try to write from time to time, but without much ambition to finish and not much clarity on my ideas. I always had some excuse, something like, ‘Well an author should have read Moby-Dick before he writes a novel and I’m not ready to write until I’ve read all of Hemingway or I need to finish the Russian novels I started and continued to put down.” I ‘wanted’ to be a writer. I didn’t realize that I needed to just become one until I got cancer. Between my diagnosis and treatment, I got the idea for this book. After my first full week in the hospital and rereading Animal Farm, I remember walking from a coffee shop to my apartment in Seattle and having an epiphany, this overwhelming feeling that I needed to get to work. I didn’t need to keep adding to my reading list before I could consider myself qualified to be a writer, I had the tools and I would learn on the job what I didn’t already know. That very day I got to work. I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. Thankfully, I’m cancer free now, and I was able to have several years to work on this book. Perfecting it. At times I felt I bit off more than I could chew. Chapters would bring me down rabbit holes I didn’t know existed. At times I would have to let the work cool down before I could pick it back up with a fresh perspective. This world I was building created so many challenges I didn’t foresee, but I worked through them. I’m proud of what became of this simple little idea, what if we could get paid to play video games? That was the idea that this book was sparked from.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know what would be considered unusual. I do like to listen to music pretty loud at times and I tend to drink a little bit. That’s if I’m writing into the wee hours. Sometimes I get up early and write with a lot of clarity. I’ve got a lot of ideas about what tools we use as writers, i.e. computer, pencil and paper, pen and paper, typewriter or dictation, and how that impacts the final result. As of now, I think it is impossible to really know. I’ve been writing on my Ipad, I kind of like it, but it also causes a lot of problems when it comes to file sharing. Then I think, well it is still really easy to copy paste or delete entire sections, move something here to there, save a chunk for later…. none of that was possible a couple decades ago. Does that change what the final result is? I don’t know.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
J.D. Salinger and the Catcher in the Rye was eye opening for me. Something about the book made me realize what set Classics apart from Commercial Fiction. I still think of Holden Caulfield from time to time and that line about his roommate’s luggage. I know I’ve judged people based on their bag or people have judged me based on mine, it’s amazing how much we can assume about someone based on what luggage they carry. It is little glimpses into humanity that seem simple, but are timeless and ring true that a good author can convey in a few simple lines that stick with us for life. George Orwell is probably my favorite when it comes to ideas and how fiction can have an impact on the world. When it comes to world building there is no one better than Frank Herbert or Tolkien.
What are you working on now?
Currently I’m working on a compilation of period piece short fiction stories. I’m starting around the 1870s pioneer times and following a few different characters as they interact with some historical figures and events up until around the 1920s; keeping the world consistent with some overlap in characters, but primarily separate stories that stand on their own. I’m focusing on the Northwest and the fur traders, miners, rail-roaders, loggers and Calvary men that settled the area I now call home. There is a lot of untold history with regards to the Indian Wars and the early settlement of the region. I find it fascinating and really fun to write about.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning about this process of it.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Sit down and start writing.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That you can learn something from anyone. Everybody has something to offer if you just listen.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading the Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. I recently finished this other comic called Spokane Country: The Way it Was by Ivan Munk. It was published by Spokane Heritage Publishing and has some really great info in it for my current work. Reading that got me on a little bit of a comic book kick so I picked up Watchmen. The characters are engaging.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Getting some words on paper today, and treating everyday like an opportunity to get more writing done.
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?
Do series count? I would bring Dune and the Dark Tower Series, Moby-Dick and Crime and Punishment.
Author Websites and Profiles
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