Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Born in December of 1949, seems like an awfully long time ago and I guess 64 years is a long time. I grew up on the Mauney Mill Hill, in Kings Mountain, NC, learning to ride my bicycle and play baseball with the rest of the gang. Our family was not rich, by a long shot, but we had a wonderful life growing up. We didn’t have much, but on the same hand, we didn’t want for anything. We had family, friends, church and were happy, and in that day and time, that meant a lot. I started elementary school at West End Elementary School. I think now it is just called West Elementary. I attended Kings Mountain High School and after Graduation in 1968, returned only for a short while. I spent 5 years in Ft. Myers, Florida and returned to live in Shelby, NC. I spent the next forty years in the electrical trade, contracting, engineering and designing until Illness forced my retirement in December 2012. It was then I began to contemplate a desire I had held on to for my entire life. I had always thought of being a writer. I sat down at my computer and began to write a story I had written inside my head for the last fifty years. I had learned only a few years previously that I actually had ancestors who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain. That bit of information intensified a fire that had been smouldering all these years.
Growing up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and especially in Kings Mountain, enhanced an interest in the American Revolution that was birthed at an early age with a visit to the Kings Mountain National Military Park. Yearly family reunions at nearby Lake Crawford, in the South Carolina portion of the park, gave easy access to visits to the National Park Museum, walks along the trails, and never missing a close up view of the gravesite of Major Patrick Ferguson and an opportunity to throw another rock onto the rock pile signifying the grave and a climb to the top of the rock pile to declare, “I am King of this Mountain.” A lifelong dream of authoring a book became a reality. Living near the Kings Mountain National Park and also, a short distance from the Cowpens National Park only serves to fuel my imagination, and desire to share even more stories based on the history of the United States. My love of history has played a major role in the writing of all of my books.
My latest book uses my imagination to spin a story which someday may become a reality. The R.O.B.I.N, is an acronym for remotely operated broadband intelligent network device. The R.O.B.I.N. is the most sophisticated audio and visual intelligence gathering device ever created combined with assassination capability never before known. A “nano” drone the size of a common housefly, the R.O.B.I.N is stolen by terrorist and the lot falls to Agent Chris Lee of the National Security Intelligence Services to find the terrorist and save the United States and the world. The plot twists and turns to challenge the readers imagination and in some cases even challenged my imagination.
Other Books I have authored:
King of the Mountain A Revoluntionary War novel of the Battle of Kings Mountain.
High Cotton Rivetting tale of a twelve year old boy kidnapped in West Africa and sold to Dutch slave traders, his strength, and determination to be free.
A Season of Revenge Detective Mac O’Hara is challenged when the discovery of four bodies leads him on a path of murder, revenge and the occult in 1890’s St. Louis.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The R.O.B.I.N.” is my first attempt at a futuristic style mystery. Reading on the internet and watching reports of “drones” being built, then seeing some of the possible uses discussed for drones simply got my imagination working overtime. So, I brgan to write down some of my ideas and discussed them with friends and relatives and ‘voila’..the R.O.B.I.N. was conceived.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I normally write early in the morning or late at night, sitting in my recliner with our poodle “Mindy Lou”, who is nicknamed “Minmin” sitting by my side. She usually has her head propped on the left corner of my laptop, making it appear as if she is reading what I type.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite would have to be Mark Twain and his tales of the Mississippi River. I even used St. Louis as the setting for a portion of my book, “High Cotton” and the entire book “A Season of Revenge.” Edgar Alan Poe’s poetry and novels have also influenced the twisted way my mind sometimes works.
What are you working on now?
Having just completed and released “The R.O.B.I.N., I have been pretty busy with promotions, but my mind is already working on “The R.O.B.I.N. II”
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My personal website, http://pjdunn49.wix.com/pjdunnbooks, is a very productive promotion tool as well as “Twitter Blast” to spread the word. Of course, Facebook and other social networks are a “must” to spread the word about a new book.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being relatively new my self, I can only advise other new authors to never give up. Have confidence in yourself, and just be “you”! Don’t try to be someone you aren’t, people are going to like you for who you are.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I was told when I became discouraged about rejection, to learn to handle rejection. Got a “not go good review?” So what? Many of the world’s greatest authors were rejected and received bad reviews. Keep writing. you may just be the next Herman Melville.
What are you reading now?
Not yet started but “Special Heart” by Brett Baier of Fox News
What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep on keeping on! Work on the sequel, “The R.O.B.I.N. II” and who knows where my imagination might take me.
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?
Moby Dick, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Killing Jesus and Killing Lincoln.
Author Websites and Profiles
PJ Dunn Website
PJ Dunn’s Social Media Links