Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an English teacher living in Asia. Always interested in writing, even from an early age. The recent changes in how people get their reading material (mainly the success of the Amazon Kindle and their publishing platform) made me realize now was the time to get the stories in my head out and onto paper. Or pixels.
The Fixer series is the first fiction book I have written. I have also written a few textbooks for ESL classrooms. Mostly stuff that I used myself and no other teachers deemed worthy enough to use. Ok, only that. But still, looked good on the resume.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Latest book is The Fixer, Season 1. I’ve always been a fan of hitman movies and books. But the idea of a cold-blooded killer with no soul, the psychopath with no remorse, isn’t very interesting to me. I’m more interested in the guy who is not uncomfortable with killing, but views it as a necessity of his job, not as the end of the journey. So I took that idea, melded it with another concept I’ve always enjoyed – that of the good man caught in difficult circumstances but trying to do the right thing. Came up with a freelance assassin, a fixer, who may have had some dark times behind him that led him to the path he is on, but is trying to get out of the darkness and into the light. Not in the “one more job and then out” vein, but someone who stays in the field, trying to find better ways of doing things than just following orders and killing whomever they are told to kill.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Incessant procrastination followed by bouts of virulent self-loathing? That’s the biggest one.
Actually, between teaching, another family business I run with my wife, and trying to raise our daughter, the only real habit I have is doing what I can to wedge writing time into my day. Staying up until 4 in the morning or other times waking up at 5 to squeeze some in some keyboard time. Not on the same day, though.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dozens. Hundreds. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road is always the first one that pops into my mind, although I haven’t read it in years. Been reading a lot of contemporary thriller and suspense novels. Lee Child. LT Ryan. Mark Dawson. Baldacci, Patterson, Flynn, Connelly.
I’m also equally influenced by movies and TV shows. Scorsese, Bryan Singer, Tarantino. Freakin’ Mamet. Walking Dead, Justified, Suits. Really interested in the kind of mentor/mentee relationship and how it is represented in film and TV.
What are you working on now?
Working on a standalone origin story for one of the characters in The Fixer, Season 1. It’s about how the character came to be a hitman for hire. His journey into the dangerous world of the hired killer and how he finds his way. Not so much how he takes the steps of his first kill, because he’s already killed in the Army. More how he navigates the new world he is in, tries to avoid the pitfalls and traps without becoming to beholden to one person/organization or another.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Best website? Awesome Gang, of course.
Shameless, right? I’ve had mixed success with several promotion services. Little luck with twitter or facebook so far.
Best methods? Word of mouth.
Mailing list, mailing list, mailing list.
Oh, and a mailing list.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Other than a mailing list?
Get your own website. Self hosted. Purchase your domain yourself.
Write. Forget all the other crap and just write. Find a way to get yourself up to 2,000 word every day. Or more.
A good editor is worth their weight in gold. Look around. Your editor works for you. Interview and try them out before you hire them. Don’t be afraid to fire them either if they’re not pulling their weight. And learn to self-edit so you can save them time and yourself money. Much better for them to be focusing on making your story better instead of fixing your incessant grammar mistakes.
Don’t try to make your work perfect. Make it good. Great. Awesome. But at the end, you have to press “publish.”
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
#1
One day coming home from work, I was complaining to myself about how much harder I had to work than the other people I knew because I was working 12 hour days then coming home and trying to write. Suddenly Gene Hackman’s voice popped into my head and said…
“If you have to work twice as hard as everyone else, then go***mmit work twice as hard as everyone else!”
Why Gene Hackman? No idea. But it stuck with me. And whenever I start to slack, I replay it like an old message on an answering machine. Never fails to make me work harder.
#2
The sage words of advice from a successful writer I contacted early in my self-publishing venture. I asked him what was the one thing he would advise me to do. He said, “Other than choose a different career? Sit your ass down and write. That will overcome all problems in this job.”
#3
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; un-rewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge,
What are you reading now?
Other than my own work, looking for mistakes?
Connelly, Blake, Ryan, Milton. Old Patterson books I pick up used.
I want to re-read some books. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (historical novel set in China, not a romantic book). James Mills, The Underground Empire. Perhaps my most guilty, embarrassing books – Noble House and Shogun by James Clavell.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Up my production. I have lots of plans for books, but nothing happens until I sit down and write day in and day out. I’ve got two spinoff origin stories planned. Then Season 2. Then another standalone novel. Then Season 3. Then perhaps another standalone novel in the series. Shooting to get all that done this year. Hopefully I can. Should make a dent in my plans.
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?
The Count of Monte Cristo for the blueprint to bring vengeance on the bastards who stuck me there.
Machiavelli’s The Prince, for guidance.
Overstory: Zero to remind me of the home I’ll never return to.
And the biggest damn book I can find to use as a firestarter.
Author Websites and Profiles
Rex Carpenter Website
Rex Carpenter Amazon Profile
Rex Carpenter’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
My first interview. As the mighty Ric Flair would say – WOOOOOOOO