Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
As an actor, I’ve appeared in feature films such as He’s Just Not That Into You and on television in popular shows such as iCarly, as well as commercials for both radio and television. My writings have appeared in various publications. In 2010, my first novel, Jack and the Jungle Lion, received much critical praise, including an Honorable Mention in the 2011 Hollywood Book Festival. Solstice Publishing released my second novel, Ten-A-Week Steale, in 2012. Next, I wrote a sequel to Jack and the Jungle Lion. Solstice Publishing decided to publish that sequel, titled The Elephants of Shanghai, and it just came in 2nd place in its category in the 2013 Hollywood Book Festival. So, I have three stories available and they’re all set in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s. They’re all mostly inspired by classic Hollywood films from that era.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Elephants of Shanghai is an old-fashioned adventure novel. Many stories served as inspiration, probably chief among them — Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Rocketeer, and the 1931 Mask of Fu Manchu with Boris Karloff. Literary influences range from Edgar Rice Burroughs to Sax Rohmer.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know. I sometimes write while driving. I never write while listening to music.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. The levity, the exotic adventure, the romance, and the simplicity of the narrative set the tone what I think is perfect escapist entertainment.
What are you working on now?
I’m returning to the early Hollywood setting explored in Ten-A-Week Steale, though it’s not a sequel. This one is a little less action, a little more melodrama, but it’s still a crime fiction.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like twitter because of the extensive reach, plus you don’t have cat pictures and political rants like you get on facebook. I’m on facebook and enjoy it, but I prefer twitter.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Patience.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’m a big believer in finding your own road. I rarely seek advice. I rarely give it. I wish I had something brilliant to share here, but..uh…I don’t.
What are you reading now?
I’m revisiting an art journal I used to read religiously in the 90s. It’s called Modern Painters. I would always await anxiously for each new edition. It’s a quarterly publication. It’s still around, but changed a lot. In the 90s they had so many terrific writers covering the fine arts.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I finished a screenplay recently. I’m trying to get that around. It’s a low-budget psychological thriller. And I’m nearly finished with the crime novel set in early Hollywood that I mentioned above.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Around The World in Eighty Days.
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LOVED Around the World in Eighty Days. It made me want to travel around the world too. Thanks for the reminder, I may read it again!