Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a professional journalist for the past five years, and my reporting has earned me several awards.
So far, I’ve written one book, a collection of short stories and poems called “Metacognition.”
I plan to write a novel next. I have several ideas, and I’m trying to pin one down to work on.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled “Metacognition.” It’s a collection of short stories and poems I’ve written over the years. Most of the stories are basically speculative though experiments; what if *this* happened?
The majority of the stories take place at what I call the intersection of science, faith and fantasy. They explore how these very different areas affect us and the world we live in.
For example, one of the stories in “Metacognition” is about time on earth being frozen for five billion years, then starting up again. This time-warp was very localized and only affected the earth; time outside of earth moved normally. So the sun is five billion years older and is on the verge of engulfing the earth, and every single human being has to deal with the knowledge that they’re going to die.
How does your faith come into play when you realize that your death is imminent — and not just YOUR death, but also that of your children, of your legacy? And then, how does science fit into the scenario? Is there a chance you could engineer yourself out of this crisis, for example, by building some kind of space ark to ferry at least a small sampling of humanity to another planet? These are the kinds of dilemmas I enjoy exploring in my writing.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not particularly. I don’t write as much as I should, but when I get going, it’s difficult to stop.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Growing up, I loved reading Michael Crichton’s books. I love the way he is able to take complicated scientific concepts and make them accessible to the average reader, while building a fantastic adventure story.
Isaac Asimov is another author I loved growing up, particularly his Foundation and Robot series. And his novel The Gods Themselves is a classic.
What are you working on now?
I have a couple projects I’m working on simultaneously, but I’m trying to pick one to focus on. They’re pretty much all science fiction or fantasy works.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think Twitter is a cool social media platform for authors, and not even particularly for promoting your works. It’s more about just interacting with other authors.
Also, this doesn’t pertain to promoting your books as much as writing them, but CritiqueCircle.com is absolutely the best critiquing website I’ve ever come across and I think more authors should check it out to improve their writing.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s trite advice, but I think it’s true: Read. Read any and everything you get your hands on, and analyze what works or doesn’t work. The best way I learn is through observation.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
See the above question. I think reading with a critical eye can greatly improve one’s writing.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading a book called “Unusual Punishment” by Christopher Murray. It’s about Walla Walla prison in Washington state in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s fascinating. You see some of these prison shows — Orange is the New Black is the most recent one that comes to mind — and think that some of this stuff that goes on in prisons is so over the top and would never happen in real life. But as I’ve been reading this book, I can’t believe some of the stuff that actually happened in Walla Walla. Someone should turn this book into a TV show.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to continue writing news stories. I’ll probably be doing that for the rest of my life. But as far as books go, I’d like to publish a novel next. I also have a few ideas for nonfiction books I’d like to publish at some point.
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 U.S. Army Survival Handbook (I need to stay alive to read the rest of the books, right?)
– The Bible (I’ll need to keep my spirits up)
– A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings — I haven’t read these books yet, and they’re big, thick books, so I’ll get a lot of mileage out of them.
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