Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Depending on your point of view, I’ve written ten books or I’ve written one book. Ten are an assortment of words between two covers, two have been commercially published, and one is being read by people other than my father’s retiree friends in Florida.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Habit’ is a crime thriller inspired by drinking lots of coffee, and thinking about when I used to drink lots of alcohol. I was motivated to construct the plot around contemporary issues that mean something to me besides addiction; human trafficking, child welfare, and economic inequality.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I patterned my writing habits after learning about a successful author who writes an average of 2,000 words per sitting. I think high volume is necessary. Too little output can be a sign of over-thinking a rough draft. A rough draft should be written furiously, perhaps a bit recklessly. This essentially boils down to ‘outrunning my doubts.’
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read roughly sixty percent fiction and forty percent non-fiction. Fiction influences: Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Stieg Larsson, Chuck Palahniuk, Ed McBain. Non-fiction influences: Malcolm Gladwell, Alan Watts, Augusten Burroughs, Gabor Mate, Ernest Becker. King’s “Lisey’s Story,” and Lehane’s “Mystic River” are probably two of the best contemporary novels I’ve ever read; “The Book,” by Alan Watts opened my third eye when I was nineteen.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m writing the sequel to ‘Habit.’ I’m also revising a noir novel called ‘Good Melvin,’ writing a new crime novel about a mysterious death in a small town, and a social science fiction novel about the future of the Adirondack Park, where I live.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook. My websites are in transition / consolidation. I like keeping a blog, but I’m developing a more static site for my books, too. I also use Stage 32, and Google Plus a little bit. ‘Generation Like’ I am not. Sometimes I wish I had half of the marketing savvy these digital-native kids have. But then I’m glad I don’t.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m quite opinionated, stubborn, and contrary, so my advice probably lacks any objectivity. I didn’t go to school for creative writing or English comp and have no taste for writer’s groups or academia in general. This may or may not have held me back. I don’t know. Maybe everything happens as it should. What I do know is that writers can be a bit antisocial, tending to insulate themselves. I think this is okay, even necessary – to a degree. Part of my own isolation has been bitterness, feeling that I need to sustain my anger, lest I be corrupted by the lies and frivolity of the world. But I think when you come to know real Strength (at least, that it exists, and you can approach it), you find there is a balance between writing what you’re compelled to write, and what your reader will enjoy. You start to want to give them something. I find I’m coming to care about my reader more as time goes on.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I agree with J.D. Salinger’s notion that the author is unimportant. Another writer – crap, I forget who – said you’ve basically lived what you needed to live to tell stories by the time you’re twenty… so get going. And I was floored by Stephen King’s cutting insight that you are born with a certain degree of talent and can only level-up just so far.
What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading “Angels & Demons” by Dan Brown, because it was in my basement and I was looking for a book to read last week. On the docket is “The Barkeep,” by William Lashner; I’m just taking a chance on it and know little about the book or its author. I’m also leafing through “David and Goliath,” by Malcolm Gladwell, though this was a book I bought my father for Christmas and should probably let him have it back.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. More doubting. More little endorphin-shots of mini-success moments. More writing for the reader and learning how to fulfill myself and get the ideas out at the same time. More publication. More reading, more learning, more inspiration, more fine-tuning, more running, running, running. And, *sigh* a continued practice of learning to be happy in the moment, content with the process, to not miss my kids’ childhoods, moments with my wife, and all that.
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?
How long would I be stranded there? The rest of my life? Is it a warm or cold island? I don’t usually read things more than once, so they would have to be long books. Maybe I would read the Fountainhead again. Or, no, I would bring along the classics that I should have read but never got around to. It’s horrible, I know, but books or movies that happened before 1975; I just don’t care. I’d take the Bible, I think, and maybe War and Peace. No. No, that’s a lie. I wouldn’t want either of those. I’d really want a subscription to The Week magazine, and I’d want limitless pen and paper.
Author Websites and Profiles
T.J. Brearton Website
T.J. Brearton Amazon Profile
T.J. Brearton’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account