Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m from Canada, raised in the prairies (Edmonton) but also lived in Vancouver. I’m a former teacher, having taught in Asia for 8 years. Worked in sales and odd jobs before that. Even spent a few months working in the arctic in a remote camp. I’ve long wanted to be a writer, but when I was young, that was not very realistic. The self-publishing world changed everything.
I’ve started quite a few books, but finished only a few. So far I’ve completed 2 fantasy novels with a pun-based comedy theme, similar to Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. I’ve also been taking classic monster stories and redoing them. I’ve turned Carmilla and The Vampyre, originally short stories, into novels. All four are available with online retailers.
I have romance, historical adventure and more fantasy and monster stories in development. I also have some serious, non-fiction philosophical works which I’d like to finish, once I have the time.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent publication is The Vampire. I was originally working on redoing Dracula when I came across Carmilla, which was probably a big inspiration for Dracula. Excited over the story, I turned Carmilla into a novel. While working on that, I then discovered The Vampyre and turned that into a novel too.
I feel like the work I’m doing is a kind of collaboration between past authors and myself. A huge Halloween fan, I love the old monster stories and hope to do justice to the original works, while providing something new for fans. And maybe giving the old ones fresh attention.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write in blood.
No, I’m kidding. That would limit how many pages I could do in a day.
Unless I started using someone else’s blood…
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a big Piers Anthony fan. That’s why my own fantasy novels are so similar to Xanth. I actually pay homage to that wonderful author in the second book of the Welcome to Heartstone series.
I love Wilbur Smith. I have my own historical epic, a huge, huge series based on pirates. I love pirates. That series will take a while to flesh out.
I’ve read some spectacular non-fiction as well. The Selfish Gene, Sex at Dawn and 7 Habits of Highly Successful People are fantastic. They are all highly influential on my own upcoming work on understanding the human experience.
What are you working on now?
Dracula is coming…
My version of Dracula has somehow expanded into a 5 or 6 volume series. Mostly because people seem insistent on reading many shorter books rather than a few big ones. Though I love big books myself. Also, small books seem to be much cheaper to print.
I’m also working on Welcome to Heartstone, Book 3. More puns and fun and fantasy adventure. It’s mostly finished. I hope fans love the world as much as I do. I can’t wait to flesh out more of it.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
To be honest, I have had little success promoting books. But I haven’t invested much time into it either. I understand that building a fan base and connecting with people is important, but I just haven’t had enough stories or self confidence to really get into promotion yet. Maybe with a few more books finished, I can offer more to readers.
I think it’s more difficult for those of us who are less social and chatty and less active on social media. Those that are might have an easier time building connections and a fan base. That’s something to keep in mind.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Every day. It’s the only way to build skills. And work on getting things done. I find it very easy to start a project, but much more difficult to finish it off. Self discipline is probably the most important thing you need.
And read. Read great authors so that how to write seeps into your brain. It builds vocabulary. It’s like learning a new language, the more you’re around it, the more it sinks in. To be a writer, it helps to be a reader.
Write what you love and know. But realize that if you want to make money, romance is probably your best bet. It takes up about 60% of the book industry. Even if you need to do it under a fake name, that might be the best way to make sales. Also, anything action oriented, as many readers today are ADD types who need constant conflict and drama and action to keep them excited. It seems many hate having any kind of slow moment anymore or long descriptive scenes. That said, write what you want, if you are willing to pay the commercial price.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up. Being a successful writer takes time. I’m not there yet. I’m still only in the initial stages. For most people, it takes years. Only the lucky ones and best ones become breakout successes overnight.
I think one of the most amazing stories I’ve ever heard was how Piers Anthony got his start. His wife supported him for about 8 years early in his career. That’s incredible. That’s a beautiful, beautiful thing to do for someone else’s dream. I did something similar for two different partners in the past, one with a dance career, one wanting to go to another country. I think supporting your partner’s dream is vital to any real relationship.
I’ve heard plenty of tales of men supporting wives with home-businesses or writing, but for a woman to support a man, that’s not as common, I think. It should be totally normal in a world of equality, but when so many women insist that the man earn as much as possible, while being a new author means earning very little more many years, for a wife to support her husband like that for so long is incredible. I have so much respect for that.
What are you reading now?
I recently finished several novels by Clive Cussler and partners. Thinking about reading the Harry Potter series, all of it. I’ve never done it. I heard it was ok.
What’s next for you as a writer?
To finish the next book. That’s always the goal. To finish more books. If you’re JK Rowling or Dan Brown, maybe you can get away with writing only a couple, but for the rest of us, we need to keep writing. The more we write, the better we get and the more readers we can connect with.
As soon as I get more finished, and have some confidence that my writing is any good, then I want to start connecting with readers and try to turn this dream into a living.
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?
Survival guides. Because I don’t want to die. Maybe Robinson Crusoe? You know, because he was stranded on an island.
I can’t decide if I’d want something with a lot of humanity in it, like a love story. Would that help with the loneliness, or only make it worse? If I were stranded alone, maybe I wouldn’t want to have something about human connections because it would make me miss them. Like longing for love when you’re single. So maybe philosophy or theoretical physics would be good because you’d have so much thinking time. But if I were stranded with my soulmate, I’d definitely want a love story so that we could celebrate what we have and help nurture us through the hard times. And then we could eat it as we slowly died together.
How about something like, How to Build a Boat from Coconuts? Or, How To Drink Your Own Pee? Or, Sex With Monkeys: Is it Really Bestiality If You Have Sex In The Forest And No-One Hears It?
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