Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write This Week in Christian History, a blog covering an event in history each week. I have also self-published two biographies about Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Junior. I also self published a book of apologetics geared towards a Jewish audience, a collection of genre short stories and a horror novella. I have also written two more novels that are not really anywhere. I have published over 1,000 articles, short stories and poems in magazines, literary journals and websites. I install accounting software for The Back Office in West Des Moines and train people how to use it. I have lived in Des Moines all my life and have degrees from DMACC and Upper Iowa University in Accounting and Business Information Systems.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I just had my new book “would You Do What They Did? Great Christian Leaders From Our Past published by Crosslink. I have gradually made a transition from fiction to nonfiction since I have heard it is easier to get nonfiction published, so this is where the celebrity biographies came in. I have sold a fair number of copies for self published books, but overall I thought I could do better.
I heard a few stories of famous Christians and knew that I would be able to tell their stories well. I learned about creative nonfiction in a class at DMACC, and I love the idea of it. Creative nonfiction, if you are not familiar with it, is like a movie script that is based on a true story, there are parts that a fictionalized to make the story flow better. In writing this also means adding details, in this case the book is written in the third person from the perspective of the main character of the biography other than a few small portions. So I tried to visualize what each character would see and I added a lot of details to the story, a history book wouldn’t tell you what a room that Francis of Assisi was in looked like, unless it was an important room, so I had to invent this. When I am reading a book like this or watching a movie I am always afraid that what I will remember will be the part that was made up, so I have included a small article after each biography about anything major I have changed. I have tried to be true as much as possible to the original narrative, but sometimes you just have to change things to make it a better story. Too many people are just confusing.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I was writing this book if I had a free day I would divide the day into three sections and give myself a quota for each section, which was 500 words a section, which on a free day would be either 1,500 or 2,000 words depending if I split the afternoon into two.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have never tried to imitate any particular author; I try and write how I would like to read. I think that the words should be invisible, interesting or beautiful. There are places for each and I think being able to tell where is a good start towards writing a good book. I have read a lot and I probably read more Stephen King than anybody else so he has to come out a little. Probably not what you would expect form a Christian writer, but I did used to write horror, although mine was usually funny horror.
What are you working on now?
I am not working on a lot now since I am in the marketing mode, but a story came into my head so I will have to finish putting it down on paper so I can get it out again. It is called “Going Native” I thought it would be funny to have a person use that phrase in space.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have not been promoting the new book very long and I have not tied any sales to a particular marketing method. For my other book I didn’t have to market them much at all, I was the first person to write a full length biography about each person so if you searched for them you found the book. I have heard that someone self published biographies of almost all celebrities using their Wikipedia articles, so this might be harder now, but if anyone reading this can use it, go ahead.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s hard to make a great product, whether that is a book, poem, novel or whatever. It is harder to get anyone to read your book. Once published you also have to work hard to get anyone to read it. There is an enormous amount of competition; you have to commit yourself to a lot of work if you want to succeed.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show not tell, but it is harder to apply than you would think.
What are you reading now?
I am always reading the Bible and I am reading Full Dark No Stars by Stephen King.
What’s next for you as a writer?
If this book goes well I am going to write another book like it. I don’t have any subjects picked out yet, although I might use some of the stories I had to cut to make the word count they wanted. I also might craft my This Week in Christian History articles into a book.
What is your favorite book of all time?
A Confederacy of Dunces by O’Toole. Very funny book, but incredibly depressing.
Author Websites and Profiles
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