WriterStory Interviews of Writers
His latest release is Dirty Deeds, a crime thriller. It is a Kindle Scout contract winning book and released by Kindle Press. He has never taken a writing course other than creative writing in high school. He learned to write by writing and then writing some more, and reading everything he could get his hands on.
What inspired you to start writing?
Dean Koontz books at 12 years old. Once I was hooked I knew I wanted to become a writer. I read every horror paperback my mother had and then branched out into fantasy, science fiction… anything spec fic was for me as a kid.
What did you like to read when you were a boy?
Besides Koontz I was a huge Robert E Howard fan. I read Marvel comics (I still collect) and loved pulp magazines.
What is the greatest challenge in writing a book?
Writing the book itself is the easy part. The real challenge is getting readers to notice the book and want to read it. The marketing and having strong sales is the real challenge.
How much research do you do before writing the book?
It really depends on the book. I’ve done a ton of research over the years for many books, and I read mostly nonfiction books in my spare time now. I can usually remember something enough to fake through it on the first draft and then punch it up on the second. Some books don’t need anything researched because the setting is somewhere I lived or the characters are already known by me.
What motivated you to write the book “Dirty Deeds”?
I wanted to write something different. I’m known as a zombie author, with dark, brutal situations. I wanted to see if I could write something more mainstream, without profanity, over the top sex or violence that would appeal to more people. The idea behind the story was in my head but much darker before I switched it up, and I’m glad I did. It’s a much stronger story now.
Can you tell us more about your latest book “Dirty Deeds”?
It tells the story of a man who’s paid to kill children. Dark, right? Except he doesn’t actually kill them. He rescues them from the person who paid him to do it, usually a family member or someone who doesn’t want an extramarital affair to come to light. Certain complications arise when one of these supposedly dead children reappears and the man has some explaining to do.
How did you come up with the idea of writing fiction genre book?
I’m a huge fan. I love to read it and I’ve been writing off and on since I was a teenager. i had my first short story published around 1988 and except for chunks of time when life got in the way I’ve always written. I used to just write stories and they all happened to be fiction genre.
Who are your favourite authors?
Koontz and Howard got me started. Brian Keene, David Gemmell, RA Salvatore, Joe McKinney… I could keep going!
How much time do you dedicate to writing on a daily basis?
I am lucky enough to write full-time so I set a daily word count of 1,100 words per day. This will get me about 400k per year, which is the minimum I feel i need to write in order to stay a full-time author.
What words of wisdom would you like to give to aspiring writers?
Have fun writing but make sure you understand, to succeed, this is a business. Write whatever you want when you first start out but pay attention to which stories and idea strike a chord with readers and build on it. Have a system for what you’re going to write next and a long term goal for what’s coming out. But mostly have fun!
Buy his book now:
