Welcome back to Monday!
Are you one of those people who get today off? (It's President's Day in the US, which is the modern conflation of Lincoln and Washington's birthdays, which I can remember being separated holidays.)
Or are you stuck at a screen?
Well, take a break!
Let's start your day with Jeff Webber's Interview.
Firefly – gone too soon or overrated?
I would like to have seen more of it, it was an interesting concept, and I liked ALL of the characters!
When did you write your first book and how old were you?
I started my first book in 1993 (I was 40, and had just been laid off by General Electric. I worked on it off and on for a LONG time (obviously). One of my daughters has a B.A. in English and is an even more avid reader than I am (which I didn’t think was possible). She helped A LOT with the editing and polishing of book 1, and somewhat with book 2 (before she got too busy)
What does your family think of your writing?
They have been extremely supportive. My wife will actually listen to me read things to her (she doesn’t read for pleasure AT ALL, and doesn’t like either SF or Fantasy, so this is especially nice) and she is kind of in charge of “backstories”. I.e “there is this person who used to have a crush on Morgan’s brother, but he wasn’t interested…” One character Fredo (who is sort of comic relief) was entirely of her creation.
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I just finished (mostly) my fourth book in the Enimnori series (which is all I have written). I don’t know if I could pick a favorite-maybe book 3 (Enimnori:Challenge)
Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
I don’t have a lot of readers yet. Thus far any feedback I have gotten has been very encouraging. One person told me that I needed more character development, so I’ve been trying to do that.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
No, I never really saw the point of that.
Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
I’m not really sure. I will say that my own emotions weigh VERY heavily in my writing!
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you building a body of work with connections between each book?
I try to make them a little independent, but they are strongly tied together.
Do you write novels, novellas, short stories, episodic fiction, poems, screenplays, or something else? What is your preferred format?
I have written mostly novels, although I wrote two pieces of Flash Fiction for the QueerSciFi writing contest, and am currently working on a short story about the backstory of a couple of my characters.
Are you traditionally or self published? Or both? Do you feel there are advantages to one over the other?
I went with hybrid publishers, mostly because of the sheer number of books being written (the competition for traditional publisher time seemed prohibited-unless you are already famous). I also didn’t want the hassle of coordinating everything. I switched Hybrids after the first two books because while they did a fine job on publishing, there was zero support in marketing.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
Well, I started a prequel to my series several years ago, but it is still only a few pages long.
What is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything?
Why, 42 of course! How many dots are there on a pair of dice? 42. What is the angle of incidence to form a rainbow? 42 degrees. How old was Elvis when he died? 42. What is the resonant frequency of human DNA? 42 gigahertz. Need I go on?
What do you have coming next?
I am currently polishing book 4 (Enimnori:Crisis) and am just starting book 5 (Enimnori:Turmoil). I’m hoping to “find” more stories because I really like my characters.I also eventually hope to finish the prequel and a few more short stories.
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