The first multi-author DSP virtual signing went ahead last night to great success. Six of the finest authors in the #western genre worked together to present a brand new six story project, and a very …
Dear Friends, As November becomes a swingin’ new month, we thought you would be interested to hear about one of our special releases. A brand new full-length collection of Mountain Man adventures from six of …
This interview is being posted in memory of one of a crop of popular Western authors that popped up over the last few years. C. Emerson Law was both a loyal friend and client, and …
There are few definitive outcomes in life, but one of the things we have come to expect is great Westerns from authors who understand the genre implicitly. The third book in this tremendous series from …
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 13, 2021 – DS Productions (DSP) – the home of some of the biggest selling Western authors in the genre – is excited to announce that they will be hosting a multi-author …
Michael Haden is a writer with a message. He wants to spread the word about drink driving. I think his intentions are honourable, and when he approached me for this interview, I knew that it could well be one of the most thought provoking things I have ever written. Michael has taken the life of one young girl he coached, who was sadly killed in a drink driving accident, and has written the rest of her life. He has taken all the would-be questions and turned them into a story with a moral. The book is called A Deal With God. Is it a fascinating read? Yes. A bestseller? Sure, 30,000 copies and rolling. I think most of all, this book is a book that asks why we continually drink and drive? Why do we have to endanger the lives of others? Why can’t we be responsible enough to take a taxi or walk? I think Michael is an excellent writer with a great book, but I am pretty sure he would be the first to admit that he wishes he never had to write it…
Q) Hi, Michael, let me start by asking what helped you make the decision to become a writer?
A) I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications. I am a Public Relations/Writing for the Mass Media major. In college, my ACT score on the essay writing part was the highest in the state of Florida. I pursued a profession, water conditioning, because I was starting a family and it was far more profitable. But my passion is writing, even if it is only a one liner in some ad copy.
Q) That qualifies you to be a fiction writer? Would you say some of the news we read and hear in the mass media is made up? Like fiction?
A) Any story, fiction or non-fiction, is better when embellished a little bit. It is the seasoning to the story. People want to enjoy reading your writing or they won’t come back for more–kinda like a restaurant. The majority of the people that read my book said they read it in two days because they couldn’t put it down.
Q) Which “seasoning ingredient” do you think makes your book so readable and addictive?
A) The way I developed the characters. If you don’t love Deana Murphy by the end of the book, you are heartless.
Q) Tell me more about the character of Deana. Who is she?
A) Deana Murphy is a girl I coached in soccer about ten years ago. She has a near unbelievable biography and was one of my best and favorite players. I got her a full-ride soccer scholarship, and she dominated her very first year. She almost made All-American, she was that good. Deana was killed by a drunk driver two weeks before her twentieth birthday while she was home working during summer break.
Q) What drove you to write her story, Michael? What really touched you about Deana?
A) She was killed the summer between her Freshman and Sophomore year. She was an orphan and had no survivors. We all loved her dearly and were devastated by the loss. I didn’t want her death to be in vain. When I appeared on Studio Ten, over one million viewers found out her story. If my promotion of her story stops one impaired person from causing a fatal car wreck, my project is a success.
Q) I guess one of the key points you are trying to drive home is the danger of drink driving. Do you think people really realise how dangerous it is to do that?
A) I know some people read the story in the newspaper when it happened and thought it was sad. But the average person does not understand how exponentially tragic the loss really is. That is why I wrote the book. The books answers questions in her life– the questions that tell the story of what might have been.
Q) How did you approach the “what might have been” questions regarding her life?
A) I took all of Deana’s amazing aptitudes and rolled it into a mission from God mandate. I wanted to show how much she could have accomplished if it were not for someone’s gross negligence. Within ten years, she drastically and positively influences the lives of over 1000 people. She helps an an entire town with her faith, devotion, and lifeskills.
Q) What was the most difficult part of writing a book that really could have gone anywhere and taken her to great heights or great lows– many of which are outside of the reality of her life?
A) The mandates from God were very difficult and complicated. She told God she would do anything if He would send her back. He forewarns her it will be a difficult life in a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. She takes it, not knowing how tough it will actually be.
Q) It must have been tough for you to write this book. I can imagine it being an emotionally draining experience to write the story of someone you knew and respected so much. How did you personally find the process of writing a book with such an emotional attachment to yourself?
A) I lost twenty-five pounds during the actual three months I wrote the crux of the book. I broke down multiple times, especially writing chapters 11 and 13.
It was a really creative experience though. I remember once, when I was in my truck on a long drive to a job far away, and a cool story line came to me. It was like a movie playing in my head. It was very engrossing and I starting telling the story to my friends and relatives and they all loved it. I would spend all day thinking about what I would write that night, write all night, then type and edit it in the morning.
Q) Many writers say that the process of writing a book can be compulsive. Would you say you had a compulsive need to write?
A) That would be a good way to put it.
Q) Let’s talk about the actual publishing experience you went through. How did you find the process of getting your book into print?
A) I self-published the book. We tried getting an agent to get us a major publisher, but it is like pulling teeth. We–me and my IT guy Adam who formatted the book–got fed up with the process and did it ourselves.
Q) What would your advice be to a newbie writer? Traditional publishing or self-publishing? Which one would you promote?
A) It depends on your appetite to market the product yourself or have someone else do it. I enjoy marketing, so it worked for me.
Q) As a self-published author, how have you found sales so far?
A) Over 30.000 people have read my book and over 90% have absolutely loved it. A few people on Kindle library and tried to speed read weren’t as happy, but that is because the book has five sub-plots. If you speed read the book, you will miss them. Everyone that read the whole thing and understands what I am doing with the project loves it.
Q) I have to ask, Michael. Have you got a new book on the way?
A) It depends how successful this one is. It does have the potential to be an interesting series. I have Deal II’s story line all written. I just have to do the research.
Q) Thank you for your time, Michael. It has been a pleasure!
Excerpt from The Gift Part 2 – The Air Force Years
Getting my grade for a flight. David Kinton looks on
Flying over the jungle in a C-47
“It was during this last combat mission that I remembered something I promised myself when I was twelve years old. The promise had to do with the old Tarzan and other Jungle movies I watched back then. In almost every one of them a planeload of people would crash land in the jungle. Invariably, the aircraft they were flying was a C-47. Cannibals, huge snakes, or lions and tigers always ate the people, who were lucky enough to survive the crash. I was smart enough, even at that young age, to say, “You will never catch my ass over a jungle in a C-47.” And now, just a mere fifteen years later, here I was in a C-47 over the most hostile jungle in the entire world. In addition to the lions and tigers, that were ready to eat me, there were people down there trying to shoot me down so they could. This was another one of those ironies of my Vietnam tour.”
Sometimes, you find yourself with an interview that tells you the truth about the publishing industry. For all you guys and girls out there wondering if this is the thing for you, please consider one thing: There’s very little money to be made; so if you want to make money, maybe it’s better to be a doctor, lawyer or maybe a pop star or something. Writing is more about the art; granted, there are exceptions– if your name is Stephen King, you may become fantastically rich and live in seclusion. However, the usual reality for writers is that you work a “day” job and write on the side. That said, it’s a wonderful, wonderful skill to have and, if you write for the sake of art, you will love it! Just don’t have expectations of grandeur! Please meet Rosanne Dingli! An award-winning Australian writer who says it exactly as it is…
Q) Let me start by asking, Rosanne, why writing? What made you want to write a book? What was the catalyst?
A) Although I should say it’s too long ago to remember, I do. It was 1985, I was living in the country, and I had been asked once too many times what I did for a living. I used to say I was a writer, because I’d just bought an Olivetti typewriter and used to write to my mother in Europe quite a lot, from my little town in NSW, Australia. The day came when I had to do something about the big myth. So I bought a book called “How to be a Writer” or some such title, did exactly what it said, and soon I started getting published in academic journals, magazines, newspaper supplements and what have you. By 1991, I had enough poetry published to send out a collection, which Literary Mouse Press accepted and released. The rest is (exhausting) history.
Q) You have won many awards. Has that changed the way you write? Do you write with more confidence now, or does it actually make you nervous?
A) I don’t think I’ve had a nervous day in my life – when it comes to writing. I don’t have to make a living from it now, but of course there have been many years when I made a very good living from writing, thank you. Not fiction, though – I have held various roles in publishing, including journalist, editor, slush-pile reader, manuscript assessor, editor-in-chief, columnist, feature writer, reviewer… you name it. The awards are mostly for poetry and short fiction. There was a time when I was known as the short story queen in my state, Western Australia. But that’s long ago and far away now. It doesn’t make me feel more confident than my other experiences in the industry, no – but it certainly has ticked a few of my boxes. Awards give me a positive feeling, yes. I have judged a number of competitions myself, and know how subjective it is and how luck is everything, so there are no delusions there.
Q) Your first book Death in Malta took two years to edit. Can you tell me about that process? Are you a perfectionist? What caused you to keep on re-evaluating your work?
A) I am certainly not a perfectionist. Editing a first novel includes re-writing and changing one’s mind, learning on the job, and a bit of dithering. I wrote Death in Malta when I was starting a family, and knew it was the last peaceful six weeks of my life. That’s how long it took – six weeks of bashing my first computer (Wordperfect on Windows 3.1). It took a lot of editing, and also the personal discovery that it’s much easier to write when life is full of interruptions. I sent it out to more than fifty publishers, and it was finally accepted by Jacobyte Books in South Australia. They went on to publish three story collections of mine, too. Nice people, who sold Death in Malta off to BeWrite Books, who took it and ran with it. It’s still running!
Q) Do you constantly re-evaluate your work, even now? Do you believe your books could be better, even today?
A) There’s a point at which any novel tells you, “Okay – enough! I can run now.” My team of beta-readers knows when a book is ready to face the world. I re-evaluate premises, stories, plots, and characters, but rarely a WHOLE novel. By the time it’s written, a first draft is pretty close to what a finished product is supposed to feel like. It takes two or three good re-writes to get the central premise central, and then it’s simply polishing to a high-enough gleam.
Q) Tell me about the way you write. Do you like to write in silence or with music? What gets you into that special place where creation takes place?
A) Composition is a difficult thing – I usually write really well when the devil is treading on my tail, and there’s some family crisis, something burning in the oven, someone at the door, or the cat is caught up a tree. When the house is nice and quiet, the shopping’s done, everyone has clean ironed clothes, and no bills need paying… the inspiration dries right up!
Q) Why do you think some writers make it and some don’t? Do you think it’s always a case of talent or luck or what?
A) Luck is the big one. It’s not writers who make it or not… it’s their books. This is a bit like show business, but it’s not YOU that succeeds or fails, it’s your products. Pushing a product is difficult for creative types, and it’s very much a lottery. More so now that the book market has exploded and EVERYONE has written a couple of volumes of something. You need to invent ‘a better mousetrap’, and you need to publicise it properly. No one can buy something they haven’t heard of, and once they do hear of it, it’s got to be better than the other 8 million books on Amazon at that particular time. “Timing is everything,” as the bishop said to the tightrope walker.
Q) Did you ever believe that you would become a bestseller? Was that an end goal for you?
A) I can only tell you about my PB (personal best). My own bestseller, among my dozen or so books, is Death in Malta, closely followed by According to Luke – they vie for first place every month. If one of my novels does eventually become a national or international bestseller, it’ll be a good thing, but I’m quite happy with sales as they are and I’m no dreamer. My outlook in life is practical and pragmatic. The chances are the chances.
Q) Your website states that your book Camera Obscura was the book you just HAD to write. Why was that? What made that book so important?
A) One of the premises of that novel is rather personal. All novelists write ‘the book they have to write’ to get a certain premise off their chest so that they can go on to write other things without the impediment of stuff not said. It’s not important on a world scale, and it’s well-hidden in the plot, so I carried it off. My fans loved that novel.
Q) Do you believe every writer has a great book inside of them?
A) A book, perhaps, but not a great one, necessarily. A great book is all about scintillating writing and an unshakeable premise. Wow – most serious novelists are working towards that, but whether they do it or not is determined by time and readership. Any idea-driven novel is market-driven too. It’s not an idea that makes a book endure through time; it’s the quality of the writing. And I don’t mean correctness.
Q) What do you believe makes a great book?
A) Like I said – a brilliant premise and fantastic memorable writing make a book great, but whether it ever makes itself visible and popular is anyone’s guess.
Q) How do you feel about self-publishing? Is it something you believe is going to overtake traditional publishing in time?
A) The time is already here. I self-publish all my own stuff since I parted ways with BeWrite Books last year. Half the world is doing it. It makes everything a lot easier and a lot harder. But that’s like a lot of things in life – we all have cars which makes us think we can go everywhere at our own speed and when we like, but it’s a big delusion – everyone else is out there thinking exactly the same, and the result is one big JAM.
Q) If you could have written any book, which would it have been and why?
A) Easy that – “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” by John Fowles. Why? You need a why? Goodness – it’s only the most fascinating premise, backed by some terrific research, all done in quite amazing writing. Few people see it for the startling innovation it was at the time.
Q) What are your current projects?
A) I’ve just finished my fourth novel which is now with my beta-readers. That’ll be out in July this year (2013), and it is probably one of the best things I’ve written – Hah! I always say that about my latest novel. It would never have taken shape without the input of my partner in life and first reader. He is well-read, analytical, a philosopher (with a PhD to prove it), and a most brilliant dissector of plots. Everyone should have an in-house one of those. I’m lucky I do. Yes, I tell him, almost every month.
Q) If you could give one piece of advice to a newbie writer, what would it be?
A) Stop, and get into something you could succeed at, like selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, pyramid schemes, or counting cards at the local casino. This is a mug’s game and no one in their right mind should do it. If you’re a half-crazy mug already, then okay – the eight million or so indie writers already doing it will let you in, no problem. You make your bed, and then you lie in it.
Q) Heady words! That’s the first time I have heard that! How do you find the inspiration to write fiction?
A) One does not really need inspiration. I do not like “ideas” – they lead to blind spots and dead ends. You need a solid premise and some real no-funny-business writing skills. Some people could not write their way out of a wet paper bag, and yet they think they have a lot of storytelling ideas. Not enough, sorry – they might sell a lot of stories now, but their work won’t endure the cruelty of the ages.
Q) If you hadn’t become a writer, what do you think you would have done with your life?
A) What I’ve done with it anyway. I’ve held down a number of pretty amazing jobs, including teacher, cook, travel consultant. Writing is not my whole life. I have a wonderful family on whom I lavish a lot of time and all of my money. I collect a great deal of things such as cacti, and I like to lead a secluded contemplative life free of “-isms” and “-ologies”. If I did not write, I would probably knit or garden or travel or read. Oh wait – I do those things anyway.
Q) You have also published poetry. Poetry or fiction? Which do you prefer and why?
A) I would never have written a word of fiction if my husband had not insisted I did, way back in 1991. I preferred poetry then because I could write a poem in fifteen minutes and go back to whatever I was doing. Novels require commitment, staying-power, dedication, persistence, energy, resourcefulness, philosophy, depth, analytical powers and writing ability. I’ve trained like crazy for literally years to summon all that, and I’m not there yet. But, yeah, I like writing fiction because it reflects the human condition better and one’s learned references are better knitted into the fabric of it all.
Rosanne is a very busy writer. I would like to thank her for taking the time to come over and be interviewed for Novel Ideas. Sometimes, we all need some truth and I think this article is filled with the reality of writing for a living. Thanks for that, Rosanne!
I was wondering how I could get another exclusive out of Lloyd Tackitt, Would it be cheeky to ask for more after he has already given Novel Ideas so much? Sure, but I think Lloyd likes me.. So, perhaps I can get away with it… Yeah… I am pretty sure I can…
“Lloyd?”
“Yes Nick,” Lloyd replied. “How can I help you now?”
“I wonder if I could have the exclusive on your new cover art for Eden’s Warriors?”
“Well, now, I have been wondering whether to let you have that.”
“Well? Please? Yes? No?”
“Sure,” Lloyd replied. “I think we can arrange that.”
“We can?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
Well, I got it and here it is. Lloyd had a special cover in mind, and he sure got it. Now, I have been hearing wild things about his new book Eden’s Warriors. I have heard that the book has sold out before it even hit the shelves. Wild! I can’t tell you if there’s any truth to that, but I think it would be safe to say Lloyd Tackitt isn’t going anywhere right now. He will be in demand for another book.
Eden’s Warriors, the latest in Lloyd Tackitt’s Distant Eden series will be available SOON!!
Boyd Lemon is an enigma. A man who has done a hundred or more interviews and yet, never once has an interviewer really broken down his book Digging Deep: A Writer Uncovers His Marriages and asked questions. I guess I was hungry for this one. Boyd is the kind of guy you can talk frankly to and, after several discussions, I approached him with the idea of an in-depth interview. What came out of that interview was ten pages of heaven. Ten pages of written answers and questions that would have made any interviewer happy. However, for this interview I wanted you to meet the young Boyd. A man married to a girl and taking baby steps towards a world class career as a lawyer. A man who tried to provide, understand, and be there for his wife but couldn’t quite make it. I wanted to call this interview “Peeling the Lemon”– I changed my mind. This is a serious interview that delves into the mind of a man who perhaps hasn’t been delved into as much as he should have been…
Q) Hi, Boyd. Let me start by asking you the difference between your life today and your life in the 70s. What have been the key changes for you?
A) I was in my thirties during the ’70s, married to my second wife. By 1974, I had three small children and was practicing a profession that was not fulfilling for me but provided a substantial income. From 1973 on, there were major problems in my marriage. So, I was not in a good place. Instead of doing something to change my life, I took solace in alcohol and drugs. I still functioned well as a lawyer, but in the little time that I had to think about my life, I numbed myself with alcohol and drugs so that I would not have to think about it. Therefore, I did nothing to change it.
Today, I have lowered my sights as to what I need materially. I rent a small house in an area of the United States that is beautiful environmentally, but has one of the lowest costs of living in the country. I drive a twelve year-old car. I bought my furniture at the Good Will Thrift Shop and my clothes at Walmart. My only luxury is travel, and I put aside as much money as I can to be able to travel. I am doing exactly what I want to do, which is writing, hiking in nature with my dog, traveling, and cooking good, healthy food usually enjoyed with a glass of good wine in the evening.
I do get lonely, but I deal with it and it passes. I don’t have to put up with a woman who wants me to live the way she wants me to live, but I don’t have her companionship either. Like many things in life, it is a trade-off. Finally, I often review my life situation, meditate and try to understand myself, my wants and needs and what fulfils me, because even in old age, we change, and we are confronted with new situations and new feelings. That’s a long answer, but your question was quite broad.
Q) You earned a substantial income, yet in many ways found yourself struggling to pay for your lifestyle. I think a lot of people would be shocked that a top lawyer would have money worries. Looking back, does it shock you that you were struggling even with a huge income?
A) It certainly would shock most people, but since I lived through it and have thought a lot about it, I am not shocked.
I let my second and third wives spend with no control, the first wife on homes, cars, furniture, clothes, etc. and the second on horses and other animals and a large horse ranch. It was their fault that they spent, and it was my fault that I didn’t exert any control. I had no money problems during the four years between my second and third marriages. I saved money and invested in stock and real estate. I have often thought that they married me for my money, but, of course, they would deny it, and I don’t really know. I think that both my wives and I were looking for the things that money brings: status and prestige. The problem is that having status and prestige is not fulfilling–at least, not for me or many people–and it turned out not be be fulfilling to my wives either. I live now on about one-tenth of the income I once had (taking inflation into account) and I don’t miss it one bit.
When you spend more than you make, and, therefore, go into debt and can’t pay your bills timely, it is an extremely stressful way to live. It doesn’t matter whether you make $25,000 a year or a million dollars a year, it stresses you out. I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me because when you make a lot of money and are still in debt, it is your own fault, and with people who don’t make much money, it is more understandable, even though they may also be at fault. Nevertheless, in either case, it is an extremely stressful way to live, and I put up with that for nine years of a second marriage and about ten of the thirteen years of my third marriage.
Q) You stated in the book that you didn’t feel attractive to women at all. How do you feel about that now? You just said that you feel they married you for your money– but have you, over the years, changed your opinion about your own looks and self-worth?
A) Wow, that’s a tough question that I have thought about, but haven’t come up with a definitive answer. I know men who just seem to charm and naturally attract women. I don’t, with obviously a few exceptions. I think I don’t for two reasons: one, I am an introvert, and I believe that most women like extroverts; and two, I am not confident that I attract women, and that is a self-fulfilling attitude, because women want a confident man. So, I would say, I haven’t really changed my feelings about myself in that respect, In the past six years, I have dated two women who wanted to marry me, but for various and different reasons, I did not want to marry them. But I am still not the type of guy who can go into a bar, strike up a conversation with an attractive woman and go home with her. I have never been able to do that, and I still can’t. I just live with it. That is one thing that I don’t think I am going to put any effort into changing.
Q) You entered your first marriage riddled with insecurity, though. You needed to feel better than your first wife– you needed to be smarter– yet, she was indifferent to your posturing. Did that make you more insecure?
A) No, I don’t think so. I think my insecurities were slightly less, until she said she wanted a divorce. Since I had never had sex until I married her (which was not that uncommon in the middle class America of the 1950s), her having sex with me gave me more confidence, as did the fact that she seemed to love me. I thought that I had my life partner. It never occurred to me that she would ever want a divorce until the day she told me. Also, I was taught by my father’s example that feelings were not important, so I was very insensitive to feelings, both my own and my wife’s. She would have had to hit me over the head to make me understand that she was unhappy. I am still weak in that area, although I have improved a lot, especially in the past fifteen years. I have been platonic friends with two women who are very sensitive to feelings, and they helped me to be more sensitive.
Q) Do you think with more sensitivity you could have saved your first wife Christie from her eventual mental breakdown?
A) No, she was (and is) bi-polar and didn’t get well until she was diagnosed and treated twenty years after our divorce. However, assuming I could have put up with her manic-depression (which did not start until about two years after our divorce), I believe that had I been more sensitive, she would not have asked for a divorce. In other words, the factor of her mental illness that came later might have doomed the marriage then, but I think my lack of sensitivity and her failure to assert herself were the major causes of the divorce.
Q) You really bent over backwards for her though in a lot of ways. You bought all the things she wanted and tried to give her the life she had grown up with. You must admit you were a great financial provider to her, and you did what you thought was best.
A) Yes, that is true. I gave her what I thought she wanted, but that was not really what she wanted, and I was not sensitive enough to understand that. Nor did she tell me what she wanted.
Q) You state in your book Digging Deep: A Writer Uncovers His Marriages that Christie would say the wrong things to the wrong people– she was socially backward almost. How did you cope with the embarrassment of that? Did you ever mention it to her? Did you just cringe and write people off?
A) I did not criticize her for that. Since I knew her parents and how they treated her, I was aware enough to understand why she was the way she was. Also, my lack of confidence in my attractiveness to women made me feel that was the best I could do, and I would just have to put up with it. So I did. The flip side of her behavior was that she was always honest; you knew she would not lie or cheat. That has always been important to me.
Q) The end of the marriage came through something that was meant to draw you closer together. You both took guitar lessons and she ended up leaving you for the hippy who was teaching her. Looking back, could you see the writing on the wall about the end of your marriage? And do you think if it hadn’t been guitar lessons, something else would have caused her to leave you?
A) I did not see the handwriting on the wall. I was totally shocked. It never occurred to me that she might be attracted by somebody else and leave me. You know, marriage was “until death do us part.” I believed that. Yes, I do believe that if it hadn’t been the guitar teacher, at some point, it would have been somebody else.
Q) In the way she left you, I felt angry on your behalf. The two of them invading the house and taking what they wanted– the poignancy of your return and seeing his discarded beer bottles and the sadness of seeing you lose this marriage… You must have been totally at a loss. Would it be true to say your confidence disappeared?
A) I was totally devastated, humiliated and ashamed. I’m tough, and I have always persevered, but that really hit me, and I was barely able to work for the next two weeks–until I had a date with Stephanie (who became my second wife). My confidence was shot, but it soared right away when I started dating Stephanie.
Q) Shortly before the end of your marriage to Christie, you attended a Led Zeppelin concert. The band is not amongst your favourites and after listening to the music the band decided to do the whole set again. You forced Christie to leave the concert. Looking back, would you have handled that situation differently? Do you believe that was a big dent in your marriage?
A) Yes, according to Christie it was. I think it was an example of my need to control my wife, not a need that I have ever exhibited with anyone other than wives. When I thought about it while writing my memoir, I was shocked that I ever did such a thing. I would never do that now. And I wouldn’t have done it then to anyone other than my wife. Sad, but true.
Q) Do you think you and Christie started to have less and less in common as the marriage went on?
A) Yes, she became more interested in hiking and mountain climbing. I was more cerebral. Oddly enough, now I hike all the time. However, I think we could have worked around that particular problem….
Q) You have always been rather political. Around the time of the Zeppelin concert you were involved in RFK’s presidential run. How did you become part of that?
A) A friend of mine who had always been political (he had been student body president of both his high school and university) was an advance man for the Kennedy campaign, and he invited me to join him. He, too, was a young lawyer at the time.
Q) Can you tell me more about RFK himself? What were your observations of a man who has become a God-like figure to so many?
A) He was the greatest charmer I have ever met. You talk about charisma, wow! I think he had even more charisma than his brother, but at the same time was tougher, some saying that he was ruthless, but I don’t agree. He was extremely passionate about his causes and articulate in expressing his views. He was one of those people who cared about everyone he met and all of humanity. His passion made him seem ruthless at times, especially when he was Attorney General of the United States. What I have always wondered is if he had become President, would we have gotten so involved in Viet Nam? I don’t think so. I don’t think that he would have been duped by the generals to the extent Johnson was, and I don’t believe he would have sent 800,000 American troops in and bombed North Viet Nam. Of course, there is no way to know for sure. As a Presidential candidate he promised to get out in 1968. Instead Nixon kept us in until 1972. I think that would have been the big difference. I also think that he would have continued Johnson’s “War on Poverty” and, especially without all the money we spent on the war, the poor would have been much better off. It’s difficult to speculate. I do strongly believe that he would have been elected. Nixon barely won against a less popular candidate, Hubert Humphrey.
Q) You were actually there when RFK was killed by Sirhan Sirhan. What happened? What did you see? How do you remember that day?
A) The California primary was very important to RFK’s nomination by the Democratic Party, was the last important primary, and I had played a role in that campaign. I was thrilled beyond words when, late the night of the election, the other candidates conceded that he had won California. His victory speech was extremely inspiring, and I was deliriously happy. He finished his speech and walked off stage. We were all still cheering. Just as the cheering was dying down, I heard a scream (female) and several more screams. Finally, somebody yelled, “Bobby’s been shot!” With that, my associates who had been standing next to me dispersed to I don’t know where, and there was pandemonium in the crowd. I pushed my way out to my car to listen to the radio news. The news confirmed that he had been shot while walking through the kitchen of the hotel facility. I felt devastated––only five years after his brother and a month after Martin Luther King. What was this country coming to? I do not remember a thing after that. I drove home and went to bed, but I don’t remember anything else. He held on for two day as I recall. I was having dinner with Christie and another couple in a Chinese restaurant that had a TV on when the program was interrupted, and the announcer said that RFK had died. I describe in my memoir how devastated I was.
I hope you enjoyed this interview. I do believe that this is one of my best and I would like to thank Mr Boyd Lemon for sitting down with me for a few hours. The interview you have just read showed Boyd Lemon and Nick Wale at the peak of their abilities…
Angela Harris is the host of perhaps one of the most interesting Internet radio book shows around. I have been a guest on the show and I think that, although she would probably deny this out of modesty, her show has the best guests and some of the best co-hosts around. Two of my favourite writers, Mike Walsh and Gordon Osmond, are constantly on the interviewer’s side of the table. Three best-selling writers all sitting down to talk books with a fresh and interesting writer as a guest. I think that’s a winner. I just knew I had to ask Angie onto Novel Ideas for a chat. Now, sit back and enjoy yourselves as the interviewer interviews the interviewer… Yee Haw!
Angela Harris
Q) Hi again, Angela!
A) Hi there, Nick.
Q) Let me start by asking how you feel about this world of writing? Do you still enjoy the fact that you are a published AND selling writer?
A) I love writing. I always have. It has just recently encompassed a great deal more than it once did to me. Before becoming published, the most important part of writing was the writing itself and editing.
After being published, I was thrown into a world of marketing and selling. Suddenly, the components to being a published and selling author, were much larger and more demanding than just writing for pleasure.
Q) How did the writing world meet your overall expectations? Do you think you have found a comfortable niche for your work?
A) It is a much bigger world than I anticipated it to be, but I do think that I have managed to find a comfortable place within the process and have managed to find time to do that, along with still having time to write.
Q) I take it at first you didn’t realise how time consuming promotion could be? Did you believe the publishing company would take care of it? That’s a misconception many newbie writers believe and I just wondered if you also believed that at first, too.
A) I knew that I would be involved within the process, but believed that I would have more help with the task, yes. But luckily, I have a strong technical background. That has helped me to promote a great deal
I have also learned the ropes around many social sites which has helped to spread the word about the publication of my books and helps to sell them as well.
Q) You are also the host of a very popular weekly radio internet show called The Weekly BookClub Webinar. Tell me, how did that come about?
A) It is a wonderful way of combining modern technology with a traditional type of club. We sample a new book each week by a different author. Then, every Saturday afternoon at 2:30 ET we join each other via use of our computers or phones to discuss what we have read during the week. We have the use of the webcam and microphones and are able to share documents, presentations, videos and many more things. But one of the most interesting aspects to our show is that the author of the book which we are discussing is present at the discussion for the audience to pose comments and questions to them directly.
I was looking for a fun way to help bring authors together with their audience– a new way of doing things that might spark interest on all sides, both authors and readers. I thought that this was a rather fresh and innovative approach to do just that.
Q) I think it proves that you are a forward thinker. Would you agree with that statement? Are you someone who makes their own breaks?
A) Yes. I guess I do. I have never been someone to wait for things to happen. I find a way to make them happen. When I seek answers to an obstacle and find no answers, I try to create my own solution.
Q) Do you use the same approach with your writing? If you get writer’s block, for example, do you just create your own solution?
A) It would depend on the form of blockage. If it is a hangup that involves the creation of names or something of that nature, I will seek outside help most times. If it is an issue with a storyline blockage, sometimes I have to walk away for a few days to let the story fester. Eventually, the blockage works itself out and things begin to flow again, but there have been times when I have written myself into a corner, so to speak, and had to create a solution for it within the storyline.
Q) How do you approach writing itself? Is it something you have to be in the mood to do or do you just do a bit everyday?
A) I try to write only when I am in the mood for it or the content sometimes feels forced. Although, there are always times when you are on a deadline and you are forced to write whether you are in the mood to do so or not. Most times, if I find myself in that scenario, I will write something that does not require a great deal of imagination, something which is more factual, and go back to the creative pieces later.
Q) Writing is a tool that has to be sharpened. Would you agree with that statement?
A) Yes, I do agree with that. It is something which is also shaped through progression. I have found that the more I write, the more I learn about how to improve my own skills. I am always looking for ways to spice up my writing, and am constantly learning new techniques by me fellow authors. I have seen a steady improvement within my own writing as I write more frequently now than I used to before being published.
Q) What would you say is the most fulfilling thing about your work? What really makes you happy about being a writer?
A) I guess for me, it is not the sales of the book, but rather, the feedback and enthusiasm that I receive from those who have read my books. I work at a high school and one of my books is located there within the library. I have students come to me quite frequently to tell me how much they enjoyed the book and are waiting for the next one to come out, or ask me about certain elements of the book which they did not understand, or just get excited about the writing process and are seeking advice for the own ventures. That is what drives me to write. It is the satisfaction which I get for doing so.
Q) So let’s talk about your work! Which of all your books is your personal favourite?
A) That would be a toss up between The Realm and Momma’s Little Helpers. The Realm is my first novel and leap into the world of fantasy which I absolutely love. The story is captivating and keeps me excited about writing. Momma’s Little Helpers is a children’s book which I began writing when I found out that my mother was ill. It has personal sentiment, and is a wonderful story for young children that relays a great deal of wonderful and valuable lessons.
Q) How are people taking to your work?
A) Momma’s Little Helpers has been published for about two months now. People are taking a strong liking to the book and the characters within it. The Realm has definitely met my expectations and gains popularity each day. I am stopped by people constantly to tell me how much they enjoy it and are looking forward to Vanya’s Quest (the sequel). The Realm has gained enough attention that a filming was arranged of a book reading and interview that I had done locally and was aired on Northwest Access TV. And I will be on a local news segment this month called Books Over Breakfast to discuss it and my upcoming novel Vanya’s Quest which is the second in the series. It has surpassed my expectations.
Q) I think we can all safely say that both of your books are excellent and I am so glad that readers are taking to them with such a passion! I have one last question for you, Angela. What would your advice be to a disheartened writer who can’t find a market for his/ her work?
A) Discouragement can be (and most times is) a part of the process. But it is not a definitive end. Many people these days have turned to self-publishing and marketing of their own material. Many well-known authors have begun their careers in this manner. Become an advocate to market yourself. I do all of my own marketing and promotions for the most part, and all of the routes which I have taken have been free of cost to me. Create a website, book trailers, and author pages online. Use social sites like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter to help market your book as well as sites like Shelfari and Goodreads. Set up a local book reading/signing somewhere and invite members of your community to attend. It will not take long for word to get out. Particularly if you have something worth sharing. Make sure you catch Angela on her radio show! Join the Facebook page for updates. I think an hour with Angela, Mike and Gordon will really cheer you up! Fun, frolics and books!
Writing has always been an integral part of Michael F. Trahan’s life. It is only recently, however, that he has taken it seriously. Since the release of the first part of his memoir The Gift he has become a regimented writer. I was thinking of a series of articles that could be written that portray the writer at work. It only seemed right to me that Mike should be the first author to find himself under the spotlight. So let’s be a fly on the wall and see what happens…
T-37 Formation
The Gift by Mike Trahan made me think about what life was like for us kids growing up during the 50s. Mike really lets the reader know what a fine man he is as he makes decisions along the way! Can’t wait for the Sequel~ 5*
Sitting by his desk, Mike, types methodically with precision. He is delving into his mind and remembering long lost occurrences of yesteryear. Where is he today? He is in 1968 and flying missions in Vietnam. The man who writes his memoir is no longer in front of a computer. He sits in the cockpit of a C-141 Starlifter. The big one. His hands, not typing on the keyboard of his Mac anymore; his concentration no longer on words. He is back in Vietnam.
“Don’t disturb me,” is the vibe he gives off. He cannot be disturbed whilst on a mission. Watching him, it becomes impossible to believe this man is still in the present day. The concentrated tapping is only audible to those around him and the coffee that balances on his desk is forgotten as he flies through the skies of Vietnam reliving the memories of his youth.
This is not a man who writes fiction. He has lived every moment of his writings and perhaps years of suppression means that it takes time things to return to him. When he wakes from his past he looks down at the screen.
“Nick, did I show you the first chapter?”
“Yeah, you certainly did Mike…”
“What did you think of it so far?”
“I think you have certainly tamed the writing gremlin.”
“Well, these sessions last usually from 0300 to 0700. That’s when I am at my best.”
The sound of the night crawlers outside are no disturbance for Mike. He grooves into the noises of a dark Texas night and carries on working. The memories, the events, the planes, the combat. All the DNA coding that makes up his life. He relives it all. The memoir writer usually has one huge problem– remembering the events and writing about them as truthfully as possible.
Climbing out in the T-37
“How do you remember these events so well, Mike?”
“The more I tap away at this computer– the more they come back to me”
Talking of computers, I noticed Mike was pretty adept on his so I just had to ask…
“What computer set up do you use, Mike?”
“I-Mac…” Mike replies as he turns around. “Simple to operate, relatively virus free. I started out in Macs years ago, went to PCs and now back to Mac.”
“So, what exactly are you doing now?”
“I am filling in details of what actually happened on February 19th, 1968.”
“Well…” I start to say. “What did happen?”
I flew the East Coast Shuttle Flight. The Transport years end in December ’68 then I trained for the war and that is when it is going to get very interesting…”
It is going to get interesting? The first volume of his book has already been rated a 5-star project by every single reviewer. I think it has already zoomed past interesting. But for a man like Trahan, nothing is a done deal. He is a creature of careful consideration and he does not put too much belief into anything until it is done. If he says it’s going to get interesting, then I can pretty much guarantee that it’s going to get more interesting….
“I can believe that,” I reply. “So, why do you write in you this room? Any special attachment?”
“I have a better place for writing, and when I buy a new computer I will be moving my writing desk out to the guest house.”
“A laptop might be a good idea?”
“I had one already. It crashed so I will be getting something different next time.”
Laptop, desktop, notepad, whatever he uses I think this next installment of The Gift will be one to catch. Mike goes back into his past-yearning trance, and it would be unfair for me to drag him back out of it again. That’s a wrap.. We saw a Mike Trahan writing session in the wee small hours of the morning.
Supersonic Jet Training – T-38 “Talon”
This is a wonderful autobiography. It’s warm, candid, motivational, human, upbeat. All attributes that reflect its author, Mike Trahan~ 5*
Mike’s book is also replete with examples revealing his love of family, community, country and especially flying.~ 5*
If you haven’t caught a preview of The Gift, check out some great excerpts here.
I caught busy J.W. Northrup for a few minutes to delve into his mind for this interview about his new book. It’s hard to pin a man like J.W down, but I managed to and we spent a good few minutes talking about his upcoming release The Gold Slaves. I am not really used to speed interviews, but we started and I soon put the busy writer at ease and got some answers for you guys. What do I think of J.W.? I think watch out world…
You just start attempting to reason this, this divine plan, out and the classic justification comes out: ‘It is not for man to know.’ I say it is absolutely imperative that man knows exactly why he is here and what his purpose is.- Excerpt from The Gold Slaves.
Q) Hi J.W., how does it feel to be finally publishing your first book?
A) Well, it has been my goal for many years and it’s great to finally arrive. It is a validation of my work and an encouragement to continue doing what I love to do.
Q) How did you enjoy the process of writing The Gold Slaves?
A) It started with a very simple idea – the idea of stepping out of darkness into a new inconceivable reality. Then I had to create an interesting story around it. The process of creating the story and adding appealing characters to it was very enjoyable.
“I made a name for myself”
Q) What influences your writing? Do you find it easy to create fiction?
A) They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a writer makes you want to read a thousand words and create yourownpictures. Good fiction results in creativity – by the author and the reader alike.
Fiction is easy for me because I like to be free to tell a good story rather than being restricted into regurgitating banal facts exhaustively researched. You can be very accurate and meticulous when describing how to install a light switch or you can create a hilarious story about the “shocking” trials and tribulations of installing light switches. I prefer the latter.
Q) How many books do you have planned?
A) I have two sequels planned for the The Gold Slaves because the story literally begs for them. I have completed a mind blowing science fiction novel that I am very excited about.
In the non-fiction area, I have written dozens of hilarious self-debasing short stories about my experiences. Finally, I have a very personal heartfelt novel in the works entitled Fishing with My Father. As a writer, I see no end, nor do I desire an end, to my storytelling.
Jim looks rather serious as he gets used to life as a writer
Q) Did you manage any writing today?
A) Yes, I did! I wrote a hilarious short story.
Q) A short story collection on the way perhaps?
A) Yes, I have a collection of very humorous short stories. This particular story is entitled Throwing Rocks at Deer and describes my contemptible habit of throwing rocks at deer on my trail runs in the mountains, and how one fateful day, a buck got his revenge.
Q) Why writing? What is it about writing that excites you?
A) Communication! The opportunity to communicate broadly! Sure, we all communicate all day long, but writing allows you to really “think about it” and choose your words wisely and creatively.
Also, I never liked “talking” to others unless they actually wanted to listen. If someone picks up a book, they are automatically receptive.
Communication is two-way. What excites me? Nothing makes me happier then writing a story and hearing that it had some kind of positive impact upon another. That is what any artist wants.
Finally, the creative process is very exciting. Coming up with a real interesting characters and plots and finding a way to portray them is fun! It energizes me and makes my fingers really dance on the keyboard as the hours fly by.
Our time was up… BUT I will find a way to get J.W. back on Novel Ideas, I promise! Watch for upcoming notifications about the release of The Gold Slaves.
Sometimes, I meet authors who pop up with answers to questions I have always wondered about. South Africa is a country that fascinates me. Some call it racist, some call it life. I think it’s just another culture in this big world and one that has both good and bad parts. Jacob is a South African native and I wanted to grill him about his experiences as a citizen of SA. Jacob is a stock market trader and his time is limited– so we had to to cover a lot of ground during this interview. Why am I still talking? Let’s go see what happened…
Q) What caused you to move to South Africa in the first place?
A) My grandfather came to South Africa in 1885 from Poland. My father was born in the town Potchefstroom, as was I.
Q) Let me ask you something you probably haven’t been asked before, Jacob. How do you feel about the South Africa you knew?
A) Today, South Africa is not the country I grew up in. Yes, Apartheid was horrible, but growing up in the country, one believed it to be the norm. It was only when I went to London as a student that I realized the horror of Apartheid. I must add though, that with a strong vicious police force, one could walk the streets at midnight without the fear of today. South Africa today is a country sinking into decay, with rampant crime as “reverse Apartheid” becomes the norm. People live in gated communities in Johannesburg and only go out at night to friends or restaurants that offer security.
Q) What are your memories of London? Do you miss the city?
A) I loved London. As a student aged eighteen years old, I arrived in London in 1953. The last of the war time rationing finished, and the sun was shining, turning London in July into a magical city. During my first days, after I had found digs opposite Battersea Park, I walked the city, loving everything I saw. Five years later, my parents came to fetch me and take me back to South Africa. Had they not, I would never have left.
Do I miss London? Very much. In 1976, I took my wife to London. I showed her a restaurant I always visited, The New Assam restaurant. We sat down at a table, and were given a menu that still showed the thumbprint I had left on it in 1958. When I asked the waiter, “Is your food today as good as it was in 1958?” He answered, “No sir, it is not. It is better.”
Q) Would you ever dare return to South Africa or is it too dangerous for you now?
A) I had to return to South Africa four years after I left and found that it was not the country I could feel safe in. The main street of Potchefstroom where I had my business, the Mooi River Pharmacy, had become a slum. Cape Town was a lot safer than Johannesburg, I believe, because the Cape Province is run by the Democratic Alliance Party, and not the African National Congress as is the rest of the country.
Q) The whole world is changing. Okay moving on– how did you get interested in writing?
A) I started writing my first book, BRAKENSTROOM, after a friend of mine died at a young age. Bernard had a heart attack and I was very upset. I wrote a short story about our friendship. Then I thought I should write about my Grandfather, so that my children would know who he was and how and why he came to South Africa. After that, the stories about people I knew in Potchefstroom simply flowed from my hand to the pages.
Q) Tell me about your book Brakenstroom. What is it about? How do you feel looking back at your first book?
A) BRAKENSTROOM is a book of stories I heard from friends in Potchefstroom. Every story is a true story, although in some instances, I combined two, even three stories into one. Today, when I read it, I can understand why one reader in Potchefstroom wrote to me, “I did not know that my mother had had an affair.” I answered that it wasn’t his mother. The book is still selling today, even though bookstores will not carry it.
Q) What was the catalyst for publishing? Did you always mean to be a published author?
A) I started writing, as I said earlier, because of the death of a friend. I gave my stories to a friend to read, and he told me that I should publish them. Publishers rejected the book, because they said that the stories could not be true, especially the story of Tzippie; but the story actually happened. My uncle was the Doctor, and my father told me the story pleased with the happy ending.
Q) How do you like to write? Do you like music in the background? What gets you into a writing frame of mind?
A) I write in between trading the market. I have my office, where I sit looking out the window at the mountains of Vancouver. The words just flow.
A) I met Marla (not her real name) at the municipal swimming pool, when I was fifteen years old. I would burn dark in the hot sun. Her skin colouring though was even darker. When we went to bioscope (cinema), I had white skin below my swimming costume line to show that I was a White. She could not. I had to ask my father to phone the manager and tell him that Marla was a White. We carried on a friendship for many years as we grew up. Years later, when I was serving my compulsory military training in the Navy, I saw a woman sitting in the coach reserved for non-Europeans on a train. I mentioned this to her mother, and years later, after Marla had married, she told me her story. I promised that I would not tell anyone until she had died. I think she told me the story, because she was lonely. She truly missed her daughter.
The story is how she, born Emily Kleintjies into the Coloured community in Cape Town, found that she could not live as a second class citizen in Apartheid South Africa. She decided to jump the racial barrier and become a White. She succeeded because she had straight hair, blue eyes and light skin. She also made friends who helped her in her efforts.
She had a relationship with Eric O’Neil and slept with him before he went to war. She was scared that if she married him, her coloured staus would be revealed because she never even had a birth certificate to show. She fell pregnant, and Marla was born. Eric was killed at Tobruk.
The first book, Emma, is about Emily’s struggle to become a White and how Charlie Stuart, a Scotsman who had settled in Potchefstroom and secretly fought the Apartheid government, helped her.
The second book is about Emma’s daughter, Marla. The story is how I met her; how she joined me when I was a student in London. How she eventually met and married Bertie, and why today, she is not living in South Africa.
In telling the story of Emma and Marla, I have explained the Apartheid system as introduced by Hendrik Verwoerd, so that the reader can live with us the way we lived.
I wrote the book after I had written Brakenstroom. It took me close to five years to write and brought back many painful memories. The editing was a nightmare, with my editor, Lynn Thompson, forcing me to rewrite the story. “You will write it as though it is a movie,” she commanded.
Q) How are the public taking to your work?
A) Readers who have read the book have thoroughly enjoyed it. The best compliment I received was from the sixteen year old daughter of a friend of my son’s. “Uncle Jack,” she said, “I read your book, and I loved it. It was wonderful.” I felt good, because here was a review that I had not asked for. To date, I have had only two women tell me that they could not finish the book. Both women lived in South Africa and found the memories of Apartheid too painful.
Q) How would you like to be remembered as a writer?
A) I would like to be remembered as a writer who writes a good, interesting story.
Q) Do you keep up with current events in SA? If so, how do you feel about the changes that have taken place?
A) South Africa today is going the way the rest of Africa has gone. President de Klerk, when he negotiated with Nelson Mandela, wanted a government of proportional representation. Nelson Mandela insisted on majority rule. The ANC is destroying the country. Crime and corruption is rampant. Members of parliament, including the president are robbing the country. Zuma, the president, spent R2.5 million of government money improving his house. Members of Parliament who are stealing money through excessive expenses are forgiven and carry on with their theft, while young students leaving universities cannot find jobs and turn to crime to support themselves. South Africa is a disaster where White farmers are murdered; where African invaders rob and kill for a few Rand. One can understand why Oscar Pistorius believed that his home was being invaded by robbers and shot at a closed door, not realizing that it was his girlfriend behind the door. That is the fear pervading South African whites today. With the African, rape of African women is the highest in the world.
Q) Well, I better ask a lighter question now! What are your current projects?
A) I would like to get my books out there, so that I can retire and write more. I have plenty more stories to tell, all true and all interesting.
Q) How do you feel about promotion? What are your thoughts on the process?
A) I truly do not know. I had an interview with one radio broadcaster and three book club promoters, amongst many others, and sales of my book were simply not there. But, one must not give up hope. I have concluded that authors simply do not read other authors’ books even though they quickly give a ‘like’ or a review. Finding the public that does read books is not that easy. Newspapers who promote books only promote known authors, as do radio stations. Book clubs only read and discuss authors who have become successful, by writing books that have porn, like Fifty Shades of Grey. These are books that are accepted by publishing houses and win the various competitions out there that are only available to published books.
With the revolution occurring in today’s publishing industry it has become very difficult to have a publisher even look at one’s book. This has become a deterrent to writing.
Lloyd Tackitt is a man you can’t just pin down. His many obligations mean that you grab interview time when you can. Luckily, this guy doesn’t give up and I managed to get Novel Ideas another exclusive interview with a writer who will soon release his brand new bestseller. What is it about Tackitt that makes him one of the elite bestsellers? I think it’s probably a mix of sincerity and talent. I also think he knows his subject so well he can just write about it and get the reader instantly hooked. Yeah, I have babbled on enough. Let’s go see what Lloyd has to say…
Q) How does it feel to be on the verge of releasing your brand new book Eden’s Warriors?
Nervous. I’ve been nervous with each release. I start thinking negative thoughts like “No one is going to like this;” “I really should rewrite it just one more time;” “Should I have left that scene in?” Thoughts of that nature – and actually it’s fun to be nervous. Being nervous is being very alive and in the moment, so I enjoy it, odd as that sounds.
Q) How did you find the writing process? Do you think it’s easier to write about Adrian Hunter now or is it harder?
A) Harder, definitely. Adrian (the protagonist in the Distant Eden series) is growing in complexity with each book. His personality and character are becoming more defined. He’s growing as a person as larger and larger challenges are thrust upon him.
Q) How would you describe the character of Adrian Hunter?
A) Adrian is what every man secretly wants to be. He is tall and muscular and very, very fast and deadly as hell and handsome and has a cool scar and he is always getting into one adventure after another and he never gets rattled. He walks into a room and people can’t help but stare for a moment because he has what’s called ‘Presence’. And he doesn’t do it on purpose; he’s barely even aware of it.
H.L. Mencken once said, “Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.” And that’s the truth, all normal men feel that way from time to time. Adrian goes out and does it, but for the good guys.
Q) Of the four books in the series, which one did you enjoy writing the most and why?
A) The one that should be out next month – Eden’s Warriors. That story just pulled me along with it. I had the overall story in mind before I started writing, I knew where the pinch points would be, etc. Then I more or less turned Adrian loose and just followed and watched to see what he would do. When I was in the flow of writing, it was actually more like reading. I was there in that world and part of it. I wasn’t aware of being in a chair with a keyboard. I was in Adrian’s world and had little idea what might happen next. That was fun, and I was surprised more than once by the twists and turns.
Q) Do you ever foresee an end to the Eden series? If so, I have to ask! Then what?
A) Yes, I think so. I see a total of six books in this series, at least I do right now. The last book will tie into a couple of scenes I put into an earlier book with the last book in mind. If I get enough feedback from readers, I might just write more of them. There is a certain sense of responsibility I feel towards the Eden Series readers. So, depending on them, I might carry it on a while longer.
I am also itching to begin writing a detective series. I have a character in mind that I think is going to be a lot of fun to write, and I hope, to read.
Q) How does it feel to be a writer who actually sells books?
A) To be honest it’s a feeling that is best described as unreal. It’s way cool, kind of scary, and a lot of fun. I hope I never get used to the feeling.
Q) Lloyd, your other love is fishing. I have to ask! Fishing or writing? Which is your first love?
A) Tough choice. I don’t think I can choose between them – they both have their own time in my life. Fishing is seasonal and mostly a daylight thing, while writing is not so restricted. I can write any time of year or time of day, so the two fold together nicely.
Q) How do you feel about the concept of the Distant Eden Series?
A) Are you ready for the end of the world as we known it? Oh, hell no! I don’t want that world to happen. It would be an incredibly hard life, but unfortunately there is no reason to think it can’t happen. We had a solar storm in 1859, the Carrington Event, that would most likely cause the devastation in today’s world that I described in the Eden series. There is no reason to think it won’t happen again. None.
You won’t believe this guys.. I also managed to get Novel Ideas an exclusive look at the brand new cover art for Eden’s Warriors… Stay tuned for that! Also, don’t forget to check out the whole Distant Eden series here.
Michael Haden is a writer with a message. He wants to spread the word about drink driving. I think his intentions are honourable, and when he approached me for this interview, I knew that it could well be one of the most thought provoking things I have ever written. Michael has taken the life of one young girl he coached, who was sadly killed in a drink driving accident, and has written the rest of her life. He has taken all the would-be questions and turned them into a story with a moral. The book is called A Deal With God. Is it a fascinating read? Yes. A bestseller? Sure, 30,000 copies and rolling. I think most of all, this book is a book that asks why we continually drink and drive? Why do we have to endanger the lives of others? Why can’t we be responsible enough to take a taxi or walk? I think Michael is an excellent writer with a great book, but I am pretty sure he would be the first to admit that he wishes he never had to write it…
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