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Beverly A. Rearick:
What genre do you write?
Darby Roach:
Pulp Fiction/ Noir. I like the raw, gritty underbelly stuff. I used to read a lot of comic books when I was a kid. Green Lantern, Superman, etc. Then, as a teenager, I got into Edgar Rice Burroughs, his John Carter, Man of Mars books, and I fooled around trying to write that kind of thing. It wasn't until I discovered Noir in the form of Elmore Leonard's books that I began writing the way I do. Leonard, Hammett, Chandler - all those guys make it read so easy.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What genres would you like to write?
Darby Roach:
See above
Beverly A. Rearick:
Where do you get your ideas?
Darby Roach
From the news, from people around me, from books, movies - sometimes I'll be walking down the street and an idea will pop into my head from god knows where. I love setting up situations and seeing where they lead.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Do you pattern your characters after any real people?
Darby Roach:
Oh yeah. I remember I had a boss who always gave me a bad time. I wrote his character into a story I was working on and really gave him hell. I guess it was a way of letting off my aggression in a positive way.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What authors do you admire?
Darby Roach:
Elmore Leonard, Dashell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, all the Noir writers.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What authors do you read?
Darby Roach:
I don't really choose books on who wrote them as much as I do by the book itself. I browse the bookstores a lot and if I see something that looks good, I'll buy it and take it home. I've hit on some really good stuff that way.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What genres do you read?
Darby Roach:
I'll read anything that strikes my fancy. I'm reading the shop manual for the 1950 Chevrolet Deluxe right now. It's pretty cool.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What other genres do you see yourself writing?
Darby Roach:
Someday I'd like to take a stab at historical fiction. I'm working on a book now that has an element of historical fiction in it. Part of the story involves the building of the Grand Coulee Damn on the Columbia River during the 30's.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
Darby Roach:
Well, my day job is creative director for an ad agency and I write and design a lot of ads. I really dig that, but someday, I'd like to just write novels. We'll see.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Do you see yourself ever not writing?
Darby Roach:
I love to write. When I'm working on a book, I go to this place in my mind where I get to make the rules. I enter a kind of trance and I'm really living out this situations I write about. I guess it's kind of a Walter Mitty trip.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What books do you have planned in the near future?
Darby Roach:
I have so many ideas for books, I couldn't get them all out if I lived to be 200. I think the more you write, and the more you live, the more ideas you have.
Beverly A. Rearick:
How did you get started writing?
Darby Roach:
I used to write and illustrate comic books when I was a kid. Then as a teenager, I wrote science fiction. When I was in graduate school, I wrote a thesis. I tried to write my first book during this time I was a college professor, but I couldn't really get it going. It wasn't until I was involved in a fatal mountain climbing accident (my best buddy was killed and I was nearly killed) that I was able to finish writing a novel cover to cover. After that, I just couldn't stop writing.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What age were you when you started to write?
Darby Roach:
God, I don't know. Pretty young. I used to make up stories and tell them to the other kids in the neighborhood. I'm sure that was before I could read. I remember, I told my little friends once that I had a ghost in my house and that I'd had a conversation with him. Every day after that, the other kids would ask me about the ghost, and I'd have to make new things up to tell them. Man, I'd lay awake at night making up stories about this ghost so I would have something for the kids the next day.
Beverly A. Rearick:
When is your next book due?
Darby Roach:
I have two in the editing stage. One is a paperback, one an e-book. Both were supposed to come out in the spring, but it's taking more time than I thought to get them right. I want my books to be well written and well designed, and boy, that takes a lot of people and a lot of time. I hope they'll both be published by fall.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Was there any author or authors that helped you get your start in writing, or helped you break into the field?
Darby Roach:
I had an agent, Jenny Bent, and she helped me a lot. She demanded perfection, and wouldn't show my books to publishers until she thought they were right. Jenny drove me crazy sometimes, but she showed me where it was at.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What do you feel makes your books unique or stand out from others in your genre?
Darby Roach:
My goal as a writer is to make something I'd personally like to read. I come from a very poor background, and I grew with some pretty screwy people in some pretty screwy circumstances - which provides a rich source for material. I don't know that my writing is unique, but I like it, it's character-driven,weird, but real.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What made you choose the genres you write?
Darby Roach:
Its more like it chose me. I write in a voice that is comfortable and that is me. I don't try to put on airs, or make my characters unrealistically heroic or put them in unrealistically heroic situations. Sometimes it can be hard to be totally honest and real, but that's what I work for. Some critics say my writing is sloppy. Maybe it is, but that's me. What can I say? Hemingway said his goal was to write one true sentence. Hey, that's good enough for me.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Do you have a special subgenre?
Darby Roach:
No.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Do you have a favorite place you like to write?
Darby Roach:
Writing happens all the time. It happens in your head no matter where you are. At some point you have to sit down and put the words down on paper, but that's only one part of writing.
Beverly A. Rearick:
In what order do you write? For example starting beginning to end, combining parts, in random order or in development cycle?
Darby Roach:
I try to get it all down as fast as I can so I don't lose the flow, the rhythm of the dialogue and story. Then I go back and refine, refine, refine. My first book went through more than a hundred revisions.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Do you feel that the e-books offer authors a bit more freedom of expression in their books?
Darby Roach:
Definitely. E-books are not such a big deal as a printed book, so there's less investment from the publisher's end. I've had editors make suggestions, but so far no one has made me change anything. Come to think of it, I don't know if that's good or bad.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What do you feel is, or isn't being done to promote authors?
Darby Roach:
Very little is being done that I can see. But, hell, thee are a lot of us and most of us aren't that good. I liken e-books to the pulp magazines of the 50's. It's a place where a writer who hasn't made it yet can get some exposure, and then, well, who knows?
Beverly A. Rearick:
Do you feel that the marketing departments have their finger on the pulse of readers?
Darby Roach:
I'm in advertising and I know a little about marketing. Everything you try to sell is going to have a different audience. It's very expensive to define an audience and then develop a marketing strategy and materials to sell to that audience. There is not the resources in e-book publishing yet to make that kind of commitment, so no, I don't see how e-book marketing is very sophisticated at this time.
Beverly A. Rearick:
How do you feel about the review rating systems?
Darby Roach:
I don't know anything about them. I know I got a two-star once and it really pissed me off.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Through what venues do you feel most of your books are being sold?
Darby Roach:
My publishers, Boson and Electron Press sell over their own web sites. Boson sells at Barnes & Noble and Powells and few others. I never know where my books are selling.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What do you feel is the best part of the publishing industry?
Darby Roach:
Getting published.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What do you feel needs to be changed about the industry?
Darby Roach:
They should publish more of my books.
Beverly A. Rearick:
Do you think small press and e-books will be the wave of the future?
Darby Roach:
Well, e-books aren't going to replace the big publishers any time soon, but as soon as the hardware and distribution problems are sorted out, e-books could really take off. Hey, look at the Palm Pilot.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What of your published books is your favorite? Why?
Darby Roach:
Steep. It was my first book and the one that convinced me I could be a writer.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What do you feel is the worst piece of advice anyone ever gave you about writing?
Darby Roach:
Give it up.
Beverly A. Rearick:
What is the best?
Darby Roach:
Don't give it up.
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