Hi! I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us today about
yourself and your writing.
What genres do you write?
I write romance and adventure together. The “Haye” series is set
in medieval times. The Roses of Haye is romance in the foreground and swashbuckling,
good vs. evil in the background. Jane of Haye is adventure in the foreground
and romance in the background. I cannot seem to write without including a
healthy dose of humor and intrigue.
Where do you get your ideas?
My venture into writing began because I wanted to do something romantic for
my wife. I suppose the grain for the story lines is due to years of listening
to stories, reading books, and watching movies set in medieval times.
How do you come up with your characters?
I try to imagine that if I actually lived in the setting of my stories, what
kind of people what I meet? I also have to create the kind of character I
need to set the intrigue or humor lines into motion.
Are they based on real people or pure imagination?
It’s a little of both. Some of the experiences acted out by some of
my characters are based upon events in my life. Other characters have personalities
based upon a character I’ve met, seen in the movies, or on television.
In one case, I asked someone, “If you lived in that era, what kind of
person would you want to be?” When she gave me the details, I brought
her to life. For me, that’s part of the enjoyment of writing, bringing
ideas to life.
For villains, many times I ask myself, “What is the most wretched thing
this guy could do?” That’s not too difficult to imagine if anyone
spends time watching the evening news.
What books do you have planned for the near future?
Faux Pearls and The Mythical Rose of Haye are both works in progress.
When is your next book due out?
There is no timeline for publishing as of the moment.
Can we have a sneak summary?
The Mythical Rose of Haye is a quest for a legendary rose with magical powers
and the key to a vast fortune hidden on a remote island and as with all of
the Haye series is set in medieval times. The characters will have to overcome
perils to reach their destination – never certain if the rose actually
exits. The reader will explore the feelings of a young man who is separated
from his fiancé during this quest, the struggle of another character
who is traveling with a superior who cheated the former out of a job advancement,
and another character who finds himself falling in love with a lovely young
woman. There will be supporting characters to help infuse intrigue, danger,
and humor.
Faux Pearls is set in modern times and is written in a new art form called
a novable – a combination of a novel and a fable in which it is the
author’s intent to teach life’s lessons through a story line –
like Aesop used to do with his fables, but instead of a short story, it is
done through a novel. Three young executives, two males and one female, with
eyes fixed on climbing to the very top of the corporate ladder discover a
genie in a bottle. When David opens the bottle, the genie grants him one wish,
and David asks that he and his friends head a multimillion-dollar, international
corporation. The only problem is the genie is more interested in teaching
them about life and he only gives them the pathway to the top. They will travel
to a small town in the US, then to a tropical island in the South Pacific,
and back home. There will be challenges, the possibility of romance, and some
self-introspection into what is truly important in life.
Do you have any book signings/appearances in the future?
I just completed my last scheduled one.
What do you feel makes your books unique or stand out from others in your
genre?
Because I write for my wife, the book has to have enough of a story line so
that it is not predictable. Since I enjoy humor, it’s going to have
plenty of that. I don’t fill the pages with lots of excess words of
detailed descriptions about clothing or the setting. When I read, I want to
see things happening, not read about insignificant details. So the stories
I write move with a lot of things that are happening.
As with bringing characters to life, the cover photo on Jane of Haye was
photographed and suggested to me by a friend that manufactures medieval clothing.
So it was somewhat homemade rather than designed by the publishing industry.
Do you have a special subgenre and if so what is it?
The Roses of Haye is written as an epic. All 300+ pages are written in rhyming
couplets. People that read it normally say that the rhythm flows with the
story line.
Do you have a favorite place that you like to write?
Normally, I write in my bedroom - propped up on the bed. The laptop computer
sets comfortably on my lap. There are no distractions from the television
or other modern day conveniences that make noise.
In what order do you write? (Beginning to End; combining parts; in random
order; development cycle).
I always write beginning to end, though with The Roses of Haye, I wrote the
final chapter first. That’s because my original intent was to write
my wife a short story only. She liked it so much that she suggested I have
it published. Because I had tied the story line up so neatly at the end, the
only way I could expand it into a novel was to write backwards in time.
What do you like about what is/isn't being done to promote authors?
There are a lot of new authors out there, so I appreciate sites that feature
new authors.
Do you think that marketing departments have their "fingers on the pulse
of readers?"
As with all industries, I think marketing departments have their fingers on
cookie-cutter approaches. It reminds me of the old story about picking a good
place to eat while you’re traveling cross-country. “Just look
for the places where all the truck drivers eat. They know all the good places.”
In reality, what probably happened was a trucker got hungry and stopped at
the first place he saw. Then another trucker saw the rig parked, and decided
to eat with someone he might know, and the two rigs attracted another trucker,
and so on. It had little to do with food quality.
I think the same of marketing departments – whatever worked the last
time and made money is a good enough approach this time. Don’t let the
facts of the reader’s interest get in the way.
How do you feel about the review rating system and its affects on public
opinion?
I don’t really have an opinion on this one.
In what kind of venues can we find your books?
Right now it’s on-line bookstores – Amazon.com most prominently
as well as directly from the publishers.
What do you feel is the best aspect of the Publishing Industry?
They still meet a need of the consumer. They provide books that people buy.
Due to the proliferation of small publishing companies, new authors have a
chance to break in.
What do you feel could stand to be "tweaked" so to speak?
I have used a small publisher and a mid-sized publisher. At that level and
in my experiences, there is a lack of quality marketing. The solution is for
the author to bear the brunt of the effort. It’s always “send
us several thousand dollars and we will get a slick media campaign going for
you” or “buy hundreds of books and send them to reviewers.”
I think the publisher would better spend their efforts at culling books -
perhaps before print (they claim they do – and maybe they do) but then
go the next step and spend their resources and expertise to get a promising
author on the way. They should look at one or two of their authors as professional
sports teams look at “franchise players.” They should coach them
and groom them with the goal of growing their companies on the successes of
these authors.
With the rise of the E-book publishers and small press, do you think they
will be the wave of the future?
E-books is an interesting concept, but for the older generation, they will
find it’s hard to curl up with an electronic gizmo in bed. One can’t
dog-ear pages either. Book swaps are limited to only those who have an electronic
reader. So I think it’s a little too soon for this technology to be
accepted by the masses in our culture – though it has great promise
for the future. However, there is a great fan base now I would love to have
my works listed with an E-book source.
The biggest concern with small publishers is their inability to produce a
book that can be sold at a competitive price. They also lack clout with bookstores.
They will always be here, but perhaps their biggest contribution will be to
help launch a new author that one day may become a household name –
but then I’d guess that author would find him or herself with one of
the major houses.
How do you think the E-book industry has affected the Publishing industry?
My first publishing company predicted E-books would be the rave within 5 years
(that was 4 years ago) but they haven’t made it happen even for themself.
My second publisher has changed their E-book affiliate, yet still finds the
venture not worth the effort.
Is there anything else you would like to add that we haven't covered?
I think one of the things that separates me from a lot of others is the “Why”
I write. I don’t have visions of taking the publishing industry by storm
or ideas that I will be a millionaire. I write because I enjoy it, because
I like doing romantic things for my wife, because I like bringing characters
to life, and because I like trying art forms like the epic and now the novable.
Mostly, I hope when my reader is through, he or she will have had an enjoyable
experience.
I’d like to figure out a way to give others a chance to have their
characters come alive in one of my stories.
