Smashwords Interview

This interview was conducted by Smashwords through their usual means. Despite the fact that I decided that I didn't like the way that they conducted business, I do like the interview.

So, I kept it.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?

The story was "Tom Swift and His Flying Lab" .... for some reason the idea of a completely equipped lab which could fly at mach plus speeds appealed to me, to no end. What really grabbed my attention though, was the fact that unlike many science fiction stories of the time, it had a lot of scientific references. Even weirder, the more of them I checked out, the more I learned about the science they spoke of ..... I was hooked.

Those stories led me to other authors with the same bent, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov.

Eventually, I began to use the stories to get an idea of what could happen when problems were attacked in the same way as engineering issues, without regard for anything other than solving the problem.

What are your five favorite books, and why?

"I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov ..... It presents a broad look at the future history of robotics; the challenges they'll face and the sometimes surprising solutions that evolve.

"Time Enough for Love" by Robert A Heinlein .... The history and adventures of one Lazarus Long, complete with some remarkably pragmatic advice on human situations of the future. The truly shocking part is that most of that very same advice is equally applicable to the real here and now.

"The Childe Cycle" which is also known as "The Dorsai Series" by Gordon R Dickson .... This is a wonderful series of short stories, novellas and complete novels which had been planned to span a time period from the 14th to the 24th century. The complexity and the way it was meant to be interwoven with actual historical events make me wish that Mr. Dickson had managed to complete it before his death.

What is your e-reading device of choice?

For the most part I prefer books about survival, field guides to various subjects such as edible or medicinal plants, anthropology, botany and military texts; in addition to science fiction.

Describe your desk

A wild melange of computer equipment, photographs I'd taken on past expeditions; various survival gear and weaponry.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

I spent most of my time growing up in a small farm community and pretty much ran wild in the back country surrounding it.
When it was time for my martial arts training to begin, I constantly traveled between there, and Cleveland.
As I grew older, I more or less bounced between the farm town, Cleveland and Canada, exploring the area north of Toronto.

When did you first start writing?

I had taught myself to read and write because I considered books to have a special kind of magic. I loved the stories my mother read to me and wanted to learn more about them.

I dabbled in writing from the first time I successfully strung a few sentences together and even experimented with producing comics, when I met an actual cartoonist we both got a surprise. Me, on learning that the actual drawings they created were a lot larger than I thought, and him, in seeing just exactly how much detail could be put into the published panel size by hand.

When I finally decided on writing as a medium to express my creativity, I was in the eighth grade.

There was a short story competition and I dearly wanted to win the books they were offering as a prize. Well, not only did I manage to win the books, but I also got one of my stories printed in a small science fiction magazine.

I was hooked ..... and found out that writing can be even more of an addiction than reading.

What's the story behind your latest book?

This is a particularly interesting question ..... my wife, Jackie, wanted a way to help me with some PTSD related issues which arose shortly before my first published book. That book, and the series it initiated, were all due to her encouragement.

I found that writing in the zombie apocalypse genre called on my experiences in pretty much every field of study I've ever gotten involved with including my experiences in the military, back country rescue and law enforcement. It also challenged my technical knowledge and my ability to research because my stories aren't just the "let's throw a bunch of stuff that sounds scientific together and see what happens" kind of stuff.

I find those type of stories tremendously insulting to my intelligence because in most cases even the most rudimentary of scientific knowledge shows the gaps in the persons education.

The first story I wrote in that genre, "Sojourn in the Jungle" was vetted by a medical researcher of my acquaintance. I was holding my breath for the entire time he had the story. When he sent me his evaluation of it he had me make a series of changes to the story.

Thinking that I'd missed something I thanked him for bringing the story up to speed. There was a notable pause in our messaging and then he told me that the story hadn't been missing anything.

The story had, in fact, scared hell out of him.

Precisely because my random scribblings and research had detailed one way in which a zombie apocalypse could happen.
The changes he wanted?
Those were to help keep it from happening ......

All I was able to say, on reading that news, was 'damn'.

I've also received communications from various medical students and professionals stating that my zombies were what they would have suspected could happen if such a plague did exist.

There are few times I've been more complimented, in my life.

What do your fans mean to you?

Considerably more than I suspect they would understand.

Particularly when they tell me that I'd nailed it about some detail in their field of expertise, or they tell me that things haven't changed that much since my day when we used whatever practice I wrote of in the story.

When they tell me I'd gotten something wrong is even more helpful, then I'll go back and read the affected passage. Making notes about it in the margins of a copy of the book. If it changes the story too much, with apologies, I explain why it can't be changed. But if I ever ran into enough comments about errors in any one volume of the series, I would definitely go back and make a revised edition, complete with notations in the back aobut what was changed and who gets the credit for bringing it to my attention.

What are you working on next?

Right now I'm in kind of a lax period while I collect more material for Volume 4, but I do expect to be starting it soon.

I also have a novel on the back burner, that's going to be getting more attention eventually; that one is a re-telling of the 'shape shifter' and 'night beast' mythos. I believe I may have a new take on them that could be more interesting than just "grab the garlic and the silver bullets, we're going hunting" kind of stories.

I also don't have much use for sparkly vampires .......

Who are your favorite authors?

Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Gordon R Dickson, Phillip K Dick, Gene Roddenberry and Isaac Asimov, in no particular order.

Keep in mind though that these are just the science fiction authors who first come to mind because I'd also have to list Jack Kerouac, Jack London, e.e. cummings, Farley Mowat and others.

I have a very broad range of reading material in my possession.

Published 2014-10-08.