Will Green: Is Laura Lee your real name or pen name?

Laura Lee: Yes Laura Lee is my real name.

Will Green: Is there a reason you didn't go with a pen name?

Laura Lee: I don't think I could come up with a better one than Laura Lee.

Will Green: Alright I suppose that’s a pretty good excuse. Tell us about your books that you have available?

Laura Lee: I have written 12 non-fiction books and the novel Angel. The biggest seller was The Pocket Encyclopedia of Aggravation, which came out in 2001, and sold 85,000 copies. I have also written one children's book A Child's Introduction to Ballet. My most recent non-fiction was a book called Broke is Beautiful about the joys of being broke.

Will Green: Clearly you're pretty established out there ...85,000 WOW! What made The Pocket Encyclopedia of Aggravation so popular?

Laura Lee: I did a lot of radio interviews to promote it. When it first came out I was doing two and three interviews a day. The publisher did a really good job with the promotions.  It came out right after the September 11 attacks, it was slated to come out that week, as I recall.  So I hadn't expected to get any media attention at all.  People seem to be amused by life's little annoyances. It is universal. The fact that I have not sold that many copies of any of my books since shows that I don't really know what made it that popular. 

Will Green: Oh so it was more of a novelty item then anything else, but people really flock to those. What are each of the rest you have listed there about? I guess A Child's Introduction to Ballet is fairly self explanatory. What about Angel and Broke is Beautiful.

Laura Lee: I don't know if I would use the term novelty item, but it was a good impulse purchase.  It is one of those books that takes massive amounts of research to write and that can be read very quickly. I did a lot of those, The 100 Most Dangerous Things in Every Day Life was another. I did a book called Blame it on the Rain with Harper Collins that was a challenge to research.  I looked a times when weather may have changed the course of history.  I enjoy reading about history so that is where the book came from.  One of my favorites was The Elvis Impersonation Kit for which I interviewed Elvis tribute artists.  It was packaged as a novelty gift box with sideburns and a CD.  But I had the opportunity to just have fun and exercise my humor.  I'm on Goodreads, so you can see my full list of titles there.  It gets to the point where you've written an annoying number of books.  Like people say, “bring some of your other books” and you pull out this huge stack and they look at you a little sideways.

The novel, Angel, which I am promoting now is about this:
Since the loss of his lively, charming wife to cancer six years ago, minister Paul Tobit has been operating on autopilot, performing his church duties by rote. Everything changes the day he enters the church lobby and encounters a radiant, luminous being lit from behind, breathtakingly beautiful and glowing with life. An angel. For a moment Paul is so taken by his vision that he is tempted to fall on his knees and pray.

Even after he regains his focus and realizes that he has only seen a flesh-and-blood young man, Paul cannot shake his sense of awe and wonder. He feels an instant and overwhelming attraction to the young man, which puzzles him even as it fills his thoughts and fires his feelings. Paul has no doubt that God has spoken to him through the vision and he must figure out what God is asking him to do.

Thus begins a journey that will inspire Paul's ministry, but will put him at odds with the church he loves as he is forced to examine his deeply held beliefs about himself, his community and the nature of love.

Broke is Beautiful is my most recent non-fiction book and it is about the creativity that comes from financial constraints. I just learned that it has been published in China to my surprise and delight. 

Will Green: I think I know several people who would be interested in Angel. I’m sure it would hit home with a lot of church goers.

Laura Lee: One of the best experiences I've had with Angel was joining in a book club discussion at a UCC church.  I was really grateful and appreciative to have my title selected and it was a great opportunity to be able to speak with people who had read the book.  I'm hoping to have more invitations like that.  I met some interesting people and it is always interesting to learn what people responded to, what they brought to the book, what they took away.  Writers don't write books, you know, it is a combination of a writer and a reader that creates a book.  So when I get to speak to a reader, and they tell me what they read, I get to experience a new story.  It's like in the old days when people told stories around the fire.

Will Green: That must give you a great sense of pride to sit down and hear your story through a reader's perspective. Congratulations on breaking into China with Broke is Beautiful. That’s amazing! It must be pretty good, I’ll be picking up my copy.

Laura Lee: I'm quite surprised it has been sold in China.  Apparently it's already out there.  I just learned about it.  It seems like such an American book.  I'm really curious to know why they are interested in it over there.  A few of my books have been translated.  The one with Harper Collins was translated into two or three Asian languages and I remember doing a Japanese interview for that.  The Pocket Encyclopedia of Aggravation was available in French.  The only one of my translations that I could actually read.  When you get a copy of your book in Chinese characters you're so curious to know what was left out for Chinese culture and how different expressions were translated.  

Will Green: Yeah I guess it would make you wonder if your message is still getting across the way you intended in a new language. What can you tell us about your next project?

Laura Lee: A year and a half ago I started writing a sequel to the novel, Angel, and am about 2/3 done with it, but I don't know if I'll finish it. I also have a concept for a philosophical book about ballet that I might try to sell. I do ballet master class tours with a Russian dancer and we have a lot of friends in America in the dance world.

Will Green: What happened that you seemed to have lost interest in carrying on with Angel?  I say go for your ballet book you have in mind. You're already in the business so getting a following wouldn't be hard at all for you.

Laura Lee: Angel is available. It has been getting very good reviews, but so far this hasn't translated into sales. It doesn't seem to make sense to finish a sequel to a novel if the original novel itself hasn't found its audience. If Angel starts to get attention and people seem to want to know more about the characters I will probably be motivated to finish the sequel that I started. At the moment there is a certain sense of futility about it. 

Will Green: That’s a good point. I guess now you just have to really sell those characters.

Laura Lee: I started the sequel because I'd become so attached to the characters and finishing the book felt like a loss.  I was no longer able to write them and imagine them.  Someone suggested I should keep going.  I said, “but the story is done.”  Then I had the thought of telling the same story from the perspective of the other main character, beginning earlier and going on beyond the point where the original story ends.  I had been working on another novel a bit, but I got excited about this idea and I started focusing on it.  It got me out of my post-Angel depression to work on it.  The thing with another story, though, is that you run the risk of messing up what you did in the first place.  Every person has a different impression of the characters and the story.  Readers create their own experiences and they have different ideas about the back story and the motivations that are not spelled out.  I worry that providing more information about Ian might take away some of his mystery.

It's very close to being finished, so part of me says to just finish it.  

Will Green: Where do you get the information for your books?

Laura Lee: It depends on the project. The fiction is from imagination and life. Non-fiction books come from basic research. I've done primary historical research, interviews, internet research and a lot of book reading.

Will Green: So you don't have one specific place to go for your research?

Laura Lee: No. How you research depends on what type of information you're seeking.

Will Green: That’s true. What was the most surprising thing you've learned since you started writing?

Laura Lee: I've been writing for a long time now so it is hard to remember a time before I did. I was surprised by the novel Angel at how much the writing just flowed once the pieces were all there. I feel as though I learned how to be a writer on that one, that all of the years of writing finally coalesced and I put what I had been learning into practice. I learned how to really make use of what I was getting from my subconscious. The inspiration came to me when I had internalized the craft part of writing to such an extent that I didn't need to focus on that any more.

From an audience perspective, I've been surprised to learn that your most accomplished book may not be your best seller. As a writer, I feel as though going from something like Aggravations to Broke is Beautiful, in which I was able to express my own point of view more, was a step forward, an evolution.  But Broke did not sell as well as Aggravation, and so far the novel has sold the least of all, which is, I suppose to be expected.

I used to have an almost religious faith that if you found your voice and produced something that people responded to that it would simply become known through recommendations and word of mouth. The work was the key. The important part was developing the skill to tell the story so that it came as close as it could to the version in your head. You will never write anything as beautiful as you experience it inside, but you work on the craft in order to get as close as you can. I've been getting great reviews on my novel, but I'm still waiting for that word-of-mouth snowball to get large enough to roll down the hill. The reviews, so far, haven't really led to sales.

Will Green: Wow that's pretty deep, Laura. You're at a point in you're writing where you can just sit back and let your subconscious lead the way to bring the pieces together. Amazing!

I don’t think it’s quite as simple as letting the people spread the word. You gotta give those people a kick every once in a while to get them spreading the word. Well this interview is all about getting the word of mouth out there about you and your books. I hope we can help you achieve some kind of snowball effect. And you’re right, that beautiful picture you’ve painted in your head will never be fulfilled in the words you can put down.

Laura Lee: I do appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about my books.  Part of marketing a book, especially fiction, is that it has to get its own momentum. A number of studies have shown that the most common way that people decide to pick up a book is through recommendations from friends, either in person or through their on-line social networks. So when I say that I am waiting on the snowball to form I am not saying that I am not proactive in promotions. Reviews, even good reviews, don't necessarily inspire people to go out and buy a book. That is what I am discovering with Angel. It has a lot of excellent reviews and I'm grateful for that.

Interviews make people aware that you exist. Having the book in front of people makes it possible that they'll consider it, but when it comes down to it, you need enough people doing that and then telling their friends. That part is beyond your control as an author.  Especially with a book like Angel which has a theme that makes some people uncomfortable. Some people will see the theme, or see the "other books" people bought with it on a commercial site, and they are all gay romances because that was the first audience for the book, and they might say, "that's not the kind of thing I read" and not explore any further.

You need many voices out there explaining what it is and isn't. You need people saying, "you might not think this is the kind of thing you'd read, but..." So there is no surefire formula, short of being a celebrity and having a huge publisher behind you that is determined to make your book visible to everyone in the world. With a book with a small publisher it is very hard to get the traditional media to take you seriously these days. With my non-fiction I was always able to count on some traditional media interviews and reviews, but I think today self-publishing is so much easier that the editors are bombarded with requests from self-published authors of varying quality. They have trained themselves to tune writers out. My hope is that slowly a word of mouth and online presence for the book will grow to the point that some of the people who wouldn't consider Angel the first time around will consider it.

Will Green: That’s very informative, thank you for breaking it down like that. I guess you just have to keep pushing until something finally gives way and people are picking it up.

How long does it take you to write a book?

Laura Lee: It took me a decade to produce Angel. I worked with the themes for a long time and let my subconscious work on it. The non-fiction books are produced to deadline. I completed Broke is Beautiful in one month in order to get it done before I left on my ballet tour. I don't want to make it sound like the book was just thrown out there. It is probably my best non-fiction. I am a full time writer, so I just did it and nothing else for a month. I worked very long days.

Will Green: Wow! Angel must be your pride and joy if it took you that long to work on it. You are seriously disciplined if you can punch out a book and have it ready to go in a month.

Laura Lee: I feel as though Angel is the next step in my evolution as a professional writer. It's something I've worked toward for a long time. My father was a writer and his dream was to publish "the great American novel." He would always say things like "when you write your novel." It felt a bit like when your parents ask you which college you want to go to rather than whether you want to go to college. It was just sort of expected that I was going to be a writer, and a certain kind of writer, even during the years that I was trying to do other things like being a radio announcer. I inherited the idea that the pinnacle of being a writer was being a novelist. When I was younger I felt a real pressure to write a novel and to make it good. I'm not saying anyone else made me feel that way. I put the pressure on myself. So I worked on it a lot. I was frustrated a lot. Interestingly, after all that work, there came a point where I let myself off the hook and said I didn't have to write a novel. I was good at the non-fiction. I was proud of my body of work. I didn't have to be anything else. Once I allowed myself not to do it, and took that pressure off, that's when it flowed. I was not doing it for anyone else or to prove anything. It was just a joy to write and play. Angel took me out of myself and I was able to just step aside and let the story be told. The thing is, I had to do all of that slog beforehand to get to the point where this was possible. It took years of effort to get to the place of effortlessness. I'm hoping now that it's done that there will be further growth and new works that have that feel to them. I am satisfied with what I managed to do. So I'd like to share it with as many people as possible and to allow the characters to have a life beyond me. I want it to be successful enough to allow me to keep working in this way, to be able to keep learning and growing as a writer. I would prefer to be able to keep exploring what I can do in this new direction rather than going back to what I mastered in the past.

Will Green: That’s an amazing story in itself Laura. That’s reason enough to read Angel, being that you learned so much and grew so much as a writer during its creation. Who or What inspires you to write?

Laura Lee: At this point, I don't really know how not to write. It's a habit. People are always asking me what I'm working on or if I'm writing a book. I'm always writing a book and working on ideas. Whether any of those ideas will be published books is another question.  Some of them have to simmer for a while.

Will Green: How many writers can say actually say that writing is their habit? So you truly just sit down and let it happen?

Laura Lee: I don't know if there is an "it" that happens, but I write every day. I wouldn't call it "writing practice" or "morning pages" or anything like that. That is a bit too goal oriented. I would generally just be writing than doing anything else, and I feel most myself when reading and writing. Most of the writing I do is not intended for publication. It's just a process. I have a habit of writing down my thoughts and some of them prove useful later and most of them don't.

Will Green: I’m truly impressed that you just write everything out like that. And if something comes of it great and if not that’s fine too. Amazing!

Laura Lee: Angel wouldn't exist if it weren't for that approach.  I started it in 2000 after a trip to Mount Rainier.  I had this inspiration from the mountain and from a mountain tour guide I met there who had once been a minister.  It was the kernel of an idea, and I saw potential in it.  I had a feeling of it.  But I couldn't make it work and I abandoned it many times.  I just let it be a background concept and it would get trotted out again from time to time.  I'd try something and abandon it again.  Eventually lightning struck, metaphorically speaking, and the Frankenstein's monster came to life.  I was just waiting for the bolt of electricity to get it to stand up.

Will Green: It's incredible how at the strangest moments inspiration and a clear picture just strikes like that. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Laura Lee: I always start with an idea, write down my thoughts and then go away from it. Whenever I get that sense of writer's block, that it isn't flowing, I stop writing. I take writer's block to be a message that I am missing something or going in the wrong direction or even writing for the wrong reason. Rather than getting mad at myself for not being able to do it, I put the question to my subconscious-- what am I missing here? It is the same whether I am writing a corporate speech or a poem or novel. I need to let my subconscious take the pieces of the puzzle and put them together. I usually get the flash of how the pieces fit while I'm trying to get to sleep or I'm in the shower. So I need things around to write on.

Will Green: Now that you put it in that type of perspective I find myself getting that same exact way doing the interviews I do. Sometimes I get stuck on how I want to reply to a given answer and if I walk away and do something else for awhile, later on I sit back down to keep moving along and boom the answer just comes to me. Once again thanks for breaking things down and putting them in a different perspective.

But please tell me how do you write stuff down in the shower?

Laura Lee: I don't. I get out. I have been known to write things in the bath though. In fact, I do that frequently.

Will Green: Well if you’re always writing something, then that means something is always running through your head and how could you possibly relax in a bath if you’re not writing?

Laura Lee: Usually I read a book, but reading books tends to make me stop to write things.  That's why I don't always finish books.

Will Green: What book are you reading right now?

Laura Lee: I usually have several going at any given moment. I'm on a theology kick right now.  I've been reading The Restored New Testament by Willis Barnstone (a translation of the New Testament) and The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. I've been reading through the New Testament of the Bible in chronological order, the order in which scholars think it was written. I've been reading a lot of books on Biblical interpretation, the development of Christianity and the historical Jesus as well. After writing from the perspective of a Christian minister in Angel, I've become very interested in reading about Christianity. What I take away from it is probably idiosyncratic and unconventional. Then again, I think we all have our own internal theologies. It's conventional to be unconventional.

Will Green: See I’ve tried to read more than one book at a time, but it just doesn’t work for me. It seems like it takes so long to get through just one if I do that. I prefer to concentrate on one and get through it. But you take the cake, you’re reading those deeply religious books at the same time. I agree it is “conventional to be unconventional.”

Now without getting too heavy into the subject would you agree or disagree that there are some contradictions in the story of the Bible?

Laura Lee: Of course there are. There are supposed to be. I would just note that there is not a story of the Bible, it is a collection of works. The different books of the Bible have different perspectives. They are in dialogue with each other. My way of thinking about God is that he did not make a man in his image, he made mankind in his image, and to get as full a picture of God as possible you need to listen to many different perspectives. In fact, the people who compiled the New Testament chose to include the same story told four ways. (The Gospels) They were not stuttering. They were trying to include a richness of perspectives. It frustrates me when people try to "debunk" the Bible by showing its internal contradictions or by saying that this or that wasn't historical or scientific. To me, that is not the point. Whether Jesus was born in a manger in reality is not the point. You can believe that he was and that it is important that he was, or you can believe it is mythological. In either case, the important question is why people are telling this story and what it means. Why have people been telling this story for years? What are we supposed to take from it? Is "that it happened" really the moral of something like the resurrection or Noah and the flood? No, I don't think it is. I don't think that is really the importance of those stories for the people who believe that it literally happened, nor should believing that it didn't literally happen be a reason to abandon those stories or assume they have nothing of value for us today. To me the literalists and the atheist "debunkers" are arguing within the same framework and it sometimes misses the point.

Will Green: That is a very intelligent and well informed response, thank you for that. It’s refreshing to know you are so open minded about all things religion. You don't seem to let yourself be too strict in any one area of religion.

Laura Lee: I see it as a process of discovery.  I don't expect to come to a final conclusion.  I don't want to stop exploring. When it comes to questions of the nature of the universe, I am not sure we're equipped to say we, as human beings, know it all.  Every time you decide you have the absolute answer, you've closed the question.  For most of the big questions, I tend to find that the truth doesn't come down to an either/or question.  The answers tend to be a matter of balance and context.  I do think that the type of religion that speaks to a person has something to do with his personality.  Some people are comfortable with things being more open ended, and some people are not comfortable unless they have things resolved.  I am fine with things being more open ended.

Will Green: Who is your favorite author and why?

Laura Lee: The first author I really responded to was Douglas Adams. I like his dry humor. The second novelist I fell in love with was Milan Kundera. The first of his novels that I read was The Unbearable Lightness of Being. After that I had to read everything he wrote. The Joke was my favorite. I went through an Eastern thought period in the 90s and read Tich Nhat Hahn and poetry by Rumi. More recently I discovered Alain de Botton. He combines two things I have always enjoyed, British dry humor and musing philosophically about life.

He is the first author whose work I admire who is my age. Seeing what he's achieved and knowing he was born at the same time I was makes me feel unaccomplished and jealous!

Will Green: Douglas Adams...he did The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, right? That was a fantastic movie. I’ve never gotten around to reading the book(s) though. Would you recommend those books?

You’re really into spiritual enlightenment and religious beliefs and some of the old British dry humor...gotta love that stuff.

Don’t focus on his success focus on yours. You’ll have your time to shine.

Laura Lee: I hope so. Douglas Adams and Alain de Botton are atheists, incidentally. (Adams was while he was live at any rate.) I haven't read Alain de Botton's latest book yet, but it's on my to do list. It is about how atheists need some of the ritual of religion. So I'm quite interested in that.

Will Green: That's an interesting fact that I had no idea of. I wonder if Adams ideals contributed to his story telling in some form. And there again I know a few people who would be interested in a book you've mentioned. I have a few atheist friends who would probably be interested in Botton's book.

What kind of music do you listen to and why?

Laura Lee: When I was writing Angel I listened to "Calling All Angels" by Train over and over. If they were to make a movie of Angel (I'm not expecting it) I would like to hear that song under the end credits.

Will Green: That was a great song, but like any good song it got played out, but it would definitely fit your book. Well in the meantime while you're waiting for someone to call you about the movie rights you could make your own soundtrack and put that on it.

Laura Lee: The other song would be Peter Case's “Two Angels.”  It really fits the book.  Maybe that would be under the opening credits. 
Will Green: What do you watch on TV and why? 

Laura Lee: I've been watching Six Feet Under on DVD. I'm half way through season 2. I first got it out from the library because I liked Peter Krause in Sports Night. (I recommend Sports Night too.) I like it because the characters have depth and complexity and weirdness.

Will Green: I started liking Peter Krause when he did The Lost Room on SyFy, it was a three part mini-series, but it was really good. I wish they would have carried it on to be a full fledged show...I suppose you could count Warehouse 13 as an extension of that mini-series. After that my wife and I started watching Dirty Sexy Money and he was in it. It was a good show for what it was, but they ended up screwing up the story line and it ended. I think he did Six Feet Under before that...possibly. I’ve never actually watched any episode of Six Feet Under though, sorry to say.

Laura Lee: I tend to watch older series on DVDs that I get from the library and I watch an entire program from beginning to end straight through.

Will Green: That's probably a good idea, instead of feeling like you're tied to a TV series while it's running. It would essentially be an extra long movie.

What kind of advice could you give an aspiring writer?

Laura Lee: I suppose you have to decide what you are "aspiring" to do. Every writer writes with the hope of being read, of course. Aspiring to sales success and having a career is not necessarily the same as aspiring to be the best writer you can be and doing your best work. In the fantasy model of being a famous novelist they go together. I think we all have a dream of producing that great book we were meant to write and having it take off like Harry Potter or being selected for Oprah's Book Club. On the off chance that this doesn't happen, you have to be clear with yourself about what you want from writing. Is it important that it be your career and a way of making a living? Or is it simply important that you continue to learn and grow and master the craft to do your best work? If the focus is on making a living, then you need to develop serious marketing skills and focus on the types of writing that are most likely to pay off. This is one set of skills and different from the set of skills you need to write the next great collection of spiritually infused poetry. One person can have both skills, but it is difficult to put both into practice at the same time. You have a finite number of hours in the day and a finite amount of energy and mental focus. If you decide that it is your calling to write a literary novel or a poetry collection and you aspire to do the best work you can from an artistic point of view regardless of financial success, you need to build up some psychological defenses in order to keep the faith that you are doing what you were meant to do. We live in a world that generally measures success with money and titles. Those are things that are difficult to come by as a writer. Keeping the faith is the hardest part. Simply being proud to have written an excellent poetry chapbook that sold five copies is a big emotional challenge. If you decide to stop writing there will generally not be a big outcry from people telling you must keep doing it. If you still feel as though you are "you" if you're not writing, my recommendation would be to write as a hobby and not to be goal oriented with it. If you don't feel as though you are you unless you are trying to do the best writing you can, and sharing it with an audience, then you probably don't need my advice. You don't have any choice in the matter.

Will Green: I think you’ve really broken it down Laura. Aspire to a particular outcome and set goals to match that outcome. This is some great advice and you make great points with the various directions a writer may go before, during and after getting a little attention.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me Laura. You’re very inspirational when it comes to a lot of things and the advice was tremendous as well. 

Angel on Amazon, Barnes & Noble,and Itineris Press

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Will Green: Is Larry Benjamin your real name or pen name?

Larry Benjamin: My real name is Lawrence but everyone calls me Larry except my father, so yes Larry Benjamin is my real name.

Will Green: That's simple enough. Is there any reason you didn't go with a pen name instead?

Larry Benjamin: There are a couple of reasons actually.  My writing tends to be very emotional and although I write fiction I draw on my experiences.  In my personal life I advocate always bringing one’s authentic self and living out loud so, to me, adopting a pen name seemed like hiding.  Second, I wanted to use my real name to make sure all those kids in school who thought it was okay, who thought it was fun, to bully the skinny sissy boy who was always reading or bent over a notebook furiously scribbling, got a message from me: You may have damaged me but you didn’t break me.

Will Green: Excellent Larry, those are a couple fantastic reasons not to got with a pen name. I hope those who picked on you get that message loud and clear. Tell us about your books that you have available.

Larry Benjamin: Right now there’s just the one, What Binds Us which is my debut novel from Carina Press, scheduled to be released March 19. Next up is a collection of short stories, tentatively titled Damaged Angels. And I’m just starting work on my next novel.

Will Green: March 19th that's a great day, it's my second daughter's birthday. She's going to be five so What Binds Us is bit out of her range right now. What can you tell us about your next project?

Larry Benjamin: Damaged Angels is a collection of short stories written over several years so you can really see my growth as a writer, I think. Damaged Angels is very different to What Binds Us. The stories in the collection were written during a dark period in my history and give voice to the invisible, those conspicuously absent from mainstream fiction: the drug addicts and hustlers, the mentally ill, the confused and the men who fall in love with them, all of them bravely trying to make a place for themselves in the world of normal men.

Will Green: Writer growth and progress through the dark times of your life, sounds like a hell of a combination a lot of people could be interested in, including myself. Does it read like a journal? Or is it how you said, a series of short stories?

Larry Benjamin:  It doesn’t read like a journal; it’s a series of stand-alone stories that have similar themes. They’re intensely emotional stories with lots of imagery.  One story is written as a series of letters and is loosely based on the Stations of the Cross; it gets really interesting because there is a “resurrection” after which the letter writer continues writing. Another story’s main character is a drug addict. His addiction is portrayed as a “starving infant screaming to be fed.”  As he sinks deeper into his addiction his “child” becomes “a woman wise in the ways of men.  A sullen dark eyed temptress in a black lace peignoir controlling not with tears and threats of tantrums but seducing with come hither looks thrown over a bony brown shoulder.”

Will Green: Well I’m sold. The imagery sounds incredible. Where do you get the information for your books?

Larry Benjamin: I like to think it’s all made up but, like most writers, I think my work is formed of my experiences—whether it’s actual day-to-day living or my inner, secret fantasy life.

Will Green: I like that “inner secret fantasy life.” I think we can all relate to that life. What was the most surprising thing you've learned since you started writing?

Larry Benjamin: For me the writing is a solitary practice so from that perspective it’s relatively easy, but I was surprised by the work required for the business of writing—the editorial process, connecting with readers. Oh yeah, and I learned how absolutely crucial a good editor is to the process and to make the book the best it can be.

Will Green: It's an amazing process to go from a recluse with only your inner voice to talk to in the writing process and then stepping out and connecting with all the different parts of the marketing side. Just don't get distracted with marketing or that second book may never get written.

I think good editors can be some wild animals.

Larry Benjamin: Haha. I don’t know that Rhonda would like being called a wild animal. Seriously you’re right. It’s very easy to get sidetracked by the marketing aspect and forget that your real job is to write.

Will Green: I’m sure there is some kind of beast lurking deep down inside Rhonda. Lol. 

How long does it take you to write a book?

Larry Benjamin: What Binds Us took a year to write—and that was writing at night, at odd moments during the day, on weekends.  I work a regular full time job that’s pretty demanding so I write a lot during “stolen moments.” Damaged Angelstook longer because I wrote those stories as they came to me with no intention, at first, of linking them together in a single offering.

Will Green: A year is a long time, but considering it was with "stolen moments" I can see why. I like that by the way. I'm sure there are lots of stolen moment writers out there. 

Who or What inspires you to write?

Larry Benjamin: Different things inspire me to write. For example I was in a meeting one morning―a rather dull meeting, so I was bored―and a woman arrived late.  She was from Finland, thin and fashionable, altogether arresting.  I started taking notes to describe her; she became an exotic bird in my description and I then tweeted the description.  That’s typical of me: I tend to write when words pile up inside me and I need to write them down to clear my head.

Will Green: Haha now that’s great! I can relate to that situation. We had a company wide meeting not too long ago, the CEO was droning on and on, so I imagined and wrote down the beginning of a zombie attack. The head of IT didn’t survive...too bad.

Have any of these mini writing moments of yours made it into your stories?

Larry Benjamin: Oh yeah lots of them. I like to take snippets of conversation or actual events and build on them, twisting them into something else so I get an outcome I can work with.  A zombie attacking the head of IT. Hmmm I think I’d turn him loose on the Help Desk. Or maybe Customer Service at Verizon.

Will Green: You would have to ship that zombie to India to have him get Customer Service at Verizon. Now would we really want Indian zombies running around...no probably not. Haha. We could talk about zombies all day, but we should probably move on. 

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Larry Benjamin: Well, I still write by hand, usually in a composition notebook.  But because I write all day long, I often write on scraps of paper, napkins, the margins of books I’m reading.  I literally have a whole box of loose papers that became What Binds Us.  Also, I tend not to plot my stories in advance. I have an idea at the beginning and an endpoint in mind, then I create characters and write trying to weave everything together until the story is told.

Will Green: I’m starting to think writing is a bit of an obsession of yours. Which is always a great thing for an author. Again I really like how you do things...storing scraps of notes and what not and eventually taking all those little pieces of thoughts and putting them together. You’re sort of a seat of the pants writer.

Larry Benjamin: Haha. Actually you’re probably right—I’m obsessed.  It’s funny you picked up on the fact that I’m probably obsessed with writing because my Goodreads blog—shameless plug here—touched on that very topic last week.

Yeah, I’m definitely a “pantser,” probably why it can take me a long time to write a story.  I just sort of sit around and write randomly and the story begins to tell itself.

Will Green: Ha there you go then, it must be true. I assure you I did not look at  your Goodreads blog before this interview...I should probably subscribe to it since you have tid bits like that. 

What book are you reading right now?

Larry Benjamin: James Baldwin’s Just Above My Head

Will Green: Do you like it so far? Would you recommend it?

Larry Benjamin: It’s a great book.  I love his writing, his voice—he’s one of the few writers whose books I own where you’ll find I’ve highlighted text.  But man this book is LONG.  Nearly 600 pages. If I could speak to him, I’d say, “Really James! 600 hundred pages?”

Will Green: Ah Ha see that's a perfectly good reason why printed books are still relevant. Sure you can highlight in a digital book, but it's just not that practical. 

The only way I can get into a book that long is if it's an epic fantasy story. The big one now is Game of Thrones. Those books are massive. One book could easily be broken into three smaller ones. The same goes for Just Above My Head, 600 is a lot to take, why not go with two 300 page books? Would it seem less relevant if it was shorter, doubt it. I plan to do a guest post onParanormal Wire about this very subject in the near future. Be sure to watch for that. 

Who is your favorite author and why?

Larry Benjamin: F. Scott Fitzgerald because he not only told wonderful stories but he was such a visual writer and he could create an entire world for you to inhabit.

Will Green: Do you have any recommendations from him?

Larry Benjamin: Hands down, The Great Gatsby.  The Last Tycoon. And his short fiction—fabulous.

Will Green: His short fiction too? Alright I'll have to dig into him a little deeper. 

What kind of music do you listen to and why?

Larry Benjamin:  I listen to all kinds of music—country, classic disco, dance.  I tend to like loud, powerful music with strong lyrics.  Right now Adele is a favorite. And Celo Green—his music is amazing and his lyrics really tell a story. I love words and both artists write songs with beautiful words. 

Will Green: Those two are very very popular right now. I’m sorry to say I haven’t really given them a chance. Maybe I’ll give them another shot. What about TV, what holds your attention?

Larry Benjamin: I don’t watch a lot of TV. Even as a child I was never much into it. I preferred reading or making up stories in my head. Right now I watch Glee! (religiously), The Amazing Race, Modern Family and Happy Endings.

Will Green: Really? So many people watch Glee, that show is something my wife and I just can not get into. 

Do you think not watching much TV as a kid is the reason for some of those dark times in your life? If you had TV would you have been out and about like you were? I guess we can speculate about the what ifs all day, but what is, is what is, can’t change it now.

Larry Benjamin: You don’t like Glee!?  Man we’ll have to talk more about that later. 

We HAD TV as kids—well it was black and white back then and only 4 channels but that was what TV was then.  My brothers watched all the time.  I mostly found it boring.  The reason for the dark times in my life had nothing to do with watching TV and everything to do with bad dating choices.

You’re right.  I don’t spend a lot of time looking back or dwelling on things I can’t change.  I just pour it all into my writing.

Will Green: Glee just doesn't work for me, that sing songy jumping around choreographed stuff. 

It's good you found an outlet for all that negativity in your life. Keep pouring that energy into something somebody can use. 
What kind of advice could you give an aspiring writer?

Larry Benjamin: Tell the stories that are inside of you that you need to tell rather than stories you think people will want to read.  But above all, believe in yourself and don’t stop writing.

Will Green: Thanks for taking the time for talking with me Larry and thank you very much for the advice. Too many people think too much about what others want to read.

Larry Benjamin: Will thanks so much for having me.  I really enjoyed talking to you.  

Larry Benjamin on Amazon, Barnes & Noble,and Carina Press

Larry's Official Website 

Larry's Official Goodreads Profile

Larry's Goodread's Blog

Find Larry on Facebook

Follow Larry on Twitter  

Will Green: Is Natasha Larry your real name or pen name?

Natasha Larry: It’s my real name, although I should probably change that.

Will Green: Why? Do you plan to get so rich and famous that someone will want to steal you? I think by that point you will be able to buy your own security detail; physical and virtual.

Natasha Larry: LoL, I actually have no rich and famous plans. No, I just wish I had a pen name that was a little more mysterious. Like… Candy Kane. Wait, maybe I secretly want to be a stripper? ;)

Will Green: Lol. Well I think you would be required to wear candy stripes if you had a name like that. I think this could seriously get out of hand...we should probably move on. Lol. 

Tell us about your books that you have available? 

Natasha Larry: I’m the author of a young adult-paranormal/fantasy series. The first title is also the series title,Darwin’s Children. Here is my publisher’s synopsis of the first title: 

Seventeen-year-old Jaycie Lerner's life is complicated enough being a black girl in a prestigious small-town Tennessee private school. But trying to act normal and fit in really gets difficult when her telekinesis and telepathy kick in. Jaycie's not just special, she's super-special. And with her great power comes great responsibility ... sometimes more than she can handle. But she's got her oddball family to help her - a super-strong and fast surrogate mom, a telepathic dad, a very persuasive godfather, and a new friend who's really hot - literally! Jaycie's just trying to get through every day and learn how to maintain control over her powers. But when trouble strikes, things really heat up fast, and literally get explosive. The good news is, she's got someone special looking out for her - at least she thinks it’s good news...

For some odd reason, I actually prefer what Mr. Asshole said about it “Over all I give this book 4 out of 5 BFF Broken Heart Charms. What I loved most about this book is that it doesn’t try to pretty life up for the readers. Some people are dealt bad hands in life and have their own inner demons to deal with. I feel a lot of young adults can relate, if not emphasize with the characters.”

The second title is Unnatural Law: 

Seventeen-year-old Jaycie Lerner's psychokinetic power surge is over, but her problems are just beginning. With this much power unleashed, she's a danger to herself and others - especially her best friend and would-be boyfriend Matt Carter. But Matt's not willing to give up on her. Meanwhile, Allison Young, Jaycie's live-in trainer and surrogate mom, has problems of her own. She's lonely and having strange dreams, but all she can remember is a rose as her life and everything else descends into chaos  

Will Green: This is one of the rare occasions....the only occasion...so far...that I have read one of the books you are showing off today. Darwin's Children was a great great read. The whole thing was just fun. I loved how certain types of mythical creatures were explained. And Mr. Asshole, as you so nicely call our own James Crawford...Haha...hit it right on when he said the characters are easy to relate to.

I still have to read Unnatural Law. I have no excuse for not reading it yet. 

Natasha Larry:Ooo, now I’m mad at you, and we can’t make out after this interview is over. Tsk Tsk. Of course, I’m kidding. I know how busy and crazy this world can be. I do hope you like it when you get around to reading it, I’m actually very proud of chapter five, which isn’t something I say about myself often. 

Will Green:Aww man c'mon really no making out??? I...ahem...still need to buy it (*looking at floor shaking head in shame).

Are you working on something else right now?

Natasha Larry: I am working on completion of the third title. I’ve been struggling with it because up until a few days ago it was missing that extra “mmmm,” that gives me warm fuzzies inside. Now I just have some rewriting to do. I have also completed a short story.

Will Green: What happened a few days ago that gave it the Campbell's soup slogan (“Mmmm”)? Lol. Can you share the title of the third entry in Darwin's Children?

What about that short story, got any juicy details?

Natasha Larry: LOL, you are so frickin CUTE. Actually, it was a conversation with Mr. Asshole, who in secret is very sweet to me =) He made a comment about the Hunger Games, and for some reason, that conversation sparked something in me. I advise every writer to get a friend and crit buddy like James, he just makes you better. LoL, funny enough its James again who gave me the title for this book. It’s called Common Descent, and I got the idea from an article he sent me about some of Charles Darwin’s theories.

Here is the first line: “Jaycie knew she was going to have to kill this girl.”

The short story is done, and I think it will be ready to go. I want to include a preview of Caleo and the DOMErevelation in it, along with a sneak peek of The Newfoundland Vampire. Oh, I should probably include the prologue of my next book in it as well. It’s not like most things readers have seen from me, and is a bit more violent because it focuses on the vampires in this world, but I’m pretty excited about it.

Will Green: Aww thanks. Sometimes my wife doesn't find my little remarks cute. I get a lot of eye rolls. Lol.

Don't you just love it when you're at a lose for something and then suddenly in a random conversation it comes to you?

Wait was that an exclusive sneak peek at the first line from Darwin's Children book 3: Common Descent?

Holy Crap it'll be like one of those movies that have 90 movie trailers before the movie actually starts. I hope you add some links to skip the previews...not that anyone should...I'm just sayin.

Ok ok we're getting distracted here...what can you tell us about your next project?

Natasha Larry: HAHA! Well, there are a few new characters and the one I’m most excited about is Brianna Miller.

Will Green: Well c'mon tell us something about Brianna Miller.

Natasha Larry: Well, she isn’t superhuman, but she is very special. I think she’s probably a character that required a lot of thought on my part, to explain why she can do what she can do. She happens to be the perfect, killing machine. She’s also bat-shit insane, which makes her really funny to read. What I found most challenging about her was the fact that she hears voices. So, I had to be very careful with her as to not confuse the reader. I’m happy with how it turned out, though. Here is a brief look at Bri Bri for your enjoyment:

“Why does everyone think we’re insane?” she asked, raising her sultry, gray eyes toward the ceiling. Aren’t we? I’m pretty sure you just said ‘we’ out loud, a voice echoed inside of her head. “Honest mistake, I drift in and out a lot,” she shot back aloud.

Will Green: I think “special” might be an understatement. She must have been the product of insomnia. Which brings us to the next question; where do you get the information for your books?

Natasha Larry: Some of it is from things I remember from college. I’ve also read a lot of comics and graphic novels. Sometimes I just make up some shit. =)

Will Green: What was your Major in college?

Natasha Larry: History! I eat that shit up. I think my favorite areas are the Cold War (American History) and the Classics. I love Ancient Rome and all its batty philosophers and wars for no reason. =) My Ancient Greek professor once told us that Athens and Sparta actually drafted a treaty once to stop the war… because they were running low on males and had some deed-doing to replenish their war machine. What’s better than that? I also have an Associate’s degree in biology, which really helps with my writing. I love genetics and microbiology. Yummy.

Will Green: You, my friend, are the definition of Nerd! I'm not sure I can actually believe you are into all of that stuff. It's so left field that it just has to be true!

Onto to comics. What is your favorite graphic novel you have read to date?

Natasha Larry: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller.

Will Green: Ol Frankie can do some crazy stuff. That man's mind is amazing!

Now, what was the most surprising thing you've learned since you started writing?

Natasha Larry: That the best and only sane part of being an Indie author are connecting with other writers that are just as bat shit nuts as you. You learn from them, and if you’re lucky, are inspired by them.

Will Green: Haha that's pretty good. The crazies have to stick together. I love chatting it up with all the different batty people I've met so far. Including yourself ;-).

Natasha Larry: We are pretty insane, and I love every second of it. I love it when we all get busy and are having conversations of the period of weeks, get confused, and have to start over. LoL, I owe you guys so much. Plus, the fact that you call Nova Sparky often makes my day. We should start a superhero team! Mr. Asshole, Mr. Wayward, Sparky and the Nala. Yeah? LET’S DO IT!

Will Green: Oh Hellyeah! We can't forget about that David Beem though. He'll be Beem w/ Cello. Now we have to think of some superpowers hmmm...

While we're thinking about superpowers we should finish the interview...

How long does it take you to write a book?

Natasha Larry: Generally it takes a little over a month. That isn’t counting the re-writing.

Will Green: That seems pretty quick, I guess re-writing is the meat potatoes though. Who or what inspires you to write?

Natasha Larry: The people in my life, comic books and awesome shit in general.

Will Green: “...awesome shit in general.” Haha that says it all doesn't it? Give us an example of “awesome shit”.

Natasha Larry: Well, say someone I know says some funny shit. I'm all like…. I gotta use that in the books! That’s why Jaycie says Christ on a cracker all the time. Or, if I’m reading some random, science article about the amygdala hijack… I’m all… I can totally lie about this article and call it science fiction. =)

Will Green: Wow you're such a Nerd...I love it!!! Sure you lie about it and call it science fiction now, but in a few years when the article comes true it'll be science fact!

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Natasha Larry: Probably that I write in Sharpie. People find that bizarre for some reason.

Will Green: It's not bizarre, I think it's genius. One it helps with writing mistakes and two when you make those mistakes you'll get even higher on the sharpie fumes and write even more creatively. How much of Darwin's Children was sharpie high induced? Lol.

Natasha Larry: LoL, I think most of Unnatural Law was sharpie induced. I was still writing in pen with the first book. Common Descent… totally sharpie induced… especially the part where you find out that John…. Haha, not telling!

Will Green: NOT TELLING??? Oh you! I really need to catch up before Common Descent is released. I think Brianna might just be pretty sharpie induced as well. Haha!

What book are you reading right now?

Natasha Larry:Tricksby Ellen Hopkins and an ARC by a fellow Penumbra author, Charles O’Keefe. It’s called The Newfoundland Vampire. I like it so far.

Will Green: What are they about?

Natasha Larry: Tricks is about a group of teens and how they all wind up, literally, turning tricks. Its heart breaking. The Newfoundland Vampire is about vampire Joseph and his coming to terms with being one of the undead. It’s an adult title, but it reads more like YA.

Will Green: I'm not so sure about Tricks myself, but The Newfoundland Vampire sounds like something I could get into.

Favorite author and why?

Natasha Larry: Frank Miller…I love him for what he did with The Dark Knight graphic novels alone; don’t get me started on Sin City.

Will Green: Frank Miller is pretty damn awesome! 300, Sin City, The Dark Knight...didn't he do something with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles too?

Natasha Larry: Did he? I know he did some Daredevil and the series Ronin. I’ll have to look into that.

Will Green: I read Ronin a very long time ago before I knew who Frank Miller really was. I loved it. I had no idea he did anything with Daredevil. I must find many of his works now.

What kind of music do you listen to and why?

Natasha Larry: I have very eclectic taste in music. Lately it’s been a lot of old school Madonna and Disturbed.

Will Green: WOW!...Now that is a combo. Haha. Like A Virgin and Stupify I'm pretty sure you're the only person who could pull off that playlist in one sitting. Lol.

Natasha Larry: Hehe, it was actually more of a combination of Borderline and The Night because it reminds me of Alonzo from the books. Of course, you have no idea who that is, do you? Pllllll, that’s a raspberry. =)

Will Green: Nope I have no idea who Alonzo from the books is...so there is no need for the raspberry lady!

What do you watch on TV and why?

Natasha Larry: Sons of Anarchy, The Colony, Family Guy, American Horror Story, I watched a few episodes of The Walking Dead, but Zombies creep me out. House M.D. is probably my favorite show.

Will Green: I don't know much about Sons of Anarchy or The Colony, but American Horror Story was superb, I'm very interested in whatever they might do for season 2. Did you know this is the last season of House? That really sucks!

And if zombies creep you out, I guess I won't be seeking you out for my zombie apocalypse team. Sorry NaLa. :-)

Natasha Larry: Haha! Update! I gave The Walking Dead another try, mostly due to a few die-hard fans threatening my life and loooove it. Super hooked. And I would be a great asset in a zombie apocalypse! I’m very much into my cardio. Not really… I’m not into cardio at all. I would be good for throwing at the zombies for a diversion while everyone gets away. Not much for a survivalist ;)

I do know it’s the last season of House and I’m in mourning. I mean, how will I live? Did you see Chase get stabbed?? OMG.

Will Green: Having your live threatened for not watching a show...that's a bit harsh. Haha. What Chase got stabbed...we must be behind a few episodes!! Ugh we could talkaboutthese shows for days and days, we've got to finish this thing up. Lol.

What kind of advice could you give an aspiring writer?

Natasha Larry: If you really want writing to be what you do, and you are truly passionate about what you do, and you don’twant your writing ripped apart by someone better and more experienced than you are, you will never write anything great.

Will Green: Truly Awesome advice Natasha, thank you very much. And thank you very much for taking the time for this interview; I had a great time putting it together.

Natasha Larry: You happen to be one of the six people in my virtual crew that I have a serious crush on. =) Thanks for having me.

Will Green: Happy dance for being in a virtual crew...Reverse Rain Dance, because you have a serious crush on me. What it popped in my head I can't always control it. Lol!

Natasha Larry on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

Natasha Larry's Official Website/Blog 

Find Natasha on Facebook

Find Darwin's Children on Facebook

Follow Natasha on Twitter 

Will Green: Is Charles Wells your real name or pen name?

Charles Wells: It's my real name. I've been told since childhood that H.G. Wells is a distant cousin but my family tree doesn't show him anywhere. Just the horse thieves and town drunks is all.

Will Green: Well that's a wonderful lineage to lean on. Stealing horses and selling them for drinks. That's a hell of a life. Tell us about your books that you have available? 

Charles Wells: It's what you'd expect from a a man like me who's distant cousin is Doc Holiday. (Yes, Wyatt Earps' best friend) Oh, I bet I failed to mention that he is in my family tree. HA.. Anyhow, I have twelve self published books on the market. Seven are my Whispering Pines suspense/thriller series. Three books are filled with short stories similar to "twilight zone"odd stories and titled Strange Short Tales. One book is non-fiction called Hear the Sunshine. That's about my life dealing with a progressive hearing loss and subsequent Cochlear 22 channel hearing implant operation as an adult. It's not a self help book. It's a book intended to help parents spot hearing problems in their children. It's a funny, southern flavored attitude and inside look at being handicapped. And speaking of funny, the "other" genre and book I have is called Talk Show Cartoons. I've been drawing and writing a cartoons for many years and finally published a small book collection of the best ones. The first raving review I received from a reader at Barnes and Noble said, "What is this crap? This is the stupidest book I have ever seen. Do Not Buy It." This reader at least gave it a one star rating and failed to notice that the book, at that time, was free. (Today it's .99 cents on Amazon) We all have our opinions and that person must have enjoyed sharing their's about Talk Show.  

Will Green: Wow that's a healthy collection you have out there. I think I'm going to slowly start collecting the Whispering Pines Series. Is that an ongoing series or is there an end in sight? And are they available as digital downloads? My preferred method of reading for the past year, I might add.

Charles Wells:  Whispering Pines is available in digital and print.  On the print copies, books 5-7 are in processing now and should be ready soon. The first four are set to go. Hear the Sunshine is digi and print as well. I had the print copies made at trade paperback size (5.5 x 8.5) which is the largest paperback you can buy. I don't care for anything smaller and the costs are not that much more for the readers. They are on Amazon, print and digital, plus I let Smashwords do the rest of the distributions for me which includes Barnes and Noble, Diesel, Kobo, Sony, and Itunes for the Ipad. I've got the digital markets covered from CPU to ram chip I think.

Will Green: I downloaded the first two books of Strange Short Tales, because they were free, which is probably my favorite four letter f word. I'll be reading and reviewing them in due time.

Charles Wells: I put those two out free so readers could take my writing style out for a test drive. They are fun to write and I wanted everyone to see what they got before buying book 3. In that one, there is one story of mine about an F-14 tomcat pilot and his RIO. (rear seat radio guy) I had to get a lot of help from an old friend who flew them for the Navy as a career. He did a wonderful job and the story puts the reader right there on the flight deck. 

Will Green: I bet my father would be interested in reading Here the Sunshine. He lost his hearing in his right ear a few years ago due to a tumor on his hearing nerve on that side. He wears a hearing aid, but sometimes it seems like more of a hassle.

Charles Wells: Sounds like he was hearing a lot but not understanding the words. I talk about that very issue in Hear the Sunshine. I don't get into the medical/technical side of the Cochlear Implant. I try to show people the human side, the ups and downs, the laughs and tears, the fear of having an unseen handicap. One segment in the book is where I tell about getting into trouble with the law when I failed to understand something said to me. It's funny to look back on, but it was a nightmare at the time. As for the critic on my Talk Show Cartoon book, well, its free because I run the cartoon as a series (also free) on my webpage and keep it updated once a week with three panel cartoons. I didn't feel right about bundling them up and selling, so I gave them away and already have another about half finished. That critic is entitled to his opinion about the book though. No hard feelings.. (other than the minor one of my wanting to strangle him purple in the face) 

Will Green: Haha that was nice that guy could give you his opinion like that. I bet a few people picked it up just to see how “stupid” it really was. 

Charles Wells: Very true. I guess most of us like to see a train wreck so long as we aren't on the train when it happens. We flock to house fires, car wrecks, and disasters but when it happens to us, we get mad at the gawkers. We humans are strange.

Will Green: Are you working on something else right now?

Charles Wells: I've always got something in the pot simmering. At the moment though, I'm well under way (10,000 words and counting) with book 8 in the Whispering Pines series. I don't have a title for it yet, but something will develop I'm sure. If not, I might ask that person who gave Talk Show the review mentioned earlier, to name it for me. (snickers) I'm also putting together a collection of short personal quotes that I call Guidelines for Southern Writers. It's a list of "Tweet" sized funny sayings I write down at all times of the day or night and it's getting to be a large document, growing daily. 

Will Green: You're “biggest fan” might just call it Whispering Pines Part 8: Why did you buy this?

If you come up with enough personal quotes for Guidelines for Southern Writers you might just be able to turn it into a daily desktop calendar. 

Charles Wells: Hey, cool, I think I'll steal that title. Hahahahah. (clears throat) Okay, uh, yes, a desk calendar; that or a nice bird cage liner or maybe emblazon the quotes on toilet paper or something. HA..

Will Green: Quotable T.P. Might just be a hit. What can you tell us about your next project?

Charles Wells: If I tell you that, I have to shoot you. No wait, uhh.. Okay. I'm researching several ideas at the moment and making a few "test" runs with them to see if they "click" in my mind. I can tell within a few pages of writing whether something will work or not and trust my "gut" instincts. I'd rather not divulge the genre or much else, but I am sure there are readers out there who might find it enjoyable. If not, then I'm having a ball writing it and that's good enough for me. 

Will Green: Ok, keep your secrets Mr. Wells, but as long as you're having fun that's all that matters. So where do you get the information for your books?

Charles Wells: Thank God for Google and Bing. If it's not in one of those search engines then it's not likely to be found anywhere else on earth. 

Will Green: That may be true for most people, but believe it or not there are still people that steer clear of the internet for research. Have a look at the interview with Khloe Kamalis.

Charles Wells: I saw that interview and agree in theory with some of it. I was around when the internet was running at 300 bauds per second which is, today, like comparing a turtle to a rocket engine. I don't like a lot that has happened with the web but overall, I trust it more than going to the library and looking up something in a 1954 encyclopedia. (HA) My experience is to take an overall average of the information you find and balance it.. subtract twenty percent, and that's most likely the truth. 

Will Green: Twenty percent of the average of the information you find is crap…you must be into statistics.

What was the most surprising thing you've learned since you started writing?

 Charles Wells: I always thought when a book was finished, when you type "The End" then it was over, done with. The rude lesson of that is what many authors learn quickly. Writing the book is the easy part compared to editing, proofing, getting cover art work done, then publishing, and last, marketing which is the straw that could break the camel's back. Getting a story out of my head and into the hands of a reader is a package deal that involves a lot of work by everyone involved in the process.

Will Green: Boy that is the truth. I'm not yet an author myself, but I am learning that lesson from friends I've made along the Wayward Things path I've taken so far. About how long would you say it takes you to write a book? 

Charles Wells: It takes me about six weeks to finish a raw first draft but I'm a full time writer. I write three or four hours of a morning and then spend my afternoons and early evenings editing. When draft one is finished, I send it off to a beta reader to make sure the plot holds up from start to finish. While waiting on that, I start the second draft. That can take several months including having to wait on my beta readers (test readers) to report back from the first draft so I can adjust according to their suggestions. While on that topic, I've learned one important thing about this stage of a book. A writer has to LISTEN to their editors and beta readers. You have to trust them. If all they ever tell you is "WOW.. that's great.. " then find new people. I need honest critic, not praise. My ego is huge like most writers but not during this phase of the process. IN fact, my present final proof reader, the last guy to see my manuscript before it is uploaded it to the retailers, is a vicious, nit picking character that is by far, one of the best in the business. Mistakes still get past him but not many and not often. He is the thunder behind all my lightning.  

Will Green: So it is true you NEED a nit pickity person among your writing “team”. In a guest post with Natasha Larry she referred to this person as an “asshole”. You need someone to tell you it sucks and you can do better, otherwise it will suck and you’ll never do better.

Charles Wells:  That is ironic about Natasha Larry. First off, my proofer's name is Larry and in our morning chat group on the internet, Larry is known as the "asshole."  Hahahah. I swear to you this is so true. Amazing, but yes. I've known Larry for over 40 years and his proofing is an art unmatched by anyone. He keeps words my characters would never say, out of their mouth by marking them and telling me "Catfish would never say ya'll. He would say yawl." 

Will Green: Ohh that’s good! Although Natasha is not the asshole in the group that honor goes to James Crawford, chief book reviewer here on WaywardThings, but Natasha Larry is the one who came up with it. Ok straying off topic, sorry, your Larry seems to be a force to be reckoned with. 

Well who or what inspires you to write?  

Charles Wells: I come from a large family (six kids) and I was the story teller on dark rainy nights. I started writing the better stories down before I was ten years old. I don't think inspiration is what drives me to write. It's the satisfaction of how I can create a place and the people inside that place and use them to entertain others. Writing itself, to me, is a curse. If I go many days without putting something on paper then I feel as though I'm about to explode. I have to write because it's an addiction and I'm always looking for that next great fix (story idea) to get high on.

Will Green: That’s a different sort of inspiration, get a story on paper or explode. That’s incentive I would say. But on a serious note the satisfaction of entertaining others, that’s what it’s all supposed to be about at the end of the day.

Charles Wells: You're a writer too Will so I think I hit a nerve with you.  We write for the same reason a comedian gets up on a stage. We love the thrill, the attention, and the applause. That drives us to do better and better and the way it works for me is like I said. If I'm not having fun writing it, then nobody is going to have fun reading it. That's the bottom line.  

Will Green: That is absolutely it! What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Charles Wells: When I started writing book one of the Whispering Pines series, I realized one day that I had entirely too many plots running at the same time. I ripped out a few and put them aside. Those became the core of book two. While writing book two, the same thing happened again, too many plots, so I ripped out some of those and they became the foundation of book three…and while writing book three, (Do I need to keep going on with this or do you get the idea now?)

Will Green: Got it. Now that you say that a few stories I’ve read and listened come to mind where the authors probably could have done something like that and the main story would’ve been better…or smoother maybe. If too much is going on then the reader can’t keep up and the story fails, for me anyway. 

Charles Wells:  Tom Clancy is horrible about that sometimes, plus he is bad about dumping a pile of facts on the readers that sound more like "look at what I know" than "look at what I want you to see."  I love most of his books and Red October is one of my top 5 movies, but in my opinion, Clancy needs to send his manuscripts to my "asshole" proofer, Larry. They need some fixin' (as he would say)  

Will Green: I’ve read all of the Splinter Cell books and those are under the Clancy banner, but not written by the man himself, but the info dumps weren’t too bad.

What book are you reading right now?

Charles Wells: I'm a member of a group in the Amazon community section of "Meet Our Authors" called "The Spinning Wheel 7thEdition." It's a small but fun group of writers who can take on serious topics for writers or who can babble half the day about their dog's upset stomach. (Ha) Since I don't read books within my own genre (for obvious reasons) I tend to read books from this group so if you are out there looking for some of the best Indy writers around, head to the Spinning Wheel and join the discussion. You'll never regret it.

Will Green: I just might join that group and I bet I know a few others that wouldn’t mind jumping in there to check it out. Who is your favorite author and why?  

Charles Wells: Three way tie between Alfred Hitchcock, Rod Sterling (Twilight Zone) and Stephen King. It's not the genre that attracts me to them. It's the sheer power they have over a reader. They grab you by the front of your shirt and don't let you go until that story is finished. Tom Clancy is good but too winded for my tastes, but Hunt for Red October was one of my all time favorite movies. 

Will Green: I’ve never read anything from those guys except Stephen King, the only thing I read of his was The Talisman and he wrote that with Peter Straub. Great, great story, but then it just kind of ended, he didn’t wrap everything up very well. I don’t know maybe that’s just me. That sort of spoiled me on him and I’m not all about “star power” with big names anyway.

Charles Wells: I think the older King books were the best due to the uniqueness of his style and ability to capture the readers. I like the Talisman too but with his stuff today that edge is gone and he needs to adjust. (Now that takes nerve to offer advice to a professional, does it not?)

Will Green: Wells vs. King…Who will win? Bahh King’s had his time to shine its someone else’s turn now. 

What about music what do you listen to?

Charles Wells: Before going deaf, I played lead guitar in a rock and roll band of the 1960's. I loved everything music except hard country and hard rock. Stephen Wolfe did great songs but I hated to watch them. Weird. Ha!

Will Green: Your band, was it a big name people might recognize. Some people just don’t have stage power, so that’s not weird at all. 

Charles Wells: Our "heyday" was in the mid to late 1960's so I doubt anyone would remember. We played opening act for several large groups at the time including the Almond Brothers once, The Turtles, and one other act/show I forget the name. We were called The Rainy Day Mods but outside of Georgia, I doubt anyone will remember us.

Will Green: I know the Almond Brothers, but not The Turtles, unless they are of the teenage mutant ninja variety and The Rainy Day Mods…nope sorry.

What do you watch on TV and why?

Charles Wells: I love to watch NCIS but the last two seasons have gone a bit stale. Time to change the writers I think. I pray if my Whispering Pines writing gets that stale, that somebody will let me know.

Will Green: That’s the way those police procedurals do, they’re good for a while, but then how far can you take the same old story with different characters. That’s when the story needs a good twist to get the creative juices flowing in the writers again. Something crazy, some kind of shock to the overall system. So maybe if your Whispering Pines series starts to feel stale, just do something no one expects, let’s not leap to a parallel universe or anything like that, unless somehow it just works.

Charles Wells: I fully agree and my wife and I have discussed ending the series. She wants everyone to get married and live happily ever after. I want to blow them up with a nuke or something.. hahahahaha.. She will win I'm sure. I hate unhappy or plain hateful endings. I don't kill off characters that don't need it.

Will Green: Wedding/Nuke I’m sure there’s a happy medium in there somewhere…geez!

What kind of advice could you give an aspiring writer?

Charles Wells: Expose your soul and follow your nose, break a few rules, run with scissors if you have to. Most important of all, be natural and write what flows, not what you have to force out. Writers block is not being unable to come up with something. Writer's block is not figuring out the best way to get it out and on paper (or into a computer). Above all, never cheat your readers. And here's icing for the writing cake. My favorite quote from the Laws for a Southern Writer says it all. "If the story ain't no fun to write, then it damn sure ain't going to be any fun to read." Good luck to you.. Write where no man or woman has ever written before, if that don't work then write where you have the most fun.

Will Green: Excellent advice, thank you very much for the advice and your time Charles.

Charles Wells:  Thank you Will and good luck to you in the future. Special thanks to those reading as well. "Yawl come see us, ya hear?"

Charles Wells on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords

Charles Wells at Wellston Publishing

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Hi y'all my name is Khloe. I'm a first generation Greek-Cypriot born in the U.S.A. and southern by the grace of God. You can usually find me behind my laptop sipping on sweet tea in the summer or a Berlin hot chocolate in the winter, and burning up the keypad. Somewhere in between all of this I managed to go to college, too. I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA., and Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. I just want to be successful in sharing my written words and music with everyone who is willing to listen, or read. Give me some sweet tea, or hot chocolate, a laptop, or my guitar, and I'll write you a story. xoxo

Will Green: Is Khloe Kamalis your real name or pen name?

Khloe Kamalis: Khloe is a combination of my name. I have 5 names on my birth certificate thanks to Greek and Italian parents who I guess couldn't make up their minds and didn't want to offend relatives. Plus my dad is old country Greek from the island of Cyprus, and they name children after family members such as grandparents, etc. But I chose my two favorites, which is my last name and my third name in the list. It mixes well I think.

Will Green: Wow! Now that is one of the better pen name stories I’ve heard and read about. I like how Khloe is spelled with a K too. When you sign a check do you need to finish your signature on the back with all those names? Tell us about your books that you have available.

Khloe Kamalis: My newest book is in the YA paranormal genre. It's called Deception V.A.M.P.S ~ATL., and is the first book of a trilogy called The Young Immortals, a Southern Gothic Trilogy. It's about a group of long time friends and band mates who go searching for their lead singer/rhythm guitar player, seventeen year old, adopted Savannah 'Little Eagle' McLeod. During the summer she met her real life grandfather, her mother’s father, a Cherokee Nunnehi (spirit man) who tells her the true story of who she is and in doing so reveals the truth that her adoptive parents have lied and deceived her all these years. He also reveals the prophecy of her fate in the world, a path chosen for her by The Great Spirit. The destiny of her plight in life is the year 2012. Before she can begin the quest to fulfill that prophecy she goes missing one night during a gig at a well known, yet creepy night club in Atlanta, Georgia. The book is written in blog format and uses the alternating point of view of six teens to tell the story and define what happened up to and after the disappearance of Savannah. This story involves Angels, Nephilim, Skinwalkers, and Strigorim (a new breed I created in the book to be around 150 years old.) I've never read a blog type book like it before; though I know there are blog type books out there. I hope people will read the story and enjoy, wanting to continue to the second book in the series.

The first book I wrote is called For The Love Of Cyprus. It's a romantic suspense revolving around the 1974 invasion of the island of Cyprus. It's fiction based on a true story. At this time I'm planning on re-releasing it with a new cover in a few months. I've had a wonderful response to the book and most of my sales have been in Europe, though it's been well received here in the U.S. also. A lot of research went into the book, and of course I thank my mother and father for the story itself. 

Will Green: Now, I’m not one for romance tales, but I like the idea of a fictional story being woven into a real life event. On the other hand V.A.M.P.S sounds great. It’s based on American Indian legends with paranormal elements set in a modern age that is easy to relate to, plus you’re going with a different style (blogging) that I’m really interested in checking out. Are you working on something else right now?

Khloe Kamalis: I am. I'm finishing up the second book of The Young Immortals, a Southern Gothic Trilogy which takes the reader back in time to the lives of some teens who lived in the Civil War era in the sleepy town of Roswell, Georgia, a small town north of Atlanta.

Will Green: And what are your plans after the second book?

Khloe Kamalis: Of course my next project will be the third book of the Young Immortal series, along with a book I began for NaNoWriMo and never was able to finish because of time restrictions. I'm not sure if it will be a standalone YA paranormal or a series. It's too early to tell how the muses will move me. 

Will Green: Oh so you participate in NaNoWriMo? Do you do it officially or just on your own? And do you want to reveal anything about this other story?

Khloe Kamalis: I participated officially, but due to time restraints on finishing the newly released book, and family issues, I wasn't able to meet the word count goal. There's always next year though. And I'll tell you the name of the project which I have turned into the beginning of a book to be called The Death Coach. That's all I'm going to say about it right now.

Will Green: Sounds intriguing. Where do you get the information for your book(s)?

Khloe Kamalis: Oh boy. I live in Roswell, GA. and most of my books, so far planned or written, take place in and around that historical, little antebellum town. I often visit the Roswell Historical Society, or the Atlanta Historical Society libraries for information. I even travel about 40 miles away to the Georgia Archives south of where I live. Also we have a wonderful town historian, police officer, and author Michael Hitt. Sometimes when I see him he is a plethora of valid information. Diana Avena and her husband Joe run The Ghost Tour of Roswell. Their stories are true and well documented. They are a wonderful help also. For other locations I have lived in a few places where I have friends who can go look things up for me or point me in the right direction on the internet. I believe in lots of research as I don't want someone to come up to me later and tell me what I wrote is bunk with regard to real life situations and locations.

Will Green: Wow you have quite the group of people to go to for everything you might need. I’m surprised you don’t go to the internet for most of your research needs to start with. C’mon Khloe everyone’s doing it. Lol.

Khloe Kamalis: Lemmings may all follow the head lemming as it leaps over the cliff when they jump too, but not me, lol. Granted, the internet is a tremendous source of information, but not everything can be found there, especially when it comes to information on properties, people, incidents in old news articles, etc. and life even before the year 1920. Plus, sometimes more than often one must pay for the information found. I'd rather travel around rather than pay online. My follow up, book two, of The Young Immortals series goes back to the Civil War era before coming back to the future (so to speak) and that kind of information down south isn't always easy to obtain on the internet.

Will Green: No bandwagons for you. Lol. What was the most surprising thing you've learned since you started writing?

Khloe Kamalis: Oh gosh I've learned so much. But I think the best thing I've learned is that writing takes not only a love of telling stories, but dedication. We moved in July right in the middle of my writing the first book in The Young Immortals series, Deception V.A.M.P.S. ~ ATL. That put me back quite a bit, then in August I was asked by a good friend to help her with her group at Atlanta's yearly DragonCon convention. What a fun time. I met lots of nice people, learned of some great paranormal stories, and failed to write lol. The schedule for DragonCon was brutal, as in it took almost 18 hours a day of commitment as a volunteer. But it gave me great contacts and good experience. Once that all was over, moving, unpacking, and DragonCon I put my nose to the keyboard and wrote. I don't use a calendar nor do I use an outline. I let my muses speak to me as I write. So far so good. Though that style is not for every writer.

Will Green: I would say you were pretty dedicated to that DragonCon group, 18 hours a day…that’s craziness! At least it was a good time and you got stories and contacts from the experience. From the way you talk about your style it seems more modern than anything else I’ve read, being that it’s done in blog format. I’ll be reading it soon enough to find out for sure. Well how long does it take you to write a book?

Khloe Kamalis: I'm not sure to be honest. I've only written two and a half books. I don't like to rush myself yet I do set deadlines. If I meet them then cool, if not I just keep on keeping on. Deception V.A.M.P.S. ~ ATL took me around 7 months to write and is approximately 94,000 words. I know, long for a YA supposedly, but I've seen just as long in other YA books. Let's see, I started the book at the end of June. Out of that 7 months July and half of August and the first week in September were taken up with moving and DragonCon. I seemed to make it through the holiday’s fine. So I guess in all maybe 5 months or so not including the research, or book cover.

For The Love Of Cyprus was different. I began writing that book when I was a freshman in college in Boston when I was fifteen. Yes I went to college on scholarship early in life. So I worked on that book off and on for years. It really was a work of love for me though.

Regardless, I just make the time to write. Luckily I'm one of those people who, so far, don't require lots of hours of sleep.

Will Green: Wow, you can really break it down like that? That’s impressive by itself. You were a freshman in college at fifteen? You’re a nerd and I mean that in the most loving and endearing way.

Khloe Kamalis: I suppose I am. I was home taught from the age of twelve because I was a kid actress over in Orlando, FL on Nickelodeon, along with a few parts in movies. I still act as an extra now and then in The Vampire Diaries filmed in and around the Atlanta area. I went to Boston to play a gig when I was fourteen, went to Berklee College of Music to take a tour. They invited me to play as an interview while I was there. I did, and everything after that just happened. A month later I was offered a scholarship and the next semester I was off to Massachusetts. Because I was so young, my mom and dad moved with me. Nerd, yeah lol. It's a good thing.

Will Green: You are the definition of right place right time with all of that happening. Who or What inspires you to write?

Khloe Kamalis: As for the who, it's my mom. I'm her caretaker as she is disabled and can't walk, and I live at home with my parents. She can scoot into a wheel chair though, and often accompanies me when I go on my research quests. If ever I throw my hands up and go head desk so to speak, she's always there with comforting words and encouragement. As for the what, well I've always loved to tell stories. I've been writing since I was a little girl. I'm also a musician so music and books are my outlets. Every year there is a storytelling festival in Roswell, Ga. hopefully this summer I will take part in it as well as playing my original songs at various venues locally.

Will Green: You’re mom sounds like a great lady, you just drag her along on your research expeditions and I’m sure she loves it too. And she’s a built in encouragement system.

You’re inspired by stories to tell stories and play music. I like it. I look forward to hearing about your storytelling adventure; hopefully you share a little bit about it on Facebook or Twitter.

Khloe Kamalis: As time goes on I will share the news on Twitter or Facebook. Right now I'm concentrating on finishing up this series. Then I'm going into the studio in March at Jan Smith's Studio in Atlanta to record. I'm making a three song demo. Not sure where I'll go with it but it doesn't hurt to have one. I have a huge song portfolio too. So I stay busy with both written word genres, music and books. I've requested info for the storytelling festival in Roswell, but have yet to hear from them.

Will Green: You're just too busy to tell people you're constant whereabouts, that's understandable. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Khloe Kamalis: Probably the sound of soft, running water (we have a small electric waterfall in the living room where I write) and the music of SoundScapes from the cable on TV. Yes, I write in the living room where there is all kinds of activity. The water and music is calming though, and since I'm a spontaneous writer it gives me a sense of peace when I stop and just stare at nothing in particular allowing the messages from my muses to flow. Sounds sort of nuts but hey, that's just me. Oh and sometimes I need a chocolate covered, devils food doughnut by Entemen's to chew on when I'm writing lol.

Will Green: Yup, those qualify as quirks alright. Lol. If that’s how the muses flow then that’s how they do it. Mmm doughnuts, who wouldn’t want that? Now tell us what book are you reading right now?

Khloe Kamalis: I'm not. I don't think it's fair to the author of a book or to myself to have to feel pushed by my own work to read someone’s novel. I have several TBR books to read and will begin when I finish formatting and a few other things I need to finish up. Then, it's settle back and read in between blog tours, etc.

Will Green: Interesting, well when you do read do you have a favorite go to author and why?

Khloe Kamalis: I don't have just one. I can say Nicholas Sparks for his humanistic portrayal of characters and modern day situations. I can say also Bertrice Small for her writing in general. She is somewhat of a mentor to me by her writing style and varied genres. My favorite book is A Moment In Time by Bertrice Small. A paranormal fantasy romance and her books started me off on a trail of writing. She's elderly, but still going, and I really admire her. Two YA authors I also admire are Becca Fitzpatrick of the Hush Hush series, and the up and coming Nichole Chase of the Dark Betrayal trilogy, an up and coming YA author from Savannah.

Will Green: You know I just can’t get into Nicholas Sparks it’s all way too real for me. I’m more of a sci/fi / fantasy / paranormal kind of person. So I’ll probably check all the rest you have listed there.

Khloe Kamalis: I'm not a die-hard Sparks fan. I guess I have quite a few authors I like but as I said, Bertrice Small is one of my favorite. Her books lean toward romantic fantasy.

Will Green: What kind of music do you listen to and why?

Khloe Kamalis: Again, varied genre. I write and listen to a lot of country music and have for years. Country runs in my family. Speedy Haworth who played guitar for Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton way back in the day is my uncle and my inspiration. But in my teen years I was all over the place with genres. When I'm writing though, I usually listen to SoundScapes or sometimes again, varied genres.

Will Green: Whoa, those names are some deep country music, not the poppy half rock stuff that is “country” now. Despite your background you’re a real down home country girl.

Khloe Kamalis: Yeah, uncle Speedy is gone now but his music and memory live on. All I can say is poppy half rock stuff is not my forte. Southern rock I like, but if you want good Bluegrass or country Allison Krauss, Kelly Pickler , Ashton Shepherd, and Miranda Lambert are about as close to real country as you're going to get for females. Josh Turner, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, George Straight. Okay 'nuff said lol.

Will Green: If you're going country you can't go wrong with that group. How about TV?
Khloe Kamalis: Ha ha! I rarely watch TV. When I do I like documentaries, or sometimes HGTV to see who is buying what or decorating what. I don't really watch a lot. Too busy with books and music.

Will Green: So nothing huh? No House, Bones, Vampire Diaries, nothing like that?

Khloe Kamalis: Nope. Like I said, I've been doing extra parts in Vampire Diaries for a while now, but I rarely find time to watch it. I'm not a TV person when it comes to watching. News, documentaries and a few other things I catch now and then when they're on but, I'm not a die hard watcher!

Will Green: Well ok...I guess we won't be chatting about TV. What kind of advice could you give an aspiring writer?

Khloe Kamalis: Write from the heart. Don't write in a genre because it is popular or because someone made millions of dollars writing in that genre. Research and make sure you have your facts right. Edit, edit, edit. Make sure your i's are dotted, your t's are crossed and your grammar is in the right place. People pick up on that, and sometimes will ream you the first chance they get if it bothers them that much. And above all don't give up the ship if you really love to tell stories. Don't push yourself either. Eventually you will find your own style and set your own pace. Join a Social Network that has writing groups, aka Facebook, Google +, and Goodreads. Follow what new writers are doing, and check out the advice of well honed writers. Above all enjoy yourself, don't let it become a burden. Don't let the story own you. If it does that then maybe you're not cut out to be a writer. It's like letting the bicycle steer itself, right? You must enjoy it even when things look hard. If you love it, don't give up. Things will work out. Ask questions etc. You'll get there.

Will Green: Now that is some great advice and a lot of it. Enjoy yourself, don’t let it become a burden and don’t let the story own you. That is some stuff to take to heart right there. Thanks for your time Khloe. I look forward to reading Deception V.A.M.P.S. ~ ATL

Deception V.A.M.P.S.~ATL. (The Young Immortals ~ A Southern Gothic Trilogy) available at Amazon

For The Love Of Cyprus: A Tale of Love, War and Honor available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Khloe's Blog

Find Khloe on Facebook

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Will Green: Is Mackenzie Brown your real name or pen name?

Mackenzie Brown: Mackenzie Brown is my pen name and from a very early age I wanted to use it. It is a family name on my mother’s side and is in homage to my grandfather Angus Mackenzie Brown who is no longer with us, but remains an inspirational figure in my life to this day.

Will Green: That’s very nice you could use your grandfather’s name like that. Tell us about your books that you have available?

Mackenzie Brown: Currently THE SHIFTING is my only available work on most e-books format. I am exploring the possibility of putting it in print presently.

My three prior novels will be edited and available as e-books for 2012, but only once I have completed my current project. They are THE BOOK OF SOULS –A fantasy for adults and children, charting the perilous journey of Imelda Stone who discovers her true lineage, just as she is forced to use her new found skills to rescue her father from certain death. ANNIE’S WAR – Charting the early lives of my maternal grandparents and the challenges they overcame, culminating in their exploits during the Second World War. LOST BOYS – Is a thriller set in 1970’s Liverpool charting one mans hunt for a serial killer who had been abducting pre-pubescent boys for over 25 years – despite the fact that no tangible evidence exists - he is convinced one of the victims was his son.

Will Green: So those three books are available in print?

Mackenzie Brown: No longer. But if I’m happy with the print version of THE SHIFTING I may also make those three available.

Will Green: Are you working on something else right now?

Mackenzie Brown: My latest project is THE BURNING, a sequel to THE SHIFTING.

Will Green: And tell us about that.

Mackenzie Brown: THE BURNING begins ten years on from the end of THE SHIFTING when sociopath Charles Teague resurfaces in an attempt to have his revenge on the Forshaw family, who he blames for the incarceration of his beloved Rose, the love of his live. Twenty-year-old Toby Forshaw who is attending Cambridge University is forced once more to stand up against his old foe, but Teague has a well oiled plan and more than a few tricks up his sleeve.......

Will Green: A tale of revenge, I look forward to seeing the announcement that The Burning is available. Tell us where do you get the information for your book(s)?

Mackenzie Brown: Most research nowadays is available on the worldwide web but I do occasionally use other methods. For ANNIE’S WAR I was forced to research my family tree and interview various relatives. I have also been known to contact various organisations and societies for other bits and pieces of information.

Will Green: Forced to interact with your family lineage and relatives, oh that’s just terrible (psst…that’s sacarsm). Anyway, what was the most surprising thing you've learned since you started writing?

Mackenzie Brown: I’ve learned the importance of editing. Getting the first draft done is critical, but I now know that there is still a long way to go before I get anywhere near the finished article. I recommend rewriting until you’re sick of doing it.

The other thing I believe in is the constant evolution that takes place during the writing process over the years. It is about finding a style that works for you, but retaining the view that you can always do better.

Will Green: So stop thinking about it and get some words down and then go back and spruce those words up and then do it again and again. So how long does it take you to write a book?

Mackenzie Brown: From start to absolute finish I would say 6 to 12 months.

Will Green: And then begins the dreaded self-marketing. What are your thoughts on that?

Mackenzie Brown: It is early days for me as an independent author. I think I’m on the right track, but I see it as a long haul thing. I was told by a fellow indie author that I need to get my other works in e-book format to help me build up a readership. I intend to follow that advice and will try a variety of methods, including running some ads. I’m currently testing some Facebook ads. Not sure they’re working very well though. Twitter has been a massive positive for me, with so many resources available and lots of authors willing to help and advise.

Will Green: I don’t think there is any clear cut way to self-market one’s self. It seems to me you need try everything you can think of and when something works then just run with it until it’s exhausted and try again. Ok so who or what inspires you to write?

Mackenzie Brown: I have a deep-seated desire to write. I’m not really certain where it comes from. I’ve always sketched or put words on paper from a very early age and a myriad of things inspire me to work. It could be the influence of another writer, or just a desire to explore an idea or a series of characters. These days I like a challenge and this is how THE SHIFTING was born. I wasn’t sure I could pull off a novel that takes place in both present day and Victorian London. But I’m pleased with the result.

Will Green: Takes place in both present day and Victorian London, well that settles it, if you’re reading this I’m already well into The Shifting.

Mackenzie Brown: I don’t want to give too much away, but the story relies upon the Victorian connection working in strict contrast to the modern world. A reader recently told me that he could actually see the fog and feel the repression of the age when he was reading THE SHIFTING. I took this as a massive compliment.

Will Green: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Mackenzie Brown: Not sure whether it is of any interest, but .....I don’t plan a novel in the traditional way. I start with a framework, which is essentially the story and like to leave the detail relatively loose. It’s probably because I’m lazy, but my excuse is that I like to keep things spontaneous. I’ve also grown into the habit of speaking dialogue aloud whenever I can. I think it helps me judge how real speech sounds.

Will Green: So you’re an outline kind of author, but then you move into writing by the seat of your pants. Yeah ok I understand that and speaking dialogue aloud makes complete sense. If you want the voices in your reader’s head to have a cohesive conversation you have to talk to yourself first.

Mackenzie Brown: I get some funny looks from members of my family when they pass by my office and realize that I’ve apparently been talking to myself. The first sign of madness I was always told......I suppose I’d have to agree!

Will Green: Like beauty madness is in the eye of the beholder. When you’re not talking to yourself what book are you reading?

Mackenzie Brown: Just finished Empire Falls by Richard Russo. And started The Kydor Chronicles by A. R. Hughes, an unpublished novel a friend has asked me to comment on.

Will Green: Well how was Empire Falls, do you recommend it? Would you say A. R. should publish The Kydor Chronicles?

Mackenzie Brown: Empire Falls is a fabulous book, but you need to invest time in it to appreciate it properly. I highly rate the way Richard Russo builds his plots and his characters, but his style is a bit of a throwback to writers from the early 20th century. The Kydor Chronicles is an impressive work, but in my view it requires some trimming and editing before it is unleashed on the public.

Will Green: Sounds like you might have yourself a side job with the The Kydor Chronicles. Who is your favorite author and why?

Mackenzie Brown: It is impossible to say because I like so many writers and so many genres. I’ll opt for James Lee Burke because I can easily slide into his narrative. His descriptive writing gives you the feeling that you can smell or taste New Orleans. A place I’ve never been to, but somewhere I feel I know as the result of Burke’s writing.

Will Green: What would you recommend from James Lee Burke?

Mackenzie Brown: I’d recommend A Morning For Flamingos or In The Moon Of The Red Ponies. But in truth his novels are always of a consistently high quality.

Will Green: What kind of music do you listen to and why?

Mackenzie Brown: I have fairly eclectic musical tastes. I like to listen to jazz to relax and sometimes when I’m writing, but I also like artists who write their own stuff and as long as the music is melodic I’m drawn to clever lyrics. I particularly like, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, John Mayer, Nora Jones, Sting, Elvis Costello and Silje Nergaard, a Norwegian jazz singer. Why do I like music? I suppose I like the stimulation it provides to my senses.

Will Green: You’re right that is quite the eclectic hodge podge of music and what about TV?

Mackenzie Brown: I like movies rather than TV series. I don’t have the time or the inclination to get involved in long endless series that tend to rehash the same old stuff. I am a closet film buff and enjoy watching the great directors. These days I’ve grown fond of Indie Films. I get a little bored with the formulaic nature of some mainstream movies.

Will Green: I have to admit I’m just about the opposite of your standings on TV, I enjoy TV shows, because it’s a continuous story whereas a single movie is done and over with. The same with books I would rather start a series than read a standalone novel. You’re absolutely right about some movies and their straightforward nature. If the outcome is predictable it’s not enjoyable.

Mackenzie Brown: An interesting contrast to my taste and something that gives me hope as I embark upon a series of books that are likely to feature characters from The Shifting.

Will Green: Very good. Count me in for the series. One final question what kind of advice could you give an aspiring writer?

Mackenzie Brown: My advice to any would be writer is if it makes you feel good; then do it. Don’t even think as far as publication when you begin. Write as much and as often as you can and hone your craft. Find that unique way of working that is yours alone and enjoy the creative process for yourself first and foremost.

Will Green:Well thank you for your time Mackenzie and thank you very much for the advice.

Mackenzie Brown: The pleasure has been all mine, Will. Thank you very much for this opportunity and let me re-iterate that I love nothing more than connecting with other authors, so don’t be a stranger and connect with me on Twitter or Tumblr.

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