The Same Six Questions
1. Have you published a book yet?
I’ve published over 20 books. Obviously, it’s hard to pick a favorite as each hold a special meaning to me in different ways, but if I could narrow it down to something I think folks would enjoy, it would probably be the first book to my Undead World Trilogy, Blood of the Dead, which is very much a shoot-’em-up zombie novel with intentionally B-horror-type characters.
The short synopsis:
Joe Bailey prowls the Haven’s streets, taking them back from the undead. Billie and Des soon have Joe to thank for their lives. As the dead push into the Haven, the trio is forced into fear central: the city. After meeting an old man with a peculiar past, Joe and the others must make one last stand against the undead. A desperate escape leads them to a discovery that will shake the future.
The book is available in paperback and eBook (Kindle, Nook, and iPad, etc).
2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Originally, I was aiming to draw comic books as a career. Long story short, the animation school I attended—with the mentality that if I could draw something in motion I could certainly draw it standing still—stopped teaching us part way through the course.
Bitter—the course cost a fortune—I ended up writing comic book scripts for the guys in class. Having discovered I really loved the writing process, I branched out into short stories and, by accident—when a short story meant to be serialized grew longer than anticipated—begun working on novels.
3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?
When I was a kid, I used to write Indiana Jones-like fan fiction, but with me in the title role. This was purely for amusement. I don’t have the stories anymore as they were saved on my computer from the Stone Age and on floppy 5” discs.
However, I still have the first over-1000-word story I did when I began seriously writing with the aim of making it a career. It’s called Rag Man and is about a guy who goes to the art gallery, slips and falls and cracks his head. He dies, and while outside his body, encounters the haunting figure known as the Rag Man. That story had originally been sold to a defunct studio (for around $25US, I think), but has since found a permanent home in my short story collection, Magic Man Plus 15 Tales of Terror.
4. When was your first indication, “I can do this (write)”?
Sadly, I think every writer goes into writing with the notion “I can do this.” Whether that’s true or not depends on agent/editor/publisher/reader/reviewer feedback. If anything, I think writers—when starting out—are poor judges when it comes to assessing the quality of their work. I know I was, and I know of many others who jumped into the pool too soon without honing their craft.
And getting friends and family to give you feedback is a terrible idea as they are usually biased in your favor. If you want to see if “you can do it,” submit your work and try to sell it to a publisher that will pay you for it. Never write for free. Never.
5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?
Simple: Axiom-man, my superhero character who I’ve been fantasizing about for most of my life and finally brought to market in 2006. Thus far, four adventures have been published book-wise, one comic and one short story.
Here’s the general overview:
One night Gabriel Garrison was visited by a nameless messenger who bestowed upon him great power, a power intended for good. Once discovering what this power was and what it enabled him to do, Gabriel became Axiom-man, a symbol of hope in a city that had none.
The Axiom-man Saga will be my life’s work, as it is a giant series (25 books, 25 novellas), with a beginning, middle and end. My goal is to complete it before I kick the bucket.
It’s kind of a Superman meets Batman meets Spider-Man type of story where you got this young man, 24 years old, who gets these powers—that have limits—and has to decide what to use them for, how they tie into cosmic forces more powerful than him, how to face against his archnemesis who has a similar power source but is stronger all-around, life, love and more. It’s very much a life-and-times superhero story, chronicling a superhero’s life from his inception as a hero to—well, I won’t spoil anything.
6. It’s a dark and stormy night...you’re alone in the house...there’s a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What’s on the doorstep?
A horde of zombies, arms already outstretched, grabbing onto me.
One zombie, to me, isn’t scary, but get a pack of them together and I’m out of there. I’ve had so many nightmares with this scenario.
_____________________________________
Thanks A.P.! For more of A.P. Fuchs, check out the web, Twitter, Facebook, Coscom Entertainment, and Coscom Twitter.
Tomorrow begins my year-end wrap up with the Top Six from the Same Six Awards! Three days of Top Six goodness from the past 6 months of interviews. See you tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment