The Same Six Questions - C.W. LaSart

Hello there, and welcome back to The Same Six Questions! Today's guest is C.W. LaSart. In her own words:

A lifelong horror fan, C.W. LaSart resides in the Midwest with her beloved Lou, 3 young children, and 2 neurotic dogs. A mother with a love for horror movies and a father who read her Poe from an early age, fostered in her a love for the horror genre and she has done her best to do the same for her own children, often warning teachers at conferences that it's Halloween at her house every day of the year, and not to worry too much about their gleeful darkness.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Yes I have. My first collection of short stories,
Ad Nauseam: 13 Tales of Extreme Horror, was released in early March by Dark Moon Books and is doing quite well. I entered a contest for extreme horror and the publisher liked my submission so much that he closed the contest and contracted me for the whole book. I'm excited by the responses I've gotten from it, and it's just fun to be able to share my stories with so many others. The stories are extreme in nature, so they aren't for everyone, but if you're tired of the same old slasher/
zombie/vampire stuff, it may be just what you're looking for.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a writer. I didn't necessarily dream of being an author when I grew up, but I always enjoyed writing and planned to continue on. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I even entertained the thought of publishing what I wrote. Until then, I wrote just for the fun of it.

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?

I think it was probably an essay in Jr. High School. Something dreadful about teen suicide and depression. Before that I only wrote poetry. I have a folder full of everything I've ever done, but most of it is embarassing in its immaturity. I used to make little books for my mom in elemetary school. They were blatant plagiarism, but I think she still has them somewhere.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

I submitted my first short story about two years ago and it was accepted at the first place I tried. Over the next twelve months, I had a phenomenal acceptance rate wherever I tried, but it wasn't until I got contracted for Ad Nauseam that I started to think I may be able to actually do this for a living. I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the three winners of the Cemetery Dance Amatuer Writing Contest, which qualified me to become an Affiliate member of the Horror Writer's Association, which also cemented my resolve that I may be able to do all right.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

Oh lord. None of them! They are all such twisted and miserable creatures. I suppose in a way I have already met all of them, since I tend to borrow bits and pieces from people I know, but in their entirety, they are a bit too horrific for my tastes. I would much prefer to meet someone else's characters. Maybe someone from Stephen King or Robert McCammon.

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 huge spider, selling Avon and wearing toe-socks. I hate toe-socks!

__________________________________

LOL...thanks for sharing with us today! For more of C.W. and her writing, be sure to check out her Web site, Facebook page, and Twitter profile.

The Same Six Questions is always seeking independent authors to interview. If you're a fan and you know someone who might be interested, please be sure to send them my way.

The Same Six Questions - Axel Howerton

Welcome to today's edition of The Same Six Questions! Give a warm welcome to author Axel Howerton!

Author. Film reviewer. Music writer. Time Lord. Bookhouse Boy. Coffee Addict. Dudeist. Sox National. Enmascarado. Reformed pugilist. Ink Monkey. Best known for his work as an entertainment journalist, Axel is thelong-time Managing Editor of www.eyecrave.net. Axel also recently acted as Associate Editor for the first four issues of the horror fiction quarterly Dark Moon Digest. His work has most recently appeared in Kitschykoo Magazine, Dark Eclipse #4, EWR: Short Stories, Fires on the Plain, Dark Moon Digest #3, and many more. He is also the co-founder (with fellow author Julie Jansen) of the annual "Coffin Hop" horror author online event, which takes place in October and has featured over one hundred of the best Indie writers and artists of at least four continents.

Axel spends most of his time in Calgary, Alberta, traversing the frigid tundra of Canada - usually two steps behind his brilliant young sons, and a wife that is way out of his league.

The Same Six Questions

1.Have you published a book yet?

I have been published in books. I have actually just put the finishing touches on my novel Hot Sinatra which should be available in the next couple of months. I've had incredibly positive feedback from some fellow authors like Red Tash (author of the amazing This Brilliant Darkness) and Scott S. Phillips (Squirrel Eyes, Gimme Skelter). Here's the quick synopsis:


Moss Cole is a private detective. The kind you thought only existed in old movies and afternoon reruns. He's looking for a stolen Sinatra record... one that may be a figment of one cantankerous old bastard's imagination.

Of course, if that were true, Moss wouldn't have so many people busting down his door and threatening his life. He's smart, talented, sometimes even charming. You'd think he could find a better gig than carrying on his grandfather's legacy as a 'Private Dick'.

A vivacious redhead, a foul-mouthed Irish rock star and half the crazies in L.A. add up to business as usual, when all Cole wants is some fresh coffee and a Hot Sinatra...

The first three chapters are available as "added-value material" on the kindle version of my novella Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy. Axel's Amazon writing.


2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Can I use the ol' standby of “always”? Like a lot of writers, I was a very voracious reader at a very young age. I started writing stories in some form or another as soon as I had figured out the alphabet. By elementary school, I was putting out my own comic books and books of jokey poetry with my friends. I first had articles published when I was twelve. I focused more on poetry for a long time, just because it was better for wooing. I also gravitated towards screenwriting for a while, making terrifically bad movies in High School.


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?

Probably a story for grade ten English class. I think it was supposed to be a page or two, mine ballooned to twelve or thirteen pages of prime Steven Seagal-inspired hitman/ninja madness. I remember the teacher was supportive, but duly shocked by the content. There were numerous episodes of dismemberment and beheading, a couple of “creamy white breasts”, and a whole lotta F-bombs. I'm still pretty fond of the F-bombs. I'm sure I probably have it buried in a box somewhere, along with a couple of slasher movie scripts from the era and a few books full of bad poetry inspired by Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics.


4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

Also, like most writers, I am a hopeless feedback whore. I doubt I'll ever be entirely confident or believe I'm accepted as a real writer, but that's just one face of the beast that drives us. Positive comments from writers I really admire and respect goes a long way, so I try to be very open and thankful when I get it. I also try to pass it on when newer writers ask for advice or validation. I know a lot of people who treat this industry as a cut-throat competitive battleground, but I think that is really counter-productive. How much better would it be if we all helped each other get better? How much greater would a world filled with amazing tales and rich, colorful, ORIGINAL stories be? Am I avoiding the question?


5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

Good lord. That's a hullabalooza. I think most characters come from facets of the writers own psyche. So, in a sense, I've met them all because they all are me. That's kind of a dippity pseudo-psychology answer, though. If I was going to hang out with one? Foxy Thunders from Hot Sinatra is a good pick. He's a wild, foul-mouthed, womanizing party-hound. Good-time incarnate. If I didn't have to worry about getting beaten or arrested, I think I'd have a hell of a time with him. Conversely, I'd love to just sit in a room and have a coffee with the old cowboy from Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy. He's basically all the best memories of my dear departed Grandaddy, who flavors pretty much everything I do. I miss him something terrible most days.


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?

An army of ghosts, the spirits of legends passed, James Joyce at the fore. A bottle of whiskey in one hand, one of my books in the other. “Well? Come on then.”

_________________________________

Thanks for sharing with us today, Axel! Be sure to stop back and let us know when Hot Sinatra is finished! You can find Axel at his Web site and follow him on Twitter.

The Same Six Questions is on Spring Break for a week! We'll see you back here on April 16th.

The Same Six Questions - Scott S. Phillips

Hey, Happy April! Can you believe it's here already? Me neither. Give a warm Spring welcome to today's guest, Scott S. Phillips!

Thanks for letting me step up to the plate, Andy! I've been a professional screenwriter for the last 17 years, and before that I wrote some comics and short stories. I wrote the cult action movie DRIVE (the one with Mark Dacascos, not the one with Ryan Gosling), a bunch of episodes of the CW Network series KAMEN RIDER DRAGON KNIGHT, and a few cheesy low-budget movies. My first published novel was FRIDAY THE 13TH: CHURCH OF THE DIVINE PSYCHOPATH. I love me some Star Trek (Original Series, natch), classic rock, and playing my KISS and Evel Knievel pinball machines. I spend my days dividing my time between writing and serving the whims of my Chihuahua. Greatest achievement: being Lemmy's stand-in for a Motorhead video.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Several, the most recent being Pete, Drinker of Blood - Part 1, a serial novel in 8 parts. Pete is an idea I’ve been kicking around since 1999 when I was living in Hollywood and feeling sort of adrift and a bit vampiric myself. It’s an oddball take on the genre, about a reluctant blue-collar vampire with insomnia who was “turned” in the early 1970s and has never moved past that. He works nights for the Department of Water and Power, and hates the typical Goth-type vampires, especially the music they listen to. He winds up getting all crushed-out on the cute bartender at the Sunset Strip dive bar he hangs out in, and everything goes haywire when the sinister vampire who turned the L.A. vamps returns to reclaim his children. I’m a big vampire fan and wanted to play with the cliches — there’s a lot of humor but it’s not parody by a long shot.

I decided to experiment with the serial novel format while writing a comic book mini-series recently. I had written Pete as a screenplay, but a year or so ago I started adapting it as a novel, then got sidetracked by other writing projects. When I came back to it I realized it was perfect for the serial approach. Parts 1 and 2 are available now for Kindle, Nook and at Smashwords, with new installments released monthly (part 3 will be out in April).


2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

It sort of happened by accident when I was a kid. I used to make cheesy Super-8 movies, and I discovered that it made for better flicks if I wrote something beforehand, rather than making ‘em up as I went along (imagine that!). These were silent films, so the scripts were little 4 or 5 page things with no dialogue, just bare-bones outlines of the action. It just developed from there, but my original scheme was to be a stop-motion animator like Ray Harryhausen before the writing kind of took over my brain.


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 18 I wrote my first feature-length screenplay. It was this terrible wish-fulfillment thing wherein me and my friends hung out with the Go-Go’s and the Ramones, and all those who opposed us were destroyed. Or something. There was some over-arcing storyline about unrequited love and mean jocks getting their comeuppance, but mostly it was an episodic mess. If I remember right, it was called BRIEF OBSESSIONS. And yup, I still have it but I fear that my friends will find it and do a dramatic reading over my grave during the funeral, so I should probably burn it.


4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

I’d say that happened at the exact moment I made my first short story sale. It was a saucy little number called “Truckstop Novel” that was purchased by Chic Magazine when I was in my mid-twenties. I had written at least one other feature-length script by that time, but it was receiving that check in the mail that made me think I ought to keep putting words on paper, especially if there was a chance I’d be able to wangle more people into paying me to do it.


5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

That’s kind of a toughie. I wouldn’t mind sitting around with Pete, talking classic rock over a couple beers (well, a beer for me, anyway) whilst cranking Tommy or Led Zeppelin IV, but I think Boone Butters — a character from my novel Squirrel Eyes, now starring in his own series of stories (the first of which is Roomies) — might be a decent guy to hang out with, too. He smells a little funny, though.


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?

The Woodbooger. Of course. (Editor's note: Bigfoot...Viginia style. ;)

__________________________________

Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us, Scott! For more of Mr. Phillips and his writing, check out his Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads pages.

Stop back on Thursday when my guest will be Axel Howerton. See you then!

The Same Six Questions - Robin Reed

Hi there and welcome to the first day of the NFL offseason! ;) I know, what are you going to do on your Sundays now? Well, you could read a good book. My guest today has a few to choose from. Welcome, Robin Reed! In her own words:

Robin Reed was born on the south side of Chicago, lived in Egypt for a year at the age of five, traveled through Europe at eleven, and went to India when she was eighteen. After that, things went downhill. Robin was an avid reader at a young age and started writing while in grade school. She also wanted to be a cartoonist, and drew cartoons instead of listening to her teachers. As as an adult, she cared only about pursuing these artistic fields. She never wanted to enter any career that would be hard to leave when the big break in writing or cartooning came. As a result, she has had only low level, low paying jobs all her life. The big break still eludes her. She currently lives near Los Angeles and, while the entertainment industry ignores her, she has made some progress in writing, with a number of short stories published and five self-published books available on Amazon.com and other outlets.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

I have published several Mama is the story of two families. The Conovers are moving from Los Angeles to Chicago because Jeff Conover's career as an actor has gone nowhere. His teenaged daughter Alison, his nine year old son Michael, who is obsessed with insects, and his wife Lee sit in the car, each stewing in their own resentments. Along the way they attract the attention of Mama and her three kids, who seem to be a slovenly and ugly family, but are truly something else. Mama uses the Conovers as a lesson for her kids, like a lioness teaching her cubs to hunt. When the Conovers start to fight back, Mama gets really mad. Mama is published under my pen name for horror, Robin Morris.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I became an avid reader at a young age, and within a few years started writing. I wrote short stories before I was ten years old. Not good ones, mind you, but I wrote them.

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?

Oh, gee, that's hard to remember. I was also a cartoonist, and I did a cartoon book when I was in high school called "The Cocktail Party." I wrote a fantasy short story around age thirteen that I thought was a devastating satire of the of the educational system I was forced to endure every day, but my parents didn't understand the satire part.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

Probably when my father, an anthropology professor, showed a story of mine to his colleagues. It was humor, something about an ancient species that was an ancestor of humans.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

Xanthan Gumm, from my first novel. He is an alien who comes to Earth to be a movie star. I put a lot of myself into his character.

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?

Nothing. Then I close the door and the knock comes again. I open it and see nothing. I close the door. Knock knock. Now I am afraid to open the door. The knocking continues. I fling the door open and only the rain and wind greet me. I stare into the heart of the storm for a while, daring who or whatever has been knocking to face me. After a while, I close and lock the door. I am sure I have rid myself of the mysterious knocker. I sit down and relax. I almost fall asleep. Knock knock, harder and louder than before. That's when I scream like a little girl.

____________________________________

Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us today, Robin! Be sure to check out more of Robin's work on her blog and Facebook page.

Be sure to swing back on Thursday when my guest will be the Wingers, Charlie and Diane! See you then!

The Same Six Questions - Keith Weaver

Hi there! Time for another round of The Same Six Questions! Welcome aboard, Keith Weaver!

Thank you, Andy. I was born in the small town of Erie, IL. I now live in Bettendorf, IA with my wife of 10 years, Stephanie. We have two wonderful boys; Keaton is six and Hudson is four. Besides reading and writing, I love to watch movies, listen to music and sports. Being a college athlete, I still love to play basketball and train in MMA for fun. On Sundays, you can bet I’m watching a lot of football.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Yes, I self published The Nefarious: Prince of Shadow right after college with no real knowledge of what to do; just wanted to see my name in print. Eight years later, I’ve redone my work and re-edited and now have my first eBook on the market.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I guess the first time I realized I wanted to be a writer was in college. I’ve always loved books, but took a real interest in writing in college, gave me a good release to pass time. I also took a Mystery Novel class where we read, discussed and wrote our own stories. That might have been my favorite course in college of all things.

3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

My first real full length fiction was my current book, The Nefarious. It started out as a way for me to pass the time in Biology class in college, I am ashamed to say. I would write a couple of pages every class. It’s about a supernatural being that haunts the people of a castle hotel. Its original inspiration comes from the 1995 horror fest Castle Freak with Jeffrey Combs. In an attempt to be original, though, I went with my own ideas.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

I was always good in school at writing, whether it be book reports, journals or essays. I’ve always had a creative mind and been able to put that to words, drawing no, but writing yes. I see the same thing in my oldest son; he had the best story in Kindergarten last year for Young Writer’s week. Plus, my roommate and Mother got a hold of my notebook and saw my story, and thought it was good and that I should really make something of it.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

I would definitely like to meet Prince Nefarious, before he became evil. For one, I would have to time travel back to the 1600’s, which would be a trip. But also to warn him of the misfortunes that may be coming his way and to get an idea of what made the man so mad.

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?

Doc Brown from Back to the Future! I’ve seen what happens in those movies every time he shows up. I would be worried that he was going to take me to the future to see what I’ve become, or take me back in time and make me relive it all again. I’m looking forward to writing my own future with the people I have in my life.

__________________________________

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Keith! For more of Keith and his writing, be sure to check out his Web site and Twitter page.

Don't forget to swing back on Thursday when my guest will be Eileen Granfors. See you then!

The Same Six Questions - A.P. Fuchs

Happy Holidays Everyone! Welcome to this pre-Christmas edition of The Same Six Questions. Today's guest is A.P. Fuchs.

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!

The Same Six Questions - Jason Kristopher

Today’s episode of The Same Six Questions features author Jason Kristopher. Take it away, Jason!

Thanks, Andy! I was born in Waco, Texas, and spent the first years of my life moving with my family around northern Texas and the Panhandle, including Lubbock. After settling in northern Colorado, I spent nearly two decades there soaking up the creative energy and enjoying the beautiful weather, before moving back to Texas ten years ago for "real" work.

Throughout this long journey, I continued to write all kinds of fiction, including fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and children's tales, and even tried penning a poem or two. My family members were constantly invited to read incomplete works; finally, on pain of death, I finished my first novel, and hope that their ire will be at least somewhat sated.

I currently live in Houston and enjoy reading, writing, movies, music (live and not), the Houston Astros (winning and not) and the Texas hill country, especially the vineyards.

Thanks for that, Jason. Now it’s time for The Same Six Questions!

1. Have you published a book yet?

Indeed, I have! It’s a zombie apocalypse novel that one reviewer called “the best zombie book since World War Z!” It’s got 4.6/5 stars at Amazon, with 26 reviews, nothing less than 4 stars. For 410 pages and only $3.99 (on Kindle), it’s a heck of a bargain. It’s a good solid story, with a focus more on the characters and how they deal with the end of the world—and each other—rather than concentrating on just the zombie-bashing… although there’s plenty of action, too. Lots of readers have said that it reminded them of The Walking Dead on AMC, which is great, because that’s exactly the feel I was going for.

Here’s the blurb:

"I didn't see Rebecca die the second time."

The United States military hides a secret: the completely real existence of eat-your-brains, one-bite-and-you're-dead zombies. The Army has known they exist for over a hundred years, and has been quietly and expertly keeping the secret.

Until now.

His hometown destroyed, with everyone he has ever known dead and gone, the sole survivor of the massacre at Fall Creek joins a secret military group to combat the single greatest threat our world has ever faced. Unfortunately, his help may come too late. Even as victories over the walkers mount, the seeds of our ultimate doom are sown from within, and at the last, only a brave few may survive to carry on.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I would say always, but it’s only been in the last couple years that I decided to actually make a go of it and put the pedal to the metal, so to speak. I started putting pen to paper in 7th grade (don’t ask me how long ago that was, thanks), and I knew then that I was going to have this be a part of my life for a long, long time. As it stands, I figured out the other day that with just the ideas I have right now, I could write for forty years—if I put out four books a year. That’s novels, not short stories or novellas. 100,000+ words or more. And that’s just the ideas I have now; I get more every day.

I’ll be eighty *mumble* and have more than 100 books by the time I’m done with all those. I’d call that a pretty good career. But the kicker is, it doesn’t feel like work, to me. And that is the best feeling in the world, to do something you love as your job. It just doesn’t get better than that.

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?

My first lengthy piece was that one I wrote in 7th grade, about a crashed alien wolf and the boy who finds him. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the way I wrote it – shifting viewpoints back and forth between the two of them – was pretty advanced, according to my English teacher. It was very, very rough and needed a lot of work, but he was surprised I’d come up with something like that. It’s been lost to the depths of my “keepsakes,” sadly – or scattered to the four winds – but I still have most of my other unfinished works.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

When I hit the final period on that last page. I remember thinking “Holy crap!” The genie doesn’t go back in the bottle, and I realized that nothing in my life would be the same ever again. Because I’d done it. It didn’t matter if I never sold that book or made a dime off it; I was a writer, and I’d written a whole novel. An original idea, set on paper by me, and it was good. I knew then that there was no way I could keep doing the 8-5 grind that everyone else does. This was the life for me, pure and simple.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

I would meet Kimberly Barnes, and hope she was single, or write her that way. Seriously, though, I’d meet any of them. They’re almost all good people, and even the nasty ones started out good. Except Gardner. At the very least, they’re interesting, and I would love to hear more about their stories that I don’t know. It would be surreal at best, but I could really get into their heads and find out what makes them tick, and that could only make the sequels to my book better. And Kimberly is pretty good-looking, too.

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?

Freddy Krueger. Jason Voorhees. Michael Myers. And they’re arguing about how best to carve me up. Those movies always scared me and are a primary motivation for me not watching horror movies now. And yes, I realize it’s more than a little ironic that a horror writer doesn’t like horror movies. But any of those three would scare me that much. Or Charlie, from Ania Ahlborn’s Seed. Uber-creepy.

_______________________________

Great answers Jason! Thanks for stopping by.

For more information on Jason and his writing, check out his about.me profile, publishing site, follow him on Twitter, or like him on Facebook!

Be sure to stop by on Thursday, when my guest will be indie author Brent Nichols. Until then, keep writing and reading!