Q: In one sentence, tell me something that describes you as a person?
A: I’ve never been afraid of a challenge or to try something new.
Q: How many books have you written? How many of those are published?
A: I have attempted a few, but my current book Devil in the Grass, is my first book to be published. The publisher is Koehler Books.
Q: Do you have an upcoming release? If yes, tell me the title and impending release date.
A: The release of DEVIL IN THE GRASS was March 1st 2016. I have a few upcoming book signings. The dates in conjunction with the release are March 24th in Niagara on the Lake, April 23rd McIntosh Books Sanibel Island and April 25th, The Book Nook on Ft. Myers Beach.
Q: If you could “create” your own genre of what you write, what would you call your books?
A: Fishing. I’d like to write a series of books about a fisherman and his misadventures. You could take it further and have romantic fishing, horrific fishing. I’ve thought about writing a series on sentient garden gnomes, I don’t know what I would call it though.
Q: Without quoting your back cover synopsis, tell me about the last book you published.
A: DEVIL IN THE GRASS I will admit was a bit off the cuff. I will never do that again as it was stressful never knowing where you were going next. It left me in a state of writing block several times. My current book was well plotted and is nearly complete, taking me less than half the time to write.
Devil is an edgy story about the misadventures of Jackson Walker, who due to his apathy, sees his life spiral out of control culminating with his capture by a satanic cult, the Brotherhood of Set. He must dig down deep and find some resolve instead of apathy in order to sort out the mess he finds himself in. The story contains some crazy bad guys, likable good guys, lots of alligators and a couple big bull sharks.
Q: Tell me something about yourself that is separate from writing.
A: I have been a sport fanatic all of my life. I’ve played high level hockey and golf as well as a number of other sports. I love to fish, mostly in salt water. I am Canadian and live in a wonderful little town in southern Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake, where I own a Real Estate Brokerage: Niagara-on-the-Lake Realty.
Q: Who is your favorite Author?
A: I have several: Bernard Cornwell, Jack Whyte, JR Tolkien and Wilbur Smith on the adventure side of things. Thrillers: James Patterson, Karin Slaughter. Literary: Gordon Burn
Q: What is the last book that you read? (Not counting anything you wrote)
A: Blank: Mind the gap, by Matt Eaton. I did a review on it this week – crazy good.
Q: When writing, do you have a system or something you plan, or do you just write?
A: I alluded to this earlier. I would say that I do a hybrid between super plotting and pantsing. First, I research, then I create a time line for a plot on large pieces of paper, Bristol board. I take sticky notes and ask the question: what if- this happened. I like to have several scenarios for a chapter of which I take the craziest but most plausible course of action. I create the ending so that I can have peace of mind. Filling in the middle parts is easy.
Then I start to write. The board shifts, but at least I have a good idea of what’s ahead.
Q: Why do you write?
A: 1. I like telling stories. 2. I find it relaxing. There’s nothing better than sitting down on a cold winter’s night with a glass of red wine, a fire and my laptop. I’ve done some of my best writing on airplanes.
Q: Any final thoughts that you want to give to your fans or even future authors?
A: I was a very good essay writer in University, I really liked doing it. Twenty years pass. I started writing again just because… I like doing it. I didn’t have any grandiose plan. I got a kick when I passed on my manuscripts to friends who said that they really liked them. There is no better sense of accomplishment than to have someone like what you’ve written. I could have stopped there but I was pushed by family, friends and my editor Lori to take things a step further. The snowball kept rolling- agents, publishers, business plans, promotion, book reviewers etc.
I will say this: I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that I am enjoying what I’m doing. If I don’t make much money at it that’s ok. I want to cover my costs though. What I do want, is to gather a following of readers, large or small that enjoy my writing. As long as they exist, I will keep on doing what I’m doing. If I do it well, things will take care of themselves God willing.