Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions for us at FAR. We appreciate all the hard work you portray in your work.

What are you working on right now?

Answering this interview...lol

Actually I have two projects on the burner right now, both contracted to Double Dragon Ebooks. My first non-fiction book, The Cup and the Bucket: A Workbook for Life, is with my editor right now. This is a book about mysticism, Eastern philosophy, the tarot and good old common sense. It's a teaching that's part adopted, part invented, that has given any number of people a new perspective that helps them deal with everyday life in a more constructive manner. I've been teaching this for years and only recently decided to write a book on the subject.

My second project is a humorous fantasy book called A Cure for the Common Curse. Jackson Locke is a private investigator with an interesting problem. After taking compromising pictures of a woman (and costing her her marriage), he finds out she's a witch. Her curse leaves him with a tiny demonic entourage, determined to make his life a living hell. Unfortunately, each attempt to break the curse only seems to make matters worse.

Who is your favorite author?

I have a number of authors I love, but Roger Zelazny has to be at the top of the list. One of the great regrets of my life is that he passed away before I thought about writing him a fan letter. I'm also a big fan of Parke Godwin.

What is something personal that you believe your readers would like to know about you?

Oh the mind boggles...lol...there are so many things that come to mind, much of which are unpublishable. I still dream of learning how to scuba dive and making a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Of course now that I've moved to Tasmania, I'm that much closer. I've explored rain forests in Costa Rica as well, but would love to visit some other rain forests. I wouldn't mind taking a trip to Africa or the Amazon. I'm a nut when it comes to reptiles and invertebrates. I just adore them. Spending an afternoon or evening insect watching is a lot of fun for me.

What is your best quality as a writer?

I have the ability to play with an idea and work it, as a sculptor might work clay, into something totally unexpected. I pride myself on making my readers jump through thought hoops over and over again. Most of them seem to love it. My new slogan is Think @ write angles 2 reality.

What is your worst?

My fear of submitting. It knocks me down again and again. I submit a couple of things, and crawl into my shell again until I finally manage to squeeze out a few more submissions. It may seem like I have a lot of work out there, but really, I go with the lowest common denominator. I hardly ever submit to the big print houses, or contests. I think, if I can beat that demon, my writing career might REALLY take off.

Do you believe in writers block?

To quote the great Robert Silverberg, "I had writer's block once. It was the worst five minutes of my life." I believe in it, but I don't get writer's block. I can always write, as long as I make the effort to open my word processor. My problem is distractions. Literally ANYTHING can distract me from working. "What's that on television, hon? A special on basket weaving? Oh, I just have to see this. I'll edit later." That sort of thing. It's a disease. Fortunately, writing is also a disease, and a stronger one at that. Sooner or later, no matter how hard I try to take time off, I find myself at the keyboard again. I'm not sure if I should be happy about that or not.

Do you have a job besides being an author? What is it?

I currently write full time, which means I have an understanding, supportive wife, more than making any comment on just how much I'm making. This gives me a lot of freedom. Many writers do hold down a day job, and as such, can only write when they get home. I, on the other hand, can goof off all day and still get a bit of writing done. I wish I had more of a work ethic. Then again, once I get involved in a project, I can become so immersed in it, I won't stop to eat or sleep, so I guess I run to extremes. As a child growing up who was your biggest hero?

I had two, from completely different spheres of influence. Captain Kirk and Mickey Mantle. Mind you, Mickey Mantle was retired before I became a baseball fan, but I read a great book about him as a kid and he really captured my imagination. Of course, I had to be a Star Trek fan as well. I must have seen those original episodes fifty times each. They never grow old, not even twenty-five years later. Strangely enough, while I enjoy watching Star Trek these days, I can't say I'm much of a fan anymore.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Can I get back to you, when I'm grown up? Lol

I've wanted to be any number of things. First an archaeologist, then a paleontologist, then an astronaut, then an entomologist and finally a writer. What I didn't want to do (but did anyway), was spend 19 years in retail. If I never work in another electronics store again it'll be too soon.

Who is your favorite character? Male and female?

Originally I was going to stick with novels for this question, because I have over a hundred short stories, but I just realized one of my favorite characters comes from my short story Tales from Beyond, which appears in my anthology Dream Sequence and other Tales from Beyond. The character's name is Eric Darkling. The main character describes him as "a rabid dog, a dictator and a petulant child, all in one. Yet he had the most brilliant mind it has ever been my pleasure to see in operation." I think he probably has a lot in common with me.

From my novels my favorite character is probably Tanrif from A Leaf in the Wind, a young man who has been manipulated to become a killing machine. With no choice but to defend himself and those he loves, he is manipulated by the goddess of magic to become something more akin to a weapon than a man. That he hates every minute of it doesn't matter.

For female characters, I'd have to go with Thea from Reflections of a Recovering Servant. Thea was such a strong character, but she was quietly strong. Her strength was in doing what she thought was right despite any consequences. She wasn't heroic outwardly, but there was something very strong and noble about her. She didn't expect any fanfare and did what she had to, often without anyone else knowing. Straac might have been the hero of Reflections of a Recovering Servant but he couldn't have done it alone.

Do your characters talk to you as you write? What do they say?

My characters can't get a word in edgewise while I'm writing. I'm in another world, just banging away. However, after the book is done, they do tend to argue of their share of my royalties. Greedy little bastards.

What is the biggest misconception about being an author?

People think most authors can make a living writing, which is almost never true. A very small percentage of writers can support themselves on their income and that percentage is even lower for fiction writers. It's a tough field. For every writer that has a bestseller there are tens of thousands that are barely scraping by, or not even.

There is something else people don't know, but it's not a misconception so much as a hole in their understanding of writing. The actually writing doesn't take up most of your time, or cause most of your problems, but the editing, polishing, proofreading, promoting, submitting and countless other intangibles make writing one of the toughest jobs I've ever had, in spite of the fact that I can make my own schedule.

What is the worse part about being an author?

For me it's editing. I love writing. I don't mind editing something the first two, three times I go over it. By pass number twelve I'm sorry I wrote the damned thing in the first place. It takes twice to three times as long to edit a novel as it does to write it in the first place.

The best?

Fan mail, hands down. Good reviews are nice, awards are fine, but fan mail is absolutely the best. I love hearing from people who have read my work.

An actor goes on stage and hears the applause. An artist can go to a show and see his painting hanging and people admiring it. I sell books and have no idea how people respond to it. Did they read it? Buy it and forget about it? (I do that with books...movies too. I have movies I've owned for two, three years I haven't gotten around to watching yet. I won't even comment on how many books I own I've yet to read. One day, I keep telling myself, one day).

Anyway, I answer all fan mail personally, so feel free to drop me a virtual line.

Could you please share some of your work with us?

I have a lot of great short stories on my website in the fiction section, as well as excerpts from my novels. That's completely free, finished stories. Also, If you like science fiction, you might enjoy Confronting the Void, my first SF serial ever. The link can also be found on the fiction section of my Dream Sequence website. In fact, I have tons of articles, essays, poetry, even a section called Author Interviews from Hell, which is very entertaining. And be sure to sign my guest book for a chance to win even more free fiction!

Thank you for being here and for answering our questions. Have a wonderful day.

Interviewed by: Ruby