1. What would you consider to be your Kryptonite as an author?

Due to a busy schedule, time is never in abundance, though I’ve found better ways to manage this over the years. I’m not sure of whether this qualifies as Kryptonite, but I’m aware of many other authors affected by time constraints as well, so it isn’t unusual. We just make the time where we can. Some set goals to ensure a consistent output. Regardless of any specific word count, it is important to remain consistent, from my stance, and I make it a point to write every day.

2. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

It depends on how much younger we’re talking. Decades ago, I allowed others to discourage me from writing, advice I later pushed aside when I returned to my efforts and made my first story sales. I would tell an inexperienced version of myself to ignore that sort of advice, not to allow others to dictate my limitations by their own shortsightedness. 

3. Favorite childhood memory involving books?

I have many of those. When I was younger, we had a utility room lined with books. I spent a lot of time going through them and finding ones worth reading. We didn’t have the internet in those days, no one did, but we had plenty of books.

4. What’s one movie you like recommending to others?

Someone once told me he went to the movie theater to watch The Lion King, and I told him he would probably like The Human Centipede.

5. If you could own any animal as a pet, what would it be?

This past year, I lost my longtime feline companion of eighteen years, Pumpkin, and also our Bengal cat, Tiger Lily. I would love to have gotten more time with either. It’s a shame the feline lifespan is so much shorter than our own.

6. How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?

7. How do you select the names of your characters?

In Anybody Want to Play WAR? the names suit the characters. The character of Wheels derived his nickname from an incident where he crashed through a storefront and lost his driver’s license. Paloma is a name of Spanish origin, a token of her Mexican-American heritage, though some have known her as Lady Luck from her gambling past.

8. If you were the last person on Earth, what would you do?

Well, that would make many things easier, but I wouldn’t have any readers anymore. I suppose I would just drink, watch movies, listen to music, and explore the ruins of the dead world without interruption.

9. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Learn to distinguish constructive criticism from destructive criticism. Use the former to your fullest advantage. Dismiss the latter.

10. What book do you wish you had written?

An odd question for me, as I don’t wish I had written anyone else’s books but my own. To have written someone else’s book, I would have to be someone else.

11. If you could live in any time period, what would it be and why?

Modern medicine makes life easier. As much as I enjoy reading about history, I wouldn’t want to live in time periods where personal hygiene fell by the wayside and the water teemed with bacteria. It’s nice to have easier access to information with the internet, but this has also brought along a storm of misinformation. I remember the 1990s as achieving an accommodating balance of identity, and seeing the roots there of what we know today, except without the level of political extremism now rampant. That wouldn’t be a bad choice.

12. What is your favorite genre to read?

I read across the genres. Horror, of course, and fantasy, though I don’t tend to get engaged in sprawling fantasy epics that cover numerous volumes these days. Sometimes biographies and non-fiction. I enjoy breaking it up a bit, varying my reading habits if possible. The only genre I don’t do is romance.

I’m currently reading the Lost Films anthology from Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.