When did you first realize you were a writer?
The blurb I usually submit for a bio begins with the writing I shared for Show-and-Tell in the third grade, but it wasn’t until my senior year in high school–I took a creative writing class and entered a statewide short story contest–that I truly thought of myself as a writer, or considered writing as a career.

What authors influence or inspire you?
Terry Brooks is probably the author who most influences my writing style. I reread the chapter from The Sword of Shannara where Shea, Flick, and Menion travel through the Black Oaks to get inspiration for writing about Adder Swamp in Maiden of Pain. I wanted to capture not just the environment, but the atmosphere Brooks created.

David Eddings influenced my ideas about world-building early on. Tolkien’s use of geography as a quest obstacle is also something that has stuck with me.

What book(s) have you read more than once? What drew you back?
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Belgariad, The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, The Wheel of Time, and the Bible. The first five are genre classics, and some of the first books I read growing up, so there is a sentimental attachment as well as just being fun to read. Wheel of Time is on the list because I often had to go back and reread the series to remember what (if anything) happened as time between new releases grew longer and longer. The Bible is important to me primarily as the source of my faith, but I have looked to it from time to time for its value as literature.

In 25 words or less, how would you define “pulp” as a genre?
Action and adventure over introspection and angst.

What made you decide to submit a story for the Pirates & Swashbucklers anthology?
“Relvan’s Rescue” had originally been written for a nautical-themed sword-and-sorcery anthology that was published four years ago. It was rejected, but with some nice comments from the editor. I overhauled the story and sent it out to some other markets. Still no takers. I let it sit for a year or so before revisiting and revising it. A second round of submissions began. One market held on to it for a year while they worked through their backlog and instituted a new submission process.

About the time I finally received a rejection from them, I ran across Pulp Empire’s call for submissions on Duotrope. As my story had originally been intended for a “pirate” anthology, I thought this was the ideal market.

How did you come up with the idea for your story? What is your writing process like?
The first Janner Kohl story I started working on was actually the last story I planned to write about him chronologically. At the beginning of the story, he is hired by an older Relvan, and there is a passing reference to Janner having rescued him from kidnappers when Relvan was younger. I chose to explore that when I decided to write a story for the sword-and-sorcery anthology.

My writing process for short stories is different than for novels. I always create a chapter-by-chapter outline before I get too far into the first chapter of a novel. For short stories, I might write up a paragraph synopsis, but I typically just start writing as soon as I have a general idea of the plot in my head.

Once I have a draft written, I’ll send it off to one or two readers. Based on their comments and my own thoughts, I’ll make some revisions before sending it off.

Do you consider yourself a “pulp” writer? Why? Is there another genre you like to write?
Sword-and-sorcery is a genre I like to both read and write, and has strong ties to the “Pulp” era. I also like to write high fantasy. I typically identify myself as a fantasy author/writer.

Care to weigh in with your opinion of the e-book?
They are the inevitable future of our technology-driven society, and while I plan to take full advantage of the format as an author, you will have to pry the paperback out of my cold, rigor-locked grasp before I trade it in for an e-reader.

Where can someone find more of your work?
All of my professional publications are currently out of print, so you’ll have to track them down used somewhere. I have some excerpts, poetry, and a five-part fantasy serial published on this site.
Similar Posts:

• Relvan Rescued
• Pirates & Swashbucklers Interview with Vince Morgan
• Pirates & Swashbucklers Interview with Ken Lizzi
• Pirates & Swashbucklers Interview with Jason Kahn
• Pirates & Swashbucklers Interview with Alva J. Roberts

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things about yourself.
• Tag six-ish people at the end of your post.
• Let each person know he or she has been tagged.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Becky tagged me last year with a similar meme, so I’ll try not to repeat.

1. I write technical documentation for the state public health division.
2. I’ve preached for five different churches within a two-hour drive of my home.
3. I’m currently reading Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser collection for the first time.
4. I spent 2.5 years studying graphic design before changing my major to writing.
5. My favorite Terry Brooks novel is Elfstones of Shannara.
6. I never “finished” the fifth grade. We had a final assignment to turn in at the end of the year that the teacher said was required to pass. I didn’t want to do it and knew we were moving to a new state as soon as the school year was over, so I never even started working on it.

If you’re reading this post, consider yourself tagged. I know it’s a cop-out, but that’s all I’ve got time for.Similar Posts:

• 8 Random things
• 15 Things about books and me
• Shattered Amulet, page 23
• What type of writer quiz

I think I’ve participated in one meme since I started blogging. I rank them right up there with chain letters. It’s a slow day at work, however, so I’ll forgive Becky, but just this one time.

Here are the rules:

• Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I’ve been to all 50 states.
2. I gave my son my initials, but not my first and middle name.
3. I’ve spent all day organizing hobby memorabilia (cards, comics, etc.) by different criteria, but I stack things on my desk–both at home and work–in piles without a thought.
4. For a short time, I was my wife’s supervisor while we were dating. (She left the company to finish school.)
5. I’m currently reading a book about the Restoration movement in America. This is the first non-fiction book other than the Bible that I’ve read that wasn’t required by work or school.
6. In college, I was in the same freshman composition course as my mother for a day. (She transferred.)
7. While my writing never won any awards in school (other than good grades), I paid for one quarter of school with a Speech & Debate scholarship.
8. I have had my hair in curls (think Eriq La Salle in Coming to America), in a ponytail, and shaved except for the bangs.

Now for my victims: Ed Gentry, Jeff LaSala, Harley Stroh, Stuart Etter, Jaleigh Johnson, Jason Anderson, Marcy Rockwell, and James P. Davis.Similar Posts:

• Another random meme
• 15 Things about books and me
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• Shattered Amulet, page 23

1. According to my mother, I came home after the first day of kindergarten, plopped down on the couch with a book, and started to cry after only a few moments of flipping through pages. Apparently, I expected that by just going to school I would miraculously gain the ability to read.

2. At one time, I owned the first ten or so Hardy Boys novels in hardback.

3. I used to get made fun of for reading “the dictionary” in junior high because most of the fantasy books I read were book club versions that collected an entire series into one hardbound volume.

4. I used to check out all the monster/ufo books from the school library in elementary school. Religously.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia is the first fantasy series I read.

6. There are only two books that I have started to read for leisure that I did not finish: The Lost Tales, Volume I and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

7. I am more likely to buy a book than check it out of a library.

8. I have never purchased a hardback version of a novel.

9. I am currently on my third read through the Bible.

10. I have also read The Lord of the Rings and the original Shannara trilogy at least three times each.

11. I have spent the whole day in bed/on the couch reading. More than once.

12. I used Cliff Notes to write a book report on Ivanhoe my junior year in high school.

13. My personal fiction library contains: Terry Brooks, Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends, Forgotten Realms, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, L. E. Modesitt Jr.’s Recluse series, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars.

14. My personal non-fiction library contains the following topics: biblical word studies and commentaries, graphic design, web development, copyright law, public speaking, small business management, and an assortment of Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks.

15. I have owned more comic books than books up to this point in my life, and am not sure if the reverse will ever be true.Similar Posts:

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• Pirates & Swashbucklers Interview with Alva J. Roberts
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