Book blurb:
12-year-old Curt Regis lives the carefree life of a beggar and a thief. Homeless since the age of six, he uses his guile and street smarts, as well as a glib, smooth lying tongue to reign as king of the street rats. So when he is caught breaking into a school and is sent back into foster care for the ninth time, he is quite confident that not only will it be a short stay, he will also be gone again in a day or two with a new set of clothes on his back and his bag filled with silverware, jewelry and maybe if he is really lucky, a Play station to pawn.
However, his luck has run out. This time he is sent to what many in the corrupt foster-care system consider the perfect home. It is a home from which no one has ever runaway from. A beautiful home where not a word of complaint is ever heard, where in fact, very few words are ever spoken and where the only real sounds that disturb the stagnant air are the screams of the punished.
As an introduction, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I'm 44 years old, married(21 years) I have two children(the one with boy parts is 16 and the one that is forbidden to be touched by anyone with boy parts is 18)
What is/are your book/s about?
Always they are about people. Their reactions, emotions, their past, their future. Moby Dick wasn't about a whale, it was about a man on a quest.
When and why did you begin writing?
Unlike almost every other author on Goodreads, I wasn't reading at the age of two and writing my first poem by my third birthday. Quite the opposite, I hated to write. I never learned to type and my penmanship hasn't progressed beyond a second grade level. Since I would fret over every little error, an e-mail used to take me close on an hour to write if the client was important enough.
But that all changed last year at about this time. With the economy in the dumps, my company decided to rework our website and in order to attract attention to it, I was told I should write articles and submit them online. So I painstakingly wrote five articles. They were terrible.
Not terribly written, just dull. Writing about the technical aspects of LED lights is super boring. After the fifth one, I was in open rebellion. So with Halloween coming up, I decided to write about the two super-natural occurrences that I had been involved with instead. The boss wasn't exactly happy, but seeing as she's my wife, what could she do?
After that, I said to myself, "Hey you wrote a five thousand word short story, why not write a book? How hard could it be?" When that was done, "I said, why not make it a trilogy? How hard could it be?"
What genre do you prefer to write in?
My first four novels are Horror, but my latest is a suspense -thriller.
What is your biggest writing achievement to date?
No awards or anything like that. I've been writing for just over a year and I have yet to spend more than a few hours in that time doing any sort of promoting.
What inspired you to write your books?
Maybe divine inspiration? I literally had only a vague story idea about a demon possession and three months later, I had turned that into a novel.
Who is your favorite author, and what is it about their work that strikes a chord with you?
Tolkien. The hobbit was the first book that I fell in love with. Tolkien created such an in-depth universe that people today are still finding their way into it.
What book are you reading now, and would you recommend it?
Gerald's Game by Stephen King. So far, I wouldn't recommend it. The main character's voice is jarringly unfeminine. It's not that she's butch or a tom boy, it's just that if a few words were substituted, the reader would easily believe the character is a man. (note: I'm only 70 pages in)
What are your current projects?
Projects? I'm sure that I will be a writer who can only work on one story at a time. I need to breathe my characters night and day to keep them true. I am currently writing a book about a girl who is hated, a man who is feared and a boy who is so ignored he may as well be invisible.
Where and when do you do most of your writing?
In the morning. I get up early and my wife sleeps in. It's a perfect setup.
What would you say was the hardest part of writing your books?
I was in no way prepared for this, but after I finished my first novel, I proudly put it out for my family and friends to read...and it gathered dust. Literally, there was dust on it before it was ever cracked. I was shocked and hurt. Not even my wife jumped at the chance. I would later find out that this is a sad phenomenon that happens to a lot of writers. Now, when I finish a book, I put out a little announcement on facebook and leave it at that.
Who designed your book cover/s – and was the cover something you deemed important?
I designed the covers using photobucket.
Did you try to go down the route of traditional publishing first – or did you feel that self-publishing was right for you from the beginning?
My first book I made the mistake of sending out to agents before it was ready. This goes back to my disappointment over not getting anyone to read it. I watched as the thing gathered dust and finally, out of frustration, I sent it out to agents to get their feedback. Just a note to would be writers, agents don't give feedback, they give you rejections in form letters. The book needed more proofing and editing. Looking back, I'm a little red in the cheeks over the incident.
On the whole, how have you found self-publishing?
I've had 6,000 downloads of my books. I get a steady, though small, monthly paycheck and I have found many readers who really like my writing. I'm pretty happy so far.
Where can we buy your books?
Currently Amazon is the best bet for most independent authors. From a writers point of view, Smashwords sucks (most independent items on the Nook come through Smashwords). It sucks bad. Amazon is easy to work with, they are timely and you can make changes in a very simple manner.
Do you have a website or blog where we can keep tabs on you?
No, I probably should, but I'm a writer. I write stories. I barely have time for this little interview. That being said, I am on Facebook and Goodreads a few times a week.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Go away! I don't need the competition. Really, that's no joke. Go play in traffic. Actually, I don't know if I can offer advice. I never took advanced English classes or creative writing courses. In fact, one of my first classes at Hunter college was a remedial English class and I failed that, mainly because I never bothered to attend. But if I had to give advice... fill your mind with your story and your characters, constantly. Everywhere you go, whatever you are doing, have your thoughts on your characters. What would they do in a given situation? How would they logically or illogically react? Do you let them spin out of control on an emotional level now, or do you have them hold it together till Johnny dies?
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