1. What scares you most?
As
a father of four with the youngest being nine and one, I'm afraid of
not properly preparing my younger children for what's waiting for them
out there in the world.
2. Who is your favorite author?
Jessie
Redmon Fauset. She was part of that first wave of writers published
during what we ca~l the Harlem Renaissance. Although some have charged
her with indulging in too much idealism, that's what I love about her.
She dared to capture the reality of a dire situation and reimagined and
cultivated it into a world of hopeful and inspiring possibilities.
3. How do you write (laptop, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk)?
There
was a time when I wrote with pen and paper, but that was nearly a
decade ago. I'm a sit at the computer and type kind of guy. I may jot
something onto a piece of paper if I can't get to the computer, but it's
become very difficult for ideas to come to me with a pen in hand. I'm
addicted to seeing my words and ideas magically appear on the screen as I
type. It's almost inspirational. I get a rush out of it.
4. How much sleep do you need to be at your best?
Sleep?
Who sleeps? Seriously. I steal an hour here and there. Much of my
writing is the result of a lot of contemplation about how a story or
plot can play out. Not only does that contemplation happen long before I
start writing, but it usually occurs when I'm trying to go to sleep.
Before I know it, I've spent hours lying in bed working a story out in
my head. I guess you could say that I'm at my best when I think I need
sleep.
5. Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you?
It
would be great if I could make a lot of money from my writing, but
money's not the barometer I use to measure my success as a writer.
Although it sounds corny or cliché, I just want people to enjoy my
writing. Success for me is about having readers really connect with a
moment, a character, a situation, or even a sentence in my works. I've
experienced a stranger telling me I how much he loved a certain scene in
one of my works, how much it touched him, and at that moment I got a
taste of what it is to be a successful writer. That's the bar for me.
I'm hoping to have millions of people expressing those kinds of
connections to my work, even if they passed around the same book. Of
course I would prefer they each purchase their own copy. Like I said,
it'll be great to make a lot of money.
6. What's your greatest strength as a writer?
I
would say that my greatest strength as a writer is that I don't take
writing for granted. I cherish every opportunity I've been afforded to
write. There are people who are capable of writing, but they can never
seem to get going. I understand that writing is not simply a skill, it's
also a gift. I don't take it for granted, which leads me to constantly
work at being better at it.
7. What book should everybody read at least once?
There are so many. If I had to choose one, I'd say Walter Mosely's Man in My Basement. It's
kind of quirky, but it's very thought-provoking. It's a great
conversation piece to say the least. It raises a lot of controversial
questions without taking itself too seriously.
In
this Urban Fantasy, the devil’s daughter, SALEENA, and her reaper
boyfriend, IZZY, elope to earth and seek to overthrow her estranged
brother, SIMON CLASH, as the devil’s heir apparent on earth, but Simon
is head of a powerful conglomerate, and he’s not going out without a
fight. As the rivalry turns bloody, the warring siblings discover the
devil has been manipulating their feud to advance his secret agenda and
is using them as decoys to draw out a sword-wielding champion of
humanity called the HOST, whom must be slain before the devil can
unleash a reign of terror on earth.
Legend
says the Host will emerge when humanity plunges into hopelessness and
despair, and NATHANIEL BRENNER, the young man responsible for delivering
a magic sword to the Host, hopes that is soon. Nathaniel has spent the
last six years searching for the Host to no avail and has recently seen a
drastic rise in demon activity on earth, which he knows could only mean
one thing: humanity is running out of time. Saleena and Simon unite to
save their own hides, but it may be too late—not only for the devil’s
offspring, but for humanity too! The future of humanity hangs in the
balance, and Nathaniel is determined to thwart the devil’s plans and
find the Host.
Genre - Urban Fantasy
Rating - PG-13
