Question: A lot of people have commented saying that your books lack polish and that you should have had them edited… that you would have been more successful if you had done so.
Answer – Oh, I agree! It would have been great if I had sent the books off to editors but you have to understand where I was at when I wrote Odessa Bride. I was pretty much beyond poor and paying for an editor simply wasn’t an option. I was driving a car with over three hundred thousand miles on it, living paycheck to paycheck in a home with no central heat with a roof that was leaking for three years and floors that were literally rotting out underneath me. Simply buying food to keep my heart beating was my goal most months… so finding the money for an editor that would have cost me probably more than a month’s salary that I couldn’t afford to pony up just wasn’t an option… sorry.
Question: Right now, how successful do you think your books will be?
Answer – Of course, I hope they’re wildly successful but I’m also a realist. I see the imperfections and places where they could stand improvement or, out and out, be rewritten. Actually, I think I rewrote or went over the first book… Odessa Bride… I don’t know how many times. I think I spent probably a year rewriting it, adding to it and removing small parts. I think that the more I wrote the better I became as a writer so I saw flaws.
Question: Flaws? So, you don’t really believe that you’re a good writer?
Answer – A good writer? Maybe. A great writer? Absolutely not. I forget what the rule is that they tell you… either a million words or a million pages before you’re a decent writer. I’m not sure if I passed that mark yet. I think it’s a million words so… maybe I’ve passed that mark.
Question: How? You only have one series sort of published.
Answer – Well, I did a lot of writing over the years. I used to do internet marketing… mostly article marketing… sort of in the same genre that I presently write… stuff having to do with love. I would publish sometimes ten articles a day at a thousand words a piece so that would be about a hundred days so… yeah, pretty sure I passed a million words. As far as novels though, The Odessa Bride series is roughly a hundred and fifty thousand words and I have other stuff that I’ve written under different pen names…. And book two and three are over a hundred thousand a piece.
Question: You have other pen names?
Answer – Yeah, sure. I write some erotica under another pen name. Erotica is easy for me to write when I’m in the mood. The stuff just flows so it’s easy for me.
Question: You mean like Shades of Gray stuff?
Answer – No… there is some explicit sex in the stuff I write under that pen name but it’s not BDSM or any real kink, as far as I’m concerned. I consider it erotic romance since there is romance or relationships as part of the plot. Mostly about women who become more powerful throughout the book as they realize their sexuality. It amazes me and it’s a topic or aspect of womanhood that I find very interesting.
Question: But you like writing romance?
Answer – Absolutely. Anything that can bring forth emotions interests me whether it be in a book or a movie.
Question: Like Nicholas Sparks?
Answer – I don’t know… Sparks fans are pretty rabid and, although I like his writing, I don’t model myself after him or… I don’t know.
Question: Like what? Tell me about a time when a book or a movie moved you.
Answer – Silver Linings Playbook… love that movie… mostly because I love Jennifer Lawrence so much but… the end of that movie gets me every time. I know it’s coming but still I’m moved to tears every time
Question: So you’re a romantic… do you believe in true love?
Answer – Absolutely… I absolutely believe in true love. I mean… I don’t know if I necessarily believe in soul mates or split aparts since most of my relationships have ended poorly but… throughout all of those relationships I can say that there were some tremendously romantic moments… moments that truly took my breath away.
Question: Is that where you get your motivation for your books?
Answer – To a degree. I mean, that’s kind of what I’m trying to convey and how can a writer write about something he’s never experienced before, ya know? Everything… the pure ecstasy of dancing in the rain with someone you love or those touching moments when you sit up in the middle of the night and just talk… those first kisses… the first time you make love with someone… the first time you see someone like Wyatt and Vika do.
Question: So that was an experience of yours?
Answer – What? The first time Vika and Wyatt meet? I can’t tell you that. I’d have to kill you. It’s a struggle, ya know? I’d love to sit down with someone and tell them about the things I’ve felt… in detail… to just sit in front of the fireplace with a cup of coffee and tell them what I’ve experienced because, for me, there have been touching moments that blow away anything I’ve ever seen in a movie or read in a book and that’s basically what I’m trying to do… sit down with you in the middle of the night and tell you the stories of love lost and the happy, romantic memories that I have in my heart. Whether I am successful in conveying those emotions, remains to be seen.
Question: You mean, you’re not sure if you’re a good enough writer?
Answer – Exactly… sadly so. I mean, I read some indie books and for the most part… I hate to say this but… for the most part I think, “man, my stuff is better than this.” But, every once in awhile I pick something up and read the first few pages and I get pissed.
Question: Pissed?
Answer – Yeah… really angry. I read their stuff and I feel like a hack… an amateur or total wanna-be. Their words are so eloquent and the scene just flows and… I think to myself, “that’s what I want my writing to be like!”… so I get down on myself and I feel horrible about my writing.
Question: Horrible?
Answer – Yeah… really bad. I have a bit of a depressive personality and I’m filled with doubts.
Question: Kinda like Wyatt.
Answer – Shaddap… but yea, kinda like Wyatt. There have been times that I absolutely screamed out that I suck and thought of deleting everything. I’ve had times when I’ve given up on the whole project and just walked away for a while.
Question: How long?
Answer – I don’t know… sometimes days… sometimes weeks… but I always come back… or I wind up going off on a rabbit trail and I start working on a different project… a different genre… different characters. I even have a science fiction novel that is… I don’t know… a hundred pages plus done?
Question: What about beta readers? I understand that you didn’t even send your work to beta readers in the beginning.
Answer – Nope… didn’t have any beta readers either. Honestly, I was so doubtful that I would find any success with Odessa Bride or the series and the writing of these books took so long that I simply shoved them out there. I think it was three years of writing before I had the rough draft of Odessa Bride ready. Of course, I was also writing book two and three in that series at the same time so the goal was to just get the story out of me, into words and then push it out into the world like a Viking funeral ship.
Question: So, you wrote multiple books at the same time?
Answer – Yeah… I began writing the first book three years or more before its release. As I got rolling and as learned more about the writing process… what worked for me, what didn’t… I began outlining book two and three. When I would get sick of book one or when I was stuck, I would turn to book two or three to get me… unstuck. There were also times when the characters in book two or three would just be screaming at me, like, “Hey! Stuff is going on here!” or I would get an idea and feel compelled to write it down… First, because I forget stuff really easily and if I don’t write it down, it’s lost… and also because I firmly believe in writing with passion. I feel that those emotions come out in the words so if I’m slogging along with my writing in one book and the words just aren’t coming, I’m not going to subject the reader to that kind of drivel. But if I’m writing about something that I’m passionate about, the words just flow. It’s not uncommon for me to knock out five or six thousand words easily when I’m feeling it… if I’m not feeling it, I struggle to peck out two hundred words… the equivalent of two paragraphs that are such shit that I wind up deleting it later anyhow… but when I’m into it and the character are talking to me, everything just flows and there are scenes that I’ve written that I have actually cried while I was writing them because I was so moved by what was going on… and I hope those emotions translate through the words. I really hate to look at it like a job with measuring productivity and counting words but I feel pretty damn good when the day is done and I can step outside, smoke a cigarette and smile knowing that I knocked out ten thousand words.
Question: What does the future hold for Wyatt and Vika?
Answer – Gonna have to read the books! Honestly, there are four books in the series, at the moment. Three are pretty much written. Book two and three need some serious help but I know how they’re going to go… I have the story down. Book four is still a bit of a wild card. In spite of the fact that it’s part of the Odessa Bride series, it’s going to be focused in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. I still don’t know exactly what’s going to happen and there’s a lot of green between, if you know what I mean. Honestly, I don’t know if Wyatt and Vika will wind up together… even I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
Question: Oh, come on! You must have some idea of whether or not Wyatt and Vika will end up together.
Answer – Honestly, I don’t. I would like to see it but, like many things in life, stuff gets complicated. Of course, feel free to push me and I’ll see what I can do. I’ll talk to Wyatt… pull him aside and tell him to get his shit together… I’ll talk to Vika and try to help her to find it in her heart to forgive Wyatt and rekindle that romance she she did have for him in spite of his doubt.
Question: Do you have plans for any other series?
Answer – Of course! The story of Wyatt and his ex-wife’s whirlwind romance is in the works, actually. I haven’t looked at it in a while but I do vaguely remember outlining it a bit and writing a few chapters… but that sort of ties in with the Odessa Bride series… sort of a prequel. I also have a pirate series outlined and a few chapters written. I always loved pirates and they intrigue me. Of course, it’s a strong female pirate.
Question: What are your goals as a writer?
Answer – Shit… I got a ton of goals. You really want to know ‘em all?
Question: Yes 🙂
Answer – OK… first and foremost, if I could write stories that people enjoy, I’ll be happy. If I can accomplish that and have a bunch of people who enjoy my words, I’ll consider myself successful.
Question: That’s it?
Answer – In a nutshell, yeah!
Question: You said you had a ton of goals…
Answer – OK… *cough*… with my past, financial wealth is a goal… having one of the Odessa Bride books turned into a film is a goal. Basically, I feel that if I can achieve my goal and tell interesting stories that people enjoy, everything will fall into place… fingers crossed.