An Interview with Khalil Barnett, author of KOJIRO

An alumni of the University of Central Florida, Khalil is a prose writer, screenwriter, English teacher, and martial artist living and working in Orlando, Florida. He published his first novel, Guerillas, in 2001, and his second novel, The Cynosure of All Eyes, in 2020. Kojiro is his third novel.

What is your favourite dragon in literature?

My favorite dragon in literature is easily Falkor from Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story. And the reasons are multifaceted. For starters, in the book Falkor’s name is written as “Fuchur”, which is derivative of the Japanese word fukuryū -meaning happiness or luck, which of course is his description in the story as ‘Falkor the Luck Dragon’. His archetypical function in the piece is transcendent, even Jungian and correspondent to Joseph Campbell’s observations of universal literary symbology in his seminal work “Hero With A Thousand Faces”. We all pass through what Campbell referred to as the ‘field of bliss’ on the path to self-actualization, and the hero’s journey reflected in most stories is a dramatization of this struggle that we all face. Falkor, and I noticed this even as a little deaf kid back in the 80s, is an expression of the importance not merely of “Luck”, but, more pointedly, “Hope” and “Belief”. Humans do not persevere without hope, we do not survive as a species without some form of belief in ourselves, in purpose, in meaning. We would all, instantly, or at least inexorably, succumb to the Nothing! Falkor is all of this, precisely. I can see his smile and wink right now as I say it.

I’m not going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

I’ve formally published three novels so far. The first, ‘Guerrillas’, was an examination of the stuff that makes a tyrant and the ways they indoctrinate otherwise good but desperate people to their destructive causes. My last book, ‘The Cynosure of All Eyes’, was an experiment in philosophical erotica but also a very intimate deep dive into the challenges of living with, and overcoming, debilitating clinical depression. But my latest novel, Kojiro, is by far my most personal project to date -because of its history. The idea was dreamt up during a car ride in 2001 through the streets of LA with my best friend Kesler Casimir, who regrettably passed right before Christmas in 2008. It started as an idea for a high concept horror script but went through several permutations from there, eventually evolving into a full-blown heroic mythology better suited for long form prose. What it’s become in its now published form is an amalgamation of so many heady ideas I’ve started and stopped over the years, cataloging in a idea database that has reached the point of bursting. Kesler always believed in every version of Kojiro, so this piece is for him, as are those that will follow in the expanding world.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

I think there are shades of my first fully written though unpublished piece prevalent in all the three books I’ve published so far, enduring like an influential ghost of the past ever guiding my hand in the present and beyond. It was the story of a convict who breaks free of his mental and emotional shackles long after being released from the physical ones that shaped the bondage of his personality. In retrospect, it was very much a metaphorical therapeutic exercise in working through the baggage of my own experience in the world as a deaf person. Ever since I was a kid, I felt alienated from every peer group -from even my friends and classmates, from even other young black boys growing up in the south. Any cursory examination of deaf culture, which I wasn’t exposed to during my formative years, you’ll find expressions of this kind of isolated experience. Will I return to that old piece from my budding days as a writer and resurrect it anew? Very likely. That voice wouldn’t keep coming back to me if it weren’t still a story that demands to be told, like the child alive and well that is buried under wreckage of any adult’s memory.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

The one thing I would say that has improved most about my writing is focus and readability. All the many unpublished tomes, they’re all good ideas lost in wildernesses of unsolved puzzles. All very much free association in nature as I struggled to find a voice. Now, there’s confidence and vision to damn the deluge of inspiration.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

The first author, my favorite, who comes to mind when I consider this question is Walter Mosley. He is so incredibly prolific and yet never seems to run out of ideas. The second author that comes to mind is George R.R. Martin, who famously takes many years between books. If I had to classify myself, I’d say that I am somewhere in between in regard to the developmental process of bringing a story from idea to fruition. The incubation stage for me is like a chaotic, unpredictable chrysalis. Maybe I’ll spit something in a short series of months, or maybe a project, like Kojiro, will take many years to see print. I’m already at work on the follow up, so Kojiro 2 will not take nearly as long as the first one did.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I recently discovered that a thing I have in common with Toni Morrison is that I do my best writing early in the morning, while it’s still dark and the rest of the surrounding world is still sleeping. I like to imagine myself a conduit of dreams in these hours, not just my own, but those of the collective unconscious. I don’t remember who it was that said it, but I agree that every writer, inevitably, is part philosopher and part social scientist. We all have our finger on the pulse of society in some way or another, it’s maybe at once a gift and consequence of the neurosis that drives creativity. You don’t just research your topic, you research yourself and the many influences that characterize your thinking. Doesn’t matter where I’m doing the writing to facilitate that process, really. It’s more a matter of when. I make notes usually on paper, but the writing writing I do strictly digital. The keyboard is my guitar.

I am lucky enough to have very literate and brutally honest people in my sphere who proofread my material before I unleash it on the world.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

Physical media is where it’s at! There’s nothing like the smell of a freshly printed book! I’m the cartoon character being drawn to it by tendrils of animated fragrance that forms a hand hypnotically beckoning me to ‘Come on!’ E-readers are incomparable to that. Audiobooks, forget it.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

If I had to choose a favorite genre, it would be gumshoe fiction. Because that’s what life is for me, an ongoing high stakes investigation. I used to joke in fact about how being deaf or severely hearing impaired, in every conversation I’m like a detective working to crack a case. Studying clues in voice inflection, random words that I hear clearly in a bombardment of verbal hyroglyphics, context, etc… This is especially true in my work as a 5th grade English teacher when talking to students… But I love literary fiction, contemporary fiction, and, obviously, fantasy and sci fi. I’m drawn to sci fi for its inherent optimism for the future. There’s optimism even in distopian sci fi, because, ultimately, those stories are still about the heroic journey of overcoming. What’s more optimistic than self-actualization in the mist of tyranny and utter despair? I love fantasy, mythology, for its unapologetic expressions of archetypical pantheons, and for an undercurrent of, again, hope requisite to the very imaging of fantastical worlds, quests, and larger than life beings.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I agree that social media is a hassle. More than that, it brings out there very worst in some people. The paradox being that it is antisocial, a breeding ground for toxic behavior, unchecked prejudices, and all around ugliness. Indeed, poor character and anti-intellectual fringe thinking is celebrated in the dark corners of so-called social media. But at the same time, when used effectively, it can be a great tool for connection, for networking and, again ironically and in spite of its nature, building real friendships that last forever. That said, I manage my own social media pages. I can’t imagine that changing sometime in the future, but I guess we’ll see.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next? 

In answering interview questions, I try not to ever lose the conversational aspect, the human connection at the foundation of it. It’s the point, I think, to interviews anyway; connection. So no, I don’t ever consciously recycle answers. If I’m asked a similar question, I may give a similar answer. But it’s never a copy and paste sort of thing. That’s not how conversations work. Indeed, it’s not how honesty works. If we’re talking, we’re talking. Answers, responses, comments, they’re influenced by the moment. And sometimes, caffeine.

Novel Synosis

Springing from a restless imagination, tulpas–otherwise known as “thought-forms”—can go on to live lives independent of their creators. This can have dark, troubling—even violent—consequences. No one knows this better than Coletrane Marx.

The only son of an eccentric billionaire archeologist, Coletrane one night unwittingly creates a tulpa—one that, to his horror, visits him in demonic form and murders his parents with a samurai sword.

Forever changed by this trauma, Coletrane soon discovers that his fevered childhood imagination has created a mysterious, cursed samurai warrior named Kojiro. But not just Kojiro: It has also created an alternate feudal history in which Kojiro lives his own prophetic story, in a world full of mythic creatures, powerful humanoid animal Lords, living deities, and evil Tricksters. A world—Coletrane soon learns—that could overlap with his own in catastrophic ways. Can Coletrane and Kojiro reconcile their dark, shared past? Can they join forces to defeat cataclysmic destruction?

Purchase KOJIRO here!

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An Interview with Gini Grossenbacher

What is your favourite dragon in literature?

Maleficent. I appreciate that the wicked fairy transforms into a reptilian creature, the embodiment of evil. I saw the Disney film as a child in the 1950s, and the dragon image stayed with me all my life. I think I have a love-hate relationship with that dragon. She is larger-than-life, powerful, and gorgeous.

I’m not going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

Madam in Silk has a special place for me, since I not only did extensive research into the heroine Ah Toy’s history in San Francisco, but I had to do lots of reading about Guangzhou, the Pearl River, and the porcelain trade where her fictional father gained his wealth. I immersed myself in Chinese ancient cultural practices, familial relationships, and the class system.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

Luckily, I hired an excellent editor to shepherd me through the revisions of Madam of My Heart, my first novel. I do have an “in the drawer” World War II novel that has been through tons of revision and editing, but I have never gone back and published it. My readers wanted me to continue the “American Madams” trilogy, so continuing to write those novels seemed more important at the time. My next trilogy is called “Artistic Women.” After I finish those books, perhaps I’ll return to the war story.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I am a two-to-three-year percolator. I do extensive research for each of my novels, multiple revisions, and work with beta readers and critique groups.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down, and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I write on my laptop in the morning hours or late afternoon. I have a spacious office with artwork on the walls, candles burning, and my little terrier Murphy in her bed. That keeps me happy.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers and choose an editor?

I have a trusted group of fellow novelists who critique my story, then I have two or three well-read friends who read and provide opinions. My patient husband helps me when I encounter a plot wrinkle.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

My favorite bookshop is the Avid Reader in downtown Sacramento. They always have the latest bestsellers available, in addition to a wonderful children’s literature section where I tend to get lost. They’re also quite willing to host my book launches and sell my novels and poetry.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

As an English teacher, I taught the classics of course, along with works by diverse authors of color. I read widely in fiction and non-fiction, yet I always return to historical fiction, my genre, in order to see the latest trends.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I did hire a social media manager a few years ago. She helped me set up my platform, website, and initial presence on Facebook and Twitter. When she eventually moved away, I handled the platform myself, yet it is a big job, and I find myself always feeling guilty for not posting enough. I have a publicist, Cristina Deptula, from Authors Large and Small, and she has been a great help to me in gaining contacts and reviews over the years.

I like Facebook because the brief posts seem to fit my time and genre. I also belong to FB reader/writer groups, and I enjoy reading the posts of other authors and readers who love their books as well as my own.

I supplement social media with selling my books at bookstores, fairs and festivals, especially at those events with a vintage theme since they complement my historical fiction genre. I will wear a fascinator or frilly skirt, decorate my booth with lace and flowers, and set out my books. I make many sales that way, and people love to see an author’s booth next to the painted rock table.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

Not really. My career keeps evolving with the times, so my answers are relevant today. Tomorrow’s interview could be completely different since I’ll have a new novel out or a fresh book of poetry!

Purchase Madam of Silk here

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An Interview with James Michels, author of Icebox, Ice Rising and The Ballad of Jonny Carlo

My name is James Michels, and I’m a crime fiction writer from Michigan in the United States. To date, I have two published novels and one that will be published soon. I’ve always had an interest in the world of crime fiction and true crime and have worked for seven years as a corrections officer in state prison.

What is your favourite dragon in literature?

My favorite dragon in literature would have to be the three dragons from Game of Thrones, Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion.

I’m not going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

I’m not sure if I have a personal favorite book that I’ve wrote. I’d say that The Ballad of Johnny Carlo would have the most appeal to a wider audience.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

I actually started writing a story when I was in high school once, but that story is pretty much shelved indefinitely because I didn’t follow through on it back then, and that was when my mentality was different. I wasn’t devoted to becoming an author back then. I didn’t even knew I’d like writing.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

I’d say that the ability to use different words and expressions has improved. I’m working more on my showing/telling ratio.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I try to get at least one book out a year. My goal is to have at least four by the time I’m thirty. I write as the idea comes to me, so even I don’t know how long it will take me to write a book. Ice Rising took a year to write, The Ballad of Johnny Carlo took maybe a year and a half, and Icebox was less than a year.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I write on my phone, so I can pretty much write anywhere except at my day job. I prefer to write on my recliner at home in the morning on my days off or in the evening during a work day since I work mornings. With three kids, my writing schedule is not always consistent.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I am lucky enough to have people close to me who will give honest opinions. My betas are usually my wife, my mom, and a good friend which also edits my work. He’s never steered me wrong on my editing, so I trust his judgment.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

There is a local book store that I enjoy going to, but I absolutely love Barnes and Noble. I could spend a whole day there. I do read eBook from time to time, but I prefer paperback.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

My favorite reading genres have to be true crime and crime fiction. I have picked up urban fiction, romance, some more fantasy, dystopian, and classics over the recent years. Also enjoy horror and dark fantasy. As of right now, the only two genres I have not ventured into are erotica and western.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I do manage my own social media. My preferred platforms are Twitter and Facebook. I only spend maybe an hour on them a day, usually to keep up to date on some Facebook groups that have helped me out, post some content to Facebook and Twitter for my followers, and to connect with readers and other writers.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next? 

I think it depends on the question being asked if I recycle my answers. I tend to find out more about myself as I answer them, so there is usually a different variation of answer even if the question is the same.

Thanks for your time today, James. I find it so inspiring that you are able to bust out a book a year as well as a day job and kids! Keep up the writing. ~ Rose

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An Interview with Louis J. Ambrosio, author of A Reservoir Man

Louis J. Ambrosio ran one of the most nurturing bi-coastal talent agencies in Los Angeles and New York. He started his career as a theatrical producer, running two major regional theaters for eight seasons. Ambrosio also distinguished himself as an award-winning film producer and novelist over the course of his impressive career.

What is your favorite dragon in literature?

The unnamed dragon Beowolf captures and kills at the end of the tale.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external hard drive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

This is my first novel, I was busy doing dissertations, reports for graduate school, and then grant applications for my theaters. I do have a collection of poetry from that time which still sits on my desk.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

Microsoft 365 Word has made a major difference, though I always had a command of syntax and I was always a competent writer.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

Writing “A Reservoir Man,” took me one summer working 2 hours a day, 4 days a week. I approach the book by writing “stream of consciousness,” a way of writing I find inspirational and freeing.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I imagine I can write anywhere, some places are more pleasant. My office which overlooks my garden is where I enjoy writing currently while being underscored by Mahler, Beethoven, and disco.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I don’t believe in giving too many people my work, too many opinions spoil the pot. I was fortunate to have 2 friends, one distant and one close to read my book. The close friend, read chapter by chapter. The distant friend read the first pass and urged me to keep editing, which I did, many more times. With my close friend, I was able to share my metaphysical thoughts and inspirations.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I don’t like ebooks, I want to be able to keep the physical copy with me, I could not agree more with you. I find the most inspiration from hardcover books and I love Barnes and Noble. I get my source material from the classics and the internet.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

My favorite genre is drama and the classics. Anywhere from the 17th century to the 20th century. My tastes have never changed, these books have taught me and showed me my truth and my freedom.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

Social Media has its place in today’s world but I think it has overreached it’s bounds.  I use ads and reviews on platforms.

Thank you! I hope you enjoy my new book “A Reservoir Man” available now on Amazon

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Interview with Frederick Douglass Reynolds

Frederick Douglass Reynolds is a retired LA County Sheriff’s homicide sergeant. He was born in Rocky Mount, Virginia, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan where he became a petty criminal and was involved in gangs. He joined the US Marine Corps in 1979 to escape the life of crime that he seemed destined for. After a brief stint in Okinawa, Japan, he finished out his military career in southern California and ultimately became a police officer with the Compton police department. He worked there from 1985 until 2000 and then transferred to the sheriff’s department where he worked an additional seventeen years.

Frederick retired in 2017 with over seventy-five commendations including a Chief’s Citation, five Chief’s commendations, one Exemplary Service Award, two Distinguished Service Awards, two Distinguished Service Medals, one city of Carson Certificate of Commendation, three city of Compton Certificates of Recognition, one city of Compton Public Service Hero award, one California State Assembly Certificate of Recognition, two State Senate Certificates of Recognition, a County of Los Angeles Certificate of Commendation, one Meritorious Service Award, two city of Compton Employee of the Year Awards, and two California Officer of the Year awards. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Carolyn, and their daughter Lauren and young son, Desmond.  They have six other adult children and nine grandchildren.

What is your favourite dragon in literature?

Lisbeth Salander’s dragon tattoo. Just kidding. Actually, I think my favourite dragon is Smaug, from The Hobbit.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

Black, White, and Gray All Over is my first novel, but I definitely reshaped it over the years. There came a time early on that I knew I wanted to write a book, because I had seen so much misery and had experienced so much trauma. And this was even before I became a cop. I knew what the title was going to be, because that is what I felt my life had been. I messed around for a little while, jotting down ideas and notes on line-loose leaf paper that I kept in a green colored binder with the title written on a post-it affixed to the front. But I put it away when life got in the way. When two of my colleagues were murdered in 1993, I knew that I would write about that night one day. When I retired in 2017, I started writing again, only now the murders weren’t going to be the focal point of the book. They were certainly going to be a huge part of it, though, as they were such a seminal point in my life.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

Being able to hold the reader. For years as a police officer and then as a Homicide Detective, especially as a detective, writing is a huge part of the job. You have to be able to convey the story to the district attorney. What you write may one day be read and discussed in the Chambers of the Supreme Court. I worked hard on my writing, being as descriptive and detailed as possible. Before I became a cop, my ideas were a bit jumbled and in disarray.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

Well, my first novel was drawn from true-life experiences. I do know whether writing about yourself is easier, or harder. I do know that I cried several times while writing this book. I think the next book will be easier. I’m going to write a science-fiction crime novel, I think. But its going to have to get put on the backburner. A long-retired detective, who is approaching 80 years old, just dumped about 300 pages of handwritten notes about his life on me, and asked my if I could ‘fix’ it for him. So, I guess I’m going to be a ghost-writer, first. It will probably take me a year to get his notes straightened out and typed up. But I love him, and I am going to do it for him because I know how expensive ghost-writers can be.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I won’t have that problem. I love to get up early in the morning, make a cup of black coffee and have a slice of cheese and toast in my backyard while looking at the hummingbirds feed. I named two specific ones ‘George’ and ‘Orwell’. I can easily identify them because one has red on his chest and the other one has yellow. After eating, I will break out my lap-top and begin typing. I do love writing with a thick lead pencil, but my hands and fingers stiffen rather quickly and start hurting so I don’t do it as much anymore.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I didn’t have a beta-reader. There was so much that I didn’t know about this business! My wife, although she has infinitely more education that I do, doesn’t really like to read. She prefers watching sports. However, she would read certain parts of what I wrote. When it held her attention, I knew that perhaps I had written something worth reading. I knew I had her when I caught her crying as she read one part.

The publication company that I went with did editing, and we went back and forth for about two months with suggestions and changes. It was really important to me that I had the book published on August 18, because that is the date my father died and the book is dedicated to him. I got the last version back from the publishers about four or five days before, and I saw four mistakes. I asked the publishing company if the could correct those mistakes and still have the book published by the 18th. When they said it couldn’t be done, I told them to go with it as is. It was more important to me to have that publication date than it was to correct those mistakes. They cost me an award from Feathered Quill, it turns out. Someone who works for them told me that my book was one of the best ones in the contest, but their editors are sticklers for grammar. She commented on a mistake that I didn’t even catch: A quotation mark is missing from the back cover!

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I love physical books. I have hundreds of them at my house, and even more in storage. E-books just don’t hold the appeal for me, either. I guess you and I are relics of the past. I don’t like the big box bookstores. I like the mom and pop bookstores, where there are one or two people working, both wearing eyeglasses, and at least one of them sitting behind the counter next to a cash register that is surrounded by dusty old books with yellowing pages. Unfortunately, these stores are fading fast and they are hard to find now. I always spend at least fifty dollars whenever I go in one.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

My favorite genre is fantasy and science-fiction novels. I am a big fan of George RR Martin and Aldous Huxley. I worked in True Crime for so, so many years, and I would often escape from that sobering reality by reading fantasy and science fiction. Although a graphic novel, the Watchmen by Alan Moore covers both genres and is one of my favorite books.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I use a delightful lady by the name of Monica Kelly, and she has created a very nice author’s page for me. I chose to publish my book with Mindstirmedia, and part of that package included the services of Monica for a few months. Other than that, I post information about my book on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I spend quite a bit of time on my phone now, much to the dismay of my wife, who gets livid if she is talking to me and I pick up my phone and start scrolling. And understandably so.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

Boy, am I! But I realize that hardcore readers are a close-knit bunch and tend to read up on everything about an author they like or a new author that they want to get to know. Because of that, even though a lot of interview questions are similar if not the same, I try my best to give the same answers if only phrased differently.

Thanks so much for your time, Frederick! True crime always facinates me, and it’s fantastic to have you add more diversity to the books out there.

You can find out more about the author here (link) and the book on Amazon (here).

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An Interview with Biff Mitchell, author of Murder by Coffee and other works

Biff Mitchell lives in a hovel at the edge of the world. He has no life. He has no friends. Neighborhood children throw stones at his hovel. At night, Biff throws stones at his hovel.

Someday Biff plans to write a book about a man who lives in a house that is stoned daily by neighborhood children who—through some magical twist of events—turn into snowmen.

When Spring arrives, the man’s house melts.

What is your favourite dragon in literature?

The only dragon I like is the one I keep in my refrigerator.

I’m not going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

My second novel, Team Player, is my favorite. It was the easiest of all my novels to write and the most fun. It’s a satire on the IT industry in which a man who lives in a tree in his office helps 30 naked pagan women save the universe. I work in the IT industry so I had lots of ammunition for this one.

I wrote Team Player so long ago that the illegal software the bad guys want to put on everyone’s computers is a reality and it’s not illegal. We call it malware or any other name that makes it seem like a minor irritant. But when I wrote the novel, I was certain that anyone who would plant something like that would go to jail.

Also, apparently neutrinos have mass. They didn’t while I was writing the novel.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

I burned my first novel because it was so bad. I had some second thoughts almost as soon as it started peeling off ashes, but it was written on a typewriter with no copy, so I just stared at the flames and tried not to think about what I was doing.

I might try to re-write is some day. It’s a hippie story…so…maybe I’ll just leave it as is…ashes.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

I’d have to say that my writing style became more relaxed as time marched on and I no longer gave a damn what people thought of my writing. The relaxed style goes well with the sardonic humor and all the nasty things that happen to the characters unfortunate enough to be in one of my stories.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I do almost all my writing in coffee shops. As soon as I sit down, slurp some coffee, and turn my laptop on, I start writing because I’m in the place where I write.

The only thing that bugs me is people talking on their cell phones. They don’t talk, they yell. This is why I take an expensive pair of Bose noise cancellation headphones with me when I write. They’ve saved so many annoying cell phone addicts from getting a coffee stir stick in the eye.

I even put together a workshop on writing in coffee shops and it’s free here (link).

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I spent several years as a quality assurance specialist so I do my own editing. BUT…I put the finished manuscript away for up to a year and no less than six months so that I’m coming into the script as fresh as possible.

This isn’t really what I should be doing though. It’s what I tell my writing students not to do and there’s a price to be paid for doing this.

My novel, The Weekly Man, was rejected by 5,309.05 agents because of a typo type error on the first page where I wrote, “he noticed noticed that.” I didn’t notice the double “noticed” but the agents did, and that’s when they stopped reading.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I like the convenience of my Kindle reader. I can carry as many books as I want anywhere in the world and it comes in handy when I’m waiting for a dental/doctor/shrink appointment.

I get nasty glares from people with their heads buried in their cell phones. It’s like they’re saying: “Who the hell do you think you are? That’s not a phone! Put it away! Be us!”

At which point, I double down on the reading and sometimes read aloud and see if I can make their teeth grind louder than I’m reading.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

I’ve always been attracted to speculative fiction in all its many strange forms, but not just science fiction and fantasy. I like the stuff that dips itself into an impossible story and drowns itself in a barrage of magical realism and humor.

I’d mention my favorite writers but then you’d buy their books and not mine and I’m just not that big-hearted.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I use social media until it drives me crazy. I was already pretty far gone before social media taught me to swear like the world was on fire, which is probably will be soon.

I have a main website that’s sort of a portal to everything else. I have website specifically for my writing. I have 1, 2, 3, 4 blogs at WordPress and one somewhere else that I can no longer locate, but the blog is still there. I also have a Facebook page for myself and for each of my novels and my writing in general. Facebook just changed its interface and put me back a year or two.

I also use other social media to promote my writing; for instance, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit and Pinterest. It never stops and it’s merciless. They change the interfaces and they change the rules.

It drives me just a little bit crazier every day. In fact, I can’t believe I’m writing this without swearing and jumping up and down on my laptop.

A word of warning: If you’re going to use social media to market your books, start with one or two and get to know them inside out before going on to others. Or, just jump right in and go crazy like I did.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

Every single word here has been recycled from hundreds, maybe thousands, of interviews I’ve done. Unfortunately, those were all done for my photography, so some of the words might not make sense in the context of writing. But it saves time.

About Biff’s latest novel

We live in a world teetering on mass extinctions, including humans. Blowing Up dives into both the good and the bad in this out-of-control world with a big dose of surreal situations and dark humor. The book begins with Sleeping in Ditches, the story of a man who epitomizes our increasingly fatalist attitudes towards life in the 21^st Century. He attends cocktail parties, office talks in the lunch room and anti-abortion rallies (for the free food). At night, he sleeps in ditches:

“I’ve slept in ditches full of needles and condoms and barking spiders. I wear two wide swatches of red on my back from a slick of bubbling something-or-other at the bottom of a ditch by a chemical plant. I’ve seen small things flitter and flap in the darkness around rusted tin cans while they debated whether to leave me alone or eat me.”

The collection gets its title from the story 100 People, 10 Bats and 1 Car Blowing Up. This story gets into the minds of the people, the bats and the cat in that instant in which they’re blowing up in a nuclear holocaust. Their thoughts are sometimes more disturbing than the explosion:

“There were no walls, no windows, no floor. It was certainly a much different environment than it had been a few minutes before. Chloe’s Coffee Crisp bar was gone before she’d had a chance to finish it and she felt a little ripped off by the timing of things. The nerve: blowing a city up before people have a chance to finish their chocolate bars.”

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