I am actually surprised about my next book. It's still a mystery thriller, but it's a horror story that takes place in a small town in British Columbia. A bit different that my usual content but it will have the same fast pace that my readers enjoy.

When not writing I can often be found with a paint brush in hand, mountain bike between my legs or hiking shoes on my feet. Live life, experience life, enjoy life.

I am a writer and an artist. If the sun is up, I yearn to be outdoors enjoying and experiencing the fresh air, mountains, rivers, bike paths, and hiking trails. There is so much to see and experience in this world and much of it is right in everyone's own back yard. I find myself absorbing and storing tidbits from every day that I later regurgitate as words in stories and colours on canvas. I have many stories to reveal and artworks to release. Both can be found on my website reswirsky.com.

The early works of Stephen King are still my favourites and I often find myself pulling one the classics from the shelf for a reread. H P Lovecraft, Koontz, John Grisham rank high and of course Michael Crichton.

One of things I steer away from in books I select are the epic novels than run into the many hundreds of pages. I like to read, but I tend to read in short spurts. Being able to finish a book in just a few days is important to me. I find with the epics I may put the book down and come back to it a few weeks later to find I've forgotten or lost part of the characters history and background. I find myself not finishing these books even though they may be brillaintly written. Maybe it's just my short attention span, but I like a story that moves fast, with action right from the beginning preferably.

Good question! I have a Kobo, but I also have the Kindle for PC. I truly like both equally. Kobo is great for travelling. I can take an entire library with me and just select whatever my mood desires. At home I tend to use the Kindle for PC, but I am an avid camper and hiker, and the PC just doesn't do so good out in the bush.

I'm a writer first and not a strong marketing person so I'm not the kind of person that tweets every day to promote a book, or is out seeking book signing opportunities at every corner or banging on publisher's doors. I write because I like to write and someday maybe I will start sending out submissions to publisher's for a book deal. In the meantime Smashwords has been my first source for distribution and it has been very good to me, reaching out to many booksellers including Barnes & Noble, Sony, I-tunes, etc. Wonderful system. I also use the Amazon network and Kobo. I often use simple exposure to get my name and books out there by offering one for free from time to time. I found this was the simplest way for me to reach as many readers as possible with no publisher or agent behind me. To date nearly 300,000 copies of my books have been downloaded through the various online websites around the entire world, many of which are free downloads. The free offering gives the reader a taste of my writing which is often followed up with a purchase of one of my other works. I think this process has worked very well for me so far.

Strange question. My answer may be even stranger, as I don't even have a desk at home where I write. I guess I am in the modern age where my desk is actually a "desk top". I work, write, save, scan, etc everything onto my laptop and work from there.

I wanted something different and unique that would stand out against other books, but at the same time, was consistant from cover to cover. The images on the covers were either taken by myself, as I love photography, and then modified and assembled using Photo Shop. I tried to capture a feeling in the cover shot that echoes the undertone of the book.

I grew up in a very small town of about 7,000 people in the Mountains of British Columbia. The forest was our playground. We could walk up and down the streets and know the names of nearly every person that lived in every house for a three block radius. That kind of culture is lost in the big cities where we become just mere acquaintances. My stories could take place anywhere, but I prefer the edge of nature to be the backdrop instead of the concrete jungle.
My newest book, The Order, takes place in many locations across Canada, from Canmore to Okotoks, Victoria to Val David, Ottawa to Oyen, with much of the story taking place near Canmore Alberta on Heart Mountain.
Rural living is where my heart is at, and I can't keep it from stealing its way into my books.

Feedback. There is something about reading a readers review that is self-satisfying. When a reader writes a review and they capture the story the way it was intended.