Because I'm more of a non-fiction reader, I tend to follow a structured approach as if I were writing an essay. Note that this is more or less a force of habit from my university days and field of studies (social sciences), as well as having previously self-published a work of non-fiction as well.

For my first (and most crucial) step, I create a bare-bones plot structure as the story's foundation, as well as a list of themes that I'd like to explore at some point along the story. Once I'm satisfied with that foundation, I create the appropriate characters who will fit into this structure. I prefer to create characters who get the story going, rather than formulate a story based on some characters that I've created. As far as I'm concerned, the story should be compelling in itself and not rely too much on the characters...the latter are malleable and should be used to reinforce the story itself.

The next step is to reinforce the foundation of the story and toss in the characters who fit best and discard or revise the ones who don't fit in. This plot line is written in telegraphic style and always subject to change.

Once a satisfactory (note: not perfect) plot has been created with characters who complement it accordingly, the first rough draft then begins!

Once the rough draft is complete, it's revised and rewritten a half-dozen times until it's a more polished (but still rough)...then I submit it to individuals whose opinion I trust to offer me honest and useful criticisms. Peer review is as important in fiction writing as it is for any academic treatise!

Following the severe scrutiny it needs to evolve, the draft is reworked and rewritten for an innumerable amount of times until something solid comes out.

That's how I do it. If you have any other method you'd like to share with me, I'd be more than happy to hear you out. I'm always up for improving my writing skills!

1-The Epic of Gilgamesh

I never get tired of this story. It's one of the oldest works of fiction and the story is still as compelling today as the day it was written in the dawn age of human civilization. It features all kinds of wonderful myths, a compelling anti-hero who transforms into a virtuous man, and a beautifully positive portrayal of sexuality.

2- The Art of War and On Guerilla Warfare (tie)

Both are thoughtful handbooks on how to manage people and how to fight injustice, not just in warfare but also in any type of situation that involves conflict. I reread both once a year.

3- Read & Riot

It's smart, insightful, and gives hope for the future.

4-Crime and Punishment

Exceptional prose even in translation, with highly compelling characters and very profound overarching themes. It's Russian literature at its absolute finest.

5- The Prison Notebooks

Most of Antonio Gramsci's writings are great, but this one is hands down the best. It's his most influential work for good reason.

Other honourable mentions: Brave New World, Frankenstein, The Alchemist, the Selected Writings of Mikhail Bakunin, Capital, Maus

Messy as hell with lots of sticky notes and print-outs scattered all over the floor.

If I'm writing in the afternoon I have a small space set aside for a large cup of tea or coffee. If it's night time, the space is reserved for a glass of whiskey.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic I've been working from home as an editor/translator by profession, and my work laptop and extra monitor have taken up more space that I'd like.

A friend of mine is the son of two survivors of the Cambodian genocide, but in his life they've barely ever spoken to him about their experiences. Over the years I've offered to write a book on their experiences so that they don't become lost to time, and in 2021 they agreed and I went to work immediately on the project. I interviewed my friend's father first, and then his aunt.

Aside from school projects and diary entries, the first story that I ever wrote to completion (note that I tried quite a few times in my early teens but eventually gave up) was when I was sixteen or seventeen years old back in the late 90s.

It was a novella called The Tiger, and I still have it tucked away somewhere. . .it's absolutely dreadful to read nowadays, but at that age I felt deeply empowered from having written my very own story.

I didn't write anything until the two years I spent living and working in China as an English teacher, during which that time I regularly wrote long and detailed dispatches to friends and family, and then eventually painstakingly created an enormous book and self-published a hundred print copies back in 2006. It was my first foray into self-publishing, and the process was so arduous and dividends so paltry it discouraged me from writing anything else (in spite of the satisfaction I got from completing something).

Kill the King is my first venture into fiction and I'm hoping this time I will fare better in the long run.

I want creative control of my work, and though I'd love to write full-time as a profession I'm nonetheless a control-freak over my work.

I'm more than happy to hear all kinds of criticisms and advice (I'm a huge proponent of the peer review process), but I still want to stay in the driver's seat.

As of now (April 2022) I've just wrapped up my third book, which is a work of oral history based on a series of interviews I conducted with two survivors of the Cambodian genocide.

I plan on going back to fiction later this year to experiment with a new narrative direction I've been interested in trying out. I hope it works as good on paper as it does in my mind!

Fiction: Vladimir Nabokov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka, Hunter S. Thompson, Cory Doctorow, Ismael Kadare and Paulo Coelho. I also have a love/hate relationship with Brett Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk.

Non-Fiction: Christopher Hitchens, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Antonio Gramsci, Jean-Paul Sartre, Mikhail Bakunin, and Nadya Tolokonnikova.

Graphic Novels: Art Spiegelman, Ed Brubaker, Marjane Satrapi, and Derf Backderf.

My daughter. . .you don't need an alarm clock when you have a precocious kid in your life.

Family man stuff comes in first and foremost. . .most of it is good, the rest of it is chores.

With what little time I have left from my family joys and duties, I usually spend it lifting weights in my basement and training in grappling arts. I'm a life-long martial arts and combat sports enthusiast, and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was in active competition.

When the weather is warm and I have a bit of extra money, I enjoy smoking Tuscan cigars or a strong English/Balkan pipe blend in my backyard. . .often accompanied with a glass of whiskey.

I also enjoy watching movies and reading up on topics that interest me, and I've also recently become an active member of my daughter's school council, and also become a mental health advocate in my workplace.

I don't know whether "joy" is the right word to describe it. I don't find writing to be a particularly enjoyable experience but rather a very satisfying experience.

For me, writing is something I feel compelled to do. . .I'll get the itch to express myself in writing and it then becomes an all-consuming part of my life until my compulsion is tended to. When a project is finished, I feel tremendously relieved and satisfied with my accomplishment.

It's not that I particularly love to write...it's just something in me that I feel I NEED to do, and no peace of mind will come until I satisfy this need. That is, until I get my next itch. . .