The first story I wrote that anybody acknowledged was in my last year of high school. I remember that I wrote it for the school magazine. Right after I graduated high school I went into the Navy, and while on leave between boot camp and my first duty station I was asked to come to the school and talk with the senior English class. It was there that I found out that my story had been submitted to Columbia University and had taken the article of the year award.

I am what the industry calls a 'pantser', meaning that I create stories and write by the seat-of-my-pants. It is a bit of an unconventional writing process, at least by comparison to other authors I know. The taught method is to laboriously create an outline, scene breakdowns, etc., and assemble it into a novel. But I get an idea in my head for the story, I write a few crib notes in my old style reporters notebook, and then from that point on I simply follow the movie that plays in my mind. Seriously, I can see the entire story unfold like a film and my job is to follow the characters and their actions and transcribe their actions into words.

I was a ravenous reader early in life. While other kids were reading Hardy Boys or Tom Swift, I was delving deep into the sage wording of Beowolf or Jonathan Swift. Virtually any story opened a window into worlds I could explore, and I haven't stopped yet.

I tried to dictate the cover designs based on how I felt about the story, but not anymore. To be honest, I met an artist who is so much better at creating a cover that hints at the contents and now I just leave it up to her. Besides, being married to the artist, the costs for cover designs are pretty much restricted to taking out the trash and doing laundry.

I am still navigating my way through the many marketing techniques that exist. One new aspect of marketing is the addition of video trailers to use as commercials. I like the idea of mini movies of my stories and they prove to be effective. But advertising channels such as Facebook does an acceptable job of exposure. Regardless of the different methods and tools added to the marketing mix, my two favorites will always be press releases and interviews. Getting on the radio and television just isn't that difficult anymore, and it's a great way to engage my fans and potential fans.

The broadcast news seems to be the source that plants the seed for me. For example, the first book (7 Days) is about domestic terrorists on the surface. But throughout the story, you find intertwined issues with government policies. I wrote that one in the style of the old Keifer Sutherland television show titled "24 Hours" so there is a calm start that escalates to a high tension level that remains until the end of the book. The second Joshua Pike story (The Cure) is even more complicated. It deals with big business, disease, terrorism, murder and more. It was one of my favorite stories and fun to write. Once the action starts, it stays to the end.
I have a third Joshua Pike manuscript finished and awaiting publication, a fourth book manuscript is about midway completed, and a fifth book in the series is scheduled to be finished about mid-2019. I won't give anything away as to the storylines but I will say that they should scare the hell out of people just like the first two did.

If this were an audio interview you would hear me laughing about now. My desk is loaded with pens and coffee cups, a printer and my trusty laptop. I even bought a nice office chair to use. But I spend very little time actually at my desk. I was more of a Moleskine notebook and favorite ink pen kind of guy who would sit and write all day. Now, trying to adapt to the 21st century sees me more likely to be sitting outside on the patio or standing at the kitchen counter typing like a madman. It's the beauty of owning a couple of laptops. I get to save a few trees and always have a secured copy of what I'm writing. When we have visitors who see the desk and comment on how this must be where the magic happens, I just agree with them. About the only magic that actually happens at my desk is talking on the telephone and playing with the dog.

I still get a great sense of pride when a reader tells me that they enjoyed a book that I have written. I know that sounds simple, but I don't follow a lot of the 'established rules' when it comes to writing. If you have read any of my work you will have noticed that the dialogue is not like other books. I want the reader to hear the voices, the personalities, feel what the character feels and without me having had to explain to the reader what I think they should be feeling. Writing books gives me a lot of pleasure, but the actual joy is when somebody tells me that stories kept them on the edge of their seat through to the end.

I have taken a break or two and walked into the world of adult fantasy fiction. It is almost relaxing to write something that is not a reflection of current affairs like the Joshua Pike books. Pike deals with terrorists, not vampires and zombies. At the same time, I have a few more books in the Joshua Pike Series that are nearing release dates.
I have also written and illustrated 9 children's picture books titled Adventures With Skipper, and while I really enjoyed creating them (as have my grandchildren), I don't feel comfortable with having to admit that the same guy who devised so many ways to kill and destroy also creates books for children. As a consequence, I have stopped the marketing of them until I retire someday far in the future.