Interview with David Schrader
Published 2014-08-19.
How has Smashwords contributed to your success?
Self-publishing is empowering.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
When the frustration from prolonged procrastination is finally lifted, and the words burst out -- it can be incredibly fulfilling.
What do your fans mean to you?
I do not recall having any actual fans yet, but look forward to it. When it happens, they will mean quite a lot.
What are you working on next?
The second volume of the darkly satirical comic book, Baby Badass.
Who are your favorite authors?
David Sedaris, Dave Eggers, Nabokov, Hemingway, Faulkner, Orwell.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
The possibility that it will be a better and brighter day than what came before. Also, breakfast.
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
Watching too much television, spending time with my wonderful wife and sweet dog.
How do you discover the ebooks you read?
Reviews, recommendations.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Not really, but I'm sure it was highly inconsequential -- something about how i don't like eating peas or what have you.
What is your writing process?
Chaotic, piecemeal, stream of consciousness, interrupted by large swaths of writers block and procrastination -- pretty much everything you should not do if you want to be a productive writer.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Not including Charlie Brown comic book collections, probably those "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories, which I thought were the greatest thing ever.
How do you approach cover design?
Very carefully. I don't like sneaking up on it.
What are your five favorite books, and why?
Catcher in the Rye - Because it's perfect.
Lolita - Because the prose was so good, so witty, it made me question why I would ever even attempt to write.
Guns, Germs, and Steel - Because it explains EVERYTHING about human existence in a way the Bible only wishes it could.
Swan Song - Because it was such a page turner, and one of the first books I re-read just to re-live the experience. (Why was this never made into a movie?)
A Confederacy of Dunces - Because it blew expectations away in the most unexpected way.
What do you read for pleasure?
Online content, sometimes gossip-related. It's nice to turn the brain off sometimes.
What is your e-reading device of choice?
iPad.
What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?
This is my first time, so it's all new to me.
Describe your desk
Organized chaos.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
Pittsburgh, PA. There were always interesting characters populating my everyday existence.
When did you first start writing?
When I was six or seven, I wrote comic books about a cat named "Herman," which was sort of a Garfield ripoff even though I started it before Garfield came out, so... that was weird.
What's the story behind your latest book?
I wrote it while living in Oahu, Hawaii in the mid-1990's. It sat dormant for about fifteen years before I finished it just recently. Sadly, it's kind of a Part 1, so we can expect Part 2 sometime in 2029. Stay tuned!
What motivated you to become an indie author?
The chicks.
What does the future hold for David Schrader?
Some laughs, some tears, strikes and gutters, and hopefully unlocking the meaning of life.
Smashwords Interviews are created by the profiled author or publisher.
Books by This Author
Exile in Hawai'i
by David Schrader
Horatio Benedict is a confused young man navigating life in 1990's America. Jumping from East to West, he settles into a quirky existence on the fringes of Hollywood before ending up in Hawaii in the service of the bizarre and bellicose Colonel I. M. Annoyian. Exploring the perils of sex, drugs, and surfing a tsunami, Exile in Hawai'i is the story of a man in America and its final state.
