What's the story behind your latest book?
I just published a novelized version of a story serial I had posted to my Writing.Com account ( I am no longer a member), The Salvage Job. The original series had 19 stories involving the same characters as they interacted over a year and a half. Much of my original material had to be jettisoned, as I had written in many different voices, taking the characters off in different directions as dictated by whim and whatever contest I wanted to enter on the site. I condensed the action to one summer and set up a new unifying story arc that magnified the role of one of the stories focused on a criminal act, the kidnapping of an archaeologist for access to a "fabulous find." Many autobiographical details worked their way into the tale (the fry bread making lesson, fishing on the big reservation lake, the small town student in goth gear, etc.). What I kept was the tension between ex-lovers who have find a balance in their relationship before things get out of hand.
My next two projects are new additions to the Hob Scourge and Startrail serials.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
My parents were missionaries and we lived in Africa when I was very small. When we got back to the US, we moved a lot, every couple of years, This gave me a chance to experience many different settings and meet a wide variety of people. It also made it difficult to put down roots and work my way into a community. I became a perpetual outsider and observer. That's a great foundation for Anthropology, which became my field of study, but it's a bit rough on social skill development. I have a habit of half listening to chatter around me as a result of my upbringing and vocation and I think that's given me a good ear for dialogue. It probably hasn't helped make me popular though.
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