Erik Nelson

Biography

My name is Erik Kenneth Nelson. Born August 29th, 1987. I first became interested in the world of books when I was about seven years old. It was in my second grade class when my teacher introduced the class to the Goosebumps series by R.L Stine. At the time, I only saw reading a book as homework and not as a personal pleasure. However, when I saw the cover of the first book of the series, I was sold. From there on, I read all the Goosebumps books that I could lay my hands on until about the fifth grade when I lost interest in them. It wasn't until freshmen year of high school when my love for books would return. Ironically, my love for books returned when I was at the video store. When I had trouble finding a movie, my father suggested the movie "Carrie" with Sissy Spacek. When I noticed that it was based on a novel by Stephen King, I immediately checked out the book at the school library. After I was finished reading it, not only did my love for reading returned but I also received something else; my goal in life; to become a writer. With every author comes a different style on how to write and I had a real difficult time finding my style until the year twenty-ten. After I completed my first novel, I tried my hand at traditional publishing by sending query letters to agencies. Because of the large amount of competition, I met no success. I actually almost felt like giving up until I found out that R.L Stine was coming to town to promote his latest adult book; "Red Rain." Not only did I get a chance to meet my childhood idol, I also got my passion for writing back. I then remembered how I knew many people from Twitter who were self publishing and how my father told me about Smashwords after reading about it in Time Magazine. So here I am now; on Smashwords and ready for anything!

Smashwords Interview

How do you approach cover design?
Well, I first think of how to sum up the main plot of the story with a picture. I went back and thought about other book and movie covers that were really creative yet they didn't show a lot of action in the picture. I believe that if you show too much on a cover for a book or movie, you're either trying too hard to sell it or you're not very organized. After giving it much thought, I decided to go with what I have now. I don't want to reveal what the cover is implying because I believe that would give away spoilers. I went to my friend, Peter Summers who's a graphics artist and he brought it to life.
What are your five favorite books, and why?
Stephen King's "11/22/63", Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon", The Goosebumps Series by R.L Stine, Kaitlyn Deann's "The Witches' Sleep" and Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's "The Killing Joke". The Goosebumps series is what introduced me to the world of reading when I was kid. I even got to meet R.L Stine in 2012. Stephen King's books inspired me to become an author but I really enjoyed his JFK book because this was the book, in my opinion where he really went outside his comfort zone. "The Green Mile" was in fact a huge stretch from his norm but I still sensed the Stephen King feel to it. I really enjoyed "Red Dragon" not just because it introduced us to Hannibal Lector but because it is my favorite crime novel. It's just loaded with twists and turns and many colorful characters. "The Killing Joke" is the first comic book novel where we get to see the POV of the villain and not the hero. To me, The Joker is a much more interesting character and this was the main inspiration for the 1989 movie version of "Batman" "The Witches' Sleep" was the first self published book I read and it made me release that self published books are misunderstood. In today's media, only traditionally published books are worth the time and money. But Kaitlyn Deann's book is very well written and well organized. In other words, her stories belong in every bookstore.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Erik Nelson online

Twitter: @cluelessbutdumb
Facebook: Facebook profile

Books

Unlawful Protection
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 27,570. Language: English. Published: August 11, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Action & suspense
(4.00 from 2 reviews)
Ian Johnson sees high school as an opportunity to get bullied and nothing else. But one day, things start to change as Ian’s personality suddenly changes after he suffers a mental breakdown. In the midst of his breakdown, the school comes under siege and the perpetrators are able to get the police to stand down. As they shoot more faculty and students, they feel satisfied until they meet Ian.

Erik Nelson's tag cloud

firearms    high school    massacre    vietnam   

Erik Nelson's favorite authors on Smashwords

K. Wodke
Latest book: Mirtis Tod.
Published February 18, 2014.