Q: How long have you been writing or when did you start?
A: In August of 2016, I was diagnosed with Leukemia and told I might not make it to Christmas. That got me thinking about what my legacy to my children and grandchildren would be. I didn’t want them to just remember me from pictures and stories told while drinking at holiday get togethers, so I decided to write a little story for them they could have and re-read to their children and their children’s children and tell them about the crazy old man that started all this silliness. I was a newbie to writing and really didn’t know how to do research on historical things and, quite frankly, I didn’t want to take the time I wasn’t sure I had. So, at the ripe old age of 64, I stepped off the edge of sanity, and wrote my first book, “The Gates to the Galaxies!”. That’s when I discovered I actually liked telling stories. Writing Science Fiction allowed me to create a setting that existed in my mind. I could create an entire world, new species and concepts that existed not in fact, but in my head.
Q: Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym, and why or why not?
A: When I wrote my first book, “The Gates to the Galaxies” for my grandchildren, I had no idea how it would be taken by the public and I used the first letter of my first name, and my middle name to become J. Dalton, just in case it got terrible reviews. (FYI… it did not)
Q: Do you participate in writing challenges on social media? Do you recommend any?
A: I am a fan of vss365 (very short story, 365 days) on X, (aka Twitter). It helps keep my mind sharp coming up with little bits, and I sometimes use excerpts from my books so people can get a taste of my writing. Also, I met a good friend doing this. He had a post, and I added to it for fun. Then he added one back and we made a little story. We became friends after that and chat often. Also, I belong to a local writing group and the leader posts pictures each week and asks us to write a one page story about it. That is always a fun challenge.
Q: How do you develop your plot and characters?
A: I think I write differently than most authors. I never set out to write a book, but at some point, I will start dreaming about a story. The dreams come to me, one or two chapters a night. They are like watching a movie and are always in color. I remember how the characters look and what their accents sound like. When I wake up, I just write down what I saw. The next chapter may happen the next night, or it may be weeks before I dream again, but they come to me that way, and I write them.
Q: How long does it take you to write a book?
A: It varies. My latest book, “Planet of Diamonds”, took me over six months. I went most of the summer without dreaming about the story. The previous book, “The Phoenix Experiment”, only took twenty-eight days after my wife passed. There were multiple highly detailed chapters in my dreams and the words just poured out almost faster than I could type.
Q: Are there therapeutic benefits to modeling a character after someone you know?
A: This question made me laugh out loud. In my first book, I had a character that had the same first name as one of my neighbors. I killed him off before the chapter ended, and my neighbor was so upset, he didn’t want to finish reading the book. In my latest release, I created a character totally based on him and all his idiosyncrasies with the help of his wife’s input. He is much happier now that this new character lives to see the end of the book. I’ve also modeled several characters after friends and former co-workers that have impacted my life, so yes, it has been beneficial to both me and the character models.
Q: Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
A: Like most authors nowadays, reviews are hard to come by. I do however get messages and e-mails from people that have gotten my books. One told me that she had nightmares for days after reading “The Tales of Mordratha”. Another reader bought both trilogies and my latest release and messaged me and wanted to know when the next book would be available. Things like that are what keep you writing.
Q: If you could write a spin-off about a side character, whom would you pick?
A: Funny you should ask that question. Several of my books are about side character stories. My latest book, “Planet of Diamonds” is about Kreig, a character that first appeared in “The tales of Mordratha”. “The Phoenix Experiment” centers around Captain Reijo DeLeucee who also first appeared in the Tales.
Q: How do you use social media as an author?
A: After battling cancer for five years, I have no money for an advertising campaign, so all of my efforts go into social media or personal events. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but that’s the same for paid advertising too. I don’t get too upset when things don’t go as planned. One on one is always the best way for me to get sales.
Q: How important is commercial success for your writing?
A: For me, writing has never been about the money. First of all, I’ve never had much and we lived a very conservative lifestyle money wise. Second, I don’t want that to be the driving force behind my stories. I want to write to be read. If people like my work, great, but writing for money is not for me. Also, I donate all the royalties and money I get for my autographed copies to charity, so there is that.