1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?

Writing came about from a failed project in the 5th grade. It was a bad fiction where I turned into a dragon and burned some other child in class I hated for reasons that were probably silly. We ended up meeting Ursula Le Quin (I believe, this was decades ago well before I’d read her books) as part of a school event. Between those two events, I’d always had an interest in writing novels. It only grew as I went through Junior High and High School and read anything fantasy related in three libraries. It took some time before I dared to write my own novels and release them to the public.

2) What inspired you to write your book?

 I tend to read a dozen or so books as part of my recharge process. over a few month span.  The Fiasco came about from a superhero kick, where I read nearly anything my Kindle could find from the genre. During this reading spree I’d been editing prior works, prepping some for release on eReaders, and so on. I wanted to try something new – a way to see a new story in an older setting. Comics, movies, and even a few old audio novels all played their part in inspiring The Fiasco but I feel like I managed something new(ish), which is my first goal when writing.

3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?

It’s less about theme and more about exploring the rest of a world that others may ignore. As an example, my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe were the ones that fell between the cracks – specifically the Morlocks. They weren’t good enough to fit on a team, they weren’t powerful enough to be villains or anything else, and generally ugly enough that everyone gave them dirty looks. I loved these people because they were living a real life. They had day jobs and failure to fit in with normal crowds. They were the most developed characters because their plight started well before mainstream heroes started addressing life behind the mask.That sunk in, misfits among misfits.

4) What drew you into this particular genre?

The Fiasco’s superhero sort of ideas were a weird mix of every other mainstream series – since I’d spent so much time reading superhero novels. That being said, probably Marvel’s universe had the biggest impact on a desire to write in the genre. It’s simply been around so long that nearly everything else shares some inspiration from their works. Heck, I grew up reading comics (and compulsively sorting them). But I couldn’t let my work be a carbon copy of the classic coming of age and learning to use powers for great justice sort of tale. It couldn’t be about stopping the big bad from ruining the world in their ill thought out megalomaniac plot. It became about the captives left behind, the person who’s forced to be in all these powered events. The man who’s simply tired of being in the super powered world because he’s never the actual hero or a catharsis seeking vigilante/villain.

5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?

There’s a lot of stuff I’d ask my characters – and constantly are things I’m asking them. I could pick Ted, who’s the first book’s semi villain and sort of mentor. His role is complicated because people are rarely one dimensional. He wants to get back at those who ruined his life and took away his daughter. He wants to make his wife see that there are some forces which are unstoppable – that losing their kid wasn’t his fault, but he also wants Adam to answer for his reactive role in everything that goes on. But because I know all those things, asking him his motivation seems weird.So, any question I ask has to be really out of the way.

Like, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten and where was it? That’s a question I may never have an answer to. So now, I really want to know.

6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?

Facebook, hands down. I have my little author page and hang out in a few groups that focus on the same genre as my main series. It’s fun interacting with the readers who ping me when topics come up. I try to avoid self promotion and generally only pop by when someone messages me about a post – but Facebook lets me see what people think about the work, and that’s always an awe inspiring moment.

7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?

Finish a book. Don’t restart it 10 times. Don’t edit it until you’re drowning and hate yourself. Finish it. Quality aside, knowing that you have finished a book means a ton. It was the greatest thing I ever did.

8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?

More books, more writing. But real life and the day job take precedence over putting together novels. However, now that I’ve started – I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop. There will be two more books for The Fiasco eventually, bringing the series to a close. There’ll be some virtual reality based books along with western fantasy mashups. Ideas tend to occur faster than my fingers can type.