Let's welcome this month's author, Edward Coburn. He's writing a series (
The Dog Who Ate the ???), a twenty-six title series that focuses on Adam, a physic "finder" living in a small town, as well as
The Last Killer Standing.
1) What
were your favorite books growing up? In grade school and junior high,
I’d probably say SciFi, though I did read a bit of Tarzan as well. In high
school I read mostly sports books where the star was in high school and, of
course, he got the girl. Later I read most anything: SciFi, adventure, and
detective.
2) Now
that you have, let’s say—some life experience, what would you tell your younger
self? Get serious about something and
really try to do your best and not waste so darn much time.
3) Describe
your typical day. Unfortunately I leave for word at
the DMV (I am a computer programmer) at 7:00 and my day starts at 7:30. At
breaks and lunch, I try to make a few notes to work with in the evening (we’re
not allowed to use our work computer for anything personal and also not allowed
to bring any computer devices on site such as laptops). Sometimes I run to the
library for research or using one of their computers. I leave for home at 4:30,
get home at 5:00, supper and then work for a couple of hours. Then a couple
hours of TV with the wife. I’d really rather write then, too, but domestic
tranquility trumps writing.
4) Who
is your favorite character in your books? I’d have to say Adam in my series
The Dog Who Ate The ???. He is psychic and rich, two things I wish I was. His
psychic dog, Bagel the beagle, is fun as well.
5) What
do you do when writer’s block shows up, settles in, and makes itself
comfortable? I’d have to say writer’s block is
really not an issue with me; writer’s laziness is, however. It seems that I am
never short of ideas but, sometimes, I just don’t feel like writing (especially
after programming for eight hours).
6) Do
you find yourself pulling details from “real life” or does your imagination
rule the roost? I use a bit of real life, but most
of my ideas come from movies, TV, reading, and listening to books on tape while
driving to and from work. I have a very fertile imagination and many times a
word or two a character somewhere says will launch an idea. I wrote an entire
book (The Last Killer Standing) from
an idea for the title of a book. I thought the book would be about something;
it wasn’t, but the idea was so good, I used it to write the book.
7) What
was the first manuscript you wrote (even if it never saw the light of day)? I wrote a book called “Sky Search
to Turon,” a SciFi book that I don’t remember much about but I do remember it
had something to do with Acid wars. The interesting thing is I read a book
years later in which there were Acid wars.
8) Have
you ever pursued traditional publishing? Or did you go straight for indie
publishing? For many years but, honestly, I
think it’s a good thing they weren’t interested. Especially in today’s
publishing world. They would have to offer me a lot of money before I would
give up the convenience of epublishing.
9) What
Works In Progress are brewing? Any
target dates for publication? I am about to turn over the fourth
Dog book “The Dog Who Ate The Drawing” to my editor (Faith, of course). I’m
excited about the book because it is about a search for a gold mine and people
like treasure hunts. I have already been making notes for the fifth book which
will be Elephant and the sixth which will be Flintlock.
10) How
can fans reach you?
