What is your favorite book quote, by whom, and why? “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” Stephen King fans will recognize that as the opening line from the first novel in The Dark Tower series. This quote instantly hooked me on this series and resonated throughout the entire seven (now eight) books. Never have I read another series of books that had the ability to sum up thousands of pages in one sentence.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? I feel like I have always been interested in writing, I just never saw myself as an author. It probably all started for me in high school journalism class. Writing little pieces for the school paper was always so interesting to me. I contemplated going into journalism after high school but settled on criminal justice and law school instead.
What inspires you to write and why? My wife Katie. She pushed me to finally finish some of my writing after I had her read the beginnings to a few short stories and sat and listened to me talk about ideas for a novel. She loves young adult fiction and I thought I would take a crack at giving her something new to read. I’m not sure I ever saw it as a novel at first, but it definitely worked out that way.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? I learned that I really can accomplish things if I just stick with them. There were times I felt like I would never get the final product finished, but sticking with it and finishing it felt really good. It makes me excited to finish the next one.
Do you intend to make writing a career? I would love this. If I could make money doing nothing but writing, I would do so as fast as possible. That is still a possibility for me, but it is going to take a lot of hard work.
Can you share a little of your current work with us? I am writing a sequel to my debut novel, The Hunter’s Son. The second book in the series, The Hunter’s Vengeance, picks up where the first left off. I also have some short stories working right now, but those will not be in the young adult genre. The things I am closest to completing are horror or crime/mystery.
Can you tell us about your main character? JC Mather is the name of my main character. At the beginning of The Hunter’s Son, he is a loner and an outcast because of moving around the country so much. As the book progresses, JC grows and has to make some very adult decisions about the rest of his life. Does he want to be a hunter like his father? Can he trust everyone around him? Is teenage love more important than family and history? I think it is easy to relate to JC and the positions he finds himself in, even if a few of those are more of the supernatural variety.
Who designed the cover? Originally, I designed the cover myself but was not very happy with the way it turned out. It wasn’t the worst cover in the world, but I feel like it held the novel back. I found a great cover artist named Cheryl Ramirez who is very affordable and does some great work. Her website ishttp://www.ccrbookcoverdesign.com/. I’m sure she would be glad to help anyone who is looking for some new cover art. The cover photo was taken by a good friend of mine named Jessica Houtz. Her photography website is http://jlhoutz.wix.com/jeslynartandphoto. She has some great photos if anyone is in need.
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