Dishing it up with Alan Nayes

Today I have the pleasure of dishing it up with Alan Nayes. Alan was born in Houston and grew up on the Texas gulf coast. He lives in Southern California. He is the author of the critically-acclaimed biomedical thrillers, GARGOYLES and THE UNNATURAL. His most recent releases are BARBARY POINT, SMILODON, GIRL BLUE and PLAGUE.


An avid outdoorsman and fitness enthusiast, he is one of only a few individuals to ever swim across Wisconsin’s chilly Lake Winnebago. When not working on his next project, he enjoys relaxing and fishing at the family vacation home in Wisconsin.

JET: Can you tell us about your most recent book, Plague?

Alan: I’d love to, J.E. First, thank you for hosting me. PLAGUE is the second book in my Resurrection Trilogy series starring my most favorite character, Amoreena Daniels. The first book GARGOYLES finds Amoreena immersed in a diabolical biomed experiment. She survives, with the help of some close friends, but just barely. PLAGUE picks up the story four years later. When Amoreena’s nemesis from GARGOYLES unwittingly unleashes a highly virulent gene-altering viron, the resulting world-wide infection is catastrophic. Amoreena is reunited with her companions from GARGOYLES and together they must flee for their lives. Only in PLAGUE there is no place to run. The civilized world as Amoreena knows it has come to an abrupt end! PLAGUE is her story of trying to survive the initial onslaught of this wide spread epidemic.

JET: What drew you to horror and thrillers?

Alan: I’ve always been attracted to stories that possess a supernatural element. They are fun to read. Two of my all time favorite horror novels are Stephen King’s THE STAND and James Cronin’s THE PASSAGE. Since I was a child I’ve enjoyed watching horror movies—from the original Draculas and Frankensteins to more recent Hollywood endeavors. I thought THE RING was a pretty decent film. After watching and reading so much horror, I decided I needed to try and write one. THE UNNATURAL was my first horror publication. GIRL BLUE and PLAGUE will be my most recent releases in the horror/thriller genre.

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

Alan: Getting one of the big six publishers to look at my material was incredibly challenging. For me, just getting a reputable literary agent was really difficult. There is so much competition out there, so many talented writers. I’m in two camps now—Samhain Publishers is releasing GIRL BLUE and I’m continuing as an indie, releasing PLAGUE this January. What follows after these releases only time will tell.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?

Alan: J.E. that’s an easy question. Receiving my first advance check in the mail. Wouldn’t mind receiving some more of those…

JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?

Alan: That’s not an easy one to answer as I really can’t claim to have a favorite author. There are plenty of good authors out there who create really good stories. I think my answer is going to be: it is more the stories that influence me than the authors. I’m inspired when I read a very entertaining novel and this is what influences me to try to write better myself—if that makes any sense.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

Alan: After I moved to southern California in the 80’s I decided to take a creative writing class at a local community college. I’d written some music in college but when I realized I couldn’t sing real well—not at all actually—I switched to stories. After several failed attempts at breaking into the screenwriting business I decided I would have a better chance at novels. Not much better, but I am making progress. My mantra—every day write something. Even if it is only some responses to an interview. Lol.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

Alan: For my horror thriller THE UNNATURAL, I met with the man in charge of maintaining the complex Los Angeles sewer system. You would not believe how massive a system it requires to haul away all our “by-products”. Interesting fact—in researching SMILODON, the huge explosion over Siberia in 1908 was from a huge meteor and was 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite? Why?

Alan: I would have to say GARGOYLES. I really like the main character, Amoreena Daniels and it was my first published story.

JET: Any advice for the novices out there?

Alan: Three words—persistence, persistence, and…persistence. Also, as long as you believe in your project you should never give up.

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten…starting with…Paper or Plastic?

Alan: Paper—it’s more biodegradable. Plus plastic would not be comfortable when suffering from a runny nose or when you are in the bathroom—never mind.

JET: Steak or Tofu?

Alan: Steak, even though tofu is a heck of a lot better on my cholesterol.

JET: Beach or Mountains?

Alan: Mountains.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll?

Alan: Have to say country, though many of my favorite songs are also rock.

JET: Top 10 best seller or Unknown Back Shelf Find?

Alan: Unknown back shelf find—more mysterious.

JET: Zombies or Demons?

Alan: Zombies.

JET: Paper or Digital?

Alan: Paper. (not plastic)

JET: Silent Film Classics or Cheesy B Rated Horror?

Alan: Did someone say Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween?

JET: Sword wielding ninja or Gun toting momma?

Alan: Give me the gun-totin’ momma. She can kill you from twenty feet away! (not you but the ninja)

JET: Coffee or Tea?

Alan: Tea. Never drank much coffee, though I love coffee flavored ice cream.

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What next?

Alan: Just completed PLAGUE, the second book in the Resurrection Trilogy series (GARGOYLES being the first). My next project that I am finishing up is titled HEMLOCK POND. HEMLOCK POND is about a woman and her young son who move into an old farmhouse with a haunted pond on the property. Also, I’m completing the final edits on my Samhain Publishing release GIRL BLUE.

And thank you for hosting me, J. E.

JET: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog. Folks, you can find out more about Alan Nayes and his work at the following places:

Website: http://anayes.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/527589.Alan_Nayes
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/mflYEU
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/alannayes
Blog: http://alannayes.blogspot.com/

You can purchase his books at the following places:
BARBARY POINT :   Amazon        Barnes & Noble   Smashwords 

GARGOYLES (Book One of the Resurrection Trilogy):  Amazon   Barnes & Noble   Smashwords  

THE UNNATURAL:  Amazon    Barnes & Noble   Smashwords

SMILODON:  Amazon       Amazon UK     Barnes & Noble     Smashwords

Thank you for swinging in!

Until Next time,

Ciao

JET

Dishing it up with John Payne

Today I have the pleasure of dishing it up with John C. Payne. John was born in Chicago but moved to Wisconsin as a youth. He is a retired US Army officer Army and successfully operated three small businesses after his retirement.


He loves to write and teach. John was an adjunct professor in business at several universities and spent many post-military years in the field of health care administration. Like his book trilogy main theme, he loved to move and change jobs every three years engaging in new, unrelated and exciting challenges.

JET: Can you tell us about your most recent book?

John: I am doing a trilogy on my main character. All of the titles are… Three and Out with subtitles for each book. I have already published the first one (The Saga of a San Francisco Apartment Manager) and more recently, the second one (Running a Mental Health hospital in San Antonio). I’m still working to complete the third one (The Chicago Terminus). The second book finds my character taking over a mental health facility located near the famous River Walk in San Antonio while a CIA investigation is taking place. Prior to his appointment, an embedded CIA agent is found on the ward with a scissors in her chest. The CIA suspects an al-Qaeda cell forming in the area. Strange things happen during the investigation to include some interesting love interest between some of the main characters.

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

John: The editing process. It’s difficult to locate a good one who doesn’t charge an arm and a leg.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?

John: Tying up some loose ends in the book to insure continuity and consistency.

JET: Which authors ha the most influence over you growing up?

John: Probably Huck Finn. I really didn’t read that much growing up.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

John: When my wife and I left San Francisco after managing a downtown apartment complex I told her I need to write a book about this someday because nobody would believe my stories.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

John: Lying awake most nights trying to recall life events which I can then fictionalize. I have too many life experiences that tend to muddy the waters.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written-which one is your favorite? Why?

John: I am a new writer. I’ve only published two books. The second Three and Out about the mental health hospital. Why?...because it’s crazy!

JET: Any advice for the novices out there?

John: I am a novice but I would tell any new writer that each book is always a new measuring stick because a writer learns so much more with each project that should make the next book that much more exciting.

JET: All right-now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten…starting with…Paper or Plastic?

John: Paper…easier to make changes, easier to dispose of.

JET: Steak or Tofu?

John: Steak…I’m a red-blooded American Midwesterner.

JET: Beach or Mountains?

John: Beach…I like the sun and the sand…and the bikinis.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll

John: Neither…New Age for this old guy.

JET: Top 10 Best Seller or Unknown Back Shelf Find?

John: Back Shelf Find…too many Patterson’s, Baldacci’s and the rest of the heavily promoted and subsidized authors.

JET: Zombies or Demons?

John: Demons…don’t believe in Zombies but encountered many demons (not my own of course).

JET: Paper or Digital?

John: Digit…I’ve finally graduated.

JET: Silent Film Classics or Chess B Rated Horror?

John: Neither…read my earlier comments.

JET: Sword wielding ninja or gun toting momma?

John: I like the gun toting mommas.

JET: Coffee or tea?

John: Coffee…and lots of it.

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you’re working on now? What’s next?

John: I am 90% done with the third book in the trilogy. When the trilogy is finished I’m going to make the main character’s grandson a super sleuth.

JET: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog.

Folks, you can find out more about John Payne and his work at the following places: www.authorsden.com/johncpayne
http://www.amazon.com/.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
His books are available in both hard copy and eBook format.

Until Next time...
Ciao.
JET

Manic Monday with Laura Vosika

Welcome to 2012 Manic Monday series and I’m pleased to start the year with Laura Vosika. Laura, the author of the Blue Bells Chronicles, is working on several other novels and a non-fiction book on raising a large family. Past publishing credits include an essay in Glamour magazine.

Laura grew up in the military, visiting castles in England, pig fests in Germany, and the historic sites of America's east coast. She earned a bachelor's degree in music, and master's degree in education, and worked for many years as a freelance musician, private music instructor, and school band director.

She currently lives in Minnesota with her nine children, and assorted menagerie.

Writers’ Resolutions by Laura Vosika

So 2012 is here! Every new year is a time to reassess, take stock, and see where we can brush up and improve. The world of writing is no different. So what are good resolutions for those who love to write? Anything that’s going to take you closer to where you want to be.

Write. Maybe for some, the first resolution is to decide where you want to be this time next year. Do you want to have written a novel? Then follow the National Novel Writing Month model and sit down and do it. Don’t have time? Make time. Are there TV programs, internet forums, or computer games that could be given up? Even if it’s ten minutes a day, sit down and write. Even if it’s journaling, sit down and write. If it’s a four-line poem whose first line ends with Nantucket, sit down and write. Write a description of what you see out the window. Write a story about what the neighbor kids are doing as they walk home from school. Write a letter from your dog to your cat. Have fun. But sit down and write.

Read. And read good writing. Try the classics, try books with lots of five-star reviews. Re-read things you’ve loved in the past and think about why you loved the story, why you loved the character.

Read about Writing. There’s a feeling out there, I think, that great art just happens, like magic; that artists either have talent or don’t. As a writer and musician, I say the real magic is in making so much work look so easy. Doctors study for ten years from the time they start college to learn their profession. And not to take anything from doctors (I’m very grateful for them!), but many musicians have been studying their profession for ten years before they even start college. Writers, likewise, have often been writing from a young age. However, I think we as writers can also learn from other professionals, who routinely take classes and are continually learning. Pick up a book on the craft of writing, and see what new ideas you get. Find a website with advice for writers. There are thousands of them out there. Take a class. Have fun!

Meet other Writers. This can be a dangerous thing. Writers, well, we write. Including on forums, including on blogs. It can be very easy to spend all our writing time communicating with other authors instead of writing our novels. Still, writing has traditionally been a fairly solitary craft. Now, technology has given us the ability to network with others as never before. I have learned a lot from the other authors out there, about writing, about business, about life. I have made some great connections that have helped me, and have hopefully helped others along the way, too. And I’ve made some really great friends all over the country, who I never would have met otherwise.

Get out and enjoy life! You know what they say—write what you know. The artist in the ivory tower is an enduring figure, but I believe our writing will be deeper the more we meet other people, see other places, explore new ideas, and try new things. Does one of your characters love skiing when you’ve never tried it? Go try it. Visit a place you’ve never been before. Take a class on something new. Then write about it, or work it into your next novel.

Take a risk. If you’ve always wanted to write, sit down and do it. If you have a drawer full of novels and always wanted to get them published, start contacting agents. What’s the worst that can happen? Usually, the worst is not really all that bad. If the first novel doesn’t work out, re-write it—ten or fifteen times. If it still doesn’t work, start a new one. If one agent says no, contact another.

Have a wonderful writing year!

Blue Bells Trilogy Blurb:
Shawn Kleiner has it all: money, fame, a skyrocketing career as an international musical phenomenon, his beautiful girlfriend Amy, and all the women he wants--until the night Amy has enough and leaves him stranded in a Scottish castle tower.

He wakes up to find himself mistaken for Niall Campbell, medieval Highland warrior. Soon after, he is sent shimmying down a wind-torn castle wall into a dangerous cross country trek with Niall's tempting, but knife-wielding fiancée. They are pursued by English soldiers and a Scottish traitor who want Niall dead.

Thrown forward in time, Niall learns history’s horrifying account of his own death, and of the Scots’ slaughter at Bannockburn. Undaunted, he navigates the roiled waters of Shawn’s life-- pregnant girlfriend, amorous fans, enemies, and gambling debts--seeking a way to leap back across time to save his people, especially his beloved Allene. His growing fondness for Shawn’s life brings him face to face with his own weakness.

Folks, you can find out more about Laura at the following places:
Author site: http://www.bluebellstrilogy.com/
Author blog: http://bluebellstrilogy.blogspot.com/

Laura's books are available at the following places:
Amazon     Barnes & Noble   Smashwords   itunes     
PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE: http://www.gabrielshornpress.com/

Thanks for swinging in!
Until Next time,
Ciao
JET

Welcome 2012

Happy New Year everyone!

2012.  Wow.  Time sure does fly. 

Usually I have a list of resolutions when the new year rolls around, but this year, I resolve not to have a list of items that in a month or so will just wither away to nothing.

Goals are a completely different thing all together and I do have set goals for 2012.

They're simple. In 2012, I want to finish and publish three novels this year and have at least that many authors signed and their books released through Novel Concept Publishing. 

I'd like to see my sales continue to bring in steady income like they have for the past two months. 

Personally, my goal this year is to spend more time with my family and not every free second on the computer doing marketing and promotion and other writing related things - okay, that falls into more of a resolution category, but it is a goal. 

Balance is key and this year my goal is to find it.

So now that I've shared my goals, let's hear what your goals and resolutions are.  Come on, don't be shy...

JET

Dishing it up with Lisa Scott

Today I am dishing it up with Lisa Scott. Lisa is a writer and a voice actor that holds workshops that teaches parents and kids how to use character voices and sound effects to make reading more fun.

JET: Can you tell us about Flirts?

Lisa: I just started publishing my Flirts! collections this past summer. Each collection contains five short stories (8,000-12,000 words per story) that stand alone, but are also linked in the collection, with characters appearing in other stories. (my readers love that!) It all wraps up with a perfect happy ending. I’ve also published Beach Flirts! and Holiday Flirts! The plan is to release a new collection every few months. The stories are available as individual reads, or in the collection. Lots of new readers are discovering short stories, and are surprised how much they enjoy them. I have a group of ladies who read them on their lunch breaks. I’ve heard from mothers who enjoy them during their kids’ sports practices. Even some people who claim they don’t like short stories are enjoying them.

JET: What drew you to romance?

Lisa: I think any situation has the potential for a little romance, and I like the challenge of getting two people together under unlikely circumstances. I enjoy writing stories that make people smile, and I think my sweet, funny romances do that, so they’re always fun for me to create. I’m never at a loss for ideas.

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

Lisa: The frustrating agent/publisher search. Before indie publishing, that was your only shot—to submit to agents and publishers. I actually self-published before landing an agent and my book deal. Many times I thought of giving up. I’m so glad I didn’t.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?

Lisa: Submitting my romance novel to Belle Bridge Books this fall and getting an offer half an hour later. (Another romance publisher took 11 months to tell me no thanks. Half an hour for a yes was like a dream!)

JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?

Lisa: I loved the Little House series growing up, and read every Nancy Drew available. I grew up out in the country without a ton of friends, so reading was a wonderful escape.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

Lisa: I’ve always dabbled in writing, whether it was for the newspaper in high school, for the literary journal in college, or humorous essays for a parenting website. After college, I pursued a career in the TV news industry and knew someday when I left that field, I’d focus on publishing fiction.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

Lisa: When I was working on the middle grade novel my agent has out on submission, I was sprinkling in facts from the summer of 1977, when the story takes place. It’s set in North Carolina, and in doing research I discovered there was a major drought there that year. I became so caught up in incorporating real life details into my story, that I asked the weather guy at the station where I was working if he’d contact weather officials in North Carolina to find out the exact rainfall amounts for the summer of 1977. (I’d been thinking I’d make the weather for each day accurate to what really happened that summer.) When even they couldn’t find that information, I figured I might be going a bit overboard. Yeah, just a bit.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite? Why?

Lisa: No Foolin.’ That’s the romance novel Belle Bridge Books is publishing in November 2012. It’s the first in my Willowdale romance series. It’s a southern romantic comedy, but there are plenty of heart wrenching moments, too. Every time I re-read it, I laugh and cry. That’s always a good combination in a book. I love the characters, I love the journey and the heartache they face, and I love the resolution. I’ll be releasing related Willowdale Romance Short Stories on Amazon etc. preceding the release of the novel.

JET: Any advice for the novices out there?

Lisa: You’re never going to please everyone. Don’t be discouraged if someone doesn’t like what you’ve written. However, if you keep hearing the same criticisms, you might want to see if there’s some truth behind it. But no matter how good your writing, there’s always going to be someone who doesn’t care for your style.

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten. Starting with…Paper or Plastic?

Lisa: Plastic (but I do recycle.)

JET: Steak or Tofu?

Lisa: Chicken?

JET: Beach or Mountains?

Lisa: Maui? Because it has both.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll?

Lisa: Elvis, baby!

JET: Leather or Lace?

Lisa: Lace

JET: Angels or Demons?

Lisa: Angels

JET: Paper or Digital?

Lisa: Digital

JET: Twilight or True Blood?

Lisa: Twilight

JET: Coffee or Tea?

Lisa: Tea, hot or cold, all day long

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What's next?

Lisa: I’m just finishing Fairy Tale Flirts! which will be out in early January. Modern day love stories inspired by classic fairy tales—and the only magic involved is the real-life kind.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog. Folks, you can find out more about Lisa Scott and her work at the following places:

http://twitter.com/?iid=am-167106996113238295867243099&nid=23+recipient&uid=334757844&utm_content=profile#!/ReadLisaScott

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Read-Lisa-Scott/227457993948941

http://readlisascott.com/


Thanks for joining us today and have a fun and safe New Year’s Eve!

See you next year!

Ciao

JET

My Christmas letter...

Hi folks!  Can you believe the holidays are already upon us?  My gosh this year went by in a blink. 

 

2011 has been crazy for weather here on the east coast!

Record-breaking snow in January.

A tornado in May.

Record heat in July.

A hurricane in September that knocked out power and closed schools. 

And a historic blizzard that knocked out power lines all over Connecticut just in time for Halloween.

And no sign of a white Christmas.  :-(

Not your average year by any means and along with these memorable weather events came some of our own family memories.

My daughter turned sixteen this year and had a hell of a birthday bash. She got a job at the local Friendly’s soon after her birthday in March and continues to work and dance and have a generally crazy schedule this school year. She hasn’t gotten her license yet because of her crazy schedule but we’re hoping she can fit the required classes in between now and the end of January and have her license before she turns seventeen.

My son has been just as busy as my daughter. Between basketball, baseball Jukido and guitar lessons, he's one busy boy. He earned a blue belt this year in Jukido this year and is looking forward to getting to the next level. He also asked me to write a book with him this year and what a blast to be able to get into my son's twelve-year-old mind!  He has some very intriguing ideas and I've had the joy of teaching him how to flush them out and create something fascinating.  We're hoping to get the first installment of The Death Chronicles out in 2012.
My husband has been having fun with his pool league and playing paint ball with the neighbors in the spring and fall when we aren’t making the trek to our summer place. During the summer we live for the weekends on the beach and it was a challenge this year with my daughter's work schedule, but we still had time to enjoy Maine. Now that the season is over, we’re focused on the holidays and trying not to get hung up with the mental countdown to opening day in May.  Our day jobs have kept us on our toes too and my husband got some well deserved accolades at work - he was honored with a service excellence award this year.  

As for me, it's been a busy year on the writing front. Beyond releasing three novels and two short story anthologies, I took the plunge into the publishing realm this year with a writing colleague of mine. Jason Halstead and I opened the doors to Novel Concept Publishing, LLC in May and we’ve been blessed with some stellar submissions. As of December 23, 2011, we have three published authors under our label with two more queued up for early in 2012. I can’t begin to tell you how fulfilling it is to help another author hone their book into a sharp captivating story and see it published. The only thing that has outshines that experience was hitting the number one spot on Amazon’s Horror/Occult list in November. Now we just need to get our authors to that acclaimed milestone…

On that note, I bid farewell to 2011 and want to wish you all a happy and healthy 2012!

Guest spotlight with Wilf Nussey

Today, I have a Wilf Nussey in the special guest spotlight. Wilf was a newspaperman for forty years, all but four of them in Africa. He was the foremost foreign correspondent for the Argus group of newspapers for many years spanning most of Africa’s transition to independence and its continuing upheavals. Before that he was a freelance correspondent in Kenya for British and North American media and lived and worked in Britain and Canada. Assignments have taken him to the Middle East, Far East, Europe and New Zealand. Five years after becoming editor of a small newspaper, he quit to live in the bush and write books and has produced four successful documentaries. Now he and his wife live a few metres from the sea at Simon’s Town in South Africa’s Cape.

JET: Can you tell us about Darts of Deceit?

WILF: It’s an adventure thriller inspired by my knowledge from experience of Southern Africa and the strange situation when white rule had collapsed in Rhodesia, apartheid was collapsing in South Africa, and the Soviet Union was collapsing – all in roughly the same time span. There were fears then of a hard-core backlash in Russia. This story is one scenario of how that might have happened: by triggering major violence in volatile parts of the world, including Southern Africa, to distract the world’s attention and give the Russian extremists a chance to reassert their strength. It also involves fairly typical American and British deviousness in exploiting such situations to their own advantage, and the involvement of the South African apartheid regime as the only real power in the region. The story unfolds around two main characters, one a former Rhodesian, the other a Mozambican, both veterans of the Rhodesian and Mozambique wars.

JET: What drew you to thrillers?

WILF: I enjoy thrillers (when they are well written) as escapist relaxation between reading historical books and novels based in history, specially naval history.

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

WILF: Finding an agent and a publisher. Over more than a decade scores of agents have turned down this book, and others I have written, most summarily, some with nice comments about my chapters and synopses, plus a “but…”. Then I read about Rebel ePublishers and wrote direct because what attracted me was that they had been through the same mill of rejection so they were sympathetic.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?

WILF: Getting accepted by Rebel. I had amusing experiences along the way, mostly from pompous people who turned up their noses as if I was offering porn.

JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?

WILF: A whole fleet because since childhood I have read voraciously. Some in any old order are Rudyard Kipling, Rider Haggard, Percy Fitzpatrick, John Steinbeck, Patrick O’Brian, C S Forester, Jack London, Charles Dickens (of course), Richard Dawkins, Ed McBain, the list is long.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

WILF: I thought about it often while sitting in planes and airport lounges, or waiting in hotels, reading books to kill the time. I decided to tackle writing books when I became sated with the bureaucracy and trivia of newspaper administration – that

after a lifetime of reporting, most of it as a foreign correspondent. I wrote a couple of documentaries, then a collection of stories about small rural town which I thought was damned good but didn’t sell because the publisher did nothing to promote it.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

WILF: I did all the crazy things as part of my job as a foreign correspondent: going into war situations with troops, rooting around in the backyards of African dictators, grubbing about in the bush, experiencing the hypocrisy of politics and diplomacy, meeting a host of fascinating people. There were many most interesting facts. Years ago when I first came across an AK-47 I predicted it would replace the spear as the symbol of Africa. I was fascinated by the goodwill I found among ordinary people in Africa, those swamped by conflict and exploitation and politics who still somehow survived and, like me, merely wanted to live a good, safe life. I am still entranced by the huge, diverse beauty of Africa in spite of all its dangers and problems.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite? Why?

WILF: Of novels, this, my first. Of stories, one I wrote in my collection about a small powderhorn picked up by an English farmer in Africa and claimed by a wizened old African witchdoctor. Both reflect Africa, the rough and the smooth and the mysterious.

JET: Any advice (from a writer’s standpoint) for the novices out there?

WILF: Be thick-skinned, be tough, keep trying, do anything (within reason) to get yourself noticed.

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten…starting with…Paper or Plastic?

WILF: Paper.

JET: Steak or Tofu?

WILF: Steak.

JET: Beach or Mountains?

WILF: Mountains.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll?

WILF: Rock-n-Roll.

JET: Leather or Lace?

WILF: Leather.

JET: Angels or Demons?

WILF: Demons.

JET: Paper or Digital?

WILF: Paper.

JET: Silent Film Classics or Cheesy B Rated Horror?

WILF: Silent films.

JET: Twilight or True Blood?

WILF: Dunno.

JET: Coffee or Tea?

WILF: Tea.

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What's next?

WILF: Been doing an autobiography for the family, a collection of anecdotes from many journalists about covering Africa, and working on another novel, probably around old African gold.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog. Folks, you can find out more about Wilf Nussey and his work at the following places:

Facebook url: facebook.com/wilf.nussey.

Website url: wilfnussey.co.za.

Thanks for joining us today.  Don't forget Todd Russell's on tap on Friday. 

Until then,
Ciao.
JET