Author Interview: Ashton Cartwright

***I feel as if I should stamp a warning on this interview - Ashton is notoriously funny and I promise we will not get a straight answer from him! Do enjoy!***

What is your name (or pen name) and where do you live now?

My name is Ashton Cartwright, and I live in sun-shiny Sydney, waaaayyyy Down Under, with my pet koala “Cuddles” and my pet kangaroo “Vicious Rending Behemoth.” They are both completely adorable.  

Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?

Originally I wanted to be a Teletubbie, but the costume didn’t fit. Then I thought perhaps I could be one of the Wiggles, but there was some dispute about my choice of colour (apparently ‘puce’ is a bit too ambivalent to appeal to 6 year olds).

After that I thought quite seriously about being unemployed, but found that it wasn’t particularly impressive when I mentioned it as my career at parties.

Now, ridiculously, I play poker for a living, and have done for years. Barely more impressive than unemployment, but the remuneration is marginally higher.  

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it what would you say?

My latest, greatest, and only book, is called “Pretending to Love: How to Cheat Your Way to Relationship Success”

It’s a parody of every relationship advice book I have ever read. As a chronic bachelor I was (and am) somewhat unconvinced of the benefits of traditionally accepted relationship ideals such as “compromise,” “accepting your partner’s faults,” and “talking.” These things all seemed rather silly to me.

Instead, I though that I might perform a small service to the relationship community by creating a much more practical manual for amatory interaction, incorporating useful concepts such as “How to Get Your Own Way,” “Improving Your Partner Through the Power of Nagging,” and “Why Honesty is the Worst Policy.”

I’m sure you’ll agree that this is much more effective (and amusing) information to have.

How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?

This one took about 3 months from start to finish, working on it part time, and being lazy the rest of the time.  

Do you have plans for a new book?

Being single, I get the dubious benefit of never having to make plans for anything whatsoever. My next book is absolutely and unequivocally something for which I have no fixed plans. If I were forced to give a definitive answer, I would say, “I will possibly write another book at some point, and I will be either funny, scary, instructional, mysterious, or romantic.”

What genre would you place your books into?

Assuming that there are no intentions of introducing “Blatant Idiocy” as a genre, I suspect this book would fall into the Humor category . . . although it does pop up occasionally in Amazon’s bestseller list for “Relationship Advice.” Hah.

Where do you get your book plot ideas from? What/Who is your inspiration?

I had just finished reading an excellent and much respected book called “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman, which was given to me by a friend (whom I can only presume was despairing of my hedonistic ways). It occurred to me partway through this illustrious tome that there were many books aimed at people who wanted to begin a relationship, or who needed to fix a relationship, but no books for people who were struggling to avoid a relationship.

Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?

I have what I presume is a pretty standard routine for any writer: I sit down at my computer, open up MS word, then mess around on Facebook for 9 hours, turn my computer off, go watch some TV, then head to bed. I repeat this process for several days, then get drunk and bang out a few typo-ridden chapters in a couple of hours.

I like to think that the traditional methods are still the best.

Is there a certain author that influenced you in writing?

There are three authors whose writing styles I think are brilliant, so funny, so well phrased, that I hope to spend a significant portion of my writing career trying to emulate them. They are Douglas Adams (of the exceptional Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy), Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) and Terry Pratchett (author of 7,500 Discworld novels). I love Douglas Adams for making the ridiculous seem legitimate, Scott Adams for making the legitimate seem ridiculous, and Terry Pratchett for making sure every sentence he writes is amusing, witty, or clever. This is my Holy Trinity of literary comic genius.

What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?

Honestly, truly, write what you want to write. It’s well and good to read about being an author, and to study how to put a story together properly, and even to try and decide who you want your books to appeal to. . . but for your first book, go ahead and just write whatever you feel needs to be written.

There will be time enough later in your career to edit out the parts that might cause your readers to lose interest, or to write only in genres that are highly marketable, or even to change the stories completely to make them easier a publisher to try and pick you up. . .

All that is fine, and perhaps when you are a rich and famous author you may need to make such sacrifices to keep your books in the eye of the public, but for your first book, write what you want to write. Even if it’s boring to every other person on the planet except you. Even if it makes people think you are a sociopath. Even if the jokes are so complicated that nobody can understand them without a PHD in neurology and a scientific calculator. Even if you use a fake name because you can’t spell, your grammar makes no sense, and your storyline is just a series of physiologically impractical pornographic occurrences. . . for you first book, just write what you want to write.

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You can purchase 'Pretending to Love' on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Ashton Cartwright is a part time author, full time poker player, and all the time hair model.

A dedicated Juggalo, as well as a master of mathematics; he happily lists his three favorite things as "Profit and money," which enlightens us all to the virtues of his pure and loving heart.

Ashton has been married concurrently a record 27 times, mostly through virtue of getting a celebrant drunk on home-brewed moonshine. His current collection of partners includes three geese, a doorknob, and a life-sized cardboard cut-out of himself.

Ashton is also currently working on the screenplay for his new movie: I Know What I Did Last Summer.

www.ashtoncartwright.com

Author Interview: Johnny Walker

What is your name and where do you live now?
Johnny Walker. I live in New York City.


Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
I have always written stories and songs, but I initially wanted to be a professional recording artist. I worked for many years as a musician and did several recordings, including a CD of my own, but I started having shoulder and wrist problems in my thirties. I turned to sound design fulltime and did well, primarily because I had first-hand knowledge about being on stage and knew what obstacles the entertainers were faced with. I tried my best to stay a step ahead of their needs and be accommodating.


What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it what would you say?
The latest book is called EKKO Thirty Six Black Bees. It’s a continuation of book one, detailing the adventures of CJ, the protagonist, and the semblances he collects to use in his stage shows.


How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
Roughly eighteen months, give or take. Completing the book moves pretty fast. Fixing the snags usually brings the pace to a halt. Then research and fact checking undoubtedly slap me in the head with more repairs. I try to provide the reader with a sense of familiarity so I use actual locations in cities before adding the fiction, which creates more research. It becomes a big paperwork puzzle.


Do you have plans for a new book?
I wrote a small How-To and have started a few other stories, but right now I’m focused on the third book in the EKKO series.


What genre would you place your books into?
Tough call there. Because of a technical device used in the stage shows, EKKO has a dash of sci-fi, so I have to start with that genre and then include Historical Fiction and Paranormal Adventure. The sci-fi label throws people off though, because the series is set in present day as opposed to inner planetary wars and aliens.


What made you decide to write that genre of book?
I didn’t feel another ghost story would be very intriguing. I wanted to spice it up. I also love historical composers and anything music related.


Do you have a favourite out of the books you have written? If so why is it your favourite?
I think number two, Thirty Six Black Bees. Probably because I keep learning and growing as a writer, which helps me accommodate the reader while staying true to the story line.  


Do you have a favourite character from your books? Why are they your favourite?
I think Cavanaugh is one of my favourites. He’s a slime ball sent out to steal CJ’s gimmick by some music moguls. He’s fun to write. I tend to call on some experiences in the past where I’ve run across extremely arrogant people. As a villain, his vanity is a complete contrast to most other characters. He’s a blundering mess and he’s on a mission to uncover CJ’s secret. His confidence is unsupported, even though he believes he’s got things under control.


Where do you get your book plot ideas from? What/Who is your inspiration?
I got the idea from having a few strange encounters in older venues across the country. There were times when I knew I wasn’t alone, but I was the only one working. One night I had finished working and decided to play this piano for a while. I turned off every light in the club with the exception of one profile, which I left at a soft glow, aimed at the piano on stage. I sat and ticked the ivories for a few minutes when something whispered against the back of my neck. I froze. All I could do was tell myself that whatever it was—it wasn’t there to hurt me. That’s when I realized that the other occurrences weren’t figments of my imagination. 

That was the turning point. Even though I really couldn’t explain or define what was happening, I decide to start writing this stuff down. I still have a bunch of logs and journals from the traveling days and I refer to them often. I also tried to go a little deeper and give the ghosts more of a role in the story, give them some personality and humour as opposed to always being creepy. I don’t see why a spirit can’t also be fun.
Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?
Most times I keep it quiet, but sometimes I’ll listen to classical guitar or piano. Love the pianist John Boswell. His music is thought provoking. Songs with lyrics tend to distract me. Otherwise I stay in the study for days on end. 

Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the title?
I had the title picked out first. I had a series of dreams that sparked me to do some research and led me to EKKO. It seemed to fit like a glove.


How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books?
I usually define the character’s role first. I’ll write for long periods naming characters as XXX until I find the name that fits. I have a whole list of unique names or names I just like. When I run across a cool name I place it on the list. When it’s time to bring the character to life, I refer to the list, which then gives the character a face and a picture in my head. Then I can move forward and give them a personality.
I recently implemented an act of appreciation sort ‘of thing on my mailing list called Top Five Fans. Based on the amount of feedback from readers, I chose five and promised to name characters after them in the next book. I thought it would be a fun way to say thanks to some readers who constantly support the series. So I obtained a few names that way for book three.

Do you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?
I usually have the characters mission or purpose mapped out in advance, but I have a tendency to get bored. If I’m bored, then the reader will probably be bored, too, so I toss in some conflict, or romance, or maybe even knock someone off. That’s when I need to develop a new character. To develop some traits, I’ve called gift shops and help lines in different areas of the globe to speak with people who have different dialects, which I fell adds a ton of credibility to the characters role. That helps me decide if the interaction will fall into place or not. If I wanted shy or quiet, I’d call a small town library. I may visit a lesbian bar if I wanted to get the lowdown on a tomboy’s characteristics. I also watch people in the park. I have to keep an open mind and decide if the character adds to the story. I’ve scrapped entire sections that I thought were great, but eventually cut because they just didn’t fit.

Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
That’s when I switch gears and do research or study some online courses. They seem to stimulate me and get me back on track. That’s also a good time to support other artists, get on their sites and leave messages and hit LIKE buttons.


Is there a certain author that influenced you in writing?
I appreciate almost every author’s work, but I like the descriptive methods of Orson Scott Card and the action of Suzanne Brockman. Always been a huge admirer of Steven King’s imagination even though most of his endings, to me, seem to just fizzle. One good exception, though, was ‘The Mist’, which had a (great) heart-breaking ending.


What is your favourite book and Why?  Have you read it more than once?
The list of favourites is long, but I don’t really have one favourite. I don’t usually read a book again, either. I do, however re-start one chapter earlier when reading a book, as opposed to just picking up where I left off, so in a way I guess I read a book twice the first time. Whaaa??

Do you think books transfer to movies well? Which is you favourite/worst  book to movie transfer?
I try to read the book or see the movie, but usually not both. That said, I think the Count of Monte Cristo is one of the best adaptations ever.  I could watch any of the numerous adaptations at any time. There is a writer working on a screenplay for EKKO right now. After slightly getting involved with the process, I honestly don’t know how screenwriters do it. That’s an art like no other.
I couldn’t really pick a worst adaptation. I guess because I know how much effort it takes. Whether the final result is crappy or not, I know someone put a lot of work into it.


What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
I’m reading a book called D-E-D- Dead, by Larry Garner. I had promised to give a review of it. It has a mysterious edge and I’m enjoying it. At 593 pages, I’ll be reading it for a few weeks. I’m reading that book as a downloaded PDF. I prefer hard copies, though.


Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
No. Too many people, myself included, enjoy the feeling of a book in the hand. There are definitely benefits to the eBook readers, but I don’t think a machine will ever replace the warmth of a book.


What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
Don’t stop. Take the blows in stride and don’t let anyone stop you. I believe in the word, want. What you want to do, you will do. When you say you wanted to do something but didn’t get to, then you really didn’t want to do it. What we want to do... we do.

If you want to write, then study, read, listen, research, write, and repeat. Be open to criticism, develop a tough skin, and get involved with other authors for support, but take everything with a grain of salt. You have to believe and stay true to your mission, even when it seems impossible. 

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Johnny Walker is a musician turned soundman turned author. He has received two Billboard Song writing Citations and written songs for himself and others for over twenty-five years. After spending his youth on the road, he settled down in New York City where he became submersed in the live music and theater community. While still performing on stage, he became much more involved in sound design and began working for Ralph Lauren Media Services, Miramax Films, and Lifetime...to name a few. First published in 2006, Johnny continues to pen the EKKO series from his home in New York.

You can purchase Johnny's books from the EKKO Mysteries website when the books are available in most formats and includes links to other places to purchase from. www.EkkoMysteries.com

Author Giveaway: Margaret of The North

E Journey is giving away  5 copies of her sequel to North & South, Margaret of the North

To be in with a chance of winning one of five e-copies, you can enter by any of three ways. Each way counts as an entry so that's three chances to win!

• Comment below with your email address.
• Enter via my Facebook page
• Enter at http://www.samanthaholt.org.uk/competition.php

Good luck!
Closing date: 22/10/12
Terms and conditions viewable on website.

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Check out the Margaret of the North blog, for a detailed insight into the book.

Margaret of the North takes off from a retelling of Gaskell's novel on the BBC series. Margaret is a young Victorian woman contending with the press of modernity and industrialization and struggling with the age-old complexities of human relationships. After marrying John Thornton, she faces challenges and influences those around her in her passage into maturity and modern womanhood.

This novel returns the focus on Margaret and how she--intelligent, independent-minded, passionate about her own concerns--curbs a niche and an identity for herself within the constraints of Victorian society. It is an homage to Ms. Gaskell, a return to themes that underscore her concerns about being a woman of her time and that had been her original intent before Charles Dickens urged her to change her title from "Margaret Hale" to "North and South."

The story includes a few illustrations by the author and unabashedly serves up a romance--both Victorian and modern--that just might hit that spot for guilty pleasures.

Author Interview: Karen Lenfestey

What is your name?
Karen Lenfestey

Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
I always wanted to be either a writer or an artist.


What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it what would you say?
My latest novel is called On the Verge. Here’s a summary of what it’s about:

Interior decorator Val Taylor loves three things: her fiancé, her seven-year-old-son and houses with character. Soon after she marries Nathan, a man who hopes to be as good a father as he is husband, he falls down a flight of stairs and injures his head. As Nathan recovers physically, it becomes apparent that he is no longer the same man.  
 
He buys a 1920's Spanish-style dream house, but it's one they cannot afford. He becomes impulsive, unpredictable and sometimes angry. Together they try to repair their once grand home as they struggle to rebuild their relationship.  
 
When Val’s husband changes into someone completely different, how long should she wait for her true love to return? What if he never does?

It’s available at www.amazon.com and for a short time at www.barnesandnoble.com as an e-book or paperback.

How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?

To write a novel takes me between six months and a year.

Do you have plans for a new book?

I just published my first novella, called Made for Two, on Amazon for 99¢. It was so fun to write! Here’s the description: When Diane returns to her hometown of Foxworth, she finds herself tracking down her old boyfriend, Tim. Just seeing him rekindles her love and she realizes that her life, just like her tandem bike, was made for two. Unfortunately, Tim keeps pushing her away, claiming it will never work out. After all, she still wants to live in the city and he can’t imagine leaving his family’s bakery. But Diane discovers there’s more to it than that. Tim has been hiding in this small town because he has a secret.

What genre would you place your books into? What made you decide to write that genre of book?

The genre in which I write is called women’s fiction. In addition to romantic elements, it allows me to write about friends, families and marriages. I decided to write in this genre because it’s what I love to read.

Do you have a favourite out of the books you have written? If so why is it your favourite?

It’s hard to list a favorite of the books I’ve written. I owe all of my success to the first one, A Sister’s Promise, because it sold over 25,000 copies. I have to say I’m partial to that one, but I’m always enamored with whichever book I just completed.

Do you have a favourite character from your books? Why are they your favourite?

One of my favorite characters is Joely because I tried to make her the opposite of her sister. Joely is friendly, creative and bohemian. Joely is in all three of my novels—that’s how much I like her.

Where do you get your book plot ideas from?What/Who is your inspiration?

Plot ideas come from the characters I create. I try to figure out what the conflict is going to be and how the protagonist will change into (hopefully) a better person because of it.

Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?

Writing is always on my mind. It’s easiest to compose at the computer if I’ve scribbled ideas on scraps of paper to remind myself. I prefer to write in the quiet, when no one is around to interrupt me.

Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the title?

I love choosing titles and sometimes pick those before I write. Sometimes I’ll realize I need to change the title, though, once the story is complete. I originally planned to call “A Sister’s Promise” “Small Town Colors.”

How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books?

I try to use a combination of typical names and unusual ones in my novels.

Do you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?

I choose character traits before I start writing, then I usually have to tweak them to make them more unique or to cause more conflict in the story.

Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?

When I’m wrestling with what to write about, I read. Sometimes even watching a movie will help my mind work out writing issues.

Is there a certain author that influenced you in writing?
There isn’t one author who has influenced my writing. New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump, though, has offered me plenty of free advice for which I am grateful.

What is your favourite book and why?  Have you read it more than once?

My favorite book is whichever one I’m in the middle of reading. I’m happiest when I devour a novel within days because I just have to know what’s going to happen.
Do you think books transfer to movies well? Which is you favourite/worst  book to movie transfer?
I like to think of movies and books as separate entities. I’ve rarely read the book that was made into a movie. I enjoyed Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed and thought the book was better than the movie. I still enjoyed watching the film, though.

What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? 
I just finished reading Kristina Riggle’s Things We Didn’t Say. I’m thrilled to have discovered another women’s fiction author that I love!

Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?

Everyone I know says they still love the feel of a real book in their hands. I love my Kindle for when I’m on the treadmill because I don’t have to wrestle with turning the pages, but I’m always reading paperbacks before bed. I hope e-books and paper copies continue to co-exist.

What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
My best advice to a new writer would be to find a good critique group. Hearing feedback from others is what took my writing to the next level. I’m a big fan of my local group, but if you don’t know of any in your area, try the www.internetwritingworkshop.org. They’re an amazingly talented group of writers from all over the world.

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All of Karen's books are available at Amazon or at www.karensnovels.com. Right now she's doing a giveaway for her novel, What Happiness Looks Like, for those who visit her website.

Karen Lenfestey, a Midwest Writer’s Fellowship winner, enjoys reading and writing women’s fiction. She currently has three novels and one novella available at www.amazon.com or www.karensnovels.com. Her first novel, A Sister’s Promise, sold over 25,000 copies and is one of the top-selling books about siblings on Amazon. You can connect with Karen on Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter.

Author interview: Michael T. Fournier

My thanks to Michael for being my featured author this week and allowing me to interview him. Read on to learn more about Michael.

What is your name (or pen name) and where do you live now?
Michael T. Fournier here.  I just got back to Belchertown, Massachusetts after working in Maine for the summer. 

Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
I remember wanting to be a scientist when I was really little, but the reality of my situation sank in around middle school: I had no aptitude for it, or for numbers.  Then I wanted to be the starting third baseman (and later, catcher) for the Boston Red Sox. (I still do.)

By the time I was a senior in high school I had the idea that I could write. At about age thirty I started to Get Serious and keep regular hours.  

Before that I had some phases: I did the whole writer-who-doesn’t-write thing for a while because my confidence was shaken by my early, clunky attempts at short stories (which were inevitably true stories in which I changed real people’s names and hair colors and sometimes genders and called the result fiction); I did freelance; I did (and still do) rock criticism. What I have wanted to do since high school is write novels – it just took me a while to get here. 

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it what would you say?
My latest book is called “Hidden Wheel,” released by Three Rooms Press, New York City.
Rhonda Barrett is the main character – she was a child chess prodigy.  The world champ was beaten by a computer when she was working her way up the ranks.  She became afraid of her obsolescence, and the Singularity, and began painting her life, sixty words a day, on these huge canvases, right around the same time she started working as a dominatrix. 

Ben Wilfork moved to her town intent on making money off artists – he opened an art gallery named Hidden Wheel and started buying artwork from Max Caughin, a guy who pretends to (but does not ) write graffiti. Max painted cityscapes on CD cases, which Ben and his friend Lara Fox-Turner, who ruran a magazine called ArtScene, hyped as critical discussions on the nature of obsolete media. Max’s artwork (along with photo of Rhonda’s one completed canvas) was featured in an issue of the magazine, he got big for a few months, and by the time the next issue comes out the art world has already moved on (and he’s blown all his money). 

Bernie Reese, the drummer of a two-piece noise band called Stonecipher, started taking notes on all this -- his band played the Hidden Wheel gallery opening -- as well as his band’s ill-fated first tour. The notes are found four hundred years later, and a scholar named William Molyneux tries to reconstruct what happened based on the notes – by then, all digital media has been lost in a solar flare. 

So: the book is about the nature of criticism, profiting from a system designed to fail, and obsolescence. And punk rock.

How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
I wrote a first draft of Hidden Wheel in 2008, and had a finished product by May 2010 – about two years. I wrote a book on the Minutemen’s 1984 album “Double Nickels On The Dime” for the 33 1/3 series, which took nine months from start to finish. I had a tight deadline and a shorter word count, so it worked out okay.


Do you have plans for a new book?
I’ve been working on my new book for about two years, and finally feel like I’m making headway. It takes place in a fictional New Hampshire mill town and concerns itself with game shows, veterans, mind control and fireworks.

I am starting to get my ideas together for the one after that, which is another rock book.

What genre would you place your books into?
My Minutemen book is rock criticism. “Hidden Wheel” is dystopian literary fiction (though I think it’s funny dystopia).  It’s also punk rock fiction.

What made you decide to write that genre of book?
I wrote the kind of book I would want to read: tons of backstory about the town of Freedom Springs and the bands and artists living there, interconnected plot threads, multiple narrative viewpoints. The funny punk dystopia came from all that.

I’ve been in and around the punk scene for twenty years. I’d like to think that I’m giving back to a scene which nurtured me and gave me confidence. It was because of punk that I began writing: bands like the Minutemen, Black Flag and Fugazi showed me, with their music and the way they operated, that punk was a free space in which to create whatever I wanted. When I was younger, writers seemed like they lived on a different planet than I did. But punks were everywhere, you know? They did zines and wrote stories, so I could, too!


Do you have a favourite out of the books you have written? If so why is it your favourite?
I’m really fond of them both. 

With that said, I wish I had asked for a longer deadline on the Minutemen book: since I had never written a book before, I lowballed my estimate on how long it would take. With more time, I could have interviewed more people and done more research. In all, though, I think I did a good job.

“Hidden Wheel” stands up to my having read the whole thing out loud –I am releasing an audiobook sometime soon. Seriously, try reading anything you’ve written out loud without being embarrassed at some point. There were surprisingly few cringe-inducing passages, even after finishing the book a few years ago. That’s a good sign, right?

Do you have a favourite character from your books? Why are they your favourite?
Max Caughin is my favourite: in addition to painting CD covers, he’s a guy whose job is running a ‘PR firm’ ( actually a system of fifty interconnected blogs maintained to look as if they’re all run by different people) and selling paper-corrupting viruses to college students. He doesn’t write graffiti but writes about his alter egos ( the current one, as well as the one he killed off) writing about graffiti on messageboards. He’s the first guy in town to wear fisherman gear as fashion (after burning through Velcro, rave and gas station gear), and the first guy to sport a black eye for the same reason. Plus he drinks so much coffee that he speaks in page-long sentences.

Where do you get your book plot ideas from? What/Who is your inspiration?
I usually have a bunch of different ideas, and in early drafts throw them all together to see what sticks. In the book I’m working on now, for example, I had a few ideas and characters I was excited to include which didn’t work – if I had kept them they would have been forced, and clunky. I’m getting better at heeding my inner voice: the first rumblings of ‘this is a bad idea’ are usually right. 

A lot of ideas come from moments where I’m trying to imagine someone’s motivations, or ways in which scenarios might play out.  In the case of Max wearing fisherman gear, I was hanging out in my old Boston neighborhood of Allston one day when I saw a guy walking with a tacklebox and fishing pole. I couldn’t figure out where he was going to fish – Allston is miles from water! – so I thought maybe the guy was carrying the gear around to be fashionable. I ran with the idea from there. 

Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?
I write first thing in the morning on days where I don’t teach, and right when I get home on days when I do. No music – I need something resembling quiet. 

Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the title?
The title usually comes at some point during the writing process.

How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books?
A lot of the names come from this drinking game me and my friends have invented and played over the years, called Fagen – it’s a ridiculously baroque idea generator in which people vote on band names, say, or song titles. I keep a notebook for Fagen trascriptions. 

Do you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?
I usually have some dim idea at the start, but the characters develop (and sometimes change entirely) over the course of several drafts. In my current book, for example, there was a fairly standard bully who has evolved into a more complex girl bully. 

Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
I don’t put pressure on myself to produce, so I don’t buy into writer’s block. I keep hours and grind through tough patches.


Is there a certain author that influenced you in writing?
Oh, tons. When I was first starting to write fiction it was Douglas Coupland and Kurt Vonnegut. Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22” was an early mind-blower because of its fractured chronology. Carson McCullers, Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor. Don DeLillo. David Foster Wallace. I’m probably forgetting some, too.
In the punk world, it was/is Lester Bangs, Byron Coley, Rev. Norb, Keith Werwa, Aaron Cometbus and Al Burian.


What is your favourite book and why?  Have you read it more than once?
“Infinite Jest” is my favorite—I first read it when I moved to Boston, so I learned how to navigate the city partially through reading it. Wallace used to live one street away from one of the group houses I lived in, and wrote about my old Allston neighborhood.

I’ve read it twice. The second time was even more rewarding – I had a sense of what was happening, and how, so I was able to pick up more of the jokes than the first time through.  Part of the book which I picked up on the second time is that Infinite Jest is so dense that a reader can’t possibly pick up all the gags and plotlines the first few times through. Multiple reads are demanded, just as in the book there’s a videotape so addictive that viewers literally cannot stop watching it once they begin.  


Do you think books transfer to movies well? Which is you favourite/worst  book to movie transfer?
Sometimes they do – Stephen King’s non-horror stuff (okay, and The Shining) tends to work well. I know it wasn’t well-reviewed, but I still think the film adaptation of Watchmen was great.


What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
I just finished John Irving’s “In One Person” a few hours ago, in hardback – I thought it was a bit better than some of his recent stuff. Next is John Fante’s Bandini Quartet, in paperback, and Richard Ford’s new one.


Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
Not totally, no. I can see advantages to having stuff on eBook –especially on moving day, or if there’s bonus material included – but I think people still dig the nostalgia of having a book given to them by a friend, say, or reading the same book passed down by a relative.


What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
Keep hours. Read voraciously.  Learn whose opinions you trust regarding your own work. Haters gonna hate.

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Michael T. Fournier’s debut novel, “Hidden Wheel,” uses his punk rock background to reflect on the financial crisis, forced obsolescence, and nature of criticism. The nice folks at Three Rooms Press published the novel in October 2011, Fournier is also the author of a book-length discussion of the Minutemen’s 1984 album “Double Nickels On The Dime,”  the 45^th instalment of Continuum Press’s “33 1/3” series. He has taught literature and punk rock history at Emerson College, Tufts University, University of Maine, and beyond. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife and their cat, where he edits the Cabildo Quarterly.

You can purchase the Hidden Wheel from Three Rooms Press and Double Nickels on the Dime is available here. Find out more about Michael on his website.