1) What inspired you to write? My mission in life, whatever I do, is inspired by the idea that every person on the planet ought to have one good friend, someone who doesn’t judge them. I’ve been a friend to lots of people, and as a leadership coach I have also trained dozens of coaches because the idea of not judging is a big part of that. But I believe that a great book can also be like a friend, and so I hope that my stories give people a sense of friendship. The first author I knew who inspired me was the late Rich Foss, he only published one novel, Jonas and Sally. It’s out of print but I respect it so much that I even sell copies of his book through my website.

2) Are you a reader? What are some of your favorites? Of course, I think all novelists need to be readers. Some of my favorite books/ writers are Huck Finn / Mark Twain, stuff by Kurt Vonnegut, and Garrison Keillor, basically I like satirical work more than almost anything. I also read a good deal in philosophy, from very old books like the Tao Te Ching and the Bible to modern stuff like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and The Black Swan and Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

3) What is your newest work, and what is going to happen in the future? I recently completed the Satchel Pong Chronicles, a five book series of steampunk fantasy, it’s not terribly dark, more lighthearted and satirical, and in the future I have a lot coming up. I have a book on my recent journey on the Camino de Santiago in Portugal and Spain, this is a nonfiction book. I am working on the audiobooks for the Stetson Jeff Adventures books 1 to 3, and then I’ll be completing books 4-6 (Stetson Jeff is a cross between Chuck Norris and Forrest Gump, hilarious stuff I co-wrote with Justin Fike) and I have some other stuff I’m working on.

4) Do you have advice or tips for Indie Authors? Don’t expect the first book to be a huge hit or to make all your money by selling books overnight. That can happen but it is super rare. Play the long game. You need to publish 20 or 30 books. I used to have a goal of writing ten books. Right now, I have 12 out and a lifetime goal of 25. I’ll need to raise that goal in just a few years.

5) What influenced you as a writer?

        Travel. When I was 13 we left the cornfields of Illinois and our family ended up in central Congo for a year. Smack dab in the middle of Africa in a village called Wembo Nyama. Google that and you’ll see what I mean. I’ve lived in Ivory Coast, France and Egypt too. I have now visited at least 21 nations and territories. Within the past 5 months I visited Portugal, Spain and Belize.

 I believe that besides reading, travel is the best thing a writer can do to expand their potential as a writer. But it isn’t about take cruises or seeing the stuff all tourists see. You have to get off the beaten path. You need to learn other languages, because languages include systems of thinking. You need to understand other cultures. You need to have experiences where you have to communicate with your hands and facial expressions just to get something to eat. You need to experience getting things to eat that you didn’t expect. Try food you never tried before. In Belize, just a few weeks ago, I had my first experience with iguana meat. Hm. Ok. Tastes like chicken, they say, but I’d say more like alligator. 

Traveling to other cultures also gives me a different perspective on how the rest of the world sees America. You need to have more than one perspective. It helps you develop a Theory of Mind, empathy, putting yourself in other people’s shoes. Without that ability you can only write flat characters, it’s all going to be cardboard cutouts mimicking other writers’ characters. 

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