How long have you been writing?
I first started writing with serious intent in 1996, when I had left the Air Force, had toddlers at home and was going a little stir crazy. I started with short stories and writing for my diocese magazine, then moved on to larger works and a wider market for non-fiction. Now, I have …let me count… 41 published books that I either wrote, edited, or have a story in. My goal is to fill a bookshelf I have before I die.
Which writers inspire you?
For what I write: Madeleine L’Engle, Mercedes Lackey, Douglas Adams, Robert Lynn Asprin, Jim Butcher.
As a writer: Larry Correia, Jane Lebak, my critique group at the Catholic Writers’ Guild, and the Writer of Center and Superversive authors on Facebook
So, what have you written?
I mostly write science fiction and fantasy, though I have a comedic horror series that I’m rebooting in October, I hope (Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator). However, I also write devotionals. To pay bills, I edit a local Catholic magazine and write software reviews and business tips articles for Fit Small Business.
This year, I made the leap to self-publishing and have been having a blast. My most recent works have been:
- The Old Man and the Void & Dex’s Way: An aging ship’s captain on the edge of a black hole hunts relics of an ancient civilization. When his find pulls him across the event horizon, he battles for his life and that of his ship. In Dex’s Way, he finds himself back in the universe, 600 years in the future.
- Murder Most Picante: I’m rebooting a favorite series starring Vern, my dragon private detective. This is his first mystery in the Mundane world, where he’s trying to find a murderer why having to convince the general population that he’s housebroken and does not eat cats.
- Space Traipse: Hold My Beer: These are Star Trek/Science Fiction parodies starring my own
- characters aboard the HMB Impulsive. There’s a lot of redneck ingenuity, cliché twisting, and breaking of the fourth wall. They’re a ton of fun to write, and a lot of fun to read. It’s a blog series that I then compile into collections with a bonus story so people get more bang for the buck.
- Fill-in journals: These are simple books that people can fill in. I’ve done journals for positive thoughts, meditating on the Proverbs, recording rocket launches, planning staycations and more.
The next book coming out is Space Traipse: Hold My Beer, Season 3. In this one, the Cybers have attacked the Union where it hurts the most – our stuff! A replicator virus that results in practical joke items has thrust the Union into chaos, and the Impulsive goes to Filedise, the source of all replicator programs, to investigate. But when they discover that the Cybers have hired the corporate empire to create a program that mimics the essence of humanity, it’s a customer service nightmare! The second story pokes fun at every musical episode ever when the Impulsive is attacked by a virus that makes everyone sing and turns one unlikely being into the Phantom of the Cybersong. The bonus episode, “Kippers & Chaos,” is a parody of ST: TNG “The Perfect Mate.”
What draws you to Superversive writing?
FREEDOM!
Seriously, it’s just what I enjoy reading and writing. I prefer stories that inspire without tearing down and that demonstrate the moral values that have made us a strong and ethical people. However, as a parody writer, I love a good laugh.
What are you working on at the minute?
I just finished a Star Trek/Sci-Fi parody set in my Space Traipse: Hold My Beer universe. It’s a play off “Yesteryear,” the animated show where Spock went back in time to save himself. Instead, my Ops officer goes back in time to stop herself from going to a party. It was a bad decision that tore apart the entire Union! Somehow a lot of Mirror Universe got mixed in. Evil Enigo was too much fun. It’s going on my blog.
Now, I’m back to working on the second DragonEye, PI novel, If Wishes Were Dragons. Vern and his D&D friends end up in Faerie for a role-playing adventure with comical results and serious consequences.
Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?
I read a pitiful amount compared to my past. Lately, most of my reading is books by friends or anthologies I’m in. I’m working my way through the Planetary Anthologies and Monsters, Movies and Mayhem. I just finished Shadow in the Dark by Anthony Kolenk, am reading/critiquing a terrific book by Mary Woods. I was on a cozy mystery binge for a bit – the Granny’s Got a Gun series. I also read Star Trek scripts as part of my parody work.
How can readers discover more about you and you work?
The Helicon Society 