More Hock, Less Talk #1: ME!!!

Every now and then here at stevehockensmith.com, I'll profile a fellow writer as part of a feature I call "More Talk, Less Hock." (Regular visitors to this blog call it "Steve Didn't Have Anything to Write About Again This Week.") Today, I offer a variation. Instead of giving you less Hock, I'm serving up twice the Daily Recommended Allowance. I hope you don't O.D., Hockaholics. It's an interview with me.

A little background: Several months ago, I was asked to answer a few questions for a Q&A tied to the release of the e-anthology West Coast Crime Wave. I've got a story in the book, you see -- an old chestnut called "Fred Menace, Commie for Hire." You can pick up the antho here or here (but not here) if you wanna check it out.

The Q&A never ran, however, and I'm not the type to waste 13.4 minutes of hard work. So I'm posting my answers here.

Maybe after reading them, you'll understand why they were never used in the first place....

Interviewer X: Give us a bit of background on you as an author. When were you bitten with the writing bug? Is mystery your usual genre, or do you float between several?

Me: I've been writing since the age of 4. My first big project was the letter O. I later moved on to other letters of the alphabet and, after mastering them, words. Then came sentences. Eventually, I produced my first paragraph. After that, there was no stopping me! Except for all the things stopping me. Like being 7 and having no idea I wanted to be a writer. By 11, I had everything figured out, though. I wrote my first bit of serious genre fiction -- a Star Trek story called "A Space-Age Hitler!" -- and a mere 27 years later my first novel was published. That novel (the historical mystery Holmes on the Range) was a finalist for the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus and Dilys awards. So obviously it was terrible. Fortunately, the publishing industry is known far and wide for its magnanimity, and I was allowed to keep publishing books until I eventually produced a bestseller (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls). Now that I'm an overnight success, my goal is to stretch the inevitable failure to follow over the course of several decades, if not centuries.

X: What makes the setting of your story a unique and interesting one for crime fiction?

Me: After reading the collected works of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, I came to the conclusion that no one had ever written a mystery set in post-World War II Los Angeles. To make my story even more unique, I decided to throw in a private investigator. And as if that weren't enough, I made him a tough guy with a fondness for colorful metaphors. Crazy, I know! But that's just the kind of cutting edge, experimental writer I am. 

X: Tell us a little bit about the story’s main character.

Me: Fred Menace is a tough guy with a fondness for colorful metaphors. Oh, and he's a private investigator! Also: His name is "Fred Menace," and he's the main character of my story. As if that weren't interesting enough, his initials are F and...whoops. Got carried away with the details there. I know you didn't ask me to write the guy's biography, but I just love him so much I couldn't help myself!

X: This anthology is an e-book from a new publisher.  In general, how do you as an author see the opportunities in publishing changing with the growth of e-books?

Me: Oh, man -- I've been calling them "e-books" for the last few years, but I'd just decided to switch to "ebooks" when I read your question. Now I don't know what to do. I tell you what, though: Once we figure out whether they're hyphenated or not, these damn things are going to be a gold mine.

X: Tell us what's in store for you over the next six to 12 months.

Me: Barring a breakdown in negotiations or the complete collapse of the publishing industry, I should be able to announce my next project very, very soon. My money's on the complete collapse of the publishing industry.

Comments

[Lee Nelson]

While I look forward to Fred Menace, I'd prefer him in paper so I can get him signed by you...plus, how does one do a book tour for an e-book?

When are you coming back to SoCal?

[Steve]

Actually, Fred's story *is* available on good old-fashioned dead trees: It was originally published in an MWA anthology called Show Business Is Murder. I'll bet you can find an old copy for sale online for about 27 cents. The next time I'm in the L.A. area -- which won't be for a while, alas -- I'd be happy to sign it for you, even if it does have "PADUCAH PUBLIC LIBRARY / REMOVE FROM SHELVES" stamped on it.

[Lee Nelson]

I'm now on a quest....must find "Show Business is Murder" and it must have some funky library stamp in it, if only to amuse you.