Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome back S.Evan Townsend
to the blog to talk about his newest book Rock Killer
1. Can you please share with us a little about yourself
I’m a 51-year-old writer living in central Washington State. I’ve been writing since I was about 12 years old when I taught myself how to type on a typewriter (this was decades before home computers). Since January 2011 I’ve been writing exclusively, giving up my day job. I have been doing freelance for local publications and for websites in addition to marketing my own books published by World Castle Publishing. In my spare time I enjoy reading, driving (sometimes on a racetrack), meeting people, and talking with friends. I’m in a 12-step program for Starbucks addiction. I live with my wife of 30 years, and two sons (one in high school, the other in college) and I have a son attending the University of Washington in biology. I enjoy science fiction, fantasy, history, politics, cars, and travel.
2. Have you always wanted to be an author?
Well, except when I was five and wanted to be a fireman, yes, I always wanted to be an author. I taught myself to type on a typewriter and started writing. I assume what I wrote when I was 12 was very jejune. But over the past 39 years I’ve gotten better.
3. Can you share with us your typical writing day. Is there anything you have to have while writing?
There really isn’t a typical day of writing. I tend to write in spurts and when inspired. I’ll start writing at 10:00 A.M. and write until 2:00 A.M. some days or I might not write for a few days in a row.
4. Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?
The most challenging, and rewarding, part of writing (not marketing, publishing, etc.) is finding new ways to describe mundane things. Not every hero can be saving heroines all the time; he needs to get out of bed, shave, shower, get dressed, and drive to work. And a lot of times you just skip that but sometimes you can’t and it’s a challenge to write it in such a way that it is interesting for the reader. And when you manage to do that, it’s also rewarding.
5. Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?
My latest book is Rock Killer. It’s a science fiction novel set in the not-too-distant future when asteroids are being mined for their valuable metals without degrading Earth. But some are even opposed to that and they resort to violence to reach their political ends. That is, they are terrorists. Alexander Chun, literally a million miles from help, and without armaments, must stop them before they kill him and his multi-national crew.
6. How did you come with the idea for this story?
In the early 2000s there were eco-terrorist attacks in the Pacific Northwest where I live. Luckily there was only property damage and no one was hurt. But I wondered what motivated such people and I decided that it wasn’t that they were trying to protect the environment, but they were trying to stop human progress. And what if in the future there were still people who had this idea that human progress is bad and they acted on it.
7. Can you share with us your current work in progress?
Right now I’m working on a third book in my Adept series. These are urban fantasy novels set in the recent past. In this third novel, set in 1968, I am bringing in necromancy, nuclear weapons, the Prague Spring and subsequent Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and my character has to stop a plot by rouge KGB agents to destroy America. At least that’s my plan. It may change as I write it. I’m about half-way through it.
8. Who are some of your favorite authors?
My favorite fiction writers are Robert A. Heinlein and Poul Anderson. I also enjoy early Larry Niven. Heinlein always told a great story but had a message behind it. Poul Anderson makes up worlds that you think you visited, they are so detailed. And Larry Niven came up with some amazing ideas such as Ringworld.
9. Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style?
Oh, yes. In writing Rock Killer I was trying to write a Niven-esque hard science fiction novel. And my tendency to have strong women characters is at least partially from Heinlein and Anderson.
10. What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?
I have a thing for old science fiction. So my TBR pile is mostly old science fiction. Someone is reprinting all of Poul Anderson’s short stories in many volumes and that’s on my TBR pile (I’ve bought most of them already).
11. Is there anything else you would like to add?
I don’t know about other writers but I find there is a dichotomy in being a writer. Writing is a solitary, introverted pursuit. You sit alone at a computer and your “friends” are your characters. But marketing a book is just the opposite. You need to “network” and get out and meet people and be engaged in all sorts of social media. It’s just the opposite of writing. The successful author can do both.
Good interview! I do occasionally like to read Science Fiction and "Rock Killer" sounds like an intriguing book. I also like the fact that it's based on something that Mr. Townsend has some personal knowledge of. I haven't read anything by Paul Anderson, Robert Heinlein, or Larry Niven but I have read the Dune series by Frank Herbert and several of Isaac Asimov's books. I also remember reading a book set in the Science Fiction world that was more of a romance but I can't remember the name – will have to try to figure it out because I know I want to read it again to see if I like it now as much as I did when I was in high school. I'll have to add Rock Killer to my tbr. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the interview, and how cool that after all this time, you are now fulltime writing 🙂