March Guest Blogger: Phil

It's a new month, and that means a new guest blogger. Meet Phil. He writes over at Tin Can Goat, often posting his 500 projects complete with word count at the end. He'll impart some of his wisdom this Thursday, and again on the 18th. Today is interview day!

1. When and why did you begin writing?
--I began writing after the truancy officer showed up on the doorstep and
informed my parents I had to start attending school. My mom figured it was
better for me to suffer, than her go to jail so she forced me onto the
school bus and my life since, has been one writing challenge after another.

2. What sort of genre do you write?
--I write whatever occupies my mind the moment I sit in front of a computer;
typically horror, suspense, and humor, though a few friends insist I'm not
funny and beg me to stop. I read quite a bit of fantasy, so one would think
I’d write it, but I suck.

3. Have you been published? If so, what titles? Where can we find your book?
--My published history is not glamorous, though I've been published a couple
of times, but I don't consider them as great accomplishments.

In high school, I masqueraded as a Meet the Merchants reporter for the
Owyhee Avalanche, a now defunct newspaper in Marsing, ID. My column
consisted of me walking the dusty street, dodging tumbleweeds and
rattlesnakes, and interview local business owners.

I’ve also managed to get my name published in a couple of comic books. One
was for a contest (published in *Star Brand: Annual #1)*; the other was a
letter to a Batman writer expressing my apology and embarrassment of
confusing him with a more famous writer. He liked my apology and not only
published my long letter (in *Batman: Shadow of the Bat #72*) but he sent me
the original script and autographed it. This is my favorite thing I own.



4. How do you define being a successful writer? What do you do to get there?
--I could drive down the road of clichés and point out road signs that
success is merely putting words to paper, but I think that’s a load of crap.
To me, success is posting your writing out for the world to read and having
someone you didn’t know was a follower tells you that not only do they like
your writing, but they can’t wait to read more.

For years I’ve balked at writing; giving in to vices rather than commitment.
I’ve ignored the successful writers who harp "just write". It’s a lot harder
than it sounds and the time commitment is incredible. I walk away from
4-hours of writing and I am physically exhausted, but the next day I read
what I wrote and just knowing I persevered the night before, motivates me to
make another go at it.

5. What is your writing schedule?
--I’ve tried doing what Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, and others have
said; write early when the mind is fresh and alert, but I’m a night owl. My
early morning starts at midnight and I write until I’m asleep. I edit when
I’m wide awake and fresh. I’m starting to develop a niche in hanging out at
Starbucks with my netbook, drinking Black-tea Latte’s and enjoying the
constant white noise.

6. You come to a fork in the road. Which way do you go? Why?
--The fork littered with corpses. There my stories lurk around blind curves, drop off low branches, and whisper from thick brambles and dark hollows.

7. What books have most influenced your life?
--*The Holy Bible*. It contains great stories I use as the basis for what I
write. Others are Tom Sawyer (The image of Tom flicking a spider in a
candle flame has stuck with me for years); Poe’s, *The Cask of Amontillado*;
Dostoevsky’s, *Crime and Punishment*, Dante’s *Inferno*, and *Spider-Man*.

8. What book are you currently reading?
--Here's the thing, I can't read just one book at a time. I read about 100
pages and then pick up another. The rotation tends to be three books and a
slew of weekly comic books.

My current cycle is Matthew Pearl’s, The Dante Club (I’ve been struggling
through this book reading it for six years, but I vow I will complete
it...gah!); Brad Metzler’s, *The Book of Lies*; and Raymond E. Feist’s, *Jimmy
the Hand* (My mom picked this up in Britain in 2004, and it too has been in
my rotation for six years); and of course, my weekly slew of comics.

9. What are your current projects?
--The 500 challenge, which is kicking my ass. I'm trying to make every day’s
post a unique work and it's difficult enough that many days I just want to
quit.

I'm working on a young adult series and my submission for the
*Bridges*contest in March, 2010.

10. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about
their work?
--I hate this question because I really can’t decide; King, Martin,
Flanagan, Brubaker, and others, but I guess the writer to whom I have the
closest connection is John Steinbeck. Mostly because my grandfather—an Okie
who moved his family to California in ’37; the year my father was born—swore
if he ever ran into Steinbeck that he'd kick his ass. Grandpa said he didn’t
like Steinbeck getting famous off of people’s misfortunes and that *The
Grapes of Wrath* was nothing but slanderous trash.

11. Have you learned anything from writing that applies to other parts of
life?
--Yep. Nothing is an easy. Writing takes discipline. Losing weight takes
discipline. Marriage takes discipline. The only things in life that are easy
are those that are bad for you and should be avoided at all costs.

12. Do you have any advice that you would like to share?
--Three things:

· One, have a thick skin regarding your writing and learn to
distance yourself. I know people who get so upset over someone commenting on
their work that they quit writing or lose sleep or drop into depression;
none of which are healthy.

· Two, use find function in your word processor and get rid of all
the *-ly* words. A friend of mine calls them "purply prose" and loves making
me feel like crap as he marks them from my manuscripts, but his advice has
matured my writing.

· Three, the first draft is always crap, but not all crap is bad.
Crap is fertilizer that feeds the growth of a plant; you’ve just got to till
the ground until you get a good mixture. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

13. You're trapped on an island, what five things do you have with you?
--My family, because life is beautiful when your kids are constantly at each
other's throats. Food. Water. Air conditioning, if the island is tropical; a
heater if it’s not (Please have power.) Basketball equipment (Does this
count as one?)

14. Quick, it's a Zombie Apocalypse! What do you do?
--I mimic the zombies as did the survivors in Shawn of the Dead and head
for the local pub.

15. Your computer just died, does this ruin your writing day, or can you
cope?
--I'd go out back and finish the fire pit patio I’ve been working on the
past year.

16. Where would you take your favorite author to dinner?
--Phuket (The ‘H’ is silent) in Seattle. Best Thai Food in the Northwest.

17. Why isn't the sky red?
--I don't know, but 6 is afraid of 7, because 7 8 9.