Author of “Cyber War Attack!”
How old were you when you first started writing?
I was nine when I wrote my first short story.
What was your inspiration for the book?
My inspiration for this book was Ted Koppel’s book, Lights Out. It was very informative, but dull. It made me think that the best way to get his message out would be through fiction. I decided that a novel (in this case, a trilogy) would inform the most people as to the danger we are all in from a cyber attack. Such an attack would easily kill ten or twenty times more people than a nuclear attack.
What is the most challenging aspect of being a writer?
If you enjoy writing, as I do, the actual writing is not so difficult. It is only that it takes away from your family time. The really difficult parts are publishing and marketing.
Do you have a message for other aspiring writers?
A new writer asked me to mentor him a few months ago. Here are a few things that I comment on a manuscript section that he sent to me. Messages to an aspiring writer:
Just do a good job; perfection is a waste of time. Your future critics will give you plenty to think about in terms of changes. Some advice you will take, some you will ignore – that is part of your art. It is why you are the author and they are not. Just enjoy the creative process. Suffering can come later. Decide where it would be boring to tell all the details of some segment, so speed through it. Decide which segments you need to bring to life with details. You should enjoy writing this. When you are dealing with a woman you are infatuated with, or will end up in love with, make the reader fall in love with her too!. For example, you should make the reader see her breasts gently moving under her silk blouse. If you want to see them, the reader should want to see them. Furthermore, you can never just say, “We kissed.” The reader wants to know if it was like a kiss from your maiden aunt when you were a boy or was it a sensuous experience that promises future great sex. The reader has to anticipate that future moment just as you would. (You just have to forget that your wife will read this.)
What is the last book you read for pleasure?
Point of Contact by Tom Clancy.
Where can your books be purchased?
My books can be purchased on the internet from major booksellers all over the world. I believe that most people buy my book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. FYI – The economics of book publishing make it unaffordable for many authors to sell books off the shelf at a bricks and mortar bookstore. This is the first book in the trilogy. The second, Cyber War Apocalypse, is coming for Christmas.
