The Author Interviews: #7: Eric Michael CRAIG

In this series, I'll be interviewing self-published authors and writers about their books and their lives as writers. For my seventh interview, I had the privilege of interviewing Eric Michael CRAIG on 17/06/2016. CRAIG writes science fiction and transrealism, and is the author of Stormhaven Rising, Prometheus and the Dragon.Let's get started!What made you want to become a writer?Actually, when I was very young I was encouraged to be a writer by many of my English teachers. I thought seriously about it, but pragmatism and a different dream took me in an engineering based direction. I knew even then that writing, like music, is a tough business to break into (I had some success in the business side of music in the 80's as well).When I had an opportunity to retire from racing rats at 42, I gave up a position as Director of Research for a private lab in Phoenix, and move up to the mountains to get back to writing. It has been a long road, but the experiences I have probably help me now in my writing.Why did you choose to write in this genre? Have you ever considered trying other genres?Write what you know. If you base your writing on a real world and not Fantasy, you have to stick to what you know. If you don't stick to something that you know and understand, your readers see though your stories and they seem flat, and populated with cardboard characters.My writing is Science Fiction because I know science and engineering. Lately though I have heard what I write is called Transrealism too, and that might be a better definition.As to other genres, I have written erotica (a LOT of famous sci fi writers write erotica to pay the bills between major novels) and I also have written some splatterpunk-ish things, but my main work sticks close to real-word, tech-based science fiction.What do you love most about writing and why?I enjoy the creative process. I like exploring“what if”scenarios.When I ran the lab, before I retired, we were exploring some rather off-the-wall scientific possibilities and one of our consultants (G. Harry Stine, the science fiction writer) had a philosophy he called ESP (it stood for Exaggerated Sense of Parameters). We would apply this ESP experimentally to various devices to see what would happen. Basically we'd stretch something to the breaking point in one direction, and then in another, until we found out what was out at the edge.In my writing, I like to do the same thing. I stretch an idea until it breaks, and then I put it back together to see how it's different afterwards.What do you dislike about writing and why?Writing itself is very fulfilling but the business of writing is the biggest challenge to me. In the age of independent publication, there is so much that falls on the writer to handle. Promotion and publicity are challenging. I pride myself on putting out a high quality product, with professional levels of writing, layout, and editing, but there are so many that just toss off work, that it's extremely hard to prove to readers that your stories are above the drek that has flooded the market in so many areas.I really don't mind being in front of people, or doing interviews, but I sincerely dislike the process of setting up to get there. Signings, readings, and such are all fine with me (I like being out in public), but the cold-calls to set it up with venues are where I really feel a bit uncomfortable.If you could trade places with any of your characters, which would you choose and why?Interesting Question. I write complex stories that have dozens of characters, so choosing only one is a bit of a challenge. The one that most of my readers would expect me to say, is probably not the one I would actually choose. In Stormhaven Rising and Prometheus and the Dragon the most powerful character is Colton Taylor. But he is also burdened by horrific nightmares of things to be, and he is crushed under the awful responsibility of pushing against the powers that be to save the world. He literally carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, and honestly I don't think I would want that much pressure.So I'd be more likely to choose Davis Randall. He is a former NASA astronaut who becomes the Director of the Stormhaven Space Corps. He is a Go-To- Guy throughout the stories, but he never gets crushed under the pressure. He takes what he does seriously, but never sees himself as important. It makes him likable and sometimes heroic, but never pompous or self-aggrandizing.Unfortunately I am more of Colton than Dave in the real world. But I can wish.If you could live in any of the worlds you have created, which would you choose and why?NONE OF THEM!In my series Atlas and the Winds, I write about a transitional event that changes humanity and ultimately makes the earth uninhabitable. It's not a place I want to live, even though in some ways I think we are all living there now. The events in my novels COULD happen. So unless we get smart and start now to avoid that cataclysm, we may all eventually be living there.What's your writing routine or schedule like? Do you struggle to find time to write? How do you stay organised and keep to your deadlines?Schedule? I can call my life scheduled ... Euphemistically.I drink lots of coffee. LOTS. I firmly believe that coffee makes my days long enough to get everything done. I get up, drink coffee, sit at my computer and write. Occasionally I get up and do other things, but then I come back and write more. If too many things keep me away from my desk, or too many things ON my desk keep me from writing (like email and promotional stuff), I drink more coffee and borrow time from the night.As to keeping organized, I have Godzilla the Supercomputer and a laptop all running on my desk. Seriously I have 5 monitors on my computer and every screen has something I am working on displayed on it. My stories are all "reality based" so I usually have designs or renderings working on one screen while I'm writing.I also keep a Google calendar running on one screen so my editor/ assistant can update me on things I have to do, and then I have two full-time assistants around here to keep me focused. I can't help but stay focused and scheduled because if I don't they beat me up (just kidding).Who or what inspires you? Where do you get your inspiration?Science and Engineering Journals. Documentaries. News stories. I built a news service RSS feed aggregator for my desktop and it stays open on one of my screens. It updates every 5 minutes with new articles and papers, and I read the first 50 words of most things that float across the screen. I grab links and save them if they are interesting. When I am taking breaks between writing and life, I go back and read them in depth. Most of my ideas come from there.Do you have a favourite author and if so, why do you enjoy their work?Wow, only one?Actually I started reading Sci-fi at a very early age. I think the first real book I ever read was Rocketship Galileo by Robert Heinlein. From there I read all the "golden age" authors (RAH, Clarke, Asimov, Norton, Bradbury, even E.E. Doc Smith ... Everything I could get my hands on). I really can't say that any single author is my favourite, but there are a great many that influenced me in my writing.What do you find most challenging about being an indie/ self-published author and why?Proving my work is "Professional Grade." Like I mentioned before, there are so many indie authors out there that don't have the resources to get professional editing or layout services. Writers that can't do it for themselves, and are blind to their own shortcomings. I know I am a lousy typist, so I have to have someone proofread and edit my work. I'd be a fool if I didn't.But because there is such a low bar of professionalism in the indie writing world, convincing a reader that you are a cut above is tough. Reviews help, but those are hard to come by since most readers just don't get how important they are to a writer's success in self-marketing.Many thanks to Eric Michael CRAIG for this interview. I wish him every success with his work. If you want to read more about this author,please click here. Alternatively, please visithereorherefor other websites.