IWU Blog Tour Tacos, Pantser and Neo :)

Today I want to welcome Mike to the group. Hey Mike, grab a chair and relax: Mike: Hi everyone! I'm Mike Cooley (no, not the guy in Drive By Truckers… the other one). I've been writing for many years in one form or another and really enjoy storytelling. I grew up reading every science fiction and fantasy book I could get my hands on, so I tend to write mostly "genre fiction."  

Fantastic, love Fantasy and Scifi. So, tell me about your book:

Mike: Which one? I'll start with the novel. It's called Crystal Warrior and it's a very action-oriented sword and sorcery style book. It was fun and hard to write since it's the first full length novel I ever attempted. Previous to that I considered myself more of a short story writer.The main character in Crystal Warrior is a teenage girl named Larissya. The book is about her struggle to survive and how she fits into the Legend of the Crystals. It was a fun book to write because it has lots of different races, characters, and monsters—all of which I got to make up. There is also a great deal of back-story I had to invent in order for the novel to be written properly. Although the crystals give Larissya powers, the powers are not without a price. At its core the book is about the characters, good and evil, and triumph and loss. 


Love the name! So, what's your writing process like?

Mike: I'm supposed to have a process? Dang! 
Actually I do have a process—win! I write in Scrivener (which is a super cool application I've been using for years). I don't edit much as I write, instead I keep notes in a ToDo file about things I'm going to fix later. Once I'm done with the first draft I do consistency checks on every character mentioned, fix my ToDos, and fix any typos or other problems I find as I go. I don't typically go through and rewrite chapters very much. Once I think the manuscript is close enough to done I enlist my horde of Beta Readers to find any problems I didn't see. Then once those changes are implemented (or mocked) I send my manuscript to my copy editor for final spelling and grammar checks. Once all of that is done and editorial changes are implemented, I'm ready to publish (I trained my cat to hit the publish button for me).


I really need to look more into Scrivener, especially now that it is available for Windows J
Okay, so, what do you do when you aren't in the writing cave?

Mike: Saying I'm always busy would be a huge understatement. Besides writing fiction I am in a couple of bands (I have a recording studio in my basement [I don't play live much but I do record and release CDs]). I also work full time, and have one wife and one kid (he's 12). I like Mountain Biking through the woods and hills for exercise, but I don't get out as much as I would like. I do a lot of social media things (have my own blog, participate in writing-oriented groups on Facebook, use twitter,…). I also read—on my Kindle 2—when possible.


Bands? Music… ohhh busy man. Love music, couldn't write without it.
RG: What made you decide to self-publish your work?
Mike: I have a lot of reasons for self-publishing (a full list is in my book Traditional Publishing Is My Bitch!). The two main ones for me would be: control of my work, and time to market.


RG: Have you ever submitted your work to a traditional publisher? Would you consider doing so in the future?
Mike: I have submitted short stories to various magazines over the years (all rejected). But I wasn't very diligent about it and the six month turnaround on responses wasn't working for me. Many of the rejections concerned my stories not fitting properly into the little "genre boxes" that they had decided on. I got tired of being rejected because my fantasy story had a little SF in it (or vice-versa). The story IS the story. I'm not changing it to meet some arbitrary rule based on a business model that is obsolete. 

RG: I think a lot of us have come to that conclusion. I know I have. J
RG: What has your experience of self-publishing been like so far? Would you recommend it to other writers?
Mike: I love it. I would recommend it to other writers. It's not for the faint of heart. It's a lot of work. But there are a lot of positives: control of your work, ability to write in many genres, interaction with other indie writers, direct interaction with and feedback from readers. I'm not selling a ton of books, but I am selling books. That makes me smile.

RG: And that's what matters. In the end we are selling books and selling the ones we WANT to write.
RG: What have your marketing strategies been so far? How successful were they? Any advice for new indie writers?
Mike: I've tried a lot of different strategies. Some of them have been more successful than others. My advice would be: produce the best book you can, get it edited, get a great cover, write a great blurb, and then advertise it intelligently (don't piss off people with constant spamming).

RG: How would you respond to those who argue that self-published books are of inferior quality to traditionally-published ones?   Mike: There are a lot of terrible books out there. There always have been. Proper spelling and grammar doesn't make a book good. Sel-publishing didn't invent "terrible."
Yes, I agree that the ease of self-publishing means that more books will be published that shouldn't be. But it also means that more books will be published that deserve to be (even if they would have been rejected by traditional publishers). That's a fair trade-off for me. It's very rare that I have to read more than one page of a book to tell if it's worth reading or not. The terrible stuff will be obvious. 

RG: What type of genres do you like to write and read?
Mike: I used to mostly read just science fiction, fantasy, and horror. When I bought a kindle and started self-publishing, my reading list expanded into other genres. I don't care much for formula books in any genre (mystery tends to have a lot like that) but I'll read anything good. 
I like writing in every single genre. I'm working on a Culinary Post-Apocalyptic Mystery with werewolves in it (just kidding). I mostly like writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I write the occasional parody or non-fiction piece, but fantasy and science fiction are my strength.

RG: Who is one of your favorite characters and which book and why do you like him/her?
Mike: I'm fond of a lot of Phillip K. Dick characters--because they are complex and flawed. I would pick Decker (best known as Harrison Ford in Bladerunner) who appeared in Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep if I could choose only one.

RG: If you could be any character from any book, who would it be?
Mike: Tough question. I usually say Elric from the Michael Moorcock novels. I definitely can't pick a character that lives happily ever after. Today I think I'll go with Seth from The Nature Of Personal Reality by Jane Roberts. He's a non-corporal entity that realizes he's a multidimensional being and speaks through Jane while she's in a trance.

RG: Pantser or plotter?   Mike: I started out as 100% pantser and still do that on short stories. For longer work I now plot about 3 chapters ahead on each plot thread (although by "plot" I just mean jot down a sentence about the chapter on a 3x5 card in Scrivener).

RG: What is your favorite food?   Mike: Having spent 7 years in New Mexico I got hooked on spicy food. I love Mexican, Thai, Middle-Eastern, and Indian food. If I can only pick one I'll pick Lamb Vindaloo. Yum.
Okay, that makes me want a taco now.. YUMMY! RG: What is your favorite movie and movie hero/heroine?
Mike: It depends on the day. I have lots of favorites. Today I'll say Bladerunner for movie, and Harold from Harold and Maude for hero.  
RG: Is there a character you would love to be for a day?
Mike: Myself--although I don't see that happening. Second choice: Neo (The Matrix).
Love Neo. He was made just right in my opinion. 






You can find Mike at: Blog, Amazon Author Central and Smashwords
Hope everyone enjoyed the above interview, I know I did. Thanks for visiting Mike and here's to many days of writing, music and fun. 
Happy reading and writing everyone!
Warm regards,
R.G. Porter