I Am a Ghost continues the story that began in the first book, following the lives of a community of monster hunters.
I caught up with Dave so I could ask the
ER: Did you have a favorite book as a child?
DR: I read a wide variety
of books growing up. For a while, I was on a Hardy Boys kick, and then there
was my Terry Pratchett stage. I think my favorite books were a series of "choose
your own adventure" books call Lone Wolf.
Every book in the Lone Wolf series allowed you to carry your weapons and
such to the next book. I died most of the time, but it was fun to go back and
try over and over again . I liked them so much that I even took Lone Wolf as my
CB handle when I was into running around St Louis County with a CB Radio in my
car.
ER: What was the first thing you wrote that you
showed someone else?
DR: I was never big on showing my work to anyone,
except when required to do so. My
grammar and spelling stink to high heaven so I was always a bit embarrassed to
show anyone anything I did (I just fixed 3 typos in that sentence). However,
the story I developed has been brewing for over ten years and I finally
had to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard. My first inspiration to become
a writer came during a college creative writing class I was required to
take. I wrote a story about a sniper who
put his life on the line to save a group of villagers, and then escaped into the
deep woods. My fellow students thought it should be a book and I started
working out the details of my overall story.
Now, I still have horrible grammar, but I have a proofreader and a great
editor.
ER: [Stops patting self on back to ask another question.] Do you prefer quiet when writing, or can you ignore everything around
you when the mood strikes? I know you have little boys, so that can
certainly factor in.
DR: I can ignore everything but my kids, especially when they
are in my ear yelling, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.” If things are too quiet, it throws
me off. I have to have music or something in the background. My wife always makes fun of me, because I
actually do some of my best work while I have a lot of background noise.
ER: Do you write linearly, or do you write scenes as they come to you and
then put them in order later?
DR: When it comes to actually writing my
books I write linear, but I have notes of different scenes I want to play
out. The way I create my stories is that I
actually start with the ending and then it is up to the characters to get
there. Each one of my books leads to the
bigger overall story, so things need to line up correctly.
Funny story about this: the very first book I completed is
set in 2000BC and is about a boy named Von, who's lost from his family and
thrown into the world of magic. I wrote
the entire thing out, but toward the end, my characters were not lining up
correctly. Instead of forcing the issue,
I went back and rewrote most of the book so the characters moved the way I
needed them to. It was a lot of work,
but when I get around to publishing it, I am sure the readers will appreciate
my efforts.
ER: The hard work is always worth it, and readers do appreciate it. I've noticed you seem to have no qualms about killing off major characters. Have
you ever gotten attached to a character you knew had to die at some point, and
did you question your decision to do it?
DR: I actually hate killing off my
characters, but there are a couple I can’t wait to kill off. I try to make my
heroes likable, but these first books are meant to set up future character
states of mind. In order to do so I have to create pain and suffering at
times. In BORN HUNTER, I really wanted
to write a different ending, but it sets up a bigger story later on. In I AM A GHOST, I wanted to find a way for
things to go differently, but Jack and his daughter are meant for bigger things. Unfortunately,
when you hunt the paranormal, people are going to die. Don’t worry, reader, I will never bring someone
back from the dead without a great explanation and the good guys win in the
end. Well, they sort of win.
ER: What type of books do you read for pleasure? Within your writing
genre, or completely opposite? Are you secretly a Harlequin Romance junkie?
DR: You figured me out. There is nothing I love more than to
cuddle up with a steamy romance novel and dream of being swept away by a
handsome pool boy (insert dirty look here).
Seriously, I enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy. A
good mystery is always welcome, along with some action novels. Currently I am
reading some of the original James Bond books that I found a few years back.
ER: You recently held a contest where people could win an opportunity to
have themselves in your next book(s). Did you warn them they'll most likely be
killed by the end of the book, or are you going to surprise them when the book
is published? Did anyone ask you to give them a particularly grisly death, or
to make sure they're beautiful with genius IQ?
The first time I did this contest, three women posted the
correct answer at the same time so they all won. One woman wanted to be a dark fairy of sorts, one wanted to be a hawk and the third wanted to be a demon who wants to be good. I told every one of
them that I control their characters and can do what I want with them. I also
warned them that they could die. Only one of them said that since she was going to die, she wanted to die a certain way; the others have left it up to
me.
Since this book will take years to write as I continue to
hold contests and create characters, I write it chapter by chapter. When I
finish each chapter, I send it to the person whose character is depicted in
that chapter and make sure they are pleased with it. I also draft the story out
with them before I get in too deep so they know what I am thinking. As the
story progresses, some characters will carry on to other chapters and maybe
even the entire book, depending on the relationship they have with Oni.
Once I receive their approval, I post each chapter on my
Facebook page. One of these days I will have a website up so
people can see all of them. I was even thinking of starting a page where people
could ask Oni for advice, just for fun.
If readers want to have a chance to be a part of Oni’s
life, there are 4000 years of characters I have to write about so I will need a
lot more people to take part.
ER: Anything else you'd like to add
about the book, the series in general, or your own plans?
I hope that people enjoy reading my story as much as I am
enjoying writing it.
