Interview with Richard Walsh
Yep! I’m running late today. My whole week has been the busy culmination of a busy month in which my work life and personal life have both had a lot of activity. Usually things are slowing down this time of year, but not in 2016. Then our internet is down at the house, so I had to come to my brother’s house to post this. Hey, life is an adventure!
Today’s interview is with Richard Walsh, who is another author featured in the anthology Echoes of Liberty, which was released yesterday.Welcome to the blog. Tell us something about yourself.
At what point did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve been noodling around with writing for about 10 years now and started seriously four years ago, when I started writing The Adventures of Seamus Tripp with Jon Garett. This is a comedic adventure series that takes place in a Victorian world of monsters, treasure, magic, and mystery.
In the last couple years I’ve had short fiction published in several markets and recently started a novel.
Tell us about your writing process.
I try to write daily for an hour at lunch in a small corporate conference room. I turn off the wifi. On the one hand, this is a sterile, soul-crushing environment. On the other, it means no distractions. I leave bracketed notes as I write for adding facts/names/word-changes later (during edits).
Yeah, as a discovery writer, I have no idea how anyone starts from an outline. What is your favorite genre … to read … to write?
I’ve published in two genres: middle-grade fantasy and science fiction. My work-in-progress novel is alternative history.
I love reading in my genres (science fiction and alt history), but I also enjoy mystery (especially noir) and westerns. My favorite book of all time is Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
Where do you get the inspiration for your stories?
Love the Cato Institute, though I’m a reader rather than a listener. I’m going to drop you in a remote Alaska cabin for a month. It’s summer so you don’t have worry about freezing to death. I’ll supply the food and the mosquito spray. What do you do while you’re there and what do you bring with you? If you’re bringing books, what are they?
I’d plan to spend my time hiking and journaling. Maybe meditation and jogging, too. I’d bring gear for all that, as well as a bunch of novels (ones I’ve never read), something to listen to music on, and lots of bourbon.
Talk about your stories individually.
You can find the whole list of my published short fiction at my website: richardbwalsh.com
What do you want readers to think or feel after reading one of your books?
What influenced your decision to self-publish?
We wanted to spend our time producing our work rather than dealing with writing query letters, soliciting agents, and all of that.
What do you find to be the greatest advantage of self-publishng?
I’ve published my short fiction and know first-hand how long the submission/acceptance/publication tasks take. In the time a traditionally published author is waiting on that, we’ve been able to develop a production timeline that produces a 150 page adventure in approximately three months.
Conversely, what do you think self-published authors might be missing out on?
Do you believe that self-published authors can produce books as high-quality as the traditional published? If so, how do you think we should go about that?
Definitely. The most important step is working with a trusted editor. This person needs to be an independent, thorough review. Mom/husband/BFF does not count as independent.
