RZ: Tell us a little about yourself outside of writing. Home town. Family. Job. That sort of thing.
GBM: I have lived in Newington, CT practically all of my life, with my wife and two children. As a matter of fact, I live in the same house that I grew up in. I’ve been working for the State of Connecticut for the past 16 ½ years, with the past 8 ½ being spent slaving away as a payroll clerk. I don’t have much in the way of hobbies beyond walking and bicycling (hand problems), but used to be an active pool player and bowler back in the day.
RZ: What made you want to write? Is it a desire that’s always been with you? Or was there some particular event or book that ignited the fire?
GBM: I’m not sure if the desire for the written word has always been there for me. Certainly doing the verbal thing was. I’ve always enjoy creating parodies (both song and non-song) about all kinds of things but sadly never wrote anything down. Sometimes being blessed with a good memory is a bad thing. But yes, a particular event did ignite the fire back in 2006 and I found that writing was the easiest form of therapy there was. While the initial effort proved to be disastrous, prodding from friends and co-workers persuaded me to continue this sometimes quixotic journey.
RZ: Writers always get asked about their influences. Consider this that question.
GBM: Strangely enough, I don’t think that I had any influences on my writing, at least consciously. I didn’t read a lot of fiction while growing up, basically keeping myself limited to non-fiction and historical fiction. I guess you can say that while no one individual influenced my early writing, genres certainly did, in that I wanted to write stories that would make the reader walk away after reading it with that story still milling about in their head. As for my later writing, certainly cruising other writer’s blogs and e-zines to pick up tips, pointers and advice helped me tremendously.
RZ: G., you seem to enjoy writing fiction with erotic elements. What is it about that genre that has attracted you?
GBM: It was the easiest thing to perform. Seriously though, sex is one of two elements (in my opinion) that have an unlimited amount of tangents to explore. So when I started to get serious about my writing back in ’09, I choose to combine my strong point of character description with the unlimited potential of sex exploration and try to create something truly unique. A good example of this would be my short story “Red Stripe,” in which I combined the elements of heavy metal, punk and sexual excess to create a truly unique story. Plus, and I know this will sound kind of sexist, sex is the easiest thing to write if you enjoy writing from a female point of view. Sex as a weapon, so to speak.
RZ: Writing can be hard work. What motivates you to keep going? What inspires you?
GBM: The fact that a lot of people have denigrated me for my writing over the years perpetually motivates me to write. I’ve actually permanently enshrined this little annoyance in the acknowledgment section of my novel. As for inspiration, the world around me does. I know it sounds cliché, but a lot of the stuff and people that I observe throughout my day-to-day activities plant multiple seeds of ideas for me to choose from.
RZ: What are you working on currently? And what’s next for you?
GBM: I’m in a state of flux with my writing at the moment. While I was waiting for “Line 21” to drop, I was keeping myself busy by writing a novella in a genre that I’ve had mixed feelings about for quite a while. Once “Line 21” dropped, I started thinking about a couple of partials that I could work on next. However, by doing a little networking on Facebook, I got a potential publishing lead for a completed novella of mine, so I plan on doing the whole submission thing all over again: editing and writing a synopsis.
RZ: What work is available from you right now, and where can readers find it? Is there a place online where folks could go to learn more about you and your work?
GBM: My commercial debut for Line 21 is available at Solstice Publishing; and at Amazon. Also, you can find my short story “Cedar Mountain” at Beat To A Pulp (in the archives for 2009), and my short story “Red Stripe” at The Cynic Online Magazine.
I can be found at my main blog Cedar’s Mountain; and on Facebook.
And you can check out the book trailer for Line 21 on You Tube.
G., thanks for visiting Razored Zen.
G., thanks for visiting Razored Zen.
----
----
26 comments:
"The fact that a lot of people have denigrated me for my writing over the years perpetually motivates me to write."
Best motivator I have heard of in awhile. Keep on being annoyed by them who think it's so easy to do.
That is good motivation. Couldn't write about the sex though.
Good luck, GB!
Mark, gotta find motivation where you can.
Alex, I have written sexual materials in my vampire stories but I prefer not to.
Good interview. I've come to think that sex as a plot element has limited possibilities, but its many, many varieties can make it an interesting aspect of characterization.
Always interesting to hear about the effect social media has marketing the written word.
Ron Scheer, there's often a sameness about those kinds of plots, although I don't know if that's because they have to be the same. I've never read much erotica.
Lynn, G is using it well.
Cool, man. I love these kinds of interviews.
Being denigrated can be a prime motivation, for sure.
Erik, a motivation for me growing up was being called Lazy by all my brothers and sister and sister in laws.
Good interview! Like your style of writing.
good stuff charles and gbm...
also, what mark says
as for sex: 50 shades... nuff said
Riot kitty, thankee. Love your avatar.
Laughingwolf, thanks, man.
Another great interview. It's cool to find out even more about G.
Nice interview. Always like to read or hear about other writers, their influences, and the approaches they take.
Charles: Thanks again for having me here today.
Everyone else: I'll try to compose an answer that covers everyone's comments.
Being denigrated over my writing is something I never really understood throughout the years, but I look at it this way, those who can't often will try to prove their superiority by bad mouthing anyone who makes a serious go at it.
Re erotica: there is a sameness to some of the plots, in only that most people want to be entertained with what they know. They really don't want to go out of their comfort zone when it comes to sex, so a book has to be exceptional for people to do so, which is probably why 50 Shades has done so well.
Sex in general is tough to write, and for those who can do it without turning off the reader, I tip my hat to them.
Sometimes it is a necessary evil for a story and some writers (like Charles) can add it without detracting anything from the story.
This one was tough to write, because of what the main character got herself into. Trying to write it from a business point of view I think, was the only way to do it justice, as it made less titillating and more of like, "It's my body, and I should be able to use it to the best of my ability."
I thank everyone for their fine comments today.
thanks
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° >
> < 3 3 3 ( ' >
><}}(°> ~
LL Cool Joe, thanks for dropping by.
Ty, I know, I much enjoy it myself.
G., I'm sure we'll have more commentary tomorrow. I will leave this up through tomorrow. Good turnout, though.
Cloudia, de nada.
Living in the same house you grew up in is a privilege. Good interview Charles and nice to meet you G. B. Miller.
Lisa, thanks for visiting.
Charles, thanks for introducing me to G.B. Miller through this fine interview. I'm always interested to know what motivates people to write and Mr. Miller has delivered a first here. I agree, that is a motivation in itself.
Intriguing interview, Charles. I always enjoy reading about the motivation and writing process of writers. Thanks for introducing us to G.B. Miller; I shall check out the links for the stories.
Prashant, glad you enjoyed.
Kathleen, thanks for dropping by and commenting!
Hello again.
I'm glad you (the all purpose all inclusive version being used) enjoyed it. Charles does ask the kind of questions that makes a person really think before answering.
I agree, living in the same house that you grew up is a privilege indeed. I think as an adult, I appreciate more of what Mother Nature has given me now than I did when I was young.
Any kind of motivation is good, but when it's the kind that really can destroy you if you let it, to rise above it and turn it to your advantage is the sweetest revenge one could have.
G. B., revenge is a dish best served on Line 21! :)
Interesting interview!
I've noticed a lot of writers mention that they started writing as a form of therapy. I guess it really does help.
Golden Eagle, that's true. A way of getting out the things you can't easily talk about, I guess.
Post a Comment