Premium Interview with Cliff Ball Author of ‘The Usurper’
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Moment With Mystee Interview
This is today’s post from the blog Moment With Mystee. It’s an interview I did with her:
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
Baseball player, track star, or writer. I lack athletic skills, having had asthma, so I went with writer.
What inspired you to write your first book?
One day when I was 15, during Spring Break I sat down at a typewriter and began to write a world war 3 kind of story. I never finished it, but something in me wanted to start writing a novel. So, I’m not sure what inspired it.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I don’t think I do.
How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
I was raised in a Christian home, and I’m still a Christian, so I would say it has colored my writing.
How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?
They just pop up as an idea, and I go with it.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I find writing realistic dialog to be challenging, and everyone comments to me about how my dialog needs to be more realistic.
Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I like Harry Turtledove, because I like alternate history. I first came across his work when I picked up Guns of the South, and I found it intriguing how he made the history seem real. From aliens invading during WW2 to a bunch of fishermen finding “Atlantis” in the Atlantic (which is the broken off eastern half of the US) before 1492, and then turning it into an alternate version of US history. I guess I’m a nerd, because I love to read that stuff.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Nice thing about an Indie author, I can go back and change a few things that I might be unhappy with. If I get a review pointing out something that seems to pop up in other reviews, then I can also go back and fix it.
Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?
I don’t have a plan, I just figured I’ll go with the flow.
What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
Make sure its something you really want to do, because it can take years for you to break through, or you could be lucky and be a bestselling author within months. Don’t quit your day job though.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? I definitely suffer from writer’s block. Most of the time, if I can’t think of anything to write next, I set it aside until something pops up in my mind, and then I go from there.
How did you deal with rejection letters? I’m an indie author, I don’t do rejection letters. With Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Createspace, etc, you can completely bypass the old dinosaur media/publishers.
What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?
Grammar, punctuation, great dialog, and an engaging storyline.
How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?
I write down a plot, and try to flesh it out before I put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. I develop the characters as I’m writing the story.
What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
Read anything you can on plot, structure, writing good characters, beginnings, middles, and endings, self-editing, and if you’re in a particular genre, read a book about the genre by a famous author of that genre. Orson Scott Card, for example, has a How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy book.
How long does it take you to write a book?
It really depends. My very first novella took me more than 5 years to get all my thoughts together, and that was only 30k words. My 2nd novel took 6 months, my 3rd took about 4 months.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I’m working on an alternate history where the US elects a different president in 1976, he continues with the moon landings, putting a base on the moon in 1979. Then he wants a Mars Base by 1989, but, he gets assassinated in 1981 by terrorists because he reacts completely differently to the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979. In the meantime, the Russians want to one-up the US, so they build an interstellar starship, but that ends up with problems of its own. I try to have history follow a slightly similar path. Instead of the WTC in 1993 nearly getting blown up, a cargo ship to Mars gets blown up, as its going into space. In 2001, the space station is attacked and destroyed. Eventually, the Russians and the US team up to build an interstellar starship after taking care of the problem with the terrorists, and head out of the galaxy. They find something interesting when they’re 2 light years out.
What is the last book you read? I’m pursuing a 2nd BA, so probably a textbook.
If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be? Jack Ryan from Tom Clancy’s novels. He’s always put into these really interesting positions, from helping Rasmus defect with the Red October to being thrust into being the President of the United States after a plane destroys Congress during the State of the Union.
Tell us about one of your worst habit or quality?
I’m not focused enough, I get distracted easily.
How do you tackle stress and define stress?
When I’m stressed out, I get migraines. I try to de-stress out by playing a video game. I don’t know if I can define stress, but, I definitely know when I’m stressed out.
What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
Coca-Cola, Ham for sandwiches, and a bunch of frozen microwavable food. (I’m a single guy, what do you expect? lol)
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?
I like being me, I don’t want to trade places with anyone.
What was the last movie you went to see?
I think it was Iron Man 2, or Toy Story 3. I know it was one of those! ha ha Now, I’d change that to “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I’d rather be the person who runs Watchtower in the DC universe, you can order the superheroes around.
Finally, you know there’s a HUGE work up on Vampires lately. So, Vampire Diaries, True Blood or Twilight and why?
Lame! How about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’d kick all those vampires butts, well slay them anyway, and say something sarcastic while doing it. I’d rather watch a 70+ year old black and white vampire movie starring Bela Lugosi than Twilight.
http://bloginterviewer.com/interviews/a-moment-with-mystee-author-interview-crescent-varrone
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Today’s Sponsor on The Frugal eReader
I am today’s sponsor on The Frugal eReader
Ever wonder what would happen if our worst fears were realized and we elected someone who was willing to destroy the USA, even if he was destroyed himself? The Usurper is that novel. It is a fictional account of what would happen if the Soviet Union and KGB were given the chance to take down the United States from within. They use the American political system, education system, terrorism, and commit environmental disasters to achieve these goals.
The Soviet Union and the KGB refuse to let the purging of communists in the United States as awhole by Senator Joe McCarthy, and the House Un-American Activities Committee, deter them. Soviet Premier Khrushchev authorizes the KGB to embark on an ambitious, decades long plan to destroy the United States from within through the corruption of American politicians, the American education system, terrorism, and environmental disasters. Gary Jackson, the main character, is the fulfillment of the KGB plan to destroy the United States from within. They raise him from birth to hate everything about the United States, indoctrinate him, and introduce him to terrorists across the world, where the KGB dictates all terrorist attacks. When Gary is a teenager, he is sent to the United States to assimilate and begin his mission. Nothing will deter his goals of completely and utterly destroying the United States.
When the Soviet Union dissolves, he is given a choice, and he decides to continue with the mission. A terrorist organization ends up filling in the gap left by the absent KGB, and they, together with Gary, conspire to destroy everyone in the United States who doesn’t agree with them
Accolade:
“A cold-blooded, Clancy-esque political thriller; The Usurper is sure to entertain.” ~Nurture Your Books
Reviews:
The Usurper currently has a customer review rating on Amazon of 4 stars. Read them here.
The Usurper currently has a customer review rating on Smashwords of 4.5 stars. Read them here.
An Excerpt from Chapter Four:
“Do you know who else is enemy of the people?” asked Putin.
“The enemy is anyone who questions the word of the government. They must be destroyed; nobody can be spared if they disagree,” answered Gary.
“You know who is one of your enemies, Gary?” asked al Hussein.
“No, who?”
“One of your enemies is your mother. She doesn’t agree with the government controlling peoples’ lives, and she thinks terrorism to control the people is bad. What do you think we should do with her, Gary?” asked Putin.
“My mother is an enemy? But, she could be on our side,” Gary innocently remarked.
“We’ve talked about this before, Gary, and you know what you must do,”
“But… but…. I don’t want to do this,”
“Yes, I know, but she will destroy all that we are working for, and all of your future hopes and dreams. Again, I ask you, what should we do to people like her?”
Gary sighed, gulped a couple of times, and said, “The enemy has to die as an example to others not to think for themselves and do what they want. If my mother is an enemy, she must die,”
“Correct response. We need to go visit your mother to see that she is no longer a threat. Let’s go, Gary.” ordered Putin.
A few minutes later, the trio arrived at the house Gary and his mother lived in. They went inside, where Ann was in the kitchen cooking dinner, she heard them come in, went to meet them, saw her son, and went to hug him, but, Gary didn’t hug her back, so she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You are the enemy, you must be destroyed.”
Purchase The Usurper at:
Amazon for $2.99
Smashwords for $2.99
Learn more about Cliff through his websites:
Author Website
Author Blog
Amazon Author Page
Author facebook Page
Twitter Page
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Mentioned on J.A. Konrath’s blog
My novel, The Usurper, was mentioned, along with quite a few other Indie authors, on mega Indie author J.A. Konrath’s blog, here: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/11/with-little-help.html Check out all the novels listed. All these authors would like to have more people read their novels, including myself.
I am very appreciative of the fact that Indie authors generally help each other out, and try to get each other recognized. From sharing posts about someone’s work on Facebook or Twitter, to learning from other, more successful indie authors on message boards or through books they have published about how to be a successful independent author. Being an Indie author is challenging, but rewarding, and through all the hard work you do through promotion, you can see it pay off through all the sales you may get. Being an indie also has the benefit of doing things your way, and you have nobody telling you what to do or how to write your stories.
Traditional publishers, like the old media, may hate having things get out of their control, but, with the internet, everything is now in the people’s hands. A person can publish on Kindle, Nook, or Smashwords fairly easily, and the paperback copy of the novel can be released a week later on Amazon if you publish it on Createspace. No more waiting around for months and months after you query a traditional publisher, and then getting rejected. Welcome to the 21st century where you can bypass the old media completely.
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