Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

David Drake and me

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

 Eric S Brown, 42 years old but still a kid at heart.

Fiona: Where are you from?

I was born in Sylva, North Carolina.

 Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

I am the author of numerous book series including the Bigfoot War series, the Kaiju Apocalypse series (with Jason Cordova), the Crypto-Squad series (with Jason Brannon), the Homeworld series (With Tony Faville and Jason Cordova), the Jack Bunny Bam series, and the A Pack of Wolves series. Some of my stand alone books include War of the Worlds plus Blood Guts and Zombies, World War of the Dead, Alien Battalion, Sasquatch Lake, Kaiju Armageddon, Megalodon, Megalodon Apocalypse, Kraken, Alien Battalion, The Last Fleet, and From the Snow They Came to name only a few. My short fiction has been published hundreds of times in the small press in beyond including markets like the Onward Drake and Black Tide Rising anthologies from Baen Books, the Grantville Gazette, the SNAFU Military horror anthology series, and Walmart World magazine. I have done the novelizations for such films as Boggy Creek: The Legend is True (Studio 3 Entertainment) and The Bloody Rage of Bigfoot (Great Lake films). The first book of my Bigfoot War series was adapted into a feature film by Origin Releasing in 2014. Werewolf Massacre at Hell’s Gate was the second of my books to be adapted into film in 2015 and the third, Cult  of the Shadow People was adapted into film this year.  Major Japanese publisher, Takeshobo, bought the reprint rights to my Kaiju Apocalypse series (with Jason Cordova) earlier this year and it was just released in Japan this fall.  Ring of Fire Press will be releasing a collected edition of my Monster Society stories (set in the New York Times Best-selling world of Eric Flint’s 1632) later this year or early 2018.  I also write a comic book news/pop culture newspaper column entitled Comics in a Flash.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

 My newest books to hit the market are Monster Hunt ( a LITRPG horror adventure) and Antarctica: A Kaiju Thriller.  I am currently finishing up a new book entitled Alien Yeti.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing in the second grade.  I was pretty much born loving genre stuff and comics.  I was reading Fangoria in kindergarten and collecting comics by age four.  Writing was as much of an escape for me as reading was.  As time went on, I discovered the works of David Drake and knew that I wanted to follow in his footsteps and be a professional writer myself someday.  I didn’t start submitting my work until I was 26 though.  The first editor I ever sent my work to bought that story and another editor for a different magazine did too as I had sent it several places.  I went with the larger of the two zines and quickly wrote another story for the second which was picked up as well.  I guess I had a strange beginning in that sense with two stories accepted right off the bat.  It gave me hope that I could really be a writer someday.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Even now with all the books I have had published and three of them adapted into film, I don’t know that I really consider myself a writer.  I think of myself as more of a fanboy just trying to give back to the genres that I love.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book was actually a collection of my published short fiction.  It just sort of fell into place as I had a great deal of stories published in my first two years of writing.  I had another collection or two published before I ever got around to writing “books”.

 Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I think my style is lot like David Drake’s if he were on speed.  I say that laughing but it’s true in a sense. Reading Drake’s work was how I learned to write.  Everything I write is very action based no matter the genre and Drake is certainly one of the kings of action packed SF.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

I tend to name characters after folks I know, like, or hate a good deal but aside from that my work is purely fiction.  It’s meant to be fun, grab you and not let go.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

 I NEVER travel if I can help it.  I hate travel.  I am the epitome of the reclusive writer.  I like books more than people generally speaking.  My escapes, learning, etc. all come from reading not travel. Because of this I don’t do a lot of signings or cons. I focus on the work of the writing itself and it has seemed to work out okay for me.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

My publishers usually ask for my input on the cover of any book I am doing but for the most part I just give them a vague idea, they hire an artist, and that artist puts their own spin on my idea.  I work a lot for Severed Press and the artists they hire tend to do some pretty amazing work.

 Fiona:  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

 David Drake is without question my hero in the world of writing.  I am a writer because of him.  I also greatly enjoy the works of John Steakley, David Robbins, and David Weber.  As to what strikes me about them is they can all tell a powerful story inside of an action based narrative.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

Jonathan Maberry, Mort Castle, David Drake, and so many others pros have taken the time out to guide and help me over the years.  When my son was born, I couldn’t focus on writing for some time and it was Mr. Maberry that got me back into it.  I owe him greatly for that.  He published an interview with me in a nonfiction book he did about zombies alongside interviews with folks like Robert Kirkman, etc.  That’s a powerful boost to a younger writer trying to figure out if he should keep going or not.  Mr. Castle always makes himself available to talk about the craft and David Drake instilled his work ethic into me.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

If you mean in the sense of paying my bills, yes.  If you mean in some sort of artsy way, no.  I am not a writer because I want to be famous or remembered.  I write because I enjoy it and I do have bills to pay.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?

I have had three of my books made into films to date and never had any real input in their production.  In fact the Bigfoot Wars movie has nothing in common with the book it was based on.  The strong female lead in the book was even changed into a male character for the movie.  I am not sorry in any way that those movies were made because the income from them greatly helped my family.  They have also taught me a lot about how to handle another movie deal should one ever come along again.  I know that wasn’t exactly what you asked but it’s the best answer I have to give.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Write every day even if you end up throwing it away and never, ever give up on your dream.  I am high school dropout and yet here I am making a living telling stories filled with monsters and guns.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Recently I have been reading a lot of Daredevil.  I tend to read more comics than books as I can read them and still focus on my own work.

 Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

I would love to meet Geddy Lee.  The music of Rush has been a constant in my life and my writing since 1989. The music of Rush moves and inspires me.

 Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

I am an avid comic collector.  After downsizing my collection some in the past few years I still own around 15,000 comics (not counting TPBs) dating back all the way to the 1940s.

 Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

The reboot of BattlestarGalactica is one of my favorites.  Its intense military nature and awesome ships/space combat appeal to me.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

I would want to be a pilot.  I have loved helicopters since I was kid and flying them would be awesome.

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

I can be found on Facebook and have an Amazon author page where you can find my books if you’re interested in checking them.

https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunt-Adventure-Eric-Brown-ebook/dp/B076FVQQ19/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Bigfoot-War-Eric-S-Brown-ebook/dp/B00H3RAB1Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1510093127&sr=1-1&keywords=Bigfoot+War

And my author page-

https://www.amazon.com/Eric-S.-Brown/e/B004G6XP7E/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1