My background as a writer, reviewer, columnist and editor
I’m a bit of a weird animal. In several ways.
I love great writing and literature and obsessing about my craft as a writer. And I love figuring out effective marketing methods and sales tactics, techniques, and tips.
Most writers can’t stand marketing. Most marketing and sales people can’t stand to write. I happen to be passionate about both.
Nights and weekends, I write. By day I’m a junior executive in one of the largest companies in the world where I manage product, marketing, and sales teams.
Of course, my dream is to make it as a writer. Honestly, though, the odds of that becoming my primary income are really low. Really low. I’ve got a good job, so I’m not complaining. In an odd sort of way, this gives me the freedom to write as I want to.
That is not to say I don’t care about quality or what people think. I absolutely do. If you read my blog for long, you will see that I put a priority on having my fiction go through writing workshops, through beta readers, and I also use SW tools such as ProWritingAid and AutoCrit to check my work. THEN I send it to my professional editor. After that, I format it and have more readers proof it one more time. So quality is everything. As to how good I am as a storyteller…so far the reading public has been excited about my work. So far, so good…
My first novel has sold almost 3,000 copies and has a 4.4 star rating on Amazon. Not bad for a newbie. 🙂
Below are some specific factoids. I’m all about full disclosure, so if you have any questions, feel free to write me.
- I have published a novella, Youth In Asia, in March of 2015. In addition to the 50+ reviews on Amazon US and 20+ outside the US, there are almost 80 ratings and reviews at Goodreads. Half of my earnings will be donated to the organizations that help our recovering veterans such as the Wounded Warrior Project. So far, with a partial match from my employer, we have donated almost $2,000!
- My big, big project is a 5-book military sci-fi series. Some day I’ll write a (very) long blog about how the whole thing came to be. I will publish Lonely Hunter, Book 1 of the End War series, in the fall of 2017 (placeholder cover below). If you would like to read several excerpts, you can go here.
- I will publish the second novel, Bright Universe, Book 2 of the End War series, in 2018 (placeholder cover):
- I plan to publish the third novel in the series, The Finer Points of Time, Book 3 of the End War series, in 2019 (placeholder cover).
- I hope to publish, IrSaa Rising, Book 4 of the End War series, in 2020 (placeholder cover):
- And I will wrap up the series with Burn Down, Book 5 of the End War series, in 2021 (placeholder cover):
What else…
- I earned an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Kansas (studied under James Gunn)
- I spent about a year as a Fiction Editor for a campus Literature Magazine
- I was twice a university newspaper columnist (University of Kansas and the University of Texas, Austin)
- I published a short story in a campus lit magazine.
- I’ve also published a number of articles and reviews in professional journals
- One of the most all-time active critiquers at Critique Circle (online writing workshop)
- Presented “Creativity as a form of Problem Solving” at a writing conference sponsored by The University of Houston
- Studied business at the graduate school of business, University of Texas at Austin
- Aspiring SEO “Expert” (in quotes because SEO is a constantly moving target)
- Infantry Officer, US Army, Retired
- Graduate of US Army Airborne and Ranger Schools
- Traveled extensively in Europe
- Lived in and traveled throughout Asia for two and a half years
- Happily married with four daughters
- Owner of a dog abandoned in Singapore and named after the street we lived on there
- Long distance road bike enthusiast (almost completed a double century — 200 miles — in one day…will try again)
- Along the way, I’ve also shaved a pig, flown a plane, pushed my broken-down taxi through downtown Bombay in the middle of the night, thrown hay bails, stolen pineapples from a plantation in Hawaii when I was hungry, learned a little bit of Spanish, and wandered around the Acropolis. It’s a good life.
As mentioned, I’ve had the great fortune to take several classes from James Gunn, one of America’s most enduring science fiction writers. He is also one the most accomplished historians of Science Fiction. More than his accomplishments, he is a fascinating, thoughtful and caring man. When I was in graduate school at the University of Kansas, I would meet him in his office on occasion, which was always stacked high with books, and he would be hunched over his antiquated word processor banging out more words. He also came to our wedding. If you have never met him, here is a brief view of Gunn and his relentless focus on the future (and helping writers).
If you would like to be added to my email list please sign up below, or write me directly at [email protected]
Please use the buttons at the right or below to share with another writer. Thanks! Allen