An Interview with Jeff Strand
Author of four electronically published novels, including Graverobbers Wanted (No experience Necessary) and Single White Psychopath Seeks Same published by Wordbeams.
AN: Please tell us about yourself — where you live, where you grew up, etc.
JEFF: I’ve been living in Tampa, Florida for the past six years. I grew up in Alaska, so I froze for the first fourteen years of my life, then I went to high school and college in Ohio, so I froze for the next eight. After that, I struck out on my own and made a beeline for Arizona, strictly for warmth. A year later I moved to Florida, and have no current plans to leave!
AN: How do you write? (That is, where do you get your ideas, how soon do you transmogrify them into fiction, do you write in an office at home, etc.)
JEFF: My ideas come from all over the place. Some of them seem to just materialize without any effort whatsoever, while others are slowly, deliberately created step-by-step (“Okay, I need something funny to happen here. Something with a….dog, cat, cow, mouse, sperm whale? How about a dog? What’s funny about a dog? Are paws funny? No, probably not. What about a rabid dog?” and so on until I have something I’m happy with). Most of the ideas that I come up with when I’m not actively working on a project will never end up being used, although I do keep a joke file that I never seem to remember to update. And I write in a very untidy office at home.
AN: What other writers have influenced you?
JEFF: As much as I try NOT to be influenced by other writers, I’d have to say Dave Barry, Douglas Adams, Richard Laymon (who passed away recently), and the “Monty Python” style.
AN: In what ways do your support your writing efforts? (That is, attend conferences, writing group, workshops, teach or attend classes, etc.)
JEFF: I’m not currently in any writers groups or workshops, although I was a guest speaker at one of them a while back (which went well except that, being a doofus, I forgot to mention that I had books for sale!). I’ve attended both of the EPIC conferences, which have been loads of fun, and I was on several panels at Necronomicon convention here in Tampa last year, speaking on different subjects with varying degrees of having any idea what I was talking about. I mostly support my writing efforts online…participating in chats, doing interviews, and serving on the EPIC Board (currently as Secretary, though I’m running for President in the upcoming election). And of course I make sure my website (www.jeffstrand.com) is updated on a monthly basis.
Jeff Strand is the author of four electronically published novels. GRAVEROBBERS WANTED (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY) and SINGLE WHITE PSYCHOPATH SEEKS SAME, published by Wordbeams. HOW TO RESCUE A DEAD PRINCESS, published by Hard Shell Word Factory, and ELROD McBUGLE ON THE LOOSE, which won the EPPIE Award for Best Young Adult Novel.
His upcoming books include OUT OF WHACK, a comedy from Street Saint Publications, HECTOR VISITS THE LAND OF FUNNY VOICES, a picture book (to be illustrated by Susan Bodendorfer) from Wordbeams, and a third Andrew Mayhem novel. He also has short stories in the Wordbeams anthologies SCRATCHING THE SURFACE and MERRY MUSINGS.
While bookstores can order the diskette versions of Jeff’s books, they are primarily available online, either directly from the publishers: GRAVEROBBERS WANTED (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY)
SINGLE WHITE PSYCHOPATH SEEKS SAME
from Wordbeams (www.wordbeams.com)
HOW TO RESCUE A DEAD PRINCESS
from Hard Shell Word Factory (www.hardshell.com)
ELROD McBUGLE ON THE LOOSE
from DiskUs Publishing (www.diskpublishing.com)
Or from such online booksellers as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Powells (though not all books are currently available from all outlets).
Interview conducted by Paul Saevig.
If you are a published writer, editor or publisher and would like to contribute an interview please email: beth@author-network.com