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One Book Interview #19 – Jason Parent (Author)

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Hot on the heels of last week’s 18th birthday celebration, the One Book Interview is back to business as usual. Today, I’m very happy to be taking part in a book tour for an exciting author by the name of Jason Parent. His new book  A Life Removed is out now. I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy not so long ago. You can find out what I thought of it tomorrow, but for now, here is a taste of what Jason likes to read when he’s not writing. (Interestingly, three of his choices made the top twelve list in last week’s 18th birthday book summary.)

Good people of the Internet – Jason Parent.

Name one book:

1 – everyone should read

The Stand, by Stephen King – It is a genre-defining tale of good versus evil that should be required reading.

2 – you would take with you if you were going to be marooned on Mars

The Martian, by Andy Weir – I’d need some chance of being able to grow potatoes. Of course, I’d probably also need potatoes.

3 – you took a chance on and were pleasantly surprised by

Robert McCammon’s Matthew Corbett series. Historical fiction, not quite horror or my usual cup of tea, but altogether perfect.

4 – you’ve written that is your favourite

My books vary so much in genre and tone that my answer to this question changes daily. But so as not to cop out, I think Wrathbone and Other Stories is one of my best works.

5 – that has influenced you most as a person

Tucker Max’s I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. The book never answers the question whether beer is, in fact, served in Hell, so I have made it a life-long ambition to drink as much beer as possible before I get there. I’m guessing it’s all mimosas and umbrella drinks down under the earth.

6 – that has influenced you most as a professional

Not Tucker Max’s books. Stephen King’s On Writing has made me re-examine my craft.

7 – of yours that prospective readers should start with if they want to get to know your work and where they can get it.

That depends on how dark they want to go. I have a couple of novellas priced at $0.99 to allow potential readers to give me a try. But my novels are all stand-alones, so my latest, A Life Removed is as good a start as any (and happens to be set earliest chronologically).

You can find Jason at: www.authorjasonparent.com

In his head, Jason Parent lives in many places, but in the real world, he calls New England his home. The region offers an abundance of settings for his writing and many wonderful places in which to write them. He currently resides in Southeastern Massachusetts with his cuddly corgi named Calypso.

In a prior life, Jason spent most of his time in front of a judge . . . as a civil litigator. When he finally tired of Latin phrases no one knew how to pronounce and explaining to people that real lawsuits are not started, tried and finalized within the 60-minute timeframe they see on TV (it’s harassing the witness; no one throws vicious woodland creatures at them), he traded in his cheap suits for flip flops and designer stubble. The flops got repossessed the next day, and he’s back in the legal field . . . sorta. But that’s another story.

When he’s not working, Jason likes to kayak, catch a movie, travel any place that will let him enter, and play just about any sport (except that ball tied to the pole thing where you basically just whack the ball until it twists in a knot or takes somebody’s head off – he misses the appeal). And read and write, of course. He does that too sometimes.

 

 

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One Book Interview #12 – Garry Rodgers (Author)

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For interview #10 we had a crime writer, for #11 we had a best-selling author, this week we have both in one person: a bestselling crime writer and blogger (they’re great posts!) who has worked as a sniper, forensic coroner, and homicide detective. His books are based on his own experiences of true crime, and have been ranked up alongside Stephen King and Dean Koontz in the bestseller charts.

Good people of the Internet – Garry Rodgers.

Name one book:

1 – everyone should read

Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Of all the self-help and motivational books, T&GR is by far the best work ever done on the science of personal achievement. The history of T&GR starts with Andrew Carnegie of US Steel/Carnegie Hall fame commissioning a young reporter named Napoleon Hill to research and write a book on the principles of success, no matter what your occupation or intention. This was in the early 1900s and Carnegie was in his later stage of life. He’d turned into a true philanthropist and wanted to leave the world with a formula on how people can better themselves – not just for richness in money but rich in spirit and accomplishment. Through Carnegie’s influence, Hill had access to the greats of the day – Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Presidents, Kings and entertainment stars. It took Hill over 20 years to produce the work – unpaid – but he produced a masterpiece that’s stood the test of time. Once you’ve absorbed the 17 principles of achievement laid out in T&GR, you live your life by them. It’s just that powerful a book.

2 – you would take with you if you were going to be marooned on Mars

Hmm… let me think. Besides T&GR that’d motivate me to try finding a way off, I’d say The Art Of Happiness by the Dalai Lama. In my opinion, the Dalai Lama is the most switched-on, in-tune spiritual leader alive today. Everything the guy says makes sense to me. I guess if I were marooned on Mars, I better decide to be happy about it and his guidance would sure help a situation that’d truly suck.

3 – you took a chance on and were pleasantly surprised by

Wired For Story by Lisa Cron comes to mind. I stumbled on it in a book store and it entirely changed my writing mind. Lisa takes a scientific approach on how human brains are designed to respond to stories and how to write in the way that engage your readers’ interest. It’s not a technical book – it’s so easy to read and understand. I think every writer MUST read this book.

4 – you’ve written that is your favourite

No Witnesses To Nothing was my first novel. I still think it’s my best work. It’s not a book for most people as it’s long, drawn out and gets quite heady towards the end. It’s based on three true stories and is a ghost story disguised as a murder mystery. Deep down, it’s a search for the science and spirituality of the human soul.

5 – that has influenced you most as a person

Think And Grow Rich, by far. Otherwise, I’d say The Magic Of Thinking Big by David Schwartz, Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz and The Psychology Of Winning by Denis Waitley.

6 – that has influenced you most as a professional

The Elements Of Style by Strunk & White is mandatory reading for all writers. You need to know the rules of writing and this little book captures them all – composition and grammar that is. Once you know the rules, then it’s fair game to break every one of them in creative storytelling.

7 – of yours that prospective readers should start with if they want to get to know your work and where they can get it.

I’d recommend reading In The Attic first if you want to get to know me and hear my voice. It’s a true story about a horrific double homicide I investigated. It’s told in first-person and takes the killer’s psychotic point of view as well. Warning, though, it’s extremely graphic.

You can find Garry at: http://www.dyingwords.net

Garry Rodgers is a retired homicide detective and forensic coroner who also served as a sniper on British SAS trained Emergency Response Teams. Now he’s an Amazon bestselling crime writer. Garry lives on Vancouver Island at Canada’s west coast and hosts the popular blogsite www.dyingwords.net.