CURTIS L. L. HERBOLD
Curtis L. L. Herbold
Books
CURTIS L. L. HERBOLD
“When I started writing, I was not the best person with language skills, the fancy car, the money, or anything else of value. I never even dreamed of being a “Best Selling” author. I am just living my own life, on my own in a one-bedroom apartment, minimum wage part time job, and paying my dues to society, but I did this without the help of family, friends, or government officials like caseworkers. The only help I had was to get my first book edited professionally by a freelance editor. To start my journey, I wrote the plot, the story, and everything about the book and its series; I wrote this whole web page, the tools, the covers, and my Facebook page for my series. Everything you see is a-well I guess you could say it’s an image of me, since I have done it all. Even if I do not become rich and famous off the series, at least I get to say I did this, and I am proud of myself for accomplishing what I have, especially considering the challenges that I have had.
“I will continue to write because that is what I love, and I will never give up on trying to become a professional author (as of December 8, 2017), despite all the challenges that I have had and will continue to have. If in the end all I have are my books and only my books, I will at least be happy being me and staying true to myself.”
Q. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO NEW AUTHORS THAT YOU WISHED YOU HAD RECEIVED YOURSELF WHEN YOU STARTED?
Q. DO YOU VIEW YOUR WRITING AS A KIND OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE?
Q. WHEN YOU READ YOUR BOOK REVIEWS HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE BAD ONES?
A. Honestly, not great, but you can’t have good without the bad and it makes me try that much harder even though, and to quote the Borg in Star Trek, ‘resistance is futile,’ because you will never make everyone happy.
Q. HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU DO GET A GOOD REVIEW?
A. Bloody amazing! But I don’t let that stop and make me slack off.
Q. HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDER WRITING UNDER A PSEUDONYM?
A. Honestly, I have, but I felt like I would be lying to people if I did as I believe in honesty.
Q. ARE YOU TRYING TO HAVE EACH BOOK STAND ON ITS OWN OR ARE YOU TRYING TO BUILD A BODY OF WORK WITH CONNECTIONS BETWEEN EACH BOOK?
A. A little of both, actually. My idea is to have each book connected in a compilation of stories all linked. I am designing them in a way that they can stand out on their own so you don’t have to read them in order but would help to know what is going on.
Q. DO YOU WRITE EVERY DAY? HOW MANY HOURS A DAY DO YOU WRITE?
A. No, I do not. I think about my work every day. With William Shakespeare as my inspiration, I put a lot of thought into everything, just like he did.
Q. HOW MUCH OF YOUR PERSONAL LIFE DO YOU INCORPORATE INTO YOUR WRITING OR DO YOU MAKE UP EVERYTHING?
A. Probably a good 90% of each book is in fact related too or may relate to an incident that has happened or is a part of my life.
Q. HOW DO YOU CONNECT WITH YOUR READERS? DO YOU OFFER THEM A FREE BOOK? DO YOU OFFER THEM A NEWSLETTER?
A. Currently a free copy of the book. However, I can’t keep doing it this way forever. It’s a great marketing avenue but you get nothing from it except a review. While reviews are important to get the word out, I simply cannot afford to keep doing so.
Q. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE AUTHOR? CAN YOU TELL US WHY? EVERYTHING?
A. Well, honestly, I don’t read a lot of books. I read a heck of a lot more William Shakespeare than anything.
Q. HOW LONG DO YOU RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOUR NEXT BOOK?
A. Every research for a chapter or the novel I do research. I like to make sure the information I put on paper is as authentic as possible.
Q. WHAT ARE THE ETHICS OF WRITING ABOUT HISTORICAL FIGURES?
A. As long as it’s accurate, I have no qualms.
Q. WOULD YOU GO BACK AND REWRITE ANY OF YOUR BOOKS? WHY?
Q. IF YOU COULD GIVE UP ONE THING TO BECOME A BETTER WRITER WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
Q. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF. ARE YOU MARRIED? HAVE CHILDREN/GRANDCHILDREN? IS THERE A SPECIAL DOG/CAT/BIRD IN YOUR LIFE?
A. No, no and no.
Q. DO YOU HAVE A DAY JOB OR ARE YOU A FULL-TIME WRITER?
A. I have no day job and I have a healthy mix of full-time writer and gaming or watching tv-show and/or movies. I say this because most of my story creation comes from various aspects of those things, and I do my best story writing when I am not thinking about it.
Q. ANY HOBBIES? DO THEY HELP YOU IN YOUR WRITING?
A. Yes, gaming, tv-shows, and writing. They help me produce brainy funny scenes to add to my story. These outlets help me create my best work. I am subcutaneously thinking about my writing, plots, my stories and working out my writer’s blocks with the help of these hobbies.
A. DID YOU JUST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A WRITER OR DID YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR EXPERIENCE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO START WRITING?
Q. WHAT IS CURRENTLY LACKING IN OUR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION TODAY IN YOUR COUNTRY?
A. The basics. English, writing and arithmetic. If basic technology like the internet was to fail and disappear tomorrow, today’s kids, the majority, would not understand how to communicate with friends in other cities/states/provinces/countries. The internet is down, and so would they be. They wouldn’t have a clue what to do.
Q. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK?
A. Well, it’s not a book really, but I had a children’s bible. I read that thing so much that eventually it fell apart, and that sucker was THICK and two hundred pages long. It was a starting point for my relationship with God. I tried finding this edition of this bible online, but it is like it never existed. To compound things, I can’t seem to find my copy as well.
Q. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THE TITLES FOR YOUR BOOKS?
A. This is not a simple answer. I came up with a title for the topic I am writing about in said book. It goes through a series of changes as I am writing. Like book 2, for example, I am finally pretty happy with the title, but I went through six tidal changes before I found one that I liked, and it was all because of how the story was coming flowing into the page. My experience has been it kinda just finds itself.
Q. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP THREE FAVORITE TYPES OF MUSIC? DO THEY HELP YOU WITH YOUR WRITING?
A. Christian foremost, classic rock, and pop.
Q. WHAT DOES YOUR WRITING SPACE LOOK LIKE?
A. Do you want an honest answer and does that also include the MASSIVE number of tabs in three separate browsers on three monitors with like twenty pieces of software open on it. Let’s call it organized chaos.
Q. WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST DIFFICULT PART FOR YOU WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING?
A. Honestly being open to share my individual experiences and putting them into my books.
Q. WHAT DOES YOUR FAMILY THINK ABOUT YOUR WRITING?
A. Honestly, they’re proud of me and want me to succeed, but they keep hounding me to get an actual job. I feel like they don’t realize the amount of effort an author has to put into the work to be an actual book author because if they did, they would be absolutely shell shocked.
Q. IF YOU COULD PICK ONE OF YOUR BOOKS TO BECOME A MOVIE BLOCKBUSTER, WHICH BOOK WOULD THAT BE AND WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY THE CHARACTERS?
A. Book 2 honestly and I feel the best actor would be Lauren German, the actor that played Cloe Decker on the tv-show Lucifer would make my character, Nala, come alive.
Q. WHEN WRITING DO YOU TRY TO GIVE YOUR READERS WHAT THEY WANT OR DO YOU GO FOR ORIGINALITY?
A. Originality, of course.
Q. AS A WRITER, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE AS YOUR MASCOT/AVATAR/SPIRIT ANIMAL? WHY?
A. Hamster because I find them cute and fuzzy and such loyal creatures when they get to know you.
Q. HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR BOOKS? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY? WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE WAY?
A. Currently not much. Giving it out to friends and family and using a website called https://pubby.co/ to get reviews.
Q. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN AUTHOR OR A WRITER FIRST? WHY?
A. Both. You can’t have one over the other. It’s like two peas in a pod cannot have one without the other.
Q. WHO DO YOU TRUST TO GIVE YOU OBJECTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OF YOUR WRITING?
A. Not family, of course, they are too nice. Nine times out of ten, they just say it’s good, so they don’t hurt your feelings. It’s not always the case, but it is most of the time. I have found friends that will give an honest opinion, no matter what. I prefer it that way.
Q. HOW LONG, ON AVERAGE, DOES IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?
A. Normally about a year. Book 2 has taken several because I was stuck particularly. I wanted to go with it, and I was working on getting book 1 out there to the world.
Q. DO YOU OUTLINE YOUR BOOK BEFORE WRITING IT OR DO YOU JUST PLOT ALONG AND HOPE FOR THE BEST?
A. I have an outline in my mind I follow but I also plot along as well. Have had a few snagged chapters developing in doing it that way, but I found it to be more authentic and therapeutic.
Q. HAVE YOU EVER GOOGLE YOURSELF? IF SO, WHAT DID YOU FIND THAT SURPRISED YOU?
A. I do it all the time. I am a little paranoid that one of my ex-girlfriends may try something again, so I want to make sure I head off anything that might arise. Was honestly quite shocked when I googled the name of my book title and saw a crazy number of links all over the place.
Q. WHEN YOU WRITE YOUR BOOK DO YOU WRITE FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF YOUR YOUTH, MIDDLE AGE OR GOLDEN YEARS IN MIND?
A. All the above. Why be selective? If you write like I do, your entire life is a field of information you could use.
Q. HAVE YOU PUBLISHED IN A TRADITIONAL WAY, OR SELF-PUBLISHED OR BOTH? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS METHOD?
A. Self-publishing. Tried to get a publisher but sadly got no takers and as usual I had to rely on myself to get things done, besides, I have more control going self-publish. Would like to be traditionally published because they do most of the marketing for you.
Q. DOES WRITING EXHAUST YOU OR ENERGIZE YOU? HOW?
A. Both. With my Asperger Syndrome, autism for those that don’t know what it is, it energizes me because I love writing the story or chapter, I am currently writing but because of the autism I also end up going into overthinking overdrive mode as I call it and end up actually giving myself a headache in an hour or two.
Q. WHAT WAS THE FIRST BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY?
A. None. However, I fell for my first movie “Romeo and Juliet” followed by “The Notebook” followed by “Titanic.” What can I say? I’m a bit of a sap.
Q. DO YOU HAVE OTHER WRITERS THAT HAVE HELPED YOU ALONG YOUR WAY? HOW?
A. José F. Nodar and his wife. They helped to help me in the way I think and ideas on making sure the website was far better than I originally had it.
Q. WHAT DID YOU DO WITH YOUR FIRST BOOK ADVANCE MONEY?
A. Since I haven’t gotten an advance on anything yet, nothing. What money I have earned, which has been little, has been flipped and used on bills.
Q. WOULD YOU RECOMMEND SELF-PUBLISHING TO NEW AUTHORS? WHY?
A. Yes and no. Yes, because it’s extremely rewarding if you can muster through all the work it takes to learn to do it yourself. However, if you’re not committed to it, then it’s not the right fit for you. Personally, I suggest self-publishing and highly recommend it.
Q. WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING YOU HAVE FOUND WHEN WRITING CHARACTERS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
A. Honestly, nothing. My struggle is giving too much detail because in high school after a drank my food at warp 50 I went to the school library and studied a lot of books about MANY topics, female anatomy being one of them. I am one of the few guys out there that knows more about females other than doctors. Doesn’t mean I know how to talk to them because I struggle with that.
Q. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON PROFANITY IN BOOKS TODAY? IS IT OK TO USE? WHY?
A. It honestly depends on the book. If it’s a children’s book, ABSOLUTELY NOT. However, if it’s anything else, I think as long as you don’t go absolutely nuts and crazy with it, it should be fine. I use a few, like damn or other minor words, as a figure of expression in what a character says, but not in a way that is hateful or rude.
Q. ARE YOUR CHARACTERS ‘REAL’ OR DO THEY COME OUT OF YOUR IMAGINATION OR DO YOU BASE THEM ON SOMEONE YOU KNOW?
A. Most of them are completely made up. There is only a fair few people I base character off of and they’re usually based on them because of a bad incident that happened in my life that is honestly hard for me to talk about in real life, so I end up writing about it and basing a character on them. I do, however, change as many details as possible so nobody would know of whom I am writing about.
Q. WHEN DID YOU START WRITING?
A. Tinkered in 2006-2007 but didn’t really start writing till 2017
Q. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BOOK.
A. General Fiction, Mystery, with personal life experiences that are made and read like a William Shakespeare play script.
Q. WHAT IS YOUR WRITING KRYPTONITE?
A. OVERTHINKING. I’m bad at that and can get stuck in a scene until I am happy with it.
Q. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTERS?
A. That I can’t really explain. It’s a mix of many characters I have known all wrapped in one.
Q. WHAT DID YOU EDIT OUT OF YOUR LATEST NOVEL? A SCENE? A CHARACTER? A SUBPLOT? WHY?
A. Well, honestly, that is hard to explain. For 3 years, book 2, Chapter 8 was at a standstill with at least 50 to 100 different ideas, and nothing really fit. It roadblocked me. It wasn’t until recently that I was part of a discord that someone gave me the idea to do a private eye of sorts, which is carrying over to Chapter 9 and beyond, and this set the scene for the rest of the book. So, editing completely out I would say no, but better polishing of the characters is something on which I am working.
Q. AN AUTHOR'S PATH IS NEVER EASY. WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING?
A. I know the answer I am going to give is both going to upset people but also make people chuckle. What keeps me going is SELF DETERMINATION. I lived my life with this autism and many individuals telling me what I should do or can do that by pushing ahead and creating book 1, now working on book 2 and God knows what else in the future. I want to prove to everyone and myself that this can be a viable career. I want people to know that autistic and non-autistic can make writing a career. I might end up being a starving author, but I would do what I love. That will fill me up.
