A. I cannot say I’ve had any ‘bad’ reviews yet, but I know that is just a matter of time. I spent years in a writer’s forum critiquing and getting reviews of my work to toughen up my skin. So I think I can handle it. But I am a perfectionist maybe from all the years of being an accountant, so when something is wrong, I bothers me until I can ‘fix’ it. Â

A. When I get a good review I always wonder if people are just being nice and not willing to be totally honest. But when they express that they enjoyed the book, it does make me happy.

A. I not only write under a pseudonym, it belongs to my alter ego who has had more works published than I have.

A. Currently I am still working on a series that I do not foresee ending soon. So naturally I have built a body of work with connections between each book. But I am also starting two more projects which will be standalone books.

A. Most days since I am retired, I start at 10:00 am trying to do the administrative stuff for an hour or two, then I’ve been able to mostly ‘create’ as I type, and I also now use a mic to dictate. I do this up until when I take a dinner break, then afterward I usually devote myself to copyediting or proofreading my works until eleven at night. Saturday and Sunday I usually spend with the family, and I only work on writing in the evenings.

A. Since I consider myself boring and I’m not famous, I would not want to read about my life either. Generally, I prefer to make things up.

A. Now that my readership is beginning to increase I am working on giving them an audio version of my series and am in the process of setting up a newsletter.

A. As my book’s plot twists and turns, that is when I go out and research what I need at the point at which I need it.

A. These days with ‘print-on-demand’ and because I am still evolving as a writer, I have made some tweaks and then after ten years I wrote a second edition and basically doubled the size of the original, but the story essentially remained the same.

A. Duh, I am giving up time! When I am not writing I am reading and studying books and manuals to become a better writer, as well as reading books of other writers.

A. I am married. My wife Joanne is from the Philippines but is now a US citizen working for the government. She is supportive of my writing but admits that she only ‘gets’ half of the humor I write, and of that half, she doesn’t think it is that funny. She was sent to keep me humble. We have one daughter, Markeean, who will be leaving the nest soon. Due to my wife’s job, we reside overseas and will consider moving back to the United States when my daughter goes back to college. We spend our weekends traveling around Japan and taking in all the sites.

A. When I was in fourth grade, I wrote a story that the teacher loved and had me read to the class. Everyone laughed. I went home all set to become a writer. I spent the weekend starting at a blank sheet of paper. At ten years old I concluded the reason I couldn’t write was because I hadn’t lived. So, I put the writing away and did other things. Aside from occasionally using my talents in the job, it wasn’t until around twenty years ago I was ready to start writing. I always knew when I retired, I would become a full-time writer…of which I am…a full-time writer and retired.

A. Top three favourite types of music: Oldies 50’s and 60’s. Easy Listening, and Italian Love Songs.

A. I have a spare bedroom, that looks like it was decorated by ‘Toys ’R us, and occupied by someone mentally unstable…the room is very messy and cluttered…like my mind.

A. As I’ve always said, ‘Writing is easy…writing good ain’t. Usually, I never struggle for an idea but am plagues by rules of grammar, formatting etc.

A. I sincerely believe that my ‘Princess’ in my book series could be a ‘Disney’ princess. She is original and the characters that surround her would make a very good, animated movie.

A. I know I should now that I am writing full time to give some thought as to the marketability of my books and articles, and probably will in the future. But for now, I am content to first write a book that I enjoy reading especially since I must review it constantly. Then I do try to write to the best of my ability to give my reader an enjoyable time.

A. If I understand the question, I consider myself a writer first. I just naturally write all the time, and after a while I realize I’ve written enough to start putting it into a book,, which then makes me an author.

A. Writing full time, it is taking 3 to 6 months to produce a manuscript.

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A. Right now as I am working on a series, it is more of a progression of the life of the characters like in real life. I generally know what they are going to be doing next.

A. Writing /creating energises me – proofreading and marketing exhausts me.

A. I have been fortunate to have several persons helping for over ten to fifteen years now. They provide services I cannot do or certainly not as well as them. They also happened to be published writers themselves.

A. I do want to make this comment. Each writer has to make this decision for themselves, and they should only do so after extensive research into what is involved with each path to getting published.

A. Since I write satire, I would say the characters are real. I also create characters that are purely fictional. Then I also base my characters on people I’ve known. I always try to do my best to be fair or kind when I am talking about someone. Sometimes public figures have done some stupid things that made them stand out. When I talk about them, I try my best not to write anything mean or untrue. I am not out to hurt anyone’s feelings. I also think people, in general, are much too sensitive these days and have lost the ability to laugh about themselves.

A. I would only say that because HUMOUR is the core of my writing, my kryptonite would be any life event that punched me in the gut. Thank God, in these latter years while I have had challenges, I have been able to keep my sense of humour.

A. To me it is much like hiking up mountain. It is difficult, tedious, exhausting, lacking in any tangible reward, but when I reach the top (or publish a book) NOTHING compares to that feeling of accomplishment.

A. Everyone has the ‘right’ to write what they want, but if they want me to read it, the profanity must be very sparse and purposeful. I believe a good writer should have enough vocabulary to avoid bad language, and if a particular character demand the use of foul and vulgar language then I would find another character to write about.