Welcome to Emerging Author Interview of the Week #1; Geoffrey C. Porter himself! Geoffrey is an interesting guy make no mistake; he used to be an XXL fellow but has been working out and got himself seriously down, despite how hard that is with his diabetes! Great work, Geoff! I can't imagine how hard that might be....Geoffrey also enjoys the odd mental workout too, even managing to write while he is lifting somehow...a miracle of modern technology and multitasking methinks!. Check out his AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE right there to see just how busy he has been with his writing work! Fantasy, Sci-Fi Dystopia, Comedy, Social Commentary and some investigations of the human mind itself...Check him out, I can promise you it'll be interesting to say the very least! A favourite of Geoffrey's at the moment is is CODENAME: BEAR series; an interesting mixture of Spy Thriller, Sci-Fi and Speculative Fiction, among others; a deep rooted social commentary and his own observations craze through the text like weeds through old concrete slabs. I love it because I too, as some of you may have noticed from my very subtle hinting; hate conforming to genre and love the good ol' genre bender tales! It works, though, it really works, I can tell you! This man has a very interesting mind and BEAR is a great way to explore it, right down to the barbed-wire sarcasm and cutting humour!
Without further ado, let usa hand over to Geoffrey himself, who can tell it better than I;
So, tell me about yourself, the person, not just the writer. You have 2000 words (ish, very ish)
I have been fighting a war against my own body for about 20 years. I was in denial a long time, I didn’t believe the bad things would happen to me. Then I almost lost my leg below the knee, then it became real.
I quit the tobacco with the help of Chantix, that saved my life, diabetic smokers don’t last. That was six years ago. I started on the beat the diabetes with a stick path. For three years I dabbled in long walks and the exercise bike.
Then I started lifting. So many of my friends told me lifting was bad, it wouldn’t burn calories, muscle is ugly, it wouldn’t help my metablism. All those fucks were wrong.
Oh I write fiction too, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, a bit of horror-comedy. When you’ve got a really shitty disease, and it’s kicking your ass, that war is the story.
Social Media links:
twitter: @trulyjuxta
www.facebook.com/GCPWriter/
Webpage:
https://codenamebear.wordpress.com/
How did you first get into writing?
I spent a year locked in an asylum. I hate TV. They had to give me pen and paper so I could write letters (it was a right in the place I was in). I wrote two books. That was the first time I tried writing fiction.
Have you published or received awards for anything you have written?
I once won the Antioch College Peace Prize for a piece called Grandfather’s Wisdom even went to the awards ceremony and read my piece outloud in front a crowd. (before I really had big problems with social anxiety) They had a vending machine at the college that would sell you actual hot coffee for like a dollar.
Tell me all about your current project, add a 200 hundred word excerpt if you like of your favourite part.
I’m going through editor notes on a military sci-fi. I love the book, my editor has done a ass-kicking job on making comments and fixes and stuff. Just lost of stuff I overlooked that he has commented on. It’s a sequel to possibly my most popular book on Amazon, so I’m hopeful.
Have you ever or would you ever think of doing a collaboration (this is not an offer). Why/Why not?
I did it once on a short story, turned out great, story was published. I doubt I could really do it on a novel unless it was something I was writing with a sexual partner.
What experience or part of your personal life has been the biggest influence on your style and writing?
College. I learned so much in school. You don’t think about it, but your local community college likely has fiction writing and novel writing courses and text editing courses and they likley aren’t that expensive. I’d still be taking classes, but my fav teacher went and retired.
Your writing and all projects…time to plug away.
.
Short fiction samples are on my codenameborg wordpress site linked above. Books are all on amazon except the unfinished ones (I go by Geoffrey C Porter on Amazon). I do a lot of different genres, just find the one that looks good on amazon, read the preview, I don’t expect anybody to buy one of my books without reading the preview.
New writers, what would be your most serious best advice?
College. Local community colleges can often be major resources. Also, persistence is key in so many things in human existence.
Ok controversial perhaps but what most irritates you with the world of writing today?
I have to open 20 books to find one edited to my tastes, and I know it’s because I’ve done the college thing and I write, and I’ve practically ruined reading for me. But I do think there are a lot of books out there that could use better editing.
So what's your way forward in 2018? What can we expect?
Low carb. Lose the weight. The best thing I could do for the diabetes, and the heart disease creeping in, is lose weight. I bought a ton of new music lately, I’m watching more netflix, I hope inspiration hits me, so far it hasn’t.
Poetry or prose, be honest? Why?
Prose 100%, cannot stand poetry, I get that it’s art and there’s an art to it, but I want to just read about some dude who goes up against all odds and beats the hell outta bad guys.
Finally, one hundred years from now, how will they remember you? Why?
I don’t think anybody will. Maybe someday, one of my friends will have one my books stashed in an old box in an attic, and some great grand kid will find it, and love it, but I’m in no way a commercial success and there are likely only a few of my physical books even in existence.
Thank you Geoffrey! Again, check out CODENAME: BEAR on Amazon now and be sure to visit Geoffrey's webpage too, you won't regret it....love this guy's humour!
Oh and here are some cover samples to remind you to take a look and see. I always say this; the style of cover a writer creates themselves tells you a lot more about a book and their inner workings than one done by an artist. Might want to think about that...these two are perfect representations incidentally...
Comments