Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Interview With Author Landon Crutcher


Monkey Business (Inkshares)

1. What inspired you to write your book?
I started this book many, many years ago while I was in a Speech class in college. My only goal at the time was to amuse myself. I wrote down this really idiotic conversation between two guys stuck on a tropical island and it unfolded from there. I wish I could say there was some grand scheme or inspiration but I really just wanted to write the funniest thing I could. So I did. I didn't pick the book up to rewrite it until many years later and it made me laugh a lot so I thought I might have something worth publishing.

2. What is it about?
As mentioned it's about two friends who get stranded on a tropical island after a plane crash. It follows them on their misadventures as they try to get home and encounter a lot of strange characters and situations. Just to throw out a few there are talking monkeys, a telepathic skull and a demigod. My greatest writing influence is probably Douglas Adams so it has a very similar tone to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but probably a little more silly. Think Gilligan's Island meets Talladega Nights and you've got the idea. If that kind of thing is your bag, you'll enjoy it.

3. What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book?
I just want people to have fun. I hope there are lines that stick with people and they get a giggle to remember them. I hope they like the characters and appreciate the absurd situations. I hope they have a laugh a lot and come to the end hoping for a sequel. I guess that's about all any author can hope for but there it is.

4. What advice do you have for other writers?
Write for yourself. If you don't enjoy writing it people probably won't enjoy reading it. Once you find what you like to write then just sit down and do it. You may not spin gold every day but there is absolutely no substitute for putting in the hours. 

5. Where do you think the publishing industry is heading?
Obviously that's a difficult question. I think Inkshares has a really interesting model. Audiences have access to so much entertainment these days in so many very affordable formats we've all become very demanding. We expect a lot of choices and we expect them at almost no cost to us. What I think Inkshares is doing that is really interesting is that as a writer you can "float" ideas out there and see what catches on. It's low cost to the audience and low cost to you as an author. You can bang out a couple chapters and see if people like it before you invest a year of your life in a book. Obviously it's still in it's infancy but imagine the site expanded to the point where popular authors can post three, four or five ideas and see which ones people want to read rather than writing three, four, five books only to find out nobody likes two of them.

I know from a strictly artistic standpoint that may not appeal to a lot of authors but to me personally, I love it. There are some stories I would write even if nobody read them but for the most part I want return on the investment of my time. So if I can know there's an audience for a book before I finish it, that's all good in my book.

6. What challenges did you have in writing your book?
Editing things out. I had so much fun writing the exchanges between the characters and those conversations kept revealing other things about their pasts. I wanted to keep the book fast-paced so I had to cut a lot. Always a challenge when you're writing something you love.

7. If people can only buy one book this month, why should it be yours?
Because you'll laugh. You'll have a good time. There will be a hundred books this year about family dramas, wars, illnesses, love lost and found, zombies, dragons, post-apocalyptic wastelands and more struggles to save the world than you can shake a stick at... but you'll have a better time with this foul-mouthed monkeys. Take a break from all that drama and get down to business, monkey business. Bam. That's a tagline.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016.

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