Creatives In Focus

FSF: Hi William, how are you doing? How have the last couple of years of global insanity been treating you?

WT: Well.  Surprisingly well actually, I feel like introverts were enjoying the pandemic more than they probably should have 

FSF: I’m totally with you. I’ve really enjoyed having my family at home as well. I feel for those that have suffered and you can’t help but look outward but on my end it hasn’t affected me.

WT: Same here, I tried my best to keep my family safe or at least well informed but thats everyones job I suppose.

FSF: When did you know you wanted to be a writer, and describe the journey that led to your first publishers work?

WT: Well I dont quite consider myself a writer yet. I’m more like a one punchman, a part timer at best. But for me I’ve always been drawn to world building, and eventually a friend of mine convinced me that my detailed universes and scenarios are really books and not just backdrops to video games I wanted to design.

FSF: So give our audience some background on Hotel of Madness, and let them know why it should be their next purchase.

WT: Well Hotel of a Madness started out as a joke. If you’ve been to Comic Con or Pax West you know that nerds will go to a con no matter how sick they are, a term we call con plague because everyone gets terribly sick after attending one.

But I didn’t want to just write a “what if con plague was the zombie virus story” so I leaned into writing about a guy who just needed extra cash after a long year of dealing with occult bullshit, and I figured it would be even funnier if that guy tried to sell a copy of the soul eating necronomicon and that copy was promptly lost inside a typical anime convention.

So it’s a mix match of the weirdness one gets to when the book of the dead is involved and the beginning of a zombie apocalypse.

FSF: Sounds awesome . Now you’ve decided to self publish your work. What’s been the biggest joy to you about the process, and what do you find have been the biggest obstacles?

WT: I Probably had more fun writing than publishing. Almost as stressful as buying a house… But i do have to say working with the editor was the most fun. I think me and her went through like 5 different versions and borderline rewrites. Getting the perfect cover is not for the faint of heart and if it wasn’t for my diverse group of friends not sure how that would turn out.

Actually seeing the final, formatted version was probably the 3rd best thing I’ve witnessed besides getting married and watching my dogs get big.

FSF: Yea it’s definitely amazing to hold a physical copy of your own book in your hands. Do you write with a particular audience or market in mind or do you write for yourself and hope that others will come along for the ride?

WT: Definitely for myself in a wouldn’t this be cool kinda fashion. I don’t like forcing things or self-censoring  if i can help it and a lot of what I write is me putting the current version of myself on paper.

FSF: I do that as well. That was actually my next question. How much of yourself goes into your characters and do you draw inspiration from others in your personal life and how, if so do you employ that tactic in your work?

WT: Im afraid i put a lot of myself into my main characters or at least channeling a version of me… for example Arthur Curry is basically pulling on my attitude when I work IT for good and for bad, while other times i subconsciously draw on people I know without realizing it.

FSF: What are some of your biggest influences? Draw not only from authors and books, but other media forms like film, television etc.

WT: Pssh long list, I have big love for the Buffyverse, Digimon Digital Monster, Spawn, Blade, Bersek, K.A Applegate, H.P lovecraft, and the Laundry Files, Warhammer 40k and Yugioh.

FSF: What takes up your time when you’re not writing?

WT: Work and being bad at video games, and my puppies.

FSF: How important is reader interaction to you as an indie author? What’s your favorite way to network with readers?

WT: It is important but I have no clue how to do it. I’m an old man so if anyone wants to chat message me on Facebook!

FSF: So what’s next for you? What can readers look forward to from you in the next year?

WT: Well there is two books from The Bot King Series coming up and a project code named David that’s staying in the shadows for the time being.

FSF: I like to end all of my interviews with this question. If you could offer one piece of advice to new and aspiring authors what would it be?

WT: Besides run? I’d say don’t hold back when you’re writing, at the end of the day this is probably the best opportunity to be yourself. But don’t use that as an excuse not to challenge yourself either.