Big welcome to author Bobby Nash who is on today for an interview. Bobby writes thrillers and pulp fiction. I love the covers but then I am a cover fan so no surprise there. Pulp fiction I’m interested in trying. I’ve seen it mentioned on a friends blog who reviews and that peaked my interest. So here is Bobby to tell us more about himself and his work.

Please tell us about yourself -

My name is Bobby Nash. I am a writer of novels, comic books, novellas,
short stories, graphic novels, and I’ve even dabbled with a screenplay
or two. Here’s my official bio–

From his secret lair in the wilds of Bethlehem, Georgia, Bobby Nash
writes. A multitasker, Bobby is certain that he doesn’t suffer from
ADD, but instead he… ooh, shiny.

When he finally manages to put fingers to the keyboard, Bobby writes
novels (Evil Ways; Deadly Games!; Earthstrike Agenda), comic books
(Fuzzy Bunnies From Hell; Demonslayer; Domino Lady vs. The Mummy;
Lance Star: Sky Ranger “One Shot”), short prose (A Fistful of Legends;
Green Hornet Case Files; Tales of The Rook; Zombies vs. Robots),
novellas (Lance Star: Sky Ranger; Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery;
Nightbeat; Blackthorn: Thunder on Mars), graphic novels (Yin Yang; I
Am Googol: The Great Invasion; Bloody Olde Englund), and even a little
pulp fiction (Domino Lady; Secret Agent X; The Avenger; The Spider)
just for good measure. And despite what his brother says, Bobby swears
he is not addicted to buying DVD box sets and can quit anytime he
wants to. Really.

When not writing fiction, Bobby is usually talking about writing
fiction at conventions and writers conferences where he teaches
writing courses and panels and promotes his books. Bobby is also a
part-time extra in movies and television, is the co-host of the weekly
Earth Station One podcast (www.esopodcast.com), and writes for New
Pulp (www.newpulpfiction.com) and All Pulp
(http://allpulp.blogspot.com) news sites.

For more information on Bobby Nash please visit him at
www.bobbynash.com, www.facebook.com/AuthorBobbyNash,
www.twitter.com/bobbynash, www.lance-star.com, and
http://BEN-Books.blogspot.com among other places across the web.

Your favorite authors and books? -

Oh, this could be a lengthy list so I’ll just keep it down to a few
writers whose work I rarely miss. Michael Connelly, Stephen J.
Cannell, Alex Kava, Beverly Conner, Sean Taylor, Van Allen Plexico, Ed
Brubaker, and on and on and on…

I love reading and writing suspenseful thrillers. I also enjoy reading
science fiction as well. Comic books are favorites as well.

What are you reading now? -

I recently finished The Drop, the latest in the Harry Bosch series by
Michael Connelly. I’m currently reading The Ruby Files, which features
one of my stories, but I’m reading the other stories now. Next on the
list is Vigilante, thefinal novel in the Shanbe Scully series by the
late Stephen J. Cannell.

You enjoy attending conventions tell me about some of the fun you’ve had -

I absolutely love going to conventions. It’s not only a great way to
meet your readers and promote your work, which will hopefully lead to
new readers, but it’ also a great place to meet your peers. I’ve made
some lifelong friends that I met at conventions. Plus, as a writer I
am so often alone in a room working. It’s nice to get out and surround
myself with other creative people.

Which of your books would you recommend a new reader start with? -

On the thriller front, Deadly Games! is a good stand-alone novel. For
pulp fans, I’d suggest Lance Star: Sky Ranger or Domino Lady.

Your books have amazing covers who did those and how important do you
think a cover is? -

Thanks. In most cases, the publisher handles the cover. Quite often I
have little to no say in the cover content. Sometimes I do, but not
often. There are some exceptions. I designed the covers to Deadly
Games! and the upcoming Earthstrike Agenda novels. I also had input on
the Lance Star: Sky Ranger “One Shot!” comic book cover.

Covers are very important. Whether you’re buying the books in a brick
and mortar bookstore or on-line, the cover is generally the first
thing you see. A bad cover can turn off a potential reader. You never
want to do that.

Please tell me about your latest release -

My latest novel is Deadly Games! Here’s a little about it.

They played the most dangerous game of all and death was only the beginning…

Six years ago, Police Detective John Bartlett and journalist Benjamin
West were instrumental in the capture of notorious master criminal
Darrin Morehouse. Their story played out in the media, rocketing both
Bartlett and West into local celebrity status.

Today, Morehouse, still a master game player and manipulator, commits
suicide while in prison. His death initiates one final game of
survival for the people Morehouse felt wronged him the most. At that
top of the list are Bartlett and West, who must set aside their
differences to save the lives of Morehouse’s other victims and solve
one last game before a dead man’s hired killers catch them and his
other enemies.

Deadly Games! is available in print and digital editions across a
variety of e-readers. You can find links to the book at
www.bobbynash.com and http://BEN-Books.blogspot.com.

On the anthology side of things, The Ruby Files was just released. The
anthology features stories by Ruby Files creators Sean Taylor and
Bobby Nash along with Andrew Salmon and William Patrick Maynard.
Featuring interior illustrations by Rob Moran and wrapped up in a
gorgeous cover by Mark Wheatley.

Welcome to Belle’s!

Pull up a chair. Light up a Camel if you want. But whatever you do,
just don’t get in the way. You see, I don’t want to miss the show, and
Evelyn’s already making her way to middle of the spotlight.

That guy nursing the Scotch in the corner. That’s Rick Ruby. He’s a
private dick, a gumshoe for hire. Me and Bobby here, along with some
other guys, we’re just, well, working for him a bit and making sure we
chronicle his cases for him.

And those dames sitting with him. Well, one’s his secretary, but the
other two, the curvy blonde and the one in the furs and the pearls…
well, let’s just say that if they were playing cards, poor Rick would
be the pot in the middle between ‘em. And not just them. Evelyn’s got
her hooks in the guy too. Must be some nice kind of problem to have,
if you ask me.

But not Rick’s other problems though. He gets some pretty dangerous
cases, and he doesn’t always come back without bruises and bullet
holes. But he’s one of the best in New York when you need a private
dick to be in your corner.

If you’re new to the club, check out all the stuff Belle has waiting
for you. The music’s starting, and Belle’s giving me the evil eye. She
knows how upset Evelyn gets if you talk during her set. And let’s be
honest, who’d want to? So… sshhh…

Visit Belle’s online at http://rickruby.blogspot.com

What about future works? -

Oh yeah. There are some exciting books on the horizon. With novels,
Earthstrike Agenda is coming soon along with the re-release of Evil
Ways, to then be followed by book two, Evil Intent. There are also
novels in production featuring Domino Lady and Lance Star: Sky Ranger.

I have several stories slated for anthologies that will be out
soon-ish. Zombies Vs. Robots, Lance Star: Sky Ranger, The New
Adventures of The Eagle, Tales of The Rook, Green Hornet: Still At
Large, The Avenger: Tales From Bleek Street, Nightbeat, Box 13, Yours
Truly, Johnny Dollar, The Cases of Major Lacy, Secret Agent X, The
Wraith, and more.

2012 is going to be a busy year.

Author Matt Adams is on the blog today. Being the cover whore that I am when I saw the cover for his book I, Crimsonstreak I said there is an author I should find out about and so I did. You all should too!

Please tell us about yourself -

I grew up in a little town called Williamsburg, Indiana, which is in Wayne County near the state line with Ohio. The closest city is Richmond. I now live in Indianapolis. I’ve always been a big science fiction fan…Star Wars and Star Trek in particular. As I’ve grown up (I use the term very, very loosely), I’ve also developed a fondness for superheroes. For nearly nine years, I worked in TV news, but I decided to leave the job to pursue other opportunities and write. I always thought I’d be a sports broadcaster, but instead I’m writing novels and short stories! I really couldn’t be happier right now.

Your favorite authors and books? -

I’m a huge Michael Crichton fan, with Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, and Timeline among my favorites. I’ve always like Timothy Zahn; his Star Wars: Heir to the Empire trilogy is one I read almost every year. I enjoy biographers David McCullough (Truman, John Adams–no relation) and Walter Isaacson (Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs). Comic influences include Alan Moore, Darwyn Cook, and J. Michael Straczynski. Some of my favorite comics are Justice League: New Frontier, Watchmen, Batman: Knightfall, and Death of Superman.

What are you reading now? -

I’m getting ready to dig into A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in the George R.R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire series. I just finished reading Fletch by Gregory McDonald..

Why superheroes for your books? -

This is a question I don’t know I can answer sanely, but I’ll try. My first novel combined baseball and science fiction. The next book I wrote with a simple premise in mind: a superhero locked up in prison after being framed by his own father. Those were both written in 2007.

Superhero prose isn’t a huge market (there are exceptions: After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn, Empire State by Adam Christopher, Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman), but I grew to love the flexibility of writing about superheroes. You can go dark and brooding, bright and cheery, paranormal, paramilitary, goofy, romantic…I found I could do a lot outside the typical cape and cowl, tights and flights stereotypes. I just kept writing and writing about them.

Tell me about what the writing and publishing process was like for you in regards to I, Crimsonstreak -

 I wrote the first draft in 2007 over the span of a few weeks. I’m not kidding about that, either. It took just a few weeks to crank out that first draft. It was only about 55,000 words, but I didn’t realize that was too short for a novel. Eventually, I added some bonus material (fake newspaper and magazine articles, character profiles, villain dossiers, and journal entries) that helped flesh out the world of the book. I declared myself “finished” in 2009 and began querying literary agents, unaware that I had no idea what I was doing.

The responses went a little like this: Rejection. Rejection. Rejection.

I thought Crimsonstreak wasn’t marketable, and after the success of Soon I Will Be Invincible, I feared the book’s premise and execution (imprisoned character, first-person format) would be considered a copycat. I shelved it, and went on to write a few more novels, one of which, The Franchise, is also based on superheroes.

I benched Crimsonstreak; I didn’t think it was going anywhere. The truth was that the book wasn’t close to being polished, and I had no clue about the publishing industry (a dangerous thing when you start to believe you do know something about the publishing industry).

Last year, ebooks exploded. Publishing went KABOOM! I read about authors who had success self-publishing ebooks. I didn’t have a Kindle and didn’t know anything about ebooks, so I bought a Kindle. I learned basic ebook formatting. My plan was to take my “unpublishable” book, throw it out there, and see what happens. I did some cover mock-ups, sent the book to beta readers, and prepared it as an ebook. Before I hit the “publish” button, Twitter changed everything.

On a whim, I asked a simple question during a Twitter book chat: “Where do you shelve a superhero book?” The answers were all over the place, but science fiction/fantasy seemed to be the final answer. One response came from the editor at Candlemark & Gleam, who said she was “always looking for good superhero fic.”

I decided I’d give I, Crimsonstreak one last shot in May of 2011. After giving it a final polish, I wrote a letter to the editor, recounted our Twitter conversation, and (as the guidelines called for) sent the first 50 pages. A week later, the editor (Kate Sullivan) asked for the full manuscript. I was nervous, but excited and became a fanatical email checker for two straight months. In late July, the editor responded that she wanted to acquire the book, but asked for a few revisions. I did those, resubmitted, and then waited. At the end of August, I received the final acceptance and a book contract.

There are sequels in the works for I, Crimsonstreak what about beyond? -

 I just finished what I’ve been calling the “Crimsonstreak-quel,” and am in the process of editing it. There will be a third adventure featuring Crimsonstreak, although I haven’t even outlined it yet. I’m also working on something called The Franchise, a book about a superhero-for-hire service set in an alternate 1960s. It’s more of a nod to pulp heroes than the Marvel/DC world like Crimsonstreak. I’m digging in for some hefty revisions on that. Another on deck is Sheridan’s Hammer, a sci-fi adventure about a former intergalactic gladiator stuck on a planet controlled by an oppressive theocracy. It needs a lot of of work.

The cover is awesome who did it and are you pleased with how it turned out? -

I was floored with the final cover. We had some frustrations along the way (the initial concept ended up not quite “clicking” for us), but we ended up with a bright, splashy, comic book-inspired cover that absolutely captures the feel of the novel. Brooke Stephenson (her Deviant Art page: http://ogawaburukku.deviantart.com/) was the cover artist.

Tell us about I, Crimsonstreak -

The book is told from the perspective of super-speedster Chris Fairborne, aka Crimsonstreak. He’s trapped in the Clermont Institution for the Criminally Insane after being framed by his father (reformed supervillain Colonel Chaos). Our hero finally escapes…emerging to find his dad has taken over the world. With other superheroes fighting a disorganized resistance, Crimsonstreak teams up with a teenage superhero-to-be and the boy’s snarky British butler to confront his father and set the world right. The book is a love letter to superhero comics and pop culture; Crimsonstreak is a quick-witted hero who never misses an opportunity to bust out a movie quote.

Where can readers find your books? -

Pre-orders for I, Crimsonstreak are open right now. My publisher does these through Kickstarter, and there are different price “levels” for people who are interested in the book. Some of these include great extras! You can find more here (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/candlemarkandgleam/print-release-of-i-crimsonstreak). The basic $20 pre-order is a good deal…you get both the print and ebook versions in a bundle with free shipping. Barnes & Noble has pre-orders for the paperback (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-crimsonstreak-matt-adams/1036220395?ean=9781936460267&itm=1&usri=i%2c+crimsonstreak). Of course, you’ll eventually find the book on Amazon.com and the Candlemark & Gleam website (http://candlemarkandgleam.com). I have some short stories published in various anthologies, as well as a few others I self-pubbed so I could get a feel for the Kindle format. You can find those here (http://www.amazon.com/Matt-Adams/e/B0050GRFRA/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_27?qid=1305313144&sr=1-27).