When did you realize that you wanted to become a Writer?
Wow, good question. When I was really, really young. It’s always been something I wanted to do. My sister and I even made our own book: wrote the story on the paper, stitched it together, and bound it in cloth. We were like 8 and 6 at the time. So, forever, basically.
Did you have the same love of literature as a child?
I’ve always been a voracious reader. As a kid, my favorite thing to do was curl up with a good book for the whole day. It was awesome! I read all sorts of things, too, though fantasy and science fiction were my mainstays. But there was also some Hardy Boys in there (you might notice that in my stuff, too!), and some Agatha Christie.
Who are some of your favorite authors and artistic heroes and or inspirations?
Rex Stout — his prose are so clean and precise, his stories so engrossing. He’s just a master. Josephine Tey, also a master of mystery, but with a more poetic bent. More recently Josh Lanyon’s stuff, although he can be a little heart-stopping with the drama. I’ve had a relatively recent love affair with Urban Fantasy, too, so authors like Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, and JL Merrow. For funny, I’d have to go to Keith Laumer and Terry Pratchett.
When did you write your first book and how did it come about?
I wrote the first book starting in 2009 and it came out in 2010. The book started because I’d read just one too many dark and depressing portrayals of gay guys in fiction, and it pissed me off. So I decided to write something funny and positive and with two married guys. Somewhere along the way, Glen and Tyler kind of invited themselves over, and dictated the book to me (or that’s the way it felt at the time).
I have to agree. When I was young there weren't any gai books that I knew of, much less could manage to get a hold of...and when I finally did get a hold of some they all seemed to end in tragedy, or with a death or break up! So thank you for being one of those people who are doing something about it!
I have a few questions about your process...
Is it the story concept or the characters you create first?
With Glen & Tyler, the idea for the story came to me in a general sort of way, and then developed once I met the characters. Really, some of the twists and turns in the story seemed to come out of nowhere, but really fit the kinds of the things the characters would do. Once I get going, the stories become very character-driven.
Some Authors say their characters present themselves to them as real people in their imagination... is that true for you? do your characters introduce themselves to you, or are they constructed vehicles to drive your story forward?
Totally true — like I mentioned earlier, the first book almost felt like it wrote itself, Glen & Tyler became very real to me. One of the ways I avoid writers block is that while I’m watching a movie or TV show, I go “what would Tyler do here?”, or “how would Glen get Tyler out of trouble like that?”
When you write, can you tell us a little about your specific process if there is one, or are you one of those Writers who can just sit down and churn out work without any kind of process?
I get writers block, too, but I find that the best way to avoid is to write the scenes that jump out at you, or that amuse you. In other words: screw chronology. Writing an earlier (non Glen & Tyler) work, I got hung up on writing the story in order, scene by scene. That eventually hit a wall, and I couldn’t think past the next bit. With the Glen & Tyler books, I just write whatever comes up, or whatever fun scene comes to me. The work comes at the end when I then have to logically link the bits together to make a coherent story. That doesn’t always work, and I have to toss out scenes to get them all to fit right. But I don’t throw anything away: I used a scene I had tossed away in the first book in the second.
I think that is some of the best writing advice I have ever heard! I have heard of other authors doing something similar but have never heard it put that way before.
So about your space...
Do you have a special place at home where you work?
Sort of. My computer is in my bedroom and I work on that. I used to write on a laptop down at the coffee shop — I liked the activity, and the coffee. But I didn’t get anywhere near enough done down there. Now I write on a desktop computer, and bang away. Generally.
Can you gives us a brief description of your style and also of what genre(s) you write in?
Wow, tough order. For style, I’d say I aspire to the style used by writers like Rex Stout and Gregory Macdonald (writer of the Fletch books, which are better than the movies), that is very spare, fast, and with great dialog (again, I aspire!). As for genre, I don’t think my books fit neatly into one: romance, adventure, mystery, thriller, spy, and comedy.
As an indie writer especially of Male/Male or Gai books has it been in any way harder for you to get your work out there and start getting recognized?
If I hadn’t gone self-published, I doubt my books would be out there at all. They don’t fit neatly into any one genre, and that makes them a hard sell in today’s traditional publishing environment. On the other hand, I haven’t gotten as much publicity as I’d like, and that’s (in theory) something that the traditional publisher (should) bring to the table. From writer friends I have who do have a publisher, I’ve heard stories that make me think that even the traditional route doesn’t get you extra publicity.
A unique aspect of your books is the fact that some or all of them feature a happily married gai couple...what made you want to go beyond the normal part of gai romances, that many times end with a wedding... and write about after the honeymoon is over and real married life begins?
Besides making stories about happy gay couples (which is rare enough), I also wanted to explore something that seems to be a problem even for straight couples in TV, movies and books: a married couple that has a life and adventures. It seems to me that there are all sorts of areas to explore with that, and with gay marriage (i.e. equal marriage, or just marriage) blossoming onto the scene (remember, I started this in 2009), it seemed like a good story to tell.
What messages or themes are your signature messages, and what is it that you really want your readers as people to understand about these?
The LGBTQ community needs to have more examples, more heroes, and more positive role models to base their lives on. The problem for our minority, besides violence and general derision, is that we also suffer from invisibility. Until fairly recently, there has been precious little mention of LGBTQ people in history, or the news (except in a very negative light). We don’t have main characters in movies, and in TV only in broad stereotypes (though that is changing). I wanted to create a story that would make great TV (I have hopes), and that would be very positive at the same time. I also tried for funny (without demeaning stereotypes), though that’s not always successful.
What do you think your weakness and strengths are as a writer, and how do you want to evolve?
I need to get into a better routine for writing, where I sit down and write something every day. For strengths? Hmmm. I like to think I excel at dialog. I’d like to try a few more genres (paranormal, scifi, urban fantasy) in upcoming books.
Lastly, what do you see for yourself and your work in the future? Where would you like to go from here?
I’d like to reach a wider audience. From some of my non-LGBTQ readers I’ve had a very positive response, which makes me think that maybe my books are more mainstream than I’d generally credit them.
I’d also love to get an HBO series, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.
I for one think H.B.O. would be lucky to get a hold of such a terrific concept for a show!!!
Thank you for taking time to share yourself with us, it has been a privilege Mr. Sanders!!!
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