This Week's Reader Interview with Dax Tucker

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born Aug. 14, 1971 in Redondo Beach, CA. I have been writing stories since I was 9 years old and volunteering to share them in front of class, to just recently in June of 2011 when I released my first published work, "The Leaf Catcher," an epic poem that is the first volume in a series entitled The Traveling Box Trilogy. The series explores and defines the human mind, body, and soul while composing it in a classic epic poem style that speaks in the language of our time. My motto is to strive to be physically and mentally strong, and so I engage in tournament chess and weightlifting. I have an MBA, a BA in psychology, and am married with three children. I currently reside in Los Angeles, CA.

When and how did you discover that you love reading fiction?

Unfortunately, I didn’t start to enjoy reading till I started college.  I regret all the years I wasted not reading, and try and make up for it now by reading about 6 books at a time. I have a different book in each room of the house and always have an audiobook going in the car. Additionally, I have a color Nook with so many books lined up to read I have enough reading material to last a lifetime!

What are some of your favorite books and who are some of your favorite authors?

The problem with having read so many books now is that it is hard to name all my favorites without leaving some out. But some of the books that left a lasting impression on me are Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series (Adam’s is like a modern Mark Twain in my eyes with his ingenious humor), Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy(I can hardly wait to see if the movie, planned for release in March of next year, does justice to the book.)  How can I not have respect for J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter series? Not only are her books the epitome of well written fantasy, but her life story is an inspiration to all aspiring writers. A masterpiece of poetric prose is Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, and for superb examples of simple down to earth story telling I love Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle and Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees. I could just go on and on, but before I run out of room I want to say that your Wild Child books are some of the best short stories I have read as they can convey so much and get you emotionally involved in the characters in such a relatively short period of time!

What is your favorite thing about reading fiction?

Life may sometimes be stranger than fiction, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy and learn real life applicable lessons from a good book of fiction. Moreover, we can be introduced to people and events that we may never get to see in real life. The world is a huge place and life is too short to visit everyone and everyplace, so books can be a convenient way to supplement our travels.

Do you have any “pet peeves” about authors, something they do that really annoys you?

Ok I get that in a series sometimes authors need to remind the writers what happened in the previous books, and this is helpful especially when it has been a year or two since the last book, but what I don’t like to see is when they spend an inordinate amount of time recounting the previous events. If they think they need to spend a third of the book summarizing the last one then they might as well just say “read the previous book/books.”

Do you write fiction yourself?

My book is an epic poem, like Dante’s Inferno, so it is fiction in the sense that the characters and events did not really exist, but it is written in poetic form.

What do you think about ebooks vs. paper books?

I know this is a hot spot for you Mike, and I Love your blog on ebooks for dummies. I just happened to be in a Borders book store one evening to hear a family having a conversation about this topic, and sure enough the mom brought up the “I just love the feel and the smell of a paper book” argument. 

Immediately, I thought of your step by step guide of how to hold your ebook like a paper book and the can of Smell of Books spray! Honestly though I have to say there is a place in my heart for both forms of books, and audio books for that matter too. If they came up with another format I would probably like that too; <stands>Hello, my name is Dax Tucker and I am a bookoholic…But seriously though, I love the eco-friendly, portability, practicality, and numerous other features of ebooks, but I also love the durability of a paperback that you can throw and leave your drink on top of without worrying about it breaking or shorting out, and the battery will never run out on a paperback!

What is your favorite Mike Wells book and why?

I have only read both of your Wild Child books so far and they are both equal in can’t “putdownable” strength. I look forward to more in the series (And I really want to know what you have planned for that big catfish at the bottom of the lake! Ancient guardian of the green water perhaps?)

Thank you so much for taking the time to give an interview for my blog, Dax!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you Mike for all your insightful advice. Your blog site has a wealth of helpful information to all authors whether published or not. I would also like to encourage your readers to check out my book, The Leaf Catcher, and see if they can meet its challenge: “Can you go just one day without thinking a negative thought?” Read the book and you will learn that the secret to helping you attain this goal is your perception—How you choose to perceive yourself, others, the environment and events around you will be instrumental in determining your quality of life.

email: daxmtucker@gmail.com

Twitter: @DaxMTucker 

Blog: http://theleafcatcher.blogspot.com/2011/08/if-someone-were-to-come-up-to-you-and.html

This Week's Reader Interview with Emma Hunneyball

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

First of all, I'm super excited to be here, I've been going on about it for weeks and driving my family nuts. I'm 29 years old, I love to read and review books and I write, with varied results. I have a delicious two year old son, and I've been married for three weeks. I'm a bank manager, gardener and daydreamer. In the evenings I write book reviews which I post to my blog and following a few requests I've launched an editorial service for Indie Authors. People sometimes ask me how I find the time to fit it all in, but I've found you can accomplish amazing things when you do without extraneous frippery. Such as sleep.

When and how did you discover that you love reading fiction?

I have no idea. Reading is just a fact about me, like the fact that I have a liver, but much less icky. My Mum made sure I could read and write long before I went to school and I never looked back. I remember as a child being given beautiful books for birthdays and Christmas. At the age of four I was often asked to read the afternoon story to the other children, and when I was seven a particularly idle teacher told the other pupils to check their spellings with me rather than disturb her drinking her coffee. Significant points in my life were marked with gifts of books: exam success, school prizes, and most recently a beautiful copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets my Dad gave to me on my wedding day. I still have my favourite books from my childhood: a "Chronicles of Narnia" boxed set which is so well read that the books are now fatter than they were, and I can't fit all seven in the box any more. As an adult I often struggled to find time to read. A friend of mine set up a book club at the start of the year, which I joined without hesitation. It forces me to make reading a priority, and because we all take turns choosing texts I get to enjoy books I would never ordinarily have chosen for myself.

What are some of your favorite books and who are some of your favorite authors?

I love Roald Dahl, Angela Carter, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Phillip Pullman, William Shakespeare, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde. When I read I want to learn something new, or see a universal truth presented in a new way, and I want to be surprised. When I pick up a book I don't want it to be predictable, I don't want it to follow the formula of its genre and in my view a bit of Magic Realism goes a long way. Wit and irony are huge with me.

My favourite author is Angela Carter. She embodies everything I love about fiction. Rich, descriptive prose, a bit of fin de siecle decadence, Magic Realism, vivid characters and unexpected plot turns. I recommend "Wise Children" and "The Bloody Chamber".

What is your favorite thing about reading fiction?

There's always been an element of escapism for me, hiding away in a world created in partnership between author and reader. I love being able to pick up a book years after I first read it and find something new in a second reading. And I love taking hold of the characters, places and events and carrying on the stories long after I've closed the final page. It gives me an unfortunate habit of staring off into space, with the attendant issue of people asking if I'm "OK".

Do you have any “pet peeves” about authors, something they do that really annoys you?

Gosh yes. I'm Captain Picky, chief of the Pedantry Brigade. I get very cross about laziness of style, and repetition of words/phrases. A book I read recently described every building the characters entered as a Tardis. It really became very tedious after a while, especially when it became clear there weren't actually going to be any Daleks in the story. When I was a child I got very annoyed with Enid Blyton, who seemed incapable of writing a sentence without putting an exclamation mark at the end! Sometimes she used two!! The Famous Five is a veritable minefield of punctuation!!!!! Once I'd spotted it I couldn't concentrate, and I never read Blyton again. And since you've got me started, I'm going to mention J.K. Rowling. I cannot stand the laboured story-so-far rehashes in the opening chapters of Harry Potter books 2-4 She should either have written a precis and stuck it in before the book starts, a la J.R.R. Tolkien and Robin Jarvis, or integrated the "catch up" much better within the body of the stories.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that I can't stand books that are half-heartedly edited. There's a lot of commentary around this subject in the Indie sector, with books hitting the e-shelves jam packed with teeth-grindingly awful spelling and grammatical errors, but traditionally published fiction isn't immune to it either. I think the editor of the seventh Harry Potter book was too busy adding up his fee to actually get around to the business of editing the bloated thing. Editing matters. It really does.

Do you write fiction yourself?

Yes. Yes I do. My reading and writing gloop themselves together in a big creative blob, so that when I'm reading I concentrate on things like style, plot and character, enjoying the book more as a result and when I write I'm very conscious of what I like and dislike in books and it all feeds into my writing.

I'm currently working on a cycle of interconnected short stories set in and around a nineteenth century travelling show. It's packed with Magic Realism and my signature themes of loss and obsession. I plan to get it out into the world in time for my 30th birthday.

What do you think about ebooks vs. paper books?

I really don't get the whole ebook versus paperbook debate, and to be honest it bores me. A lot. I don't subscribe to black and white, either/or philosophies.  I adore my Kindle which has opened up access to books they just don't stock in my local bookshop, supermarket or newsagent. It's portable, so I can take it in the car or read it in my lunchbreak. But I also love my paperbooks, they formed an integral part of my wedding and I have some beautiful signed copies of Phillip Pullman's works. There is room for both in our lives. To be extremely bland about it, we all have a wok in the kitchen cupboard. But that doesn't mean we stop ordering takeaway.

What is your favorite Mike Wells book and why?

I loved "Secrets of the Elusive Lover". It's funny, the themes are intriguing and it defies its genre. It isn't a formulaic romantic comedy and I was genuinely surprised by the ending. This was the first book I read where I interacted with the author whilst reading. Chatting to Mike on Twitter and sharing my favourite ideas and lines, writing a review and asking his opinion, really added an extra dimension to the reading experience.

Thanks so much for taking the time give the interview, Emma!

Emma Hunneyball was uploaded onto the internet several years ago, and has been living there ever since. She dispenses her brand of opinionated jabber on Twitter (@emmahunneyball) and holds forth on literary subjects, at length, on her blog In Potentia.