Friday, July 20, 2012

Author Interview: Beta Test by Eric Griffith


Little Blurb about yourself:

I’m a full-time writer/editor in the tech publishing industry — that means I write about Web sites and phones and computers. I will not do your tech support. I get to work from my home in Ithaca, New York, where I live with my girlfriend and anywhere from three to five dogs, depending on the day.

1. Who or what inspired you to become a writer?

Probably the first time I realized stories were written was noticing Stan Lee’s name in reprint books I had of the original Spider-Man comics. Since then I’ve been inspired (or intimidated) by everyone from Neil Gaiman to Ed McBain.

2. How long did it take you to write BETA TEST?

From the start to end of the first draft, I worked on BETA TEST for about seven months. Then there was a year of revising to make it not suck. Which seemed to work!

3. While writing how many times do you go back and rewrite a plot?

I don’t tend to re-plot much. I’ve written books both without knowing how it ended (which was fun because I had no idea where it would go) and also plotted to within an inch of its existence. I like both methods, but neither is really about going back to re-plot, so much as watching characters do things you didn’t expect and adjusting expectations for the ending accordingly. That said, I do seem to always add an entirely new character to books after I finish them. Shoe-horning in someone who wasn’t there before, makes me very George Lucas and the “Special Editions”-esque.


4. You run into a bookstore, where do you go first?

The bathroom.


5. How many books in a month do you tend to read?

Between audiobooks, graphic novels, and prose novels, probably about six a month, usually with three going at a time. It’s easier in the summer when there’s less good TV to distract me with its shiny goodness.

6. In all the books you've read. Who is your most favorite character and why?

I’ll go back to comics and say that I believe Hellboy to be one of the greatest characters of all time. How do you beat an actual devil come to earth who renounces his destiny to destroy the world so he can fight monsters? You don’t.

7. State 5 random facts about yourself.

1) I like cold pizza as much as hot. Maybe more.
2) My foot hurts. Did I pull a tendon? I think I pulled a tendon.
3) All of my books have a dog, usually a Labrador, in them. Sometimes they talk.
4) My least meal on death row would be toast, McDonald’s fries, and some chocolate cake.
5) I’ve owned four houses. I should be a realtor.

8. Your favorite Genre?

To write, fantasy and sci-fi. To read: crime novels, in particular police procedurals.

9. What are you currently reading?

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly (audiobook) and 7th Sigma by Steven Gould (autographed hardcover).

10. What is the best book you've read?

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

11. Any new projects coming up?

Later this year I’ll be putting out an ebook version of my young adult novel, tentatively entitled KALI. It’s about a girl with a serious ghost problem.

Here’s your chance to market your book. Describe it. And why readers should pick it up?

BETA TEST was called “an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale” by Publishers Weekly. It’s the story of Sam Terra, who loses the girl he loves when she disappears. Literally. Along with 10 percent of humanity in a single moment in a Rapture-esque worldwide event. He makes it his mission to find out what happened, and when he does, it turns out Sam gets saddled with the mission of saving the rest of humanity. To do that he has to travel to the other side of the world and find the one being who can save them: God. Seriously.

Those who like a mix of comedy with their sci-fi, maybe with some big ideas about creation, religion, dinosaurs and platypuses, will love it.


Where you can find author: Eric Griffith

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Author bio:

Eric Griffith is the author of the sci-fi novel BETA TEST from Hadley Rille Books, which Publishers Weekly called “an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale.” By day he works as the features editor for PCMag.com. By night he sneaks out of the house to write fictions. He currently lives in Ithaca, New York.

1 comment:

  1. Hey, thanks for having me by as a guest. And here's a special offer -- BETA TEST is only 99 cents this month while I'm on my blog tour! Check it out.

    ReplyDelete

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