About Gary L. Pullman:
I've lived in Virginia, Kansas, California, Alabama, Nevada, and Schweinfurt, Germany. Along the way, I've collected memories of beautiful, accomplished, unusual, or otherwise intriguing persons, places, and things, some of whom and which I've featured in my novels or short stories. I enjoy reading and writing all genres, as my suggest: a historical mystery, a Western, a Viking adventure, a hybrid thriller-romance, a science fiction-horror mix, young adult novels, and short stories of the bizarre and horrific.
What inspires you to write?
I'm inspired by life in general. More specifically, visits to unique places of cultural and historical importance, such as Williamsburg, Virginia, my father's love of the Wild West, my interest in the Vikings, Ian Fleming's "The Spy Who Loved Me," my admiration for and appreciation of Edgar Alan Poe, H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and a host of other writers, and the comedy and tragedy of human existence itself have inspired particular novels.
Tell us about your writing process.
I share with Mark Twain the habit of writing by inspiration. Often to my initial regret, I tend to start when inspiration moves me and grope along in the semi-darkness until I get to a destination known to me only at the end, although, with my Viking novel, "The Flame of the Sea," I plotted everything carefully, according to the process identified and explained by Vladimir Propp in his "Morphology of the Folktale."
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
No, but I do listen to people. My mind seems naturally to absorb vernacular speech, idioms, and body language, so my characters tend to speak the way flesh-and-blood folks do, although I do sand and buff the dialogue a bit after writing it.
What advice would you give other writers?
Study established literary and popular writers' technique. Never imagine you've mastered the art and craft or writing. Even William Wordsworth revised his poems, almost endlessly, and, in some cases, well past their publication. A scientist once said he could learn from a rock. (He was probably a mineralogist.)
How did you decide how to publish your books?
My first book, "A Whole World Full of Hurt," was published by a small publisher, The Wild Rose Press. Since then, I've preferred the self-publishing approach, as it offers more control over marketing and has the advantage of allowing instant updates.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I see an even greater proliferation of digital publishing with a corresponding decline in print publications. This is good, because it decentralizes publication, allowing everyone to write and publish, but it's also bad because it tends to reduce the quality of writing and of readers' expectations. Although print publishers are intermediaries whose judgments limit the number of books published, they also may ensure a certain level of literary skill. Hopefully, we will find a meeting place between quantity and quality.
What genres do you write?: mystery, Western, historical, adventure, fantasy, science fiction, romance, horror, young adult
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Gary L. Pullman Home Page Link
Link to Author Page on Wild Rose Press
Your Social Media Links
Twitter
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
Thank you, Kathy. I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was a fun book to write.
Great interview. My favorite book of this author is Death in the Old Dominion. Love the historical accuracy, the mystery itself and the faithfulness and diligence of the main character on behalf of his friend.
Thank you, Kathy. Glad you enjoyed it.