About Gary Martin:
I was born in Alabama, but spent my early years in Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of 7 I had my tonsils taken out. During the operation my heart stopped for three and a half minutes. While undergoing and extensive stay in the hospital my mother used to bring me comic books to read. That is officially the time my love for reading began and my imagination blossomed.
Just after high school I enlisted in the Air Force. I served five and a half years, two and a half years of that time I spent at Misawa, Japan.
After the Air Force I started a career in the electrical construction business. All this time I wrote off and on, but for one reason or another I never got serious about it. About three years ago I started self publishing.
What inspires you to write?
The what ifs. Everyday life. Going to the grocery store I wonder what if this unexpected, or extraordinary, thing happened. How would people respond? What if bad and good collided? What would be the outcome?
Also, that people enjoyed reading my book. That it elicited some type of emotion that eventually culminated in a feeling of satisfaction.
Tell us about your writing process.
I start out with an idea and sometimes a specific character. I often have an idea of how it is going to end, but it is not real specific. As the writing progresses things may change often depending on how I think the protagonist would respond to certain situations.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I try to listen to them. If I try to make them act differently than who they are it doesn’t work. Listening, however is sometime easy, and sometimes hard.
What advice would you give other writers?
Read, read, and write, write. It irks me to say it, but one should spend a lot of time reading from the best sellers. Not that one shouldn’t read books of the lesser known, especially mine, but if you want to be the best you learn from the best.
Get feedback from others, preferably not from friends and family. Stranger are more often brutally honest.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I published my first book with Xlibris. That was a big mistake. But at the time I knew hardly anything about the internet or self publishing. I didn’t realize that I could publish free on KDP and Createspace and have more control over my books.
Unless you’ve got plenty of money go the free publishing route. Spend your money on promotions, book covers, editing and such. There are several free self-publishing sites other than Amazon.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think it is harder than ever to get published by a traditional publishing house because there is such a glut of people seeking publication. Self-publishing will continue to grow, but the people making any kind of real money from it will diminish.
What genres do you write?: Thriller, horror, science fiction. mystery
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Gary Martin Home Page Link
Link To Gary Martin Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
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