About Stuart Gustafson:
Stuart Gustafson took early retirement from high-tech in 2007 so he could spend more time traveling, time with his Mom (then aged 90), and time writing. In all he has written fifteen books, including four full-length novels. He's also had a series of non-fiction relationship books (three of them) nationally published. Some of the stories from his very first book "Parables for Life in the 21st Century" have been adapted for use in elementary text and workbooks in the country of Trinidad and Tobago.
Stuart is currently busy as the creator and co-author of the Capital City Murders series, a series of novellas set in each U.S. state capital, delivering one book a month for fifty months!
What inspires you to write?
I like to share experiences, and some of those experiences are shared in my books. Writing also requires me to continuously get better at what I'm doing. This means taking classes, reading books on my craft, and listening to what people have to say about my writing.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
The late Tom Clancy (love my personally inscribed copy of "Hunt for Red October")
John Grisham
Vincent Zandri
Troy Lambert
Tell us about your writing process.
My current main project is as co-author of a fifty-book novella series where each book is set in a U.S. state capital. This requires some knowledge of the capital city, the capitol buildings, streets, hotels, restaurants, bike lanes, and even crime statistics. The series is "Capital City Murders," so it's important to know about the type of murder that takes place in that city.
After a book is outlined, then the actual writing begins, already knowing what conflict will take places, what are the motive, means, and opportunity of both the killer and the series protagonist who gets involved in the case.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I listen to the characters; they tell me what they're feeling, which enables me to modify action and tension to keep everything at just the right level.
What advice would you give other writers?
Write, write, write. There is an old saying that you can't edit a blank page. So until you write, you won't know what you [might] need to do to make it better.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I've had some books published with a national publisher, but that is very hard to do.
The current Capital City Murders series is being published in-house but with major distribution through Ingram. The key for keeping this in-house right now is speed; my co-author and I are putting out one new book each month, and we need to control that flow.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The future of book publishing looks great. There will be technological advances that help many; you just have to be ready to adopt and adapt. E-books are esy to put out on your own; it is the distribution of them that is the constant challenge, and so building a loyal fan base is critical.
What genres do you write?: Mystery/Suspense
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Stuart Gustafson Home Page Link
Link To Stuart Gustafson Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
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.
