I was recently interviewed on the website AwesomeGang.com. The tagline for the site is "Where Awesome Readers Meet Awesome Writers." The interview coincided with the recent release of the Kindle ebook version of my play I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA.
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have
written.
I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA is my first Kindle book. Years ago I published a
collection of plays simply called TWO PLAYS (AND SOME SKETCHES) BY BRAD McENTIRE,
but it is now out of print. I also did a short ebook on theatrical solo
performance a while back called 7 CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE SOLO PERFORMER.
I have
a paperback collection of comics available called I HATE HAWK SEASON as well.
It can be found on Amazon. It is a collection of comics that originally
appeared on the webcomic site Dribble Funk Comics. The series is named after
the main character Donnie Rocket Toaster-Face.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired
it?
I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA was inspired by my wife. She is a supreme dog
person. I mean, she wanders straight up to dogs when she first meets them and
gets all up in their faces. I am always worry that she will someday get
bitten in the face.
She’s also the kind of person who when she hears about,
say, traffic accidents that involve people and their pets, she cries because
animals were hurt (nevermind those pesky humans who also might have suffered…)
I thought, what if she was this obsessive about something
that was not a dog. What if it was a mythical beast of some kind? Thus was the
seed of I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA planted.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The unsual thing is, I don’t have really any steady writing habits at all. I get an idea, then
let it percolate in my brain for a while. Then I lay it down on paper in a mad
dash. Then rewrite as needed.
I wish I coul be one of those people who sits down every
day and turns out so many hundreds of words like clockwork.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
In the theatre, I am influenced by the works of Samuel Beckett, Mickle Maher
and David Mogolov. In a wider scope, I like Hemingway a lot. And William
Gibson. And Elizabeth Gilbert.
Walt Disney has had a big effect on me, too. Does that count?
What are you working on now?
My latest play is called THE YETI IN THE AIRPORT LOUNGE and will go up in
Dallas in December 2015.
Also, I'm directing a play I co-wrote with my friend Jeff Hernandez called NIGHT OF THE TARANTUBEARS. It goes up early next year.
What is your best method or website when it comes to
promoting your books?
This one, here on the AesomeGang website, maybe?
Actually, I have gotten a lot of traction with Facebook.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Well, I'm sort of a new author myself, but here is something that helped me...
Ignore that phrase “Write what you know.” Ignore it because, seriously, what’s the alternative?
Writing what you don’t know?
As an alternative I would offer “Write what you wanna
see.” This one works if you are writing for the stage. If you are writing for
readers, then phrase it like this… “Write the book you would want to read.”
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Fight to stay excited. I heard that from a graphic designer named Brandon Rike.
What are you reading now?
I am actually reading non-fiction at the moment. I am almost done with T. Harv
Eker’s SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I am working on another one-person show about a man with one of the highest IQs
in the world. He may have solved one of the biggest problems plaguing humanity,
but because he has a heavy southern accent and no credentials he is overlooked
by the academic system. The working title of that one is called BARTHOLOMEW
CLADWELL COULD SAVE US ALL.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island
and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d bring a collection of Shakespeare, of course. I’d also probably take the
collected stories of Hemingway, MEDITATIONS by Marcus Aurelius, Peter
Brooks’ THE EMPTY SPACE and a book called ZEN AND THE ART OF MAKING A LIVING by
an author named Laurence Boldt. That last one is actually filled with way more than the
title implies.
