INTERVIEW WITH GUEST AUTHOR
B. B. GRIFFITH
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Q: Tell us something about yourself, B. B.
A: I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in English and American Literature, I wandered the world a bit before returning to Denver to set up shop with my wife. I enjoy writing thrillers that, I hope, will make the reader think.
Q: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
A: I’ve tried both approaches, I think they produce very different types of books. Pantsing can produce more creative books, but in my genre (thrillers) the plot is often a bit of a complicated whodunit, which lends itself more to plotting in advance. I sketch out each chapter by hand in a notebook then type my first draft out on a word-processor, a lovely ancient device called an Alphasmart Dana, which isn’t connected to the internet and helps me focus.
Q: Do you read your reviews?
A: I wish I could say I never do, but I’d be lying. I definitely don’t read them as much as I used to, though. When I first publish a book I pay close attention to the bad reviews just in case I made some fundamental structural flaw or maybe messed up the formatting somewhere, but after I know that people are getting the book as paid for I stop reading bad reviews. They do no good. If I’m having a bad day I’ll check out the good reviews every now and then, but that’s always just a temporary fix. Writers will always doubt themselves. Ultimately you have to set reviews aside – the bad ones depress you and even the good ones can turn your writing into something you may not intend.
Q: Best Marketing Tip?
A: Have patience. I write slowly, way slower than most independent authors. I publish one book, on average, every eleven months. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that the long times between books will be the death of my career as an author, or cause my career to be a non-starter to begin with, but I’m doing just fine. It takes time to build a backlist and to garner reviews and to get a good working relationship with promo sites. Have patience and keep writing.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now I’m in the final edits of the first book in a new series I’m writing which is about a child psychiatrist who treats the weirdest and creepiest of kids—the really hard cases. It’s a psychological thriller series with a bit of a medical/paranormal twist. The first book should be out at the beginning of the year. I’m also halfway through chapter sketches for the third book in my Vanished series, which is a southwestern paranormal suspense series that focuses on the Navajo culture.
Q: What do you want your tombstone to say?
A: I plan on being cremated, but I’ve halfway convinced myself to have a crazy toast at my wake: I’ll line up hundreds of shot glasses, each with just a tiny flake of my ash inside. I’ll have whoever is speaking fill up the shot glasses with great whisky, give a toast, and then everyone can shoot me down! I know it’s weird and disgusting and quite possibly illegal, but I think it would be awesome.
Q: Do you dream? Do you have any recurring nightmares?
A: I do dream quite a bit, more so ever since I started writing my first book in the child-psychiatrist series. The plot focuses on a series of sleepwalking incidents. I’ve always found sleepwalking creepy and mysterious—perfect fodder for a thriller. As far as recurring nightmares, I did have one in which I stood in front of a billowing red curtain that hung in the middle of nowhere. I had the distinct impression, every time I found myself there, that if I passed through the curtain (or if something pulled me through) I would be taken to the land of the dead. The dream actually became the basis of an important part of the plot for my Vanished series, especially the second book, Beyond the Veil.
A: I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in English and American Literature, I wandered the world a bit before returning to Denver to set up shop with my wife. I enjoy writing thrillers that, I hope, will make the reader think.
Q: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
A: I’ve tried both approaches, I think they produce very different types of books. Pantsing can produce more creative books, but in my genre (thrillers) the plot is often a bit of a complicated whodunit, which lends itself more to plotting in advance. I sketch out each chapter by hand in a notebook then type my first draft out on a word-processor, a lovely ancient device called an Alphasmart Dana, which isn’t connected to the internet and helps me focus.
Q: Do you read your reviews?
A: I wish I could say I never do, but I’d be lying. I definitely don’t read them as much as I used to, though. When I first publish a book I pay close attention to the bad reviews just in case I made some fundamental structural flaw or maybe messed up the formatting somewhere, but after I know that people are getting the book as paid for I stop reading bad reviews. They do no good. If I’m having a bad day I’ll check out the good reviews every now and then, but that’s always just a temporary fix. Writers will always doubt themselves. Ultimately you have to set reviews aside – the bad ones depress you and even the good ones can turn your writing into something you may not intend.
Q: Best Marketing Tip?
A: Have patience. I write slowly, way slower than most independent authors. I publish one book, on average, every eleven months. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that the long times between books will be the death of my career as an author, or cause my career to be a non-starter to begin with, but I’m doing just fine. It takes time to build a backlist and to garner reviews and to get a good working relationship with promo sites. Have patience and keep writing.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now I’m in the final edits of the first book in a new series I’m writing which is about a child psychiatrist who treats the weirdest and creepiest of kids—the really hard cases. It’s a psychological thriller series with a bit of a medical/paranormal twist. The first book should be out at the beginning of the year. I’m also halfway through chapter sketches for the third book in my Vanished series, which is a southwestern paranormal suspense series that focuses on the Navajo culture.
Q: What do you want your tombstone to say?
A: I plan on being cremated, but I’ve halfway convinced myself to have a crazy toast at my wake: I’ll line up hundreds of shot glasses, each with just a tiny flake of my ash inside. I’ll have whoever is speaking fill up the shot glasses with great whisky, give a toast, and then everyone can shoot me down! I know it’s weird and disgusting and quite possibly illegal, but I think it would be awesome.
Q: Do you dream? Do you have any recurring nightmares?
A: I do dream quite a bit, more so ever since I started writing my first book in the child-psychiatrist series. The plot focuses on a series of sleepwalking incidents. I’ve always found sleepwalking creepy and mysterious—perfect fodder for a thriller. As far as recurring nightmares, I did have one in which I stood in front of a billowing red curtain that hung in the middle of nowhere. I had the distinct impression, every time I found myself there, that if I passed through the curtain (or if something pulled me through) I would be taken to the land of the dead. The dream actually became the basis of an important part of the plot for my Vanished series, especially the second book, Beyond the Veil.
