Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: Are you going to write a prequel or sequel to The Manna Trail?
Question 2: What are you working on now?
Question 3: Why is this web site so drab and plain?
Question 4: Can I give this book to my daughter/son?
Question 5: Why did you choose Austin Michael Internet Solutions to be your web hosting provider for this web site?
Question 6: How long did it take you to write The Manna Trail?
Question 7: You have a wife, two kids, and a full time job. How do you find time to write?
Question 1: Are you going to write a prequel or sequel to The Manna Trail?
Answer: I have ideas for both, and for spinoffs, but right now I am working on a novel with a more contemporary setting.
Question 2: What are you working on now?
Answer: Glad you asked. My work in progress is a blend of science fiction and fantasy. The science involved is very simple. The ramifications are not. They are what make the story interesting to write, and hopefully interesting to read.
Question 3: Why is this web site so drab and plain?
Answer: Sorry about that. I may enjoy stringing words together, but I am hopeless with graphics.
Question 4: Can I give this book to my daughter/son?
Answer: The Manna Trail contains only one instance of profanity, a heated utterance in a foreign language, but as in real life people do die and people are sometimes intimate with one another. Also like real life, we don't need detailed graphic description to get the point. I provided only what was needed to move the story along. If you have any concerns, you should read the book first. You know your children better than I do, and you know what is appropriate for them to read. The final decision on what your children read rests with you.
Question 5: Why did you choose Austin Michael Internet Solutions to be your web hosting provider for this web site?
Answer: No one has really asked me this; I just had to throw it in. I chose Austin Michael Internet Solutions because the owner treats me right. He had better -- he's my son.
Question 6: How long did it take you to write The Manna Trail?
Answer: About a year and a half, although the basic idea percolated in my head for about two years before I really got started. I wanted to do a Pied Piper story in a futuristic setting without Robert Browning's gruesome ending. (If you have read the poem, you know what I mean.)
Question 7: You have a wife, two small children, and a full time job. How do you find time to write?
Answer: It's more about impromptu multitasking than a rigid schedule. There are days when I write nothing, days when I write only a sentence or two, days when I write as many as ten pages (for me, that's a lot). After a while, the words add up, and the result is a book. The process is very spontaneous. I make outlines that I routinely ignore. Great gobs of cash might introduce some planning and organization in my writing schedule and would no doubt increase my output. This would be a welcome experiment.