Clancy Tucker's Blog: 8 May 2016 - STEVE MCMILLEN

8 May 2016 - STEVE MCMILLEN - Guest Author

STEVE MCMILLEN

- Guest Author -

G'day guys,

Welcome to my interview with a man who is damn good at golf ... And also writes.

Welcome, Steve ...

1. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.

Born and raised in Ohio. I am a US Army Veteran. I married my high school sweetheart (twenty years after graduating). I spent 20+ years in the Oil & Gas Industry and ten years as a Golf Teaching Professional. Got tired of the cold, ice and snow up North and we finally moved to Myrtle Beach, SC., which is the setting for my first two books.

2. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?

When we got to Myrtle Beach, it was my plan to be a stay-at-home mom since my wife had a good paying job. I could load the dishwasher, put laundry in the washer and dryer. I could run the sweeper and occasionally, mop the tile floors. That would allow me to play golf five or six times a week. Well, my wife had no sense of humour. She thought I should get a job. I had always been interested in real estate so I got my license and went to work. I had to cut my golf to once a week. Everything was fine until the real estate crash in 2008. All of a sudden, I had a lot of spare time. My wife suggested I write that novel I had always talked about writing. Let the story begin.

3. WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?

I usually know how the story will begin and end but I have no idea what is going to happen in the middle. My story just sort of evolves as I write.

4. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?

Doing the book signings, and talking to the people. I also enjoy going to book clubs and meeting the readers. I try to have fun with it.

5. WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?

The editing and re-writing. Not fun.

6. WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?

I was a golf teaching pro, spent 20+ years in the oil & gas industry, and a marketing exec for a sign company.

7. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?

My first book, MURDER ON THE FRONT NINE and my second book COUGARS AT THE BEACH.

8. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?

I am almost finished with my third book DEATH ON MT. PLEASANT, which is the thord instalment in the Mickke D Grand Strand Murder Mystery series.

9. WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

The thrill of creating something that may be around forever.

10. WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?

Murder mystery thriller.

11. DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?

Stick with it, don’t give up and have fun doing it.

12. DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?

Sometimes

13. DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?

Not really.

14. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?

My office looking out my bay window.

15. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?

Having someone say how much they enjoyed reading my books.

16. WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?

Steve Berry, because I met him and did a workshop with him and James Patterson because I just like the way he writes.

17. WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?

Being told they could not put the book down and they stayed up all night to finish it.

18. WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?

Not many and I don’t dwell on them.

19. WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?

Absolutely, my books have a lot of my experiences in them.

20. OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?

I like to play golf.

21. DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?

Yes!!!!! But even the best editor still misses things.

22. DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.

Sunshine, 72 degrees, two hours of writing, three or four hours of book signings. It doesn’t get any better than that.

23. IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?

To be politically correct, I’ll say my wife.

24. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?

Get your heads out of your asses, form a coalition and destroy ISS.

25. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

Hopefully keep on writing.

26. WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON BOOK TRAILERS? DO THEY SELL BOOKS?

Never used one.

27. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS? Absolutely, my alter ego is my main character Mickke D.

28. DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?

It did but I got over it.

29. DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?

30. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT TO WRITE? WHY?

My first one. It proved I could do it.

31. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER.

Having your book published and knowing it was a pretty good book. Receiving that first good review.

32. WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?

My only hope is that they were entertained.

33. WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?

Of course, but I’m not holding my breath. Never wrote a screenplay.

34. HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?

A whole lot. Your cover is the most important part of the book. You need the reader to want to read that book.

35. WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?

Being picked-up by a literary agent and a big publisher, but again I’m not holding my breath.

36. WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?

You have to market your books, no one else is going to do it for you. They may say they will but it is totally up to you.

37. ARE YOUR BOOKS SELF-PUBLISHED?

Yes.

38. DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS.

Honest, true to my word.

39. WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?

Politicans.

40. WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE? My all time favorite is “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”

41. WHAT WOULD BE THE VERY LAST SENTENCE YOU’D WRITE?

Life was good to him and he enjoyed it to the hilt.

42. WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPIER THAN YOU ARE NOW? CARE TO SHARE?

World peace.

43. ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?

Thank you for having me.

Upcoming book:

'Death on Mt. Pleasant'

In Steve McMillen’s latest Mickke D adventure, Death on Mt. Pleasant, we find our hero back in his home town of Lancaster, Ohio where he is trying to help an old high school friend determine whether or not his friends sister’s tragic death was an accident or a horrific homicide. As usual, he ends up hip deep in bad guys and twisted plots along the way.

Eventually returning to the beach for some R & R, he finds things are heating up there as well and it’s not the outside temperature. Has his old salvage friend TC finally found the buried pirate treasure? Who else may be looking for the treasure and him as well? Has his old flame Beverly resurfaced and if so, how will he react?

If you enjoyed Steve’s first two books in the Mickke D Murder Mystery Series, Murder on the Front Nine and Cougars at the Beach, you won’t want to miss this third action-packed thriller. A must read for your beach read bag.