Page Turning Books: Author Interview

Author Interview – Steven O’Connor

How do you work through self-doubts and fear? The most important thing is to keep reminding yourself that these are temporary. Self-doubts, fears – they are demons and they can get you down big time. We’re all human. It’s important to recognize that life is filled with ups and downs. Interestingly, self-doubt mostly seems to strike me when I’m on my own. I’m sure that’s the case for others too. Writers spend a lot of time alone. Sharing your fears and frustrations with another, perhaps a fellow writer, or a group of writers, can help.

What writing are you most proud of? I am very proud of my latest novel called MonuMental. Perhaps writers are always most proud of their latest? But I truly am! And sometimes I can’t believe I have actually written it. I love that I have this bad guy who basically is smashing into and being thrown out of the book’s chapters. Sometimes it feels as if he’s so out of control, he’s going to burst from the book itself and attack the reader. That’s how I hope it comes across to the reader anyway. I want to explore that again, when I write the final book in the series. (Which I’m not quite ready to write yet.) Thanks for asking that question. And yes, I would like to give you the link to the book. Here it is, on Amazon, cheap as chips: http://www.amazon.com/MonuMental-The-Hacks-Back-ebook/dp/B00BK5ZOFA

What are you most proud of in your personal life? There is so much that all of us have to be proud of, and we don’t pause often enough to reflect on these things, do we? We so often keep ourselves face-forward and, moving onto the next thing. When we look back, we can be amazed at the things we’ve achieved. I own a house in a caring neighborhood. I have a great relationship with my wife that’s kicked on past 25 years. I have two children now 17 and 20, who are full of life. And I am very proud of my professional social work, especially my time as a HIV/AIDS social worker during the eighties. Others will be able to cite different things about their lives. It’s important to remember them and feel proud. Thank you for that question!

Do you plan to publish more books? I certainly do. When traditional/corporate publishing ruled the world, this would have been a hard question to answer, as authors had little control over it. I could always say I would be writing more books, now I can also say I will be publishing more books, whether it be through the corporate book industry or through ebook self-publishing.

If you could study any subject at university what would you pick? Experimental sound production, would you believe! I have no idea if there is such a subject. But surely there is somewhere! You can study almost anything at Universities these days. I have often wished I could play a music instrument with at least some degree of proficiency. Now with sampling techniques and sound production software more readily available, I would love to explore this area more. Perhaps I will one day. I have a Soundcloud site where I am trying to come up with things. I’ve only managed one audio recording so far. It’s called Little Readings, and it’s here, if you feel like checking it out: http://stevenoconnorwriting.com/little-readings/

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