Hello and welcome to the very first 3Q’s feature!

Before we dive into it, I just wanted to give you a brief idea on the ‘why’ of 3Q’s.

Last week was vacation time for us. Usually, our vacations revolve around two aspects – either we drive out to BC to see family and do stuff or they drive out here to us and we do stuff. As the world creeps away from complete Covid closures and more travel opens up and becomes an option, things may change for us, but for right now, we stayed in our wheelhouse and for this time – we drove out to BC.

My sister lives in Trail, BC, about two hours from where we grew up. The drive from our place to hers is right around 1000 kms (or 620 miles) and we split it up over two days. While we chat and try our best to reduce travel boredom, there are times when everyone is simply sitting quietly and it was one of these times where my mind wandered about what I could do coming up to continue to support writers.

Two years ago, I did a daily author shout out, where each day I shared three or four books from each author and it seemed to be a fun thing.

While driving out there, I figured, what if I had authors answer a few questions and gave them some support and maybe helped get some new readers eyes on their works. So, I reached out to about thirty authors, hoping to get ten or so to respond. I think right now, 27 have responded haha! So, this will be an ongoing feature. How long? Not sure. But think of it like the ‘Under the Dome’ TV Series for now. Started out as a limited feature, then got a second season, then who knows? Cancelled? I don’t remember. I watched season one then quit when it kept going. We’ll see what happens with this one!

Anyways – without further wait – the first 3Q’s feature is the phenomenal David Sodergren. David has been an instrumental aspect of my writing progression and I’ve even been lucky enough to co-author a novel with him (The Navajo Nightmare). He’s been my editor for five or so years and hopefully, in the near future, a second book from the two of us will see the light of day!

David hails from Scotland and when not writing, we often see him tweeting on Twitter about his best friend, Boris the pug, or his latest movie watched.

So, David – thanks for doing this! Let’s begin!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

David: Generally I get up on my days off from the day job, take the dog out, watch a movie, and then write from about 10 til 4. Having said that, I sometimes do my best writing late at night, though gone are the days when I could stay up until 3 in the morning. I’m too old for that malarkey now! Word counts are of no interest to me. Anyone can hit several thousand words a day, but it doesn’t matter if the words aren’t good. The same applies to the overall word count of a book. I never go in with a preconceived notion of how long a book is gonna be. 25k, 50k, 75k… it’ll be as long as it needs to be to tell the story. 

Steve: Out of all your releases, do you have a character you could write about forever?

David: Yes, it’s that pug that appears in all my books (except one!). Whether it’s on a sinister island in Thailand, in the Wild West, or in contemporary Scotland, that goofy little guy gets around. Maybe one day I’ll base a whole book around him, who knows? 

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

David: My newest release is the gore-soaked and romantic folk-horror fairy tale THE HAAR, and you should read it because Steve Stred said it was good. If that’s not enough for you (totally understandable, I wouldn’t trust Steve either), then you should read it because there isn’t enough horror with elderly female protagonists out there, especially ones that feature penis-dissolving sea monsters. I’ve seen it described as ‘The Golden Girls meets Society’ and ‘The Notebook crossed with Basket Case’, and that should tell you all you need to know. 

Steve: Bonus Question! Did you have a favorite wrestler as a kid?

David: I had several favourite wrestlers, but Shawn Michaels was number one. Not so much when he was in The Rockers, but once he threw Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window and became a heel, he became my favourite. His entrance music was just the best!

Thank you so much David! This was great!

If you want to find more about David or give him a follow;

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paperbacksnpugs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paperbacksandpugs/

Website: https://paperbacksandpugs.wordpress.com/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/David-Sodergren/e/B07H1MB4MT/