Bestselling author, Alan Black, was born in central Kansas, but he now lives in sunny Arizona. He has been writing novels since 1996. His writing tastes are as eclectic as his reading preferences. He is an award winning author with three #1 Amazon best selling SciFi novels.

You can visit Alan’s website, his author’s page on Amazon or his Facebook page.
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What motivates you to write and how did you get started?

I was motivated to write at an early age when a 2^nd grade teacher liked one of my stories so much she called my parents. It took me decades to actually finish my first novel, but I have been at it since then and have completed 18 novels, although only 9 have been published at this point.

What’s most rewarding about writing?

The reviews from happy readers . . . no, the cash from the sale of the book . . . no, the fact that I don’t have to get dressed to go to work . . . no, the internal rush from completing a story . . . um, dammit. I don’t know, sorry.

What’s your favorite genre and why?

I do like to write science fiction simply because when I tell a story, I don’t have to worry about realism. If my protagonist gets painted into a corner, I can just make stuff up.

Where do your characters come from?

I make them up by using people I know and twisting their quirks and personality traits to fit my needs.

Who is an author who inspires you and why?

My 2 favorite authors have always been L’amour and Heinlein.

What do you look for in other people’s books?

Entertainment. Just that. And that is what I write for.

What are you writing now?

I am working on a sequel to my military young adult science fiction story METAL BOXES.

What kind of book would you like to be known for?

Entertaining. Just that.

What has writing taught you about yourself?

That I do have the ability to be a self-starter, managing my own time and resources to meet a personally set goal.

How has your life experience influenced your writing? 

Um . . . you mean how being abducted by aliens has influenced the sci-fi that I write?

No matter what an author says, everything in their life from what they had for breakfast to their near death experience at the hands of a sexual predator has influenced their writing.

What encouraging advice can you offer new writers?

Just write.

Remember rule #1: there are no rules to writing.

Rule #2: you can’t fix what ain’t been written.