Tell us a little
about yourself.
I was born
in New Jersey, but was smart enough to move to
beautiful San Diego, California
as soon as I received my Master's degree in psychology from Yale University.
I’ve
written six paranormal romance books in my critically acclaimed Blue Fire Saga,
plus three spinoffs. I’m also the author of the mystery/suspense novels Unturned Stones and Tangled Webs, the fantasy/adventure Dreams of the Last Born, and the teen romance Mine: A Love Story. I recently penned four XXX rated erotica books,
(Letting Go, Landing Hard, Opening Up
and Delving Deeper), under the pen
name S. T. Prussing. My most recent novel is Anomaly, a post-apocalyptic fantasy.
Besides
writing, I enjoy riding my bicycle at the beach, going to the movies, reading,
hiking and golf. I’m one of the few people in the United States without a cell phone.
I love to
interact with my fans and have placed many of them in my books as characters.
How did you
become a writer, and did you always want to write?
I’m not sure what “becoming a writer” means, but I know
exactly when I started. Thiry years or so ago, I read an article in the
newspaper about a 13 year old kid who was writing a Lord of the Rings type epic fantasy. (LOTR is my all-time favourite
book.) I thought to myself “I can do that.” So I did. Even though I’d never
taken any creative writing classes in college or elsewhere, I sat down and
began writing what was basically an 800 page LOTR rip off. It never went
anywhere.
Next, I wrote Unturned
Stones, a mystery suspense novel. This was back in the mid 1980’s, when
publishing was very different than it is today. There was no such thing as
self-publishing, and there were no ebooks, either. You had to get an agent,
which I did, and then you had to get picked up by a publisher, which I
didn’t. So I stopped writing for about
twenty years.
Six years ago, I had an opportunity to take early retirement
from a career in Health Education, so I grabbed it. With plenty of free time, I
decided to try my hand at writing again. I wrote Breathless, a paranormal romance in the Twilight vein. The few people who bought it in the early days loved
it and kept asking if there was going to be a sequel. I’d tell them I didn’t
know – it depended on whether I sold enough copies to make it worthwhile. Well,
since there are now 6 novels in the series plus 3 spinoffs, I guess you could
say it sold well enough.
How do you hope
your readers react to the stories you write?
I hope they enjoy them enough to want to read them again and
to share them with their booklover friends. And I want to leave them wanting
MORE!
What responses
to your writing have affected you the most and why?
The “author love” I got from some of my earliest (and still
best) fans was awesome. I was an older guy, writing in what was (and is) mostly
a young woman’s genre (paranormal romance). My first book, Breathless, was available only in hardback, which made it
relatively expensive. (Ebooks had not yet become popular.) I had no advertising
budget. Yet somehow, those fans found me, basically through Facebook. They
purchased my book and helped spread the word. I’m forever grateful.
Other than
writing great stories, what other goals do you have for your life?
I just turned sixty-one, so basically, I want to live a fun,
relaxed, relatively stress free life as I approach my “golden years.” J
What do you like
to do in your spare time?
Reading,
hiking, biking, movies, museums, online poker, interact with fans on Facebook
and Twitter.
What can you
tell us about your latest works?
My two most recent works are VERY different. One is a
post-apocalyptic fantasy novel called Anomaly
that I published at the end of April. The other is an XXX-rated erotica novella
titled Delving Deeper, which is the
4th instalment of my Letting Go series. I released it at the end of May.
What stories
can your fans expect from you in the days ahead?
I’ve recently started fooling around with a seventh Blue
Fire Saga novel. It’s been interesting so far, because I’ve had ideas for four
early chapters and I’ve been bouncing back and forth between them, writing
whatever little business comes to mind each day. The book will be called Relentless.
What would you
like to say to your fans in New
Zealand and others worldwide?
My message would be to my fans AND to fans of other writers.
I’d say that if you love to read, do what you can to support the authors you
enjoy. Write reviews, help them promote, tell your reading friends about them.
It’s a difficult path that writers have chosen, and you can definitely help
them.
Do you have any
parting words?
Read, read and read some more! And thank you for your
interest in little ol’ me. J
Special Giveaway
For everyone that leaves a blog post or Facebook comment for this Feature on Scott, he will gift you an E-Book copy of Breathless
