Thank you Ethan for allowing my questions.
Please supply your writing name as it appears on your book or e-book
and the name of your most recent published story.
Intro: Please introduce yourself to our readers. (Name, where are
you from, married, kids, go to school....things that your readers may find interesting.)
I'm from a small town in Illinois where I still live with my wife, two daughters, and two Shih Tzus. I currently work as the Chief Technology Officer for a national franchise. I've also performed as lead singer and guitar player in a few bands and have been lucky enough to record several albums and share the stage with some major national recording artists.
Tell us about your book.
The Shepherd has been described as “Silence of the Lambs meets The Bourne Identity" and "A fast paced, all too real thriller with a villain right out of James Patterson and Criminal Minds." At its core, it's the story of an ex-cop and a serial killer who become pawns in a conspiracy reaching to the highest levels of our government. But without quoting another blurb or running through the standard book description, I would say that my goal with The Shepherd was to write a book that I would want to read. And I love books that are fast-paced with a lot of action. I tried to take the serial killer genre but put a slightly different spin on it (and the book also revolves around a larger conspiracy in which the killer plays a part). There are a lot of books out there that feature the hunt for serial killers; after all, these men are like aliens among us. They think and act in ways that most of us cannot begin to comprehend, which in turn makes them fascinating. But while most novels of this type take the police procedural approach and the following of clues to find the killer (and my book does have some of this), The Shepherd is designed to get the reader into the killer’s head and wonder how the other characters are going to escape. In other words, it’s not a “follow the clues to unmask the killer” type of book. It’s more a “oh my God, he’s in the next room…and he’s got a shotgun” type of book.
What inspired you to be a writer or have you always had a passion for writing?
Telling stories on a grand scale has been my dream for as long as I can remember. When a fireman or a policeman would come visit my school, most of my classmates’ heads would swim with aspirations of growing up and catching bad guys or saving someone from a blazing inferno. When these moments came for me, however, my dreams weren’t to someday be a cop or put out fires; I just wanted to make a movie or write a book about it.
It started as early as I can remember. I wasn’t an only child, but since my three sisters are so much older than I am, it felt that way growing up. I’ve always been an introvert and my favorite pastime as a young boy was playing pretend with my action figures and my imaginary friends (as my parents called them). But I’m not sure if they were truly the imaginary friends that we traditionally think of. I say this because they were more like characters in my own little movies. At the time, it was a boy playing with his imaginary friends, but I still do basically the same thing as an adult, only my imaginary friends find life on the pages of my books.
If you could give advice to other authors or aspiring authors, what
would you say?
To established authors, my only advice would be that we live in an exciting and ground-breaking time for books. Don't be afraid to embrace these changes, but don't forget that it's still all about the book.
For aspiring authors, I think that the best advice would be to tell them to get out there, attend conferences, and make as many connections as they can. It's like kindergarten; it's not as much fun if you don't have any friends.
When you completed your work what was your most difficult roadblock to being published?
For most authors, finding an agent is a difficult task. I was lucky enough to snag the first agent that I sent to. But that didn't mean it was all easy from there on out. The publishing industry is going through some major shifts and publishers are taking fewer and fewer chances on new authors. The search for a publisher was a stressful time, and it's hard to hear someone say that they really liked the book but don't feel it would get the attention it deserves at their firm. Luckily, I had made some good friends in the industry that helped pave the way.
Where can people go to get more information about you and your book?
You can find me at http://www.ethancross.com/ , Facebook.com/EthanCrossBooks , and Twitter.com/EthanCrossBooks - I love hearing from readers, so don't hesitate to contact me through one of these channels.
Related articles
- Book Review: The Shepherd by Ethan Cross (blogcritics.org)
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