Travis Erwin - The Meat Man Cometh
June 28, 2011
My friend Travis Erwin recently published an e-book of three stories titled WHISPERS. It's available for both the Kindle and Nook. I've known Travis for a while via my blog and a few others, and he wrote one of my favorite short stories, "Plundered Booty" in my short story anthology, DEADLY BY THE DOZEN. Travis stopped by to chat about WHISPERS and a few other things.
Welcome, Travis!
Mark: Tell me about Whispers.
Travis: Whispers is collection of three stories. Two of pure fiction and one as absolutely true at least according to my memory and view. The stories are vastly different in setting and point of view, yet they share a common spirit of hope, fear, and love.
Mark: You wrote a mystery/crime story for my anthology, Deadly By The Dozen, but your writing leans more toward mainstream, doesn't it? Or does it? How would you describe a Travis Erwin story?
Travis: I hope it could be described as rich in character. Outside of that I'm not sure I can label my writing as a whole. Which has been a problem for me in trying to place the stories I write. It's been better than a decade since I started writing seriously, by seriously I mean with publication being the goal, and in the the beginning I had no idea what I was writing or who the intended audience was. I suppose I was writing the kind of story I liked to read, but the problem is my taste like my style is very eclectic. With one exception. I care about characters more than I do plot. Unfortunately many of those early stories had absolutely no plot and very few writers can get away with have their characters wander aimlessly about. Fictionwise, I have written genre romance, mainstream with a heavy Women's fiction bent, and a few projects that might be considered literary. That is if literary can carry a decidedly Texas drawl to it's tone.
Mark: I know you do some other types of writing, nonfiction. Tell me a bit about that.
Travis: I wrote a coming-of-age memoir about my misspent youth working for what I believe was and is the world's most morally bankrupt man. My boss owned a dusty Texas feedstore and while the experiences were not always, or perhaps ever, healthy I can't imagine my life without them. And despite my description of my former boss I still consider him a good friend to this day. Currently I'm working on a humorous food book titled Lettuce Is the Devil: The Culinary Dogma of a Devout Meat Man. It's 40% humor essay, 40% memoir, and 20% cookbook. I also write for a football magazine here in Texas that specializes in looking at the many High school teams here in the Lone Star State. Yes, Friday Night Lights is a very real thing here.
Mark: Whispers is an interesting mix. Why'd you want to try an e-book?
Travis: I have you to thank for planting the seed in my brain. I enjoyed being part of Deadly By the Dozen and heard lots of postive feedback from people that read my story Plundered Booty, but it was an innocent throwaway comment by a coworker that really made me put Whispers together. I've been fortunate to find more success with my writing lately which is definitely a good thing. Most of what I've written the past two years has been humorous maybe even bordering on absurd, but once upon a time I wrote stories dealing with darker or at least heavier emotions. So my buddy, knowing this, says to me "You should have ditched all that emotional women's fiction stuff a long time ago and started writing things that make people laugh." That comment stuck with me for days as I pondered my writing history. I debated within my mind the possibility that I had wasted thousands of hours and lots of years writing stories that dealt with fears, love and hope. But I couldn't conjure up a single ounce of regret. Is till believe in many of those stories including the three in Whispers and I know writing all of them made me the writer I am today. I guess on some level Whispers is my attempt to prove that point.
Travis: When not writing I'm usually doing honey-do for my wife or trying to entertain or ramrod my two boys. We spend a lot fo time mucking about in the great outdoors hunting fishing and geocaching. I enjoy cooking, meat only of course, and reading -- which in my mind is a prerequisite of being a good writer.
Mark: How are you doing in gaining 10,000 twitter followers for Lettuce Is The Devil?
Travis: 9600 more and I'll be right where my agent wants me to be. I have a lot of fun with that account, but frankly I about shit myself when instructed to get my follower count up to 10k by the end of summer. The fact this project has landed me a literary agent after a decade of querying is somewhat surreal. I only started my Lettuce is the Devil campaign a few months ago and I have developed a pretty involved following of several hundred on Facebook and about 400 on twitter since then, but I suppose my agent is right, publishers wanna see real interest in a project and apparently 10K is the magic number, so help a meat man out and sign up ... http://twitter.com/#!/lettuceisdevilLabels: Lettuce Is The Devil, Travis Erwin, Twitter, Whispers
With A Little Help From My Friends
June 23, 2011
Well, I believe my "blog tour" is at an end. I want to thank everybody who hosted me for your support. Thank you so much. To readers, I hope you've found some new bloggers and/or writers to support. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you had fun.
Here's the role call:
Robin Agnew, owner of Aunt Agatha's, a mystery bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the Hey, There's A Dead Guy In The Living Room blog today. The topic: Is The Boogeyman Dead?
Joe Moore at THE KILL ZONE with ROCK WHAT YOU'VE GOT.
A Dirty Dozen Questions at Michelle Hickman's blog.
Erica Orloff chats with me on her blog.
Check out my interview with Christine Goff on The Big Thrill.
Natasha Fondren's blog with Don't Need No Stinkin' Sidekicks.
Gerrie Ferris-Finger's blog today, with "What's Your Character's Character?"
Stephen Parrish today, looking into my crystal ball to talk about what publishing might look like in the near future.
Betsy Dornbusch's blog (Sex Scenes At Starbucks), writing: Is Writing Fun?
Travis Erwin, AKA The Meat Man, and I go toe to toe on the subject of BBQ ribs over at Lettuce Is The Devil.
Keith Snyder followed up with all of the participants in DEADLY BY THE DOZEN to see what we're doing.
Simon Woods' blog with It's Better To Be Lucky...
Eric Mayer's blog with: Historical Fiction? There's an App For That!
Merry Monteleone's today - Snakes On Brokeback Mountain.
STET (part of BackSpace). Today's topic is: The Power Of The Thwart.
Todd Bush's blog today with: Fear and Arrogance
Paul DeLancy's blog with The Derek Stillwater Diet.
Lise McClendon's blog with: Characters Inside and Out.
Steve Thorn's blog today with: 12 Things I've Learned About Writing For A Living.
Jude Hardin and I have a lengthy discussion on book promotion, publishing and e-books, which he has wisely titled: Are You Listening Lindsey Lohan?
Alissa Grosso's blog with a post on middle grade and young adult fiction.
Guesting on the Dirty Lowdown blog with Tough Guys.
Alan Orloff's blog, writing about 8 Keys To Becoming A Successful Writer.
RJ Keller's blog on Casting The Movie.
B. Nagel's blog on facing the blank page.
Again, thanks guys! You're awesome! I'm glad to return the favor, just let me know when you want to visit the blog.
Cheers,
Mark Terry
Blocks, Borings and Snow Boulders
Are You Listening, Lindsey Lohan?
June 17, 2011
Jude Hardin and I have a lengthy discussion on book promotion, publishing and e-books, which he has wisely titled: Are You Listening Lindsey Lohan?
The Dirty Lowdown Gives THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS Some Love - Big Time
12 Things I've Learned About Writing For A Living
Characters Inside and Out
Bookfetish Raves
June 14, 2011
Bookfetish gave The Valley of Shadows a rave review:
Veteran author Mark Terry once again gives life to Derek Stillwater in his newly released book, “The Valley of Shadows”. Picking up where his last novel, “The Fallen” left off, “The Valley of Shadows” shells out the same intense degree of suspense and absorbing action that we’ve come to love and expect from his work. Terry just gets better and better. Protagonist Derek Stillwater has yet another mission which requires his rather ‘unique’ way of dealing with things – jihadist terrorists plan on hitting five major U.S. cities on Election Day. Sent to Los Angeles with a response team, the Department of Homeland Security troubleshooter must stop an unknown target with an unknown weapon and all while trying to play well with his teammates…something we all know that Derek doesn’t exactly excel at. While the five cities reel from random explosions, Derek begins to think that there’s more to the attacks than just disrupting the election process or scaring away voters. As the terrifying events unfold, the crosshairs point in a surprisingly new – and even more disturbing - direction. Can Derek convince his teammates to focus on an alternative or will the wake of angry colleagues and relentless trouble he customarily kicks up keep him from finishing his mission and saving lives? Moving away from the ‘Die Hard’ feel in the previous novel, “The Valley of Shadows” takes the tough guy Derek Stillwater character to the next level. I thought he seemed a little more edgy and contemptuous than in “The Fallen” but that, in no way, was a disappointment. If anything, it gave Derek a more concentrated determination while still maintaining that complex lone hero quality. Rollins and Flynn fans will love Terry’s smart, swift style. A must read for anyone into terrorist thrillers! “The Valley of Shadows” is a heaping mountain of nonstop, ‘hanging on by a thread’ action, coupled with a currently red-hot jihad terrorist plotline and an unforgettable main character. The Derek Stillwater series continues on with yet another superb novel that you just won’t be able to put down. Mark Terry is an instant favorite – brilliant!
Snakes On Brokeback Mountain
June 8, 2011
I'm guest blogging on Merry Monteleone's today - Snakes On Brokeback Mountain.
You're intrigued by that title, aren't you? Admit it.
Cheers,
Mark
Historical Fiction? There's an App For That!
Lettuce Is The Devil and The Meat Man and I Go Toe To Toe On Ribs
Eric Mayer Gives THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS Some Love
What's Your Character's Character?
Don't Need No Stinkin' Sidekicks
Blog Tour & Interviews - I'm Everywhere!
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