1. What is your name and where do you call home?
My name is Kevin A. Ranson, and I currently reside in the Houston, Texas area.
2. Do you have a pen name?
For reviews on my film website, MovieCrypt.com, I go by Grim D. Reaper. For books, it's just me.
3. What is the name of your most recent book and if you had to sum it up in 20 or less words, what would you say?
It's called The Spooky Chronicles: The Terminal People, about a dead boy dealing with still growing up.
4. Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?
This is the second book in The Spooky Chronicles series. The first arc is planned for six books, although I'm doing a one-shot crossover story between the first couple books for a charity anthology. I'm currently working on the third book in the series, Schoolhouse Number Five.
5. What or who inspired you to start writing? And how long have you been writing?
I've been writing film reviews for almost fifteen years (honing my written "voice"), plus my girlfriend got into self-publishing herself and encouraged me to do it. I've seen a lot of scary movies, and the ones featuring young adults rarely seem to show much of the their point of view. One exception is Harry Potter, which I've always felt is a lot more YA horror than people want to admit.
6. Do you gift books to readers for book reviews?
I do.
7. How did you come up with the cover? Who designed the cover of your book?
I'm pretty handy with the graphic arts and am self-taught, so I created it myself based on a key location in the story from photographs I've taken. Most of the current cover was from a picture taken in Savannah, Georgia's Bonaventure Cemetery. Beautiful statuary there.
8. How did you come up with the title for your book?
Having designed many websites professionally, I was fascinated by the discovery that I could find no other series called The Spooky Chronicles and that the website domain had never been purchased. The current book title, The Terminal People, has a couple of meanings.
9. Is there anything you would change about your book? And why?
I'm very happy with the current revision and delayed my original release date by a month to make sure of it.
10. Do you have a book trailer? And what are your thoughts on book trailers?
The series trailer is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjXRVIHdR... I love book trailers, but I think many are too much like movie trailers. In a movie trailer, you expect to see scenes in the movie exactly as they appear in the trailer (and are disappointed when they aren’t). So much of what happens in a book is in the imagination, so the less you show, the better. A book trailer, like a book cover, should *feel* like what the book is about, more like those teaser movie trailers that appear before any footage is actually shot.
11. Do you prefer e-books, paperbacks, hardcovers or audiobooks?
I like them all. I intend to translate each of my stories into all of these mediums as I am able to. If you don’t give consumers what they want in the form they want it, someone else will.
12. Are you a self-published / Indie author?
Self. Been doing it myself for a while. It helps that I've worked in marketing, communication, web site design, graphic art, and copy-writing in my day jobs.
13. Have you ever read a book more than once? And if so what was it?
Several, and more than I can name here.
14. What book are you reading at the moment? And in what format?
I'm currently re-reading Grimmie, by local author Linda S. Cowden. I've volunteered to help her create a book trailer out of a key scene.
15. Do you have any advice for other writers? And what’s the best advice that you have been given when it comes to writing?
It's okay to edit your own book, but always, always, always have someone else look it over as well. Also, find that special person (that I call a "no" person) who will not only read your work but will tell you the truth about what they think no matter how good or bad. Above all, listen to them; even if you don't think they're right, take their advice as an opportunity to improve your writing.
16. Where can your readers follow you?
Blog: http://thinkingskull.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ThinkingSkullCre...
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/56587...
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kevinaranson
Other: http://moviecrypt.com
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/K...
Other: http://spookychronicles.com
Thankyou so much for taking the time to do this interview and allowing us a glimpse into your writing world!
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