Author Interview with Oliver Phipps
Meet Author Oliver Phipps:
Oliver served as a Paratrooper in the United States Army and studied at MSC. In the late 1980s through mid 90s Oliver persued his love of music. He enjoyed traveling, playing percussion and writing lyrics for popular bands. During this time Oliver also began writing short stories and articles.
After playing for thousands through the fall and winter of 1996 Oliver’s band abruptly disbanded. In early spring of 1997 Oliver, along with a good friend and guitarist got together with the intention to form a new group. But rather than form a new band the two put together an expedition plan for traveling to Northern Canada and Alaska in order to prospect for gold.
Leaving in April of 1997 Oliver and company traveled up the historic AL-CAN highway. After exploring the Yukon and Northwest territories of Canada as well as the Arctic Circle the team traveled over the Top of the World highway to Alaska.
1999-2000 Oliver traveled through Asia, visiting Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan among other countries.
In 2004 Oliver published his first book and continues to write books, articles and short stories. Currently Oliver and family reside happily in the U.S.
Get Your Copy
* INTERVIEW: *
Is this your first book?
Actually, this is my eighth fiction book. I’ve also written a number of nonfiction books, but these have been published under a pen name that I don’t associate with my fiction works.
Tell us about your book? What inspired you to write it?
My newest book, Where the Strangers Live, is a Science Fiction story complete with aliens and an alien world, mixed in with ancient mythological beasts and creatures of this planet. To make things even more interesting the story unfolds over four miles below the Indian Ocean. The inspiration for Where the Strangers Live was actually a dream of mine. The plot occurred almost entirely in this dream and when I woke up I immediately jotted notes down for later. It’s not often that great story ideas come so easily. I fortunately recognized this one and followed up on it.
Is this book part of a series? Do you have related books? (explain)
This is a stand alone story. However, there may be a sequel at some point in the future. As I completed Where the Strangers Live I realized there would certainly be sufficient material for a great follow up story. I’ve also had a number of requests from fans that I do a sequel, so I’ve slowly moved closer to putting one in the line up.
Have you always enjoyed writing?
I have always enjoyed writing. My mother still has a story I wrote when I was around ten years old. I vaguely remember it, but she’s often mentioned how great it is. I suspect that’s more the mother in her talking than the story being good. But it is at least an indication of how long I’ve enjoyed writing.
What do you want our audience to know about you?
As a writer, I will always stay true to the story. A good writer must do this I feel and though it’s not always the easy thing to do, it’s what the reader deserves. I’ve read books that may have started out as a great idea but at some point the writer veered from what must happen and derailed the story. I don’t expect the reader to always be happy with everything that happens in my books. If a beloved character must die, he or she will die in my stories. It’s not a pleasant thing for me either, but the story must stay true till the end and I will always remain on this course.
What’s next? Is there something you’re working on now?
I generally work on no less than two projects at a time. I have a psychological thriller that should be released by mid year. I also hope to publish the first book of an action/adventure trilogy before year end. Somewhere in between these two projects I hope to publish another short novella.
What advice would you give to other Indie Writers or those who dream of writing a book?
My advice would be to focus on helping others with your talent. Whether it’s a self help book or to entertain, if you truly write to better this world in some small way then you’ll be successful in the end.
Connect with Oliver:
…
