To kick off our series on people in the Neighbor I choose to pick the brain of long time friend and aspiring author M.G. Stover. For as long as I can remember this brilliant mind has been a creative force with a passion for the arts. We just recently reconnected, and once again find ourselves living in the same city. Which has been cause to jump for joy considering he is one of my most valued and loyal friends, and has quickly become my go to guy for suggestions on movies, books, and video games. M. Stover is one of the most intelligent and open minded people I know. Lets also not forget the twist of sarcasm that he has been perfecting for years. Also fair warning to everyone beware you could end up in one of his novels! In his free time he loves to see the world, fight for causes he believes in, and spend as much time as possible with his adorable niece and nephew. When he is not working to pay the bills he is working on typing(I say typing because even he can't read his own hand writing)out the stories that have come to life inside his head. I truly hope you enjoy this interview with this inspiring, creative, original, young author as much as I have enjoyed writing about him, and someday in the future I hope his stories come to life for all us on a Barnes and Noble bookshelf.
Q: Have you always wanted to be an Author?
A: In some ways I guess. It wasn’t something I dreamed about. In fact what I wanted to do has changed many many times over the years. I remember in the seventh grade wanting to be a psychiatrist, wanting to live in Seattle, and not being opposed to radio work. I quickly realized I just wanted to be Frasier Crane.
That being said though I’ve been creating stories in my mind ever since I was a child. I spent hours creating various story lines with my action figures (x-men at the time) and just loved that feeling. Once I got to old to admit to playing with toys I started doing the same thing but this time on a computer screen and with a keyboard.
Q: What inspires you to write?
A: The desire to get all these scenes I have in my head played out and to occupy some time in a world that is a hell of a lot more fun than the boring one we all live in. Also to escape my own life for a while and put on the skin of someone who doesn’t have my own inferiority issues that we all deal with on a day to day basis.
Q: What is the title of your most recent work, and whats the storyline?
A: Currently I’m working on a series of books about the Easton brothers. The title of the series is Merlin’s Kin although its never been a title I’ve loved and is very likely to change. For me titles are way down the list in things I worry about when it comes to writing. The storyline is about two brothers Jon and Renny who’s lineage can be traced back to Merlin. Legend states that Merlin was born of a Fairy princesses and a demon prince. As a result of this mixed lineage there is a genetic curse of sorts that haunts the Easton family. The family will always produce sons, the first son will be gifted with great magic ability the second will be born a half demon and sometime in their mid-twenties go full demon. As a demon Renny will have no control over himself and injury if not murder anyone he comes into contact with. Jon has grown up seeking a cure for his brother but has come up empty and the changes in Renny become more an more obvious as the books go along.
Q: Did you favorite author, write your favorite book?
A: That’s an interesting question. Probably not when I think about it. My favorite author is Tolkien because he was the founding father of modern fantasy and while I love his books I wouldn’t say they are my favorite. I’m very hesitant to name a favorite book though because it changes with the tides and I’m such an addictive personality that whatever I’m reading is my favorite in that moment.
Q: If you had a book club what would it be reading?
A: Anything Urban Fantasy. I love the idea of this mythical creatures living in our world the way it is today and the way that our world would adapt to meet them. It’s a great time to be an author in this genre as Twilight and True Blood have just exploded and really opened the genre up to more than just D&D geeks.
Q: What authors have influenced your own work?
A: Several. Jim Butcher who writes the Dresden Files, Kim Harrison who writes the Rachel Morgan series, and Laurel K. Hamilton before she became a wanna-be erotic fiction writer in her Anita Blake series.
Q: How important is it to you to get published and will you ever give up on the dream?
A: I’ll never give up on the dream and it is only as important as my need for validation is that day so going on most days more important than anyone will ever know.
Q: What your 5 favorite books-and why?
A: (this is in no certain order) Obsidan Butterfly-Laurel Hamilton, this was the first book of the Anita Blake series I read and funny enough the last good one in the series (it was the 9th of the series). Storm Front by Jim Butcher because he does such a good job of making every supernatural thing in his world feel as if it should have been there, Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice she really kick started the vampire craze that the world is in right now and this one came out before she became so detail oriented that she’d spend an entire chapter on how a cameo looked. The Lord of the Rings- I really feel the whole thing has to be taken as one book but if I had to choose just one it would be the Two Towers. The sense of dread is so creeping in that book that even if you know how it ends you just don’t see how it’s possible. Finally, anything that collects the entire works of Shakespeare. I know its not really a book but it is written word and really everyone in this game is in some way or another just cribbing off the Bard.
Also not listed in anything above would have to be my unabashed love of comic books. It is only the fact that I couldn’t restrain my spending on them that I don’t still buy them today but I do keep up with what’s happening through various websites and every other week I ponder stopping by the comic book shop and buying up a bunch.
Q: Do you let anyone read your unfinished work?
A: If they are prepared to ignore misspellings, grammar errors, and lie to me and tell me how wonderful it is. That’s only partially a joke but it is incredibly stomach churning to even think about someone reading my stuff who I know. Now I can send it off to a million agents and they can reject it and that’s fine but when it is someone I know and they are only barely interested its soul crushing.
Q: Are you a fiction, or non-fiction kinda guy?
A: Fiction without a doubt and it has to be fun fiction. I can no longer read depressing works and I know that its probably rotting my brain and putting to shame my English degree but I just want to tune turn on and drop out when I’m reading anymore. Frankly with movies, TV, and Video Games a book has to do a lot more work to keep my interest anymore, so at the very least I know what I’m working against in my own books.
