Sunday Coffee Time Chat with Author Edward Owen

Welcome to Sunday morning Coffee Chat time!

Today’s guest is Edward Owen!

Good Morning and welcome to my Sunday Morning Coffee Chat.? I am so enjoying these interviews and today’s will not be a disappointment.? Before we get into the interview with Ed, you all have to take a few moments to check out his video personal message!? He is such a trip – I love the video he did! It shows his quirky personality so well!? So, if you don’t already have your beverage of choice by your side, go grab it and come back and check out Ed’s video message and our interview.

Edward – what a great introduction! I loved it! I’m sure the readers will too! So… let’s get this started. First question… Coffee or Tea??

Tea occasionally but no coffee. Yes, I actually write decaffeinated which is ironic when you consider that many of my stories are the kind that keep my readers awake at night.

And with how hyper you seemed to be! lol… Of course we have already established you are an author, but do you work another job when you are not writing?

Yes, I’m still a day jobber. I work for Los Angeles County Metro (the bus and train people). I’m on the bus going to work at 4:00 am every morning and get home around 5:00 pm. I carry my laptop and write on the bus and at lunch.

Well there is a creative place to write. What is your favorite thing to do when you aren?t writing or working?

Watching way too much TV. I am addicted to Game of Thrones and Texas Hold Em poker (watching and playing). I’m also developing a web series with my partner Dave King. Be on the lookout for Black Rabbit web series and digital comic.

Okay, we sure will! So what is your favorite color?

Blue. Because it’s the color of my wife’s eyes. 😉

Ahhhh… aren’t you the romantic. What is your favorite season?

Spring in California, because the temperature is perfect. Fall in the Midwest because of the leaves.

If you could live anyplace on earth, where would it be?

I would like to try Australia for a while. There’s a lot of great (lethal) wildlife there.

lol… why am I not surprised you would want to know more about lethal wildlife? You know I?m a police officer, and you seem to have an obsession for my handcuffs, why is that?

I’m a sucker for any woman who shows ‘restraint’. 😉

HAHAHAHAHA…. you are too much! So how long have your been writing? Was it a dream, a goal or is it just a hobby?

I have literally been writing since I was a kid. It was a hobby for a long time, but in the last six or seven years I have worked towards making it a profession.

We all dream of that. How many hours a day do you devote to writing?

That varies a lot. On work days, I only have commute time and lunch time which works out to a couple of hours. I only have about three hours for everything I need to do after I get home from work so not a lot of writing time there. Saturday and Sunday mornings are the best times as my family likes to sleep in. If I get up early, I can get in three or four hours of solid writing ? assuming I stay off Facebook!

Oh yes, the time sucker – Facebook. Do you have a set routine or do you write when the mood strikes?

I write as often as I have time. I have two novels, my blog in which I’m doing the Ray Bradbury Challenge (I’ll explain in a bit) and a web series (in development) called Black Rabbit for which I’m the main writer, so I always have something to write.

If you’ve never heard of it, the Ray Bradbury Challenge came about from the Master’s advice that new authors should write a 750-1000 word short story every week. I’m on #39 this week, so I’m getting close to finishing. All of my RBC short stories are posted on my blog.

Wow.. I didn’t know that. I will have to check those out. Is there some place special you like to be when you write?

I’d like to be in Hawaii or maybe Australia, but given the difficulty and expense of those locations, I settle for my home office (when it’s clean enough), the couch (it reclines) or my patio (one of the perks of living in California.)

I’d write in Hawaii too! Do you listen to music or do you need a quiet place to write?

I listen exclusively to Thomas Begerson’s Illusions CD. Most of his music sounds like a movie score (some of it is, he wrote the score for ‘Cloud Atlas’). I’ve probably heard the entire CD several hundred times.

I have a few playlists like that. Let’s talk about your book. What is the name of it and is it part of a series or a stand alone novel?

?Nighmares and Body Parts Vol. I The Karma Chronicles? is a collection of horror short stories that I have written at different times over the last eight or nine years. I plan to release Vol. II as soon as I have enough stories to fill another book.

Sounds creepy as hell! Where did the idea come from?

Two of the stories were entries in writing contests that didn’t win. After my editor had her way with them, I understood why they didn’t win. The rest are just different stories that were inspired by odd thoughts and circumstances. For example, one of the stories, ?The Quiet Car? was inspired by my commute on the train. They have a ‘Quiet Car’ where there are no cell phones or loud conversation allowed. So I thought, What if someone didn’t want to be quiet and Karma smacked them around because of it? Then I thought of something bad happening and made it worse. I’m evil that way.

Okay, that sounds very interesting. Tell us more about the other stories.

Here is a description of each of the stories.

The Quiet Car ?When his car breaks down, Tom Roman is forced to take the train. ?Little does he know his rude behavior will come back to haunt him for a long time.

Obedience-? Dr. Hilde is on her way to Australia. Sam is on his way to anywhere but prison. You never know when someone else’s dark past may threaten you.

Promises, Promises– Rebecca is a successful attorney in New York. A face to face date with her internet boyfriend leads to a night of unimaginable terror.

Worthy of Trust and Confidence– Julia is assigned to protect the President of the United States on an international flight aboard Air Force One. How dangerous could it be?

Jimmy– In the not too distant future, some occupations are worse than others. Jimmy finds out he should have read the job description all the way through.

Charlie and Josie– A writer interviews an inmate serving life for the murder of his young wife. The answers she finds may not be the ones she wants.

Wow… Those sounds great! Okay, I’m gonna have to check them out now.? So what about your other work. Do you have any upcoming projects in the works or other books that have been published?

My first novel is called Gunn Sight. It’s a YA sci-fi story that will eventually be part of a five book series called The Chronicles of Alcamene. It follows the life of Sunni Gunn, who we meet at age fourteen. She lives on the planet Alcamene in a society of humans who were stranded there for over a thousand years. Her family is head of Le Couteau Noir (The Black Knife) a group of professional assassins. It’s a coming of age story full of political intrigue and romance.

I wrote a novella called ?The GAME? that deals with nine professional poker players who are kidnapped and forced to play against a wealthy stranger for life or death stakes. It has also been recorded as an audio book by my good friend Mike Hacker. There are twenty characters in the story, four or five of whom are women and Mike does every voice to perfection. I actually had someone tell me they couldn’t finish listening because it scared them too much. Music to my ears!

Besides the web series, I am working on an alternate history novel called ‘Equitorius’ that takes place in the 1960s.? It has steam powered airships (gasoline engines no longer work), power crystals, fairies and other supernatural creatures.

My other WIP is a distant future romance/adventure story in the outlining stage that is still in need of a title. All I need is a clone ? or three …

Wow Edward, I think you have more going on in your writing then I do, and that’s say alot! I’m so glad you came to visit today. I loved your interview and hearing what is? going on.

Thanks for letting me invade your blog, Stacy. I thought there was going to be cookies ? wait, what are you doing with those handcuffs ??

shhhh…. You can’t tell anyone what happens next!