Mike Robinson, author, editor
Are you a family man?
Absolutely. I have no nuclear family of my own, but I’m close to, and appreciative of my parents, who've been incredibly supportive. Also, as I’m an only child with all cousins and other relatives either on the east coast or in the U.K., they’re the only local family.
Do you like animals? If so, what is your favorite?
I’m a big fan of all animals wild and domestic, macro and micro -- unless they’re the kind to ravage your insides. I suppose I should say “big and small”. On the pet side, I’m more inclined toward cats because I grew up with them, but I love dogs as well.
What is your most outstanding childhood memory?
Hitting the game-winning home-run in little league, and being subsequently piled on by my teammates. I know I could name many others, but that was the first memory that popped up.
You have written many short stories beginning at a young age, who or what inspired you to write your first book?
I’d written fiction since I was 6 or 7. When I got to high school, it started trickling off, as I refocused my writing and general creative energies toward a video-game venture with some of my friends. We created our own LLC, as well as our own working 3D prototype that we shopped to companies at E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Soon, though, we realized just how much we were biting off. People went their separate ways, and I started to read a lot more and return to pure text-on-paper storytelling. I took one of our video-game ideas -- which was in its earliest design stages -- and in two months wrote the first (terrible) draft of my first (okay for 19) novel.
Did you know then that you would write another?
It was not a question of whether I would continue writing. The next month after finishing that first (terrible) draft of my first (okay for 19) novel, I wrote a novella called The Green-Eyed Monster, drawn from an old story I wrote when I was 11 and which over the years would become much grander in scope, eventually becoming my second published novel.
Producing video games sounds like a lot of fun, does it inspire your writing?
It did, that’s for sure. I wave a dismissive hand at those who say video-games will stunt a kid’s creativity. Like anything, of course, it depends on the kid, and on the game(s). I can honestly say that books and games were the two main catalysts of my juvenile imagination, with movies a close third. I was (and am, though I play much less these days) a Nintendo fan. I feel philosophical kinship with them. While other studios compete endlessly in a “bigger dick” contest, Nintendo is fine in the corner by itself, doing its own thing, consistently and wonderfully creative.
They say you can’t write and edit at the same time. Do you find your editing obligations fighting with your writing schedule?
Kind of, especially when I’m dealing with multiple freelance editing jobs. But in my own work, I tend to write and edit as I go. To me, it’s become part of the whole process. I used to “barf it all out”, and still sometimes do when in that ‘zone’, but I find over the years I've gotten more meticulous, which has its pros and cons.
Writing is hard work, what is your favorite place to recharge?
Honestly, I can’t not flex the writing muscle, so in a way I never find a place to totally recharge. I know a writer who, in heading to Hawaii, proclaimed he was absolutely not going to work over his vacation. To me, that’s a clear sign he’s not a writer in spirit. I've written on Hawaiian beaches. I write in bars. By the pool. On the hiking trail. And if I’m not physically writing, I’m trying to untangle a problem, or working mentally working toward some new idea.
Do you have a ritual when you set out to do some writing?
Time and place vary, but one routine remains fixed: I write long-hand by day, and type it up that night. Typing up raw work allows for an extra editorial step, so that when you’re finished, the manuscript is more like a second draft. Generally, I like to write in coffee shops, or by my complex’s pool. Sometimes with a stimulant nearby, or intoxicant, depending.
This is not your first book, is it part of a series?
It is and isn't Negative Space is a promiscuous sort, actually, occupying the second part of two loose trilogies, the Van Trilogy, the first of which is my novel Skunk Ape Semester, and the Twilight Falls Trilogy, the first of which is The Green-Eyed Monster. None of these books need to be read before or after one another. They exist as standalones, but uniquely inform some of the finer points about the universe they all share. It’s a small way of rewarding those who stick it out for more than one book.
Are the characters based on people you know?
At least in my case, characters end up being a lot less like the people who may have inspired them. Sometimes no one inspires them. As per most writers, traits in certain characters can be traced to a real source, but usually, once they hit the page, they take on a life of their own. I used to feel paranoid about people reading too personally into something I’d written, until a friend told me, “Dude, you’re a writer. If people give you crap, they simply don’t understand and that’s their problem.”
You have written sci-fi and horror, what is the genre if this book, and the target audience?
That’s a good question! Negative Space is one of the more interstitial books I've written. It deals with the direction of art, the direction of our species, the paranormal, the personal evolution of one haunted man and it does it all using elements of the thriller genre. I usually call it “surreal”, if that’s even a genre. The target audience is anyone who thinks broadly, has an interest in the world of art and enjoys a cerebral ride.
You have interesting titles, do they hold particular significance?
Thanks! I always try for something odd or dynamic, but above all memorable. Sometimes, even if the meaning is slightly obscured (even from me) I’ll go with a title that simply sounds cool. I tend to like alliteration, too, as with “Skunk Ape Semester”. “Negative Space” is the one that works on the most levels, I think, given the philosophy behind the book’s Neo-Naturalism art movement, and the fact that its story deals with missing persons.
Do you have another book planned?
I’m always working on something new, and do have more books in the pipeline. Hurakan’s Chalice, the third in bestseller Aiden James’ Talisman Chronicles that I co-wrote with him, will release September 6th. In spring 2014, publisher Muse Harbor will release my literary novel The Atheist, about a Richard Dawkins-type who has a near-death experience. In addition, I’m also in the editing stages of a detective novel I wrote with two screenwriters.
The Prince of Earth (Metaphysical Horror)
The Green-Eyed Monster (Horror/Mystery)
Skunk Ape Semester (Paranormal)
Mike's short bio:
It was at the tender age of 7 that an interconnection of cells and organs called Mike Robinson (then Mikey) penned, or penciled his first story. Called "Aliens In My Backyard!", it went on to become a runaway bestseller, topping international charts (or maybe that just happened in his imagination, too).
Although he has since worked as an independent video-game producer and cinematographer, writing has always been the focal point of his creative life, although to him the phrase "creative life" sounds a tad redundant. His first professional sale, a short story entitled "The Hand of Spudd", appeared in Storyteller Magazine when he was 19. Since then, his work has appeared in a dozen magazines, anthologies and pod-casts In 2006, he was one of five guys comprising GLAWS, the Greater L.A. Writers Society, which has since become the second largest writers' group in Southern California. He's the editor of "Literary Landscapes", the society's publication. See more at: www.glaws.org
"Skunk Ape Semester", his debut novel, was released early 2012 by Solstice Publishing and was a Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. His follow-up, the supernatural mystery novel "The Green-Eyed Monster", debuted October 2012 from Curiosity Quills Press. His existential horror novel "The Prince of Earth" is also available.
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