INTERVIEW WITH G. L. HELM

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?

There are a couple, but I would love to hang out with Mark Twain. He seems like my kind of guy. He is witty and sharp but he can also be cutting and bitter. He's a pretty good writer too.

What is your writing process?

My process is pretty simple--get off your ass and go to work. That being said, the major difficulty with it is that sometimes defeating the inertia that infects me is pretty tough. I don't know why it is sometimes so hard for me to actually work. I know it will make me feel better, less depressed, but I sometimes resist it like a baby fighting sleep. When I actually win the battle against inertia I like to listen to old time rock and roll radio. We have a great radio station for that here in the Antelope Valley. They play everything from the Fifties through the seventies.

What are you working on next?

Besides the editorial hell I am going through with "Three Degrees..." I am working on a sequel to my book "SERPENTS AND DOVES" Which is a novel about college in the South in the mid 1960's. It involves protest, free love, betrayal, and the civil rights movement. My new one, the sequel is more of the same. It is called "THE EVIL THEREOF" Both titles are quotes from the book of Matthew in the King James Bible.

What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?

That's a hard one. Personally I am a huge bore when it comes to my books. I talk about them constantly and I always have copies at hand. I also do a lot of Book Fairs, and gift shows and swap meets and like that. The trouble is that a lot of writers are shy so they stay in the house and write, but if you want to actually get some books out there you gotta be bold enough to go out and offer it to people. If they don't know about it they won't buy it. So now I am trying something new with Copy Pasta. They are going to promote "Three Degrees..." on social media. I am already doing that myself but I'm hoping maybe they are better at it.

What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?

Too many to name. I just got The Complete Ray Bradbury. It is a compilation of his short stories, but I also got copies of all the Master and Commander books by Patrick O'brien. I'm a reader whose only real preference is words in a line.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?

No, though there are those who say I have a knack for getting myself into remarkably difficult situations and irritating even the most phlegmatic person in the world.

You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?

Telepathy. To read peoples thoughts and send them my thoughts without necessity of saying or writing same. Actually in one of my books Design I list several super powers I would like to have, among them teleportation and telekinesis, as well as telepathy.

List 5 things on your bucket list:

My bucket list is pretty short really. I've been a lot of places and done a lot of things many of them bucket list worthy. The things I have left are mostly travel related. I want to go to Japan, and China. I'd like to do the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I'd like to hike a pretty good stretch of the Pacific Coast trail and the Appalachian trail. Those might have been realistic goals once but since I am old and broken now I sorta doubt that the hikes will ever happen.

Where can readers find you on the web?

I am on Face Book as G.L. Helm or under my publishing imprimatur Mouseprint. I answer most friend requests positively. Or those interested can e mail me at trainwheels@earthlink.net. The books are available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.