Author name: Russ Crossley
Remembering Warriors is a commemorative Bundle – Why is it important to you to support these causes? In my family my father and my uncles fought in World War 2. I also have friends who served in Korea in the early fifties. I think we must do whatever we can to support those returning military veterans who were wounded during their time serving their country to honour them and thank them for their service and sacrifice on our behalf.
Do you have anyone you remember who was wounded or fought in war (either past or present)? A German V1 rocket wounded my father when he was stationed in England with the Royal Canadian Army prior to D Day in 1944. He recovered from his wounds in time to participate in the D Day operation. He served in the artillery.
*Please tell us about your publications.
What first prompted you to publish your work? I began writing fiction for sale over twenty years ago but never had any idea how to begin until I attended the Oregon Coast Professional Writers Master Class taught by award-winning professional authors and editors Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Katherine Rusch. Kris and Dean taught me how to become a better writer and most importantly how the publishing process works and how to break in the business. I then started submitting to The Strange New Worlds writing contest sponsored by Pocket Books and was eventually accepted three times.
What have you found the most challenging part of the process? The overall experience of the traditional publishing process is very challenging to most beginners.
Are you a ‘pantser’ or a ‘plotter’? Very much a “pantser’. I have tried plotting and found it doesn’t work for me. I enjoy being surprised by the direction the characters take the story. It makes for unexpected twists and turns, which I read for myself.
What piece of advice do you wish you’d had when you started your publishing journey? Trust yourself and don’t be too hard on yourself when you fail.
If you could have dinner with any literary character who would you choose, and what would you eat. Jack Reacher. I would eat a medium rare steak and salad.
What are your views on authors offering free books? Do you believe, as some do, that it demeans an author and his or her work? On a limited basis as a short-term promotion I have no problem with it. On a longer-term or permanent basis, I think this is foolish. I don’t think it demeans them or their work but it fails to recognize that publishing is a business as well as an art and that their work has value. Customers are willing and often want, to pay for this work if they see it has value. Writing is hard work and I feel we should be compensated for this work just like any other job.
What are your views on authors commenting on reviews? Don’t. Ever. Very bad idea.
How do you deal with bad reviews? I place very little weight on any reviews be they good or bad. They are individual opinions based on individual taste and personal biases. You can easily find all sorts of opinions about any art be it film, TV, books, plays, paintings etc. I mostly ignore them except for marketing purposes because I know some folks respond to good reviews.
Sort these into order of importance:
Great characters
Good plot
Awesome world-building
Technically perfect
How much research do you do for your work? What’s the wildest subject you’ve looked at? Currently I’m writing space opera set in the far future so I can pretty much make up whatever I like. But I have done considerable research for some previous projects to get certain details right. The wildest subject I looked at was You Tube videos on how to drive a school bus for a romantic comedy I wrote many years ago called Antique Virgin.
How influential is storytelling to our culture? Extremely important. Storytelling is everywhere on the news in newspapers and magazines. Advertising in every medium uses storytelling either from a static image or in television commercials. The web is a huge source of storytelling most people don’t even think of as storytelling. Social media is storytelling. Texts, tweets, etc. are storytelling. Even when having a coffee with friends we use storytelling to share news and events. I think it’s what makes us human.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about writing/publishing? Write every day to exercise your mental muscles.
What’s the worst piece best advice you’ve received about writing/publishing? You must hire an agent to be a published author.
If you could be any fantasy/mythical or legendary person/creature what would you be and why? Superman. His role as super hero is far more complicated than it appears on the surface. His powers make him capable of solving most of our earthly problems I find the possibilities very exciting.
Tell us about your latest piece? I am working on Blaster Squad 6 Galaxy of Evil. It is the sixth book in this action/adventure space opera series set in the year 4154. Blaster Squad accepts a mission to stop a powerful enemy force of mercenaries from capturing a strategically important planet. The stakes are extremely high and the action extremely intense.
What’s your next writing adventure? Blaster Squad 7 will conclude the current story line.
What is the last book you’ve read? Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.
Is this the age of the e-book? Are bricks and mortar bookshops in decline? I don’t think so, at least for now. The majority of readers read both eBooks and paper books in the present time. I expect at some point this will shift to more eBooks than paper but we’re not there yet. I do think online stores are becoming a bigger threat to brick and mortar stores than eBooks.
With the influx of indie authors do you think this is the future of storytelling? Even traditional publishers and agents troll the indie authors for new talent so yes I do tend to think indie authors are creative and are bringing originality to the craft of storytelling. And Indies are bringing back some genres the publishing “experts” thought were dead and gone.
Are indie/ self-published authors viewed with scepticism or wariness by readers? Why is this? I think this is lessening over time as more and more readers discover new authors and entertaining original work. I do think indie authors have to up the professionalism of their work with great covers and properly edited and copyedited books. I would, however, stress to readers if you discover mistakes in indie books but love the story cut the author some slack. Any book no matter who publishes it or who edits it tries to present their best work possible. And writing is HARD work.
Is there a message in your books? Love your family and respect those who are different you.
How important is writing to you? I love story and always have. Creating my own worlds has been an exciting and satisfying journey that continues for the foreseeable future.
Links http://www.53rdstreetpublishing.com
Bio: International selling Star Trek author, Russ Crossley writes science fiction and fantasy, and mystery/suspense. Over his more than 20 year career, he has published 18 novels and almost 100 short stories.
His latest science fiction satire set in the far future, Revenge of the Lushites, is a sequel to Attack of the Lushites. Both titles are available in e-book and trade paperback.
He has sold several short stories that have appeared in anthologies from various publishers including; WMG Publishing, Pocket Books, 53rd Street Publishing, Sapphire Blue Publishing, Champagne Books, and St. Martins Press.
He is a member of SF Canada and is past president of the Greater Vancouver Chapter of Romance Writers of America. He is also an alumni of the Oregon Coast Professional Fiction Writers Master Class taught by award winning author/editors, Kristine Katherine Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith.
Feel free to contact him on Facebook, Twitter, or his website http://www.russcrossley.com. He loves to hear from readers
Russ’s short story collection features in Remembering Warriors.
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Library of Erana 
Thank you Alexandra for posting this thorough, engaging interview with many valid, informative and interesting points. Also good to see support for those we should never forget.
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