Author Roland Hughes

SK: Where are you from (originally?)
RH: Herscher, IL

SK: Any history of writers in your family?
RH: No. I used to exchange long letters with my Great Aunt as a child. All we had was the Post Office back then, so being able to write letters was a skill her and my Grandmother drummed into me.

SK: What do you do aside from writing?
RH: Software consulting. I've been on the OpenVMS platform for over 20 years. I've been doing a lot of C++/Qt on Linux over the past 8 years though.

SK: Anything notable about you that you want the readers to know about? Captained a ship? Traveled in space? Built a time machine?
RH: Nothing notable. My odd hobby, on those rare occasions I get to enjoy it, is water well drilling. I even own a Failing 1250 drilling rig. Even though failing is its condition right now, that is actually the brand name. It was made by GEFCO the George E. Failing Company.

SK: What is your true passion?
RH: passion is something for young people.

SK: Why did you start writing?
RH: My first geek books were put out by Burke Publishing. I wrote them because the technical books put out by mainstream publishers weren't worth a roll of Charmin. That fact has remained constant from the 1980s through to present day.

SK: Where do you think your writing will take you?
RH: Hopefully a comfortable retirement. Then again, how does one retire from a thing that only requires they sit in front of a keyboard and type their thoughts?

SK: What is your next writing project?
RH: I have some geek books I'm finishing. I have also been prodded by some of the reviewers to take John Smith to a trilogy. While a trilogy would be nice I don't think I will write it. I do know what the next two books need to be, but, with the other writing tasks I wish to try, that would be a major commitment.

RH: I do hope this book sells well enough that I can just lock myself away for a year or more to work on another trilogy I've been kicking around for years. "Twenty of Two". When it comes to novels I tend to experiment with the untried. Despite the title "Interview with a Vampire" I don't think anyone else has actually put out a novel that is an interview. "Twenty of Two", assuming I have the drive and time to complete it, will be an interlocking trilogy rather than what we have today with some kind of linear trilogy which gets bastardized by prequals and postquals as both publisher and author try to squeeze more money out of it.

SK: What do you like to write about?
RH: I kind of follow wherever my mind takes me.

SK: What inspired you to write this book specifically?
RH: Good question. Unlike "Infinite Exposure" which resulted from a news story where reporters should have been prosecuted for International Treason, there is no one thing which "inspired" this story. There are a lot of little things. The most important of these is the age old question "What if?". When you use the tool "What if" and pick a particular starting point, the possibilities are endless.

SK: How can someone buy your book?
RH: The purchase link on the Web site will be updated as I have more and more places. Anyone claiming to be selling "NEW" versions of my stuff on Amazon is lying to the point of committing fraud. I do not allow my products to be sold on Amazon. I do not fill any orders for an Amazon related vendor. If they actually have a physical copy of something I wrote, it is certainly not "NEW", it is used. At best it was mailed out as part of the book review process. This particular novel is available in print, EPUB, and audio book formats.

SK: Wow, well I wish you luck with your writing.
RH: Thank you and same to you.