Author Interview with Scott Calhoun

Who are you?

Scott Calhoun. I was once an archaeologist. Then I became a video production guy. Now I work at a TV station and teach as an adjunct professor on the side. But I've been moonlighting as a writer since forever.

I also host a web series interviewing authors called The Inner Typewriter.

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Where do you live?

I hope to be settling down in the Seattle area soon. 

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What’s your home life like?

Married life, double income no kids (but not for long?) 

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What genre(s) to you like to write? To read?

I like the usual things (sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction) but far and away my favorite genre is magical realism. How I long to be star in that distant constellation...

My favorite authors: Umberto Eco, Jorge Louis Borges, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Roberto Bolaño, Neal Stephenson, Alexandre Dumas. ​

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Why did you start writing?

I guess I must have been reading and thought to myself "I can do that." Also, when I was a kid I hated being bored, so I'd write stuff to entertain myself. 

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What do you do when you’re not writing?

I find coins everywhere. It's my superpower.

I play Sunday league softball. I'm the one that hits scrappy little choppers but beats out the throw to first. ​

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Where do you like to go when looking for a new book to read?

The bookshop. Nothing beats the whiff of dust and lignum while combing through the latest titles brought in by the literary trade winds. 

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At what point do you call it quits when reading a new book?

If something feels too familiar or formulaic, I drop it fast.

For me to keep reading, the story has to envelope me and disorient me. I love losing my sense of the here and now, and getting a glimpse into something previously hidden, like the microscopic world bound in a dewdrop. Just the fact that it was always there, hiding in plain sight, it utterly fascinates me. It's got to have that natural instinct, that ring of authenticity. We live most of our lives in an artificial 'scheme of things,' our daily life, these set parameters and routines of what we expect. I just really value it when someone can jog me out of it. ​

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Are you independently or traditionally published?

Currently seeking the traditional route.

But then again, I'm (strikethru pathologically) stubbornly optimistic. 

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How many books/stories have you published so far?

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What book/story are you currently promoting or working on?

It's my second novel. The title will remain a secret, for now.

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What’s the elevator pitch?

Let's just say, it has all the elements of a great story: typewriters, motorcycle gangs, recreational mathematics, physicists, opera, private detectives, and a cave full of treasure...

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How long have you been working on it?

I started it in October and finished it in February. Not bad for 73k words. But my previous novel took ten years, so my average is still on the long side. Got to work on that...

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When will it be available to buy? Where?

We'll see how it goes, but stay tuned at theinnertypewriter.com and maybe watch an interview with an author while you wait!

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How can readers find you?

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What inspires you to keep writing?

"Throw up into your typewriter in the morning. Clean up every afternoon."
Raymond Chandler.

"If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you."
​Steven Wright 

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Anything you’d like to add?

If you're a writer and would like to be interviewed on my show, feel free to contact me. No need to be on the West Coast, we're skype-friendly! 

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My thanks to Scott Calhoun for participating in the Laughably Inane Blog and for listing me as a resource on his site. People will soon learn I'm not a reliable source of anything but drivel.

Sincerely,

Nicholas P. Adams

Just a small-town boy with an overactive imagination.