Name:
Andrew Nelson
The Title of Your Work or Group:
Author of Perfect Pawn, Queen’s Gambit, Small Tow Secrets and Bishop’s Gate
Where are you from?
Born and raised in NYC and currently happily retired in Illinois.
In what genre do you write?
Mystery / Suspense
In your own words, what is your book about? If you were not the author and trying to explain this awesome book you just read to a friend, what would you say about it?
Perfect Pawn would be what you would get if Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy, Diana Gabaldon, and Lee Childs got together and collaborated on a book. The book has a bit of everything: action, intrigue, mystery, romance and will appeal to a wide variety of readers.
What is your writing style? Do you follow all guides and rules? Synopsis, outline etc. or do you just sit down at the computer and type to see what happens.
I tend to do a very rough outline initially, just getting myself from point A to point Z, but after that, anything goes. I always say that the outline is the black lines on a coloring book. The colors you choose to make it pretty are entirely up to you, or the voices in your head.
Have you ever written anything and thought; "The world has got to see this!"?
I’d like to say that I felt that way about my first book, but it was actually my wife, who I had written the book for, who was crazy about it. I just thought she was being kind, but when I began to get all the feedback from readers, I thought I might have a career in this. It would make an epic movie.
Do you have an editor and Cover Designer or do you do this yourself?
I do all my own cover design work.
Who is your favorite author. Not just someone that you read allot. I wanna know whose book you read that made you suddenly know that if you didn't do this for the rest of your life then you would never be happy.
I’d have to say there were two: Frank Herbert (Dune) and Tom Clancy (Without Remorse). I love books that draw you into their world. The character development with those two authors is superb. It is something that I try to mimic in my writing. I don’t want you to read my books, I want you to get immersed in them; to the exclusion of everything else around you. I have had mothers write to me and complain that my books were messing with their home lives because they were up till the wee hours of the morning, then they had to try and get their kids ready for school so they could go back to reading.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Not really. For me it has always been like watching a movie in my head, then I just write what I see and the dialogue in my head.
Do you write your characters or do they write themselves through you?
I’d like to take credit, but they write themselves. I just allow them to be as good or as bad as they want to be.
Do you ever write yourself into the characters?
Partially. They say that you should write about what you know, so part of me is incorporated into them.
Is writing your full time job or are you "Keeping your day job"? So to speak.
I actually didn’t begin writing until after I retired from the NYPD, so it has become my full time job now.
If you could go back in time and meet one famous person or legend in history, who would it be?
That is such a difficult question, but I would have to say Jesus Christ. I don’t know how you could pass up the chance to speak with him. Actually, on second thought, I guess it would be a matter of just listening to him speak.
There are millions of new books released every year. What in your mind makes yours stand out from all those millions in your genre?
Not to take away from anyone else, but I think that, having spent twenty-two years in law enforcement, I bring a certain level of gravitas to my writing. When an author like James Patterson, for arguments sake, writes a police story, he has to research. I’ve lived it, so when I tell you what happens, it’s as authentic as you can get. There is one scene in Perfect Pawn that recounts a presidential visit to NYC. I walk you through it, from arrival to departure, giving you a behind the scenes look because it was what I did for five years. You can’t get that level of detail from ‘research’.
In the world of Indie, marketing is very difficult, especially if you don't have the funds to pay for it. Have you found a great free way to market your work that you think other Indies will benefit from?
In this day and age, I’d have to say social media is the primary driver. Connecting with people on Facebook, Twitter, etc,.. is the way to generate interest in your works. Then it is a matter of other fans recommending your work and hoping that one day it will get into the ‘right’ hands of someone influential. Every author needs that one big push, someone with clout who says ‘Hey, you need to read this book’.
Social media links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Andrew_G_Nelson
Website: http://andrewgnelson.blogspot.com/
Purchasing links
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/andrew-g.-nelson
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