The Interview - David M. McGowan

How did you become an author and get published? Share your experience.

I started writing (on a portable typwriter) while playing music for a living in taverns and community halls in Western Canada. After a few hours practice of new numbers I then filled the days telling stories. After leaving "the road" I wrote articles for the Alaska Highway Daily News, the Peace River Block Daily News, the Western Producer and a couple of magazines.

What are some books or authors that you would recommend to our readers?

Anything by Louis L'Amour, Elmer Kelton, Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, David Baldacci

Tell us what you enjoy most about writing [genre].

Creating three dimensional people from two dimensional people often depicted in scenes of the past. Sometimes those people are little more than a mention and not really people or characters at all. I enjoy creating characters and having them react to circumstances.

Describe the [book/series] in 10 words or less for people who are just learning about it.

The first six of my novels are an entertaining look at the building of Western Canada. The seventh publication a collection of short stories and poems. Everything is meant tp be entertaining and informative. The country itself, Canada, always is.

Would you like readers to have any specific takeaway from your book?

That the country usually depicted (I am not confined to any one place), Western Canada, is as vibrant, exciting, and beautiful as anywhere on the planet and has contributed as much to the development of earth as any other country. Sometimes more.

Was there anything you had to research for the book?

Most of my stories required some research. In the Great Liquor War it was the source of the disagreement between the BC Provincial Police and the North West Mounties. The phony "prize fight" in Rossland and the court case in Farwell.

Where do you like to write? In a coffee shop? In your home office? On the beach?

In my home office with good internet access so I can answer any questions that may arise due to my mental wanderings. However, this answer is somewhat simplistic in describing what I do for it is possible that I may have created a sentence, paragraph or page in my imagination long before I sit at a keyboard to record that creation.

What other hobbies do you have outside of writing?

Narrating and recording my stories for audio books. Singing songs and reciting poetry - sometimes mine - occasionally for charity events. Hugging great grand children

Do you have any personal connection to the story or characters?

I have no personal connection to any story I've created other than some experiance with doing some of the actions depicted in those stories. I've built fence, rode horses, harnesed and driven teams of horses, put up hay, harvested grains, fruits and vegetables and travelled much of the country depicted in my stories