LC: Hello Edward. I'm very happy you could join us here today! Can you give us a brief synopsis of your writing tell us what genre it falls into?
EM: To begin with, I’d like to thank you for this opportunity. This is my first interview since becoming a published author and I’ve been looking forward to it. And I love that we’re starting with a question that can mark me as a trouble maker, because I loathe being put in a box.
The books and stories I create come in various genres. Some of them have people. Some have very smart animals. Some have imaginary creatures. Some have all of the above. I will say this, my work tends to be dark, epic, fantasy with a very healthy dose of steampunk. I love all those labels. But my work is always presented in a hopeful light. I believe in the better angels of all our hearts and minds.
I’m also frequently asked what the “age range” of my books are. When I was seven I read Frankenstein and Dracula. Were they written for my young mind? I would say, not. But I read them. Did I get what they were about? In my own way, yes. And as I reread them again and again over the years I always found something new.
I had the pleasure of working for the late, great Jim Henson for three years before he passed. He was fond of saying that the Muppet Show wasn’t written or made for kids, but that they understood it on a whole other level. That has become my philosophy.
I write. I create worlds and populate them with characters that have a story to tell. Whoever finds my work and enjoys it, I welcome. I don’t categorize or limit anyone based on the age of their mind. That is a marketing decision. That is something I leave to others to decide.
See, trouble maker.
LC: Of the best kind! What, would you say, has been your greatest triumph as an author?
EM: Every day that I write, and every piece that I finish, is a triumph.
Beyond that it would be the discovery of self publishing the ebook way. For years my writing floundered. I would write and it would sit there. There was always the concern that my work would never be seen because there were so many other people that had to like it and say yes to get it out there. And that once they did like it, there would still be more time to wait while they decided what to do with it.
Then a dear friend of mine introduced me to ebooks. I suddenly realized that I could get my work ‘out there’ myself. My writing began to flourish. Good or bad my voice and my stories could be had for the adventurous to enjoy. I say, put it out there, and they will come. Write well, be good to your fellow writers, and the powers that be will find you.
LC: Awesome. Okay, if you were stuck on a desert island with one of your characters, who would you want it to be, and why?
EM: This one is easy. Of the Mathias Bootmaker books it would be Elias Darke. He is a scientist and inventor. He’s a forward thinking mechanical genius. He applies his thoughts in a logical manner in order to create and envision great things for his people.
If you’re going to be stranded on a deserted island then go with someone who thinks the steampunk way!
LC: I like it! So, just for fun, where is the most exotic or strange place you've ever traveled to?
EM: I’ve traveled quite a bit actually, and I love it. I’m a native New Yorker who has lived in England for a little over a year. Spent my weekends in France while I was there. Here in the United States I’ve driven around a good portion of our country. I love a good road trip. Lived in Atlanta, Georgia for a couple of years. Finally settled here in Central Florida. For how long? Who knows.
However, my favorite place to visit was North Pole, Alaska. I spent a couple of weeks there a few years back. It was November. It was bitter cold and breathtakingly beautiful. I was hired to direct a commercial and the shoot was at the Santa Claus House. Anybody who knows anything about Santa Claus knows that this is his real home. I spent a lot of time with Mr. and Mrs. Claus and it was magical. They make the best hot chocolate on the planet there.
You have to understand that to this day I truly believe in the man and the goodness he represents. On the last day of the shoot he asked me to sit on his lap. I did. I was in awe. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I thought about it and said, I want all my friends to get what they want for Christmas. He said, cut it out and tell me what you really want. I’d like to find a steam train set under my tree, I said. I love trains. He thought about it for a moment and said, it might be too close for this year but I promise you you’ll get your wish next year.
There were no trains under my tree that year, but the following year I was offered a position as an Engineer and Fireman on the Walt Disney World Railroad at the Magic Kingdom. I drove real antique locomotives around the Magic Kingdom for five years. All thanks to Santa Claus. True story.
LC: I've always said it...Santa's the greatest! Tell us Edward, how long have you been writing? Have you always known that you wanted to write?
EM: I’ve written for as long as I can remember.
As a child I would cut pictures of people from magazines, glue them to construction paper and write dialogue balloons for them. My first short story was about a penny that escaped from the mint that created him. Over time I wrote poems and short stories. At the age of eleven I presented my first novel, all 35 pages of it, to my mother. One of her girlfriends got a hold of it, copied it and passed it around to all her friends. The women in my young life had decided that I was going to be a writer.
No matter where my career went after that I always found the opportunity to write. Including the books to two musicals for the New York Off-Off Broadway stage. One about Robin Hood, and the other about Frankenstein.
LC: Movie question time! What is your favorite motion picture of all time, and why?
EM: This, my dear, is not an easy question to answer for me. I love movies. It is a deep and unending passion of mine. If I mention twenty, there will be twenty more that I have forgotten to mention.
I like big movies the best. Movies so large they spill off the screen. Lawrence of Arabia. Dances With Wolves. Citizen Kane. I also have my favorite directors. Hitchcock. Welles. Spielberg. Lucas. Lean. Wilder. Just to name a few. I like new movies and old movies. I’ll watch them in color and in black and white. I’ll watch them on the big screen, on television and even on my cell phone.
But if you were to hold my feet to the fire I’d have to say Shawshank Redemption. Ended a relationship over that one. She said it was a terrible movie, from an awful writer and that Morgan Freeman’s voice was annoying. Really. Can you blame me?
Oh yeah, Shaun of the Dead kicks ass, and so does Kick Ass.
LC: *Note...at no time have I been in the habit of holding authors' feet to the fire. (hehehe!) Speaking of habits, do you have any strange ones when you write?
EM: I was a latch key kid growing up. I’d come home from school. Mom was still at work. Homework was to be done before she arrived that evening. So I would do my assignments with the television on in the background. That holds to this day. Usually there’s a favorite movie on while I write. Zombieland is playing right now as we chat.
I also like to write outside. Usually at the beach. In this part of Florida we can drive on the beach. I park. Pull out the notepad and start writing. For those times it’s music in the background. Don’t get me started on favorite music. We’ll be here forever.
LC: Um, forever times two if you get me started! Aside from compiling stellar play lists, what do you like to do when you're not writing?
EM: When is a writer not writing?
That’s why I always carry some index cards with me wherever I go. I’ve also been known to text or email myself story ideas or lines of dialogue from wherever I am.
I’m a foodie so you’ll find me in the kitchen cooking or out at some wonderful, quirky restaurant. I’m sure you won’t be surprised that I can be found at the movies. I also live in theme park country and I do love thrill rides.
Most importantly, when I’m not writing I’m reading. Stephen King. Mark Twain. Jules Verne. Aldus Huxley. Alexander Dumas. Mary Shelly. Seth Grahame-Smith. And of course Dr. Seuss.
LC: I must admit, there are some pretty amazing classics in that list! Okay, last, but not least, SELL IT! Tell us why we should read your books. (Feet to the fire time, buah ha ha!)
EM: In the case of the Mathias Bootmaker Trilogy it’s because I wrote a grand fable about us. Us, as in Americans, and citizens of the world. I wanted to reflect what we’ve been and what we can become again.
I truly feel we’re losing ourselves as a great people. We once reached for the stars, but we have lost a great deal of that passion. We’re bickering amongst ourselves. Lines have been drawn in the sand, and they’re getting deeper. We’re forgetting that we once fought, long and hard for acceptance of our individualities and to protect the needs of those amongst us that have been pushed down.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not being preachy and neither is the book. This book is an entertainment. It’s a dystopian tale but it is filled with a great deal of hope. Hope that we can get passed this time in our history.
I believe that artists, in whatever form, have a responsibility to shine a light on the world we see. I hope that my work as a writer does that for my readers and that whatever the style I choose, it opens a door in their minds to amazing possibilities.