An Interview by Andrea Miles Rhoads!!!

Andrea Miles Rhoads was a both dear friend of mine and a ferociously effective mentor. Her clever marketing landed me not one but three bestsellers: ‘Haunting at the No Return Hotel,’ ‘Genesis Rising I: The Children of Apep,’ and ‘Genesis Rising II: The Angel and the Beast.’

Honestly? I miss her most as a friend and mother figure. Andrea was quick to ‘get after me’ when I messed up, and quite stern about telling me what I needed to do in order to become the author that I wanted to be. But, behind all that business-like sternness beat a heart of the purest gold. Andrea cared about me as a younger author, and she never wavered in her belief that I was tough enough to evolve into the writer that I so craved to become. Working with her was like working with one’s mother: the perfect balance of love and discipline.

Why discipline? Because Andrea possessed something that I lack: Marketing skills. I had to be molded into something that I was not, and she made doing so her mission.

Andrea’s passing was sudden and heartbreaking. Like my fellow author Gerry ‘Alan’ Souter and my poet friend Chris Taylor, not a day goes by that I don’t mourn her. But, as Dr. Seuss put it: ‘Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.’

I’m smiling. Sadly, some days, but still smiling. Andrea would have sternly ordered me to smile, and then given me an ass-chewing if I didn’t. And, then she’d go on to tell me how awesome I was even if I didn’t believe that myself.

What follows is an unreleased interview with me that Andrea did, meant for one of her newsletters. Sadly, it was never published. But, Andrea always did tell me that my biggest marketing strength was my ability to be a ‘ham,’ at least when I could hide behind a keyboard.

So, here’s me … answering a few questions from one of the greatest women I’ve ever known. Andrea left the world a better place than it was when she came into it. I – and many authors like me – will testify to this.

So, without any further ado …

AMR: Where did you grow up and do you still live there?

Sadly, I don’t live there anymore. I do miss the ocean! I was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

AMR: When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to illustrate comic books as a teenager. I made fair amount of money in graphic design, advertising art, and portraits in my younger years. I was accepted by the Joe Kubert School of Animation and Art … and then I second-guessed myself. I was like, those artists spend fifteen hours a day hunched over a drawing board! Is that really how I wanna live?! So during my later years, I gravitated toward writing. It struck me as a more direct form of self-expression.

AMR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Honestly? Dead. The world is blowing itself up even as I type this, and I’m not naïve enough to believe that I’ll escape the fallout. But as Michael Ende—the author of the iconic The Neverending Story—put it: ‘That is another tale, and shall be told at another time.’ In the meantime, God blessed me with a wonderful life. When it’s over, it’s over. I love the quote from one my favorite films, The Village: ‘We are grateful for the time that we have been given.’

AMR: When did you start writing and why?

I was in my teens. I fell in love with the works of Ray Bradbury, Mark Twain, and Daphne du Maurier. But I was still mostly an artist back then, so the writer that bridged the gap between writing and art for me was J. Marc DeMatteis—a comic-book writer. J. Marc’s writing brought Sal Buscema’s art to glorious life, and that’s when I began to examine the written word. Sal Buscema I already understood; he was an artist, like me. But there was something about J. Marc DeMatteis’ storytelling that I found very intriguing, and wanted to further explore.

AMR: What is your favorite movie?  How many times have you seen it?

I have three: The Lion King, The Crow, and Natural Born Killers. Honestly? They never get old. I’ve seen all three at least a hundred times, maybe more.

AMR: What genre do you write?

ALL of ‘em!!! Literature is just one big, exciting adventure for me. There’s always some new frontier, you know?

AMR: What is your favorite book or character that you have written?

I have two favorite characters. Jillian is a werewolf, and she was featured in “Renewing Forever” and “Beginning Forever,” both published by Black Velvet Seductions. And then there’s ‘The Dark One.’ I ain’t spilling the beans quite yet, but you’ll meet him soon enough! (V’s Note: ‘The Dark One’ appears in ‘Genesis Rising II: The Angel and the Beast.’)

AMR: Do you have a new release coming out? What is the title and genre?

I have book one and book two in a series entitled Genesis Rising. The genre is dark fantasy. The titles are The Children of Apep and The Angel and the Beast. The contracts haven’t come in yet, but I think I also have two short stories on deck: a sci-fi romance entitled “Talitha,” and an erotic romance entitled “Behind the Wall of Sleep.” (V’s Note: Both of the anthologies in which those stories first appeared are out of print, but both tales have been re-published in ‘Even in Madness.’)

AMR: What are your rituals before you start writing?

Drink a lot of beer. DON’T judge! I’m working on that … (V’s Note: I’m trying to recover from alcoholism now …)

AMR: Who is or are your favorite authors? Favorite Book?

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Ray Bradbury’s The October Country, and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. I re-read all three every year. And yes, that’s my triad of literary idols!

AMR: Fun facts about you?  Or unusual thing about you.

I like tartar sauce on my omelettes. I’m also a huge fan of musicals, despite my well-deserved reputation as a metal chick. Phantom of the Opera and Hairspray are two of my favorites!.

AMR: What words of wisdom would you give someone wanting to become a writer?

Don’t do it. Seriously. It ain’t worth it. But if you MUST do it, well … go ‘head and PM me. I may have some advice for you! Being an author is both a blessing and a curse. It’s best avoided if possible, but yeah, if it’s your curse—and you can’t escape it—I’m here for you!

AMR: If you had 2 hours to talk to whoever you wish alive or dead, who would it be and why?  And what would you talk about?

Jesus. Humans cannot truly create; we can only re-arrange the elements of that which has already been created. I’d like to sit down with the true Creator—BEFORE I kick the bucket—and ask Him what that process looks like.

AMR: Anything additional you wish to add?

DON’T write because you wanna be rich and famous! It ain’t happening. Trust me, I would know. If you wanna be rich and famous, go screw some Hollywood producer and hope that he puts you into a movie. Good luck with that! Not the screwing part, of course; that’s easy. The ‘being put into a movie’ is the hard part, and may require repeated screwing.

Write because you want to, and for no other reason. Write because you have stories to tell. Write because you hope that your words will inspire a young person. Write because you can’t imagine what your life would like if you weren’t a writer. Whatever your reason … just write! Writing is pure. Writing is clean, and comes from an altruistic place in the human heart.

If you love stories—if you love the written word—you must write! The world is desperate to hear what you have to say, whether they realize it or not. The social-media haters might say otherwise, but hey …

F**K ‘em!!!

And that’s it. If I were to keel over right now, I think those would make fitting last words for my tombstone.

I mean, there’s even an F-bomb in there …

May God rest the soul of Andrea Miles Rhoads. Sleep well, my friend. I’ll be seeing you soon enough. – V