Another author has stopped into the Hybrid Nation for an interview. He’s a novelist and freelance writer who has quite an impressive portfolio when it comes to his works. He’s an accomplished author who currently resides in California and we’re sure that he likes plenty of other things besides writing. As seen on his website he is a hard-working author willing to pay his dues and is trying to write the best book possible, after all, isn’t that what we authors want to accomplish. Anyway, let’s quit the small talk, hehehe. Richard Paolinelli, welcome to the Hybrid Nation and let’s get this interview started!        

  

   

1. When did you decide to become an author?

 

At a pretty early age actually. I was always writing little stories in school or in the car when we were doing an out-of-state move (my father was in the drilling business and we moved a lot). In fact, my first fiction writing credit is the first two issues of a 1986 comic book series, Seadragon.

 

But then I got offered a full-time job as a sports writer and since that offered a regular paycheck, I took it and put my fiction writing on the back burner. When I finally retired from the newspaper gig a few years ago I decided to go back and see if I could make a go of it as an author.

 

 

2. Why did you decide to become an author?

 

I love creating these new characters and worlds and then seeing what happens to them as I go along. Sometimes they go the way I originally planned and sometimes they take off on a whole new direction I never saw coming.

 

 

3. What genres do you plan to write for the future?

 

I’ll probably keep writing in the three that I am doing now. Although it will probably be a few years before I go back and try to do the one sports non-fiction project I’ve been thinking of doing. I have maybe three mystery-thrillers in the to-do folder and the rest are all sci-fi/fantasy.

 

 

4. Besides writing what else do you like to do and what are your hobbies?

 

I love astronomy, so when I can I’ll dig out my telescope. Love the sports of football (not the European kind) and hockey. I used to bowl and play golf but back issues have pretty much ended participating in those. I read, a lot, and the rest of the time I cook up ways to spoil my two grandsons rotten.

 

     

5. Who’s your biggest inspiration for your writing?

 

I’d have to say, Jack McDevitt, who is an incredible author. Back when I was getting

ready to call it quits in newspapers I was trying to figure out what to do next. I came across a book, Time Travelers Never Die, by Jack and read it. Then I read everything else he’d written. I found out he was the same age in 1989 when he wrote his first novel in the Alex Benedict series, A Talent For War, as I was at the time I had read Time Travelers.

 

I figured if he could retire from the Navy and as a school teacher and still have a successful career as an author, then I just might be able to do it too. So I sat down and got to work and while I’m not putting myself in the same league with him yet, I think I’m getting there.

 

What was great was last year I was able to be a contributor to a Sherlock Holmes anthology, Beyond Watson, released by Belanger Books. My story, A Lesson In Mercy, is in the book right in front of the story Jack McDevitt wrote for the anthology. I felt like a local rock band getting warmed up the crowd before the Stones came out and played. 

 

 

6. How much time do you dedicate to writing your books?

 

I try to write for at least two hours a day, every day. Obviously, life happens and some days I get zero hours in. What I’ve found is, after your book is done and published, a lot of your time is devoted to marketing it – if you want it to sell.

 

 

7. How important do you think writing is to the young generation?

 

I think it is very important to every generation, but for the younger generation (and God do I suddenly feel ancient) it’s a chance to tell their stories and see how they measure up against those that came before them. It’s also a chance for them to record a part of themselves – fiction and non-fiction works - at a younger age and then go back in 20-30 years and see how much they have changed and grown since then.

 

 

8. How excited were you when you finally published your first book?

 

Have you ever read the Peanuts cartoon strip and see Snoopy doing his happy dance? That was me on the day I signed the publishing contract, the day the book (Reservations) was released and the day I held the first copy of it in my hands.

 

What’s nice is that, whether it is the traditionally published books or the books I am self-publishing, whenever I get the first print copy of each book, I still feel that way. I hope that feeling never goes away no matter how many books I write.

 

  

9. What is the easiest part of writing in your opinion?

 

Actually, sitting down and writing. I thank my 20+-years of working for daily newspapers for that. It was very common to write anywhere from 800-2500 words in a given day and usually in small windows of time because after you went out and covered the game/event you usually didn’t have much time to crank out a 500-800 word game story and then the 200-word box score.

 

Some days I would write between 2-4 stories, in fact, there was one edition of the sports section that we jokingly called the Paolinelli section because my byline was on all five of the front page stories that ran that day.

 

So having the discipline to sit down and pound out the words comes very easy to me.

 

  

10. What is the hardest part of writing in your opinion?

 

The post-written book part of the process: Marketing it. There is no set in stone, perfect way to ensure you’ll sell a million copies. All you can do is get out on social media, set up signings and make appearances on radio shows, blogs and interviews like this to try to get the word out to the world that you’ve got a book out and why they would be interested in reading it.

 

 

11. What is your favorite and least favorite part of writing?

 

My favorite part is creating the story and laying it out. My least favorite is the editing process. I give it a once-over then send it off to an editor who works it over, then I go back in and address whatever corrections or questions the editor raised. Then there is one more edit/look over when you get the proof before it is cleared to be released. That part is very necessary but very, very tedious.

 

 

12. What can we expect from you next?

 

I am trying to get the last two books of the Del Rio series wrapped up so they can be released later this year and in 2018. Then I am going to work on a sci-fi/fantasy project that is kind of my Lord Of The Rings work – like The Dark Tower was for Stephen King.

 

I’ll be interested to see the reaction to it because it deals with all of the gods and goddesses, ancient and modern times – known to mankind. I’m pretty sure the Ancient Aliens people will love it, but the religious folks might be calling for me to be burned at the stake, lol.

 

 

13. How much more do you prefer writing poetry over an actual novel?

 

I tried a long time ago to write a poem. We don’t speak of that effort anymore. So I’d have to say I’m 100% novelist and 0% poet.

 

 

14. Finally, how do you deal with writer's block?

 

I don’t try to force it. If I find I’m hung up I walk away from the writing desk and focus on doing other things for a while. Usually, I find, after a day or two at the most I’m itching to get back to it and the block is gone. Again, I credit the 20+ years of daily sports writing for not getting writer’s block very often. You don’t have the luxury of not being able to get words on the screen at a daily paper – at least you don’t if you want to stay employed.

 

 

15. If you like to say anything else such as advice, shoutouts, or just whatever’s in your mind say it now. The stage is yours!

 

Advice wise all I can say is this: If you want to be a writer, then write. Don’t let anyone else tell you that you can’t or you are not good enough. You may not be a NY Times bestseller, many of us never will be (hell, I’m barely in the top 5% of writers on Amazon out of 1.4 million), but if you have a story to tell, fictional or real life, tell it. Even if only one person besides you and your editor ever reads it, that will make it worth the time and effort.

 

And if you are a reader, whether it is on Amazon, Goodreads or any other platform that allows them, if you read a book by any author please, please, please leave a review of it. You don’t have to write a long summation. Just click on how many stars you feel it rated and simply write: “I liked it”, “It was okay” or even “Man, this was a stinker” but I cannot begin to tell you how important reviews are to an author. Especially on Amazon, where we need 50 reviews to get Amazon to market the book, the more reviews we have the better our chances of other readers finding our books.

 

And finally I want to thank you for having me on and for those that took the time to read this all the way through to this point.

 

 

Well, that’s a wrap ladies and gentleman. It was nice talking to this brilliant and kind-hearted man. Richard, it was an honor talking to you and once again congrats on your books, that is certainly an honor to be proud of! I wish you the best on your future endeavors and may your success continue for years to come.

 

By the way please check out this man’s website http://www.richardpaolinelli.com/  it’s a really cool website and this man is an overall cool man to be friends with. Give a check to his social links and his books!

 

If you enjoyed this interview leave a comment on our Facebook page “The Hybrid Nation” or drop us an email on our Contact Us page.

 

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If you’re interested in getting Richard Paolinelli’s books, head over to his Amazon page and grab your self a copy of one of his books, you’ll enjoy them!

 

Link to his books: https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Paolinelli/e/B00759HSD6/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

 

Social Links:

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Website: http://www.richardpaolinelli.com/