Delish Fiction Creative Writing magazine was lucky enough to land an interview with Dean Davies, author of the action-adventure novel. The anvil. Dean has been hard at work on a sequel to his debut novel, but he was kind enough to take a few minutes away from the keyboard to sit down and have a deep, colorful chat with us.

Delicious fiction: What led you to write?

Dean davies: Sincerely I dont know. I always wanted to tell stories. I wrote my first story when I was in second grade. I wrote it on my mother’s lined linen tablet. Later, I moved on to Big Chief’s red tablets. The first story was about a princess who needed to be saved from a snake. Freudians would go ballistic with it, especially from a second grader.

When I got good and tired of academia and teaching the great stories of the world, I stopped writing one. Those who can do it; those who teach can do it too. Writing is the hardest job you can ever do without lifting something heavy.

Delicious fiction: Tell us about your novel, The anvil and the main character Jake Two Feathers. Where did you come up with the ideas for them?

Dean davies: My novel, The Anvil, and its main character, Jake Two Feathers, were gifts from the Muse. He was looking for real and viable concepts for novels. Once I had the concept, the appropriate character for the concept came along. I suppose it could also work the other way around. The point is this: once I committed to writing, however vague I was in doing so, the ideas emerged. I believe that commitment is one of the necessary requirements for creation. Once you honestly and truly commit yourself to the universe, the Muse responds.

I was once asked if I used life experience in my writing. Duh. Jake is a Lakota Indian and a retired Special Forces officer. He wants to settle somewhere after years of war, sculpt and draw the stench of war from his soul. I have Indian blood and military experience, and in my old age I rediscovered or rediscovered an exquisite Native American spirituality that is a constant source of strength and inspiration. These elements appear in the novel and make it unique in suspense fiction.

How many novels do you read in which the hero walks into a sweat lodge, not only to receive guidance with difficult problems, but to seek strength and inspiration? I hasten to add that everything that happens in the novel is credible and based on phenomena that I have personally experienced. It is not magic. Happens. Most non-Indians never get a chance to experience it and most Indians will not speak openly about their spiritual experiences.

I have friends who read the novel chapter by chapter as it is written. I was often asked, “Where did that come from? The answer is:” It came to me while I was writing. “This revelation is important; ideas do not arise from the pure stream of thought. They seem to happen when the pencil is placed above the blank page or in the middle of a paragraph.

Delicious fiction: Did your novel end up being something different from what you imagined?

Dean davies: No not really. Once I had the concept, I wrote the beginning and then I wrote the end. I always knew where I was going. However, what happened, while filling in in the middle, was quite a complicated plot, or complicated subplots that came out of various characters around Jake. Once I planted Jake in the garden, along with various other characters, they took root and sprouted their own stories, peripheral and somehow involved with Jake or his world.

Delicious fiction: How has it been working with your publisher, Eloquent Books?

Dean davies: I only have good things to say about Eloquent Books. They sell “publications” and books. So if you want to publish a book, give their joint venture program a try. Once I finished the manuscript, I quickly got tired of the snooty agents (it took exactly fifteen seconds for an agent to email me saying “I don’t care”), and the glacially slow response from big publishers saying “We think it should take writing as a vocation, but …. yada, yada, yada “.

Eloquent Books is not self-published. They do not post trash that is not sold. But for a small fee (and it’s small, considering what you get), they’ll quickly and expertly produce a beautifully finished book, list it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bowkers, and others, wholesale through Ingram , they will provide you with a publisher’s website and help you market the book, which is the hard part. They will help you organize the book signing and provide you with internet marketing ideas. My average royalty on what I trade and sell is about a dollar and a half.

So am I glad I have the editor I have? You gamble. If I had waited and not invested in myself, the manuscript would still be on the coffee table gathering dust.

Delicious fiction: What have you done to promote The anvil?

Dean davies: The only question they ask me the most, about The anvil, or my book of poetry, also published by Eloquent, We had our best conversations in the bathtub, is “Where can I get it?” So the fact that my publisher has already arranged for the book to be listed on Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc., is a tremendously valuable marketing asset.

While the books may not be on store shelves, they are readily available on the Internet. In addition, the publisher establishes a “publisher’s website” where the books are available. In my case, these are the eloquent books, the anvil and eloquent books, we had our best discussion in the bathtub. Mine are pretty straightforward, but for a small fee the publisher will not only improve them, but will also provide a blog.

Also, I have two other websites: The Anvil Site and DeanDavies. I am in the process of removing one of these. Both sites have links to my blog, which I consider an important element in marketing. You can stay in touch with your readers, let them get to know you a bit, and update them on what’s going on.

I also use social networking sites to “expose” myself and what I am doing to others. It’s a great way to meet people and market your work, if appropriate. Eons.com, for example, is a site for boomers that is literally packed with writers. There is a reading group and some very ambitious people organize weekend talks. Greeting.

In addition, I use Google Alerts to notify me of useful sites where I could promote my book. (This is how I found Delish Fiction) Just google “Google Alerts” and type in the keywords. In my case, it was “action / adventure novels”, “action novels”, you get the idea. Google alerts you every day about the sites where the words are mentioned. Then you do the field work, or finger work, so to speak, and you do it. Market aggressively. You won’t sell fifty books at once this way, but you will sell books. I did not write a novel or a book of poetry to impress girls or to give to my mother. I want to sell a million copies. I have a long way to go, but I’m working on it. Keyword: “working”.

Book Signings: I have organized book signings throughout my state. You have to be careful here. Marketing and selling your book is a business. You have to watch the expenses. Large chains are the most difficult to work with due to corporate politics. Smaller bookstores are easier to work with and may allow you to bring your own books to the store, but many want a discount. You have to work with each situation differently. Be sure to include a room at the seedy motel, McMystery burgers, and medicine for despair and disappointment (alcohol) as cost. Nobody said being Hemingway was easy.

Delicious fiction: What is or has become your most useful writing habit.

Dean davies: Sit down and write every day. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel like it. Get up, sit in the chair and write. There’s no vacations. I am always writing in my head. Each person, each emotion, each situation is food to satisfy the hunger to write. Pay attention. Live. Write every day.

Delicious fiction: Any advice for other writers?

Dean davies: Commit to writing. Do not ask how you are going to earn a living, organize your schedule around the children, whether you should write in the morning or in the afternoon. Make the commitment, the rest will come. Have some faith in yourself and your work. Has to. To write. Now.

Delicious fiction: What a great way to end the interview than with some good advice. Thanks, Dean, for stopping by and speaking with us today. For more information on Dean Davies, visit his blog located at the Anvil Site blog. You can buy your own copy of Anvil on Amazon or directly from the publisher.