Zealot Script

I was born in Canada and remember as a small boy crawling in my snow-fort. I closed my eyes, and when I tried to open them, they were frozen shut. I didn’t panic, but wiped away the ice crystals, unglued my eyes and kept on building my tunnel. Those were great days! I moved to Central California before seventh grade and couldn’t believe I lived in a land where oranges grew on trees and you could pick grapes from the vine.

I used to wonder what I wanted to do with my life, what kind of work specifically. I was miserable not knowing and bordering on desperate. Then one day a friend gave me his typewriter. I began working on a novel. A different person told me it was much easier on a computer, so I bought one and began getting up at 4:30 A.M. each morning before work, writing for three hours. My eyes were unglued once again as the pang of misery left my gut. I knew exactly what I wanted to do: write. So now that’s what I do, I write, and write, and write, and I love it.

What’s your favourite part of the lifestyle of an Author?

I love the freedom to write what I want and to schedule my life as I desire, and to not feel like I’m wasting my time with life.

What made you start writing?

BV Larson and I became friends in high school and we played a lot of war games and table top role-playing games. One day, he brought a short story he’d written to our group about a goblin thief or assassin. I read it and loved it, and thought, hey, I can do that. And that’s where the bug first began.

Is there an Author that you consider your inspiration?

There are several authors I really enjoyed and would become lost in their worlds. They’re pretty much old school writers: Jack Vance, Robert E. Howard, Karl Edward Wagner, early John Norman and Edgar Rice Burroughs. I can’t say any one in particular was the inspiration, but combined, they were very influential.

What’s your number one tip for an aspiring Author?

I’ll give two pieces: read, and read, and then sit your butt down and write until it’s finished. There is little more powerful than sheer persistence.

What type of book do you like to read and does this differ from the genre that you prefer to write?

You know, really, like I said when I was a teacher, in a story, I want the hero to have a sword or a gun in his hand. Then I want him to solve a problem, and here I’ll use a word considered out of date by some, but solve the problem in a manly way. And that’s exactly the type of story I love to write.

Which one of your characters would you most like to spend time with?

That would be Lod from my Lost Civilization novels.

Which book do you consider a must-read?

I imagine this is off topic, but the Bible.

What’s been the hardest edit that you’ve had to make? Why did you want to keep the material in?

That’s one huge benefit of the Indie Revolution, the editors answer to me, not the other way around. So if I think it needs to be there, it stays.

If you could live in a book, which one would it be?

With me, it would be a cartoon–the Jetsons, so I could have an air car or a jet pack that worked.

If you could pick an Author to write your biography, who would it be?

Jack Vance

Is there any conflict between what you want to write and what you think your readers will like?

I’d write more Conan-like or Tarl Cabot-style novels–sword and sandal or sword and sorcery.

What effect can a review have on you, if you read them at all? Both the good and the bad.

I read all my reviews. Sometimes, I’ll laugh like crazy reading a one-star, not in mockery, but because some of them are very artful and funny, and hit in a real way. Some bad reviews sting, no doubt. Almost always with negative reviews I check to see if he’s a one-star king. If he is, it’s a shrug. He’s angry with life. I get that. Some reviews are very kind, and I appreciate that. Positive or negative, a writer can learn a lot from his reviews to see what people love and hate. I try to use them as a resource, a learning time.

Can you sum up your life story in ten words or less?

I begged God for help, and He answered big time.

And finally, you have one quote to be remembered by, what is it?

Love God and stand up for truth.

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You can find out more about Vaughn and all his series on his website.