Interview with Howard Hopkins

Author Pen Name: Howard Hopkins

CA: What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?

HH: I write horror, western, pulp and comic books. I write in those genres because I love them, but mostly I write to entertain and take people away from their problems for a few hours. I don't want to bombard anyone with my viewpoints, politics or stuff they can find on the news that is depressing. I want to relieve them of that for at least a little while. I want to offer and escape from everyday life and hardships. I am a story teller and I hope people enjoy the way I tell them enough to forget about something bad in their life, if only for a bit.

CA: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

HH: When my parents told me I had to work for a living! Seriously, it sort of crept up on me. I was always a reader and had started writing a few articles for pulp journals about heroes of the 1930s, purely a hobby thing. Then suddenly the fiction bug hit me and I haven't stopped since (this was back in the mid 80s). I hated writing and English class in school, so go figure! I was good in math. Now I can't add but I can write a novel. Must have had a major brain side tsunami!

CA: Who or what was your inspiration for writing?

HH: Lester Dent, main writer for the Doc Savage series, is my main influence. His way of stringing words together, creating characters in only a line and fertile imagination mesmerized me, and still does. If not for him I would not be writing.

CA: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

HH: Eclectic. I tend to like writing late at night better, when it's quiet--and I have always been a night owl, but it doesn't always work out that way. I do put in a lot of hours, at least working on some part of the writing business, if not actually writing, everyday. I usually sit right down after I get back from the gym, with only breaks for picking up my niece and other small stuff. till about 6pm, then back at it at around 10pm.

CA: Your book is about to be sent into the reader world, what is one word that describes how you feel?

HH: Cowabunga!

CA: LOL

CA: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

HH: Bodybuilding, reading (books and comic books), playing music and singing (guitar, mandolin, piano, sax), anything to do with superheroes (TV, movies, etc.)

CA: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

HH: I've written nearly forty novels, plus probably 50 or more short stories and hundreds of articles. I don't really have a favorite, but Night Demons holds a special place in my heart, since it was my first and biggest.

CA: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

HH: They are amalgams of both, actually. Of course, as a writer, you tend to observe what people do, how they talk and act, and get themselves into strange situations, so you pick that up. You use memories from your past and create stuff from whole mind-cloth.

CA: How can a reader contact you or purchase your books?

HH: The can check out my webpage at http://www.howardhopkins.com (there's an email link there) or visit me on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/yingko2 and my blog at http://howardhopkins.blogspot.com My page has ordering links to my books but of course they can mosey on over to Amazon or Barnes & Noble online (www.bn.com) and purchased them.