Interview with Dustin Feyder

Author of Red Twilight

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I was born at methodist in Saint Louis park Minnesota , I am currently living in Osseo Minnesota.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

Now that is a complicated story, I would want to an exceptionally young mother, Who had gotten married several times, She also had a checkered history with the law.

My mother’s 3rd marriage was to a banker of summer esteam. In order to attempt to protect my mother from her own history, He had thought it necessary to begin moving cross country.

So here I’m 12 my 1st born sister is 7 and my 2nd born sister had just been born, and now here we are moving cross country; we started from Saint Louis park Minnesota moved to were saint Paul, We went to Rushmore South Dakota next we passed through Iowa I don’t member of the name as he we stopped in there are Wounded Knee and next to Scottsbluff Nebraska.

After that things start going South with my mother and her 3rd husband and he left us there. For reasons that are on be no onced to me my mother after that why did go to Saint Croix Wisconsin so we packed up our lives again and left for Saint Croix. I am now 16. Or next and final stop that I went with my family was Hudson westconsin.

I became enrolled school there and church. Held down a 3.5 GPA was encouraged to take classes in philosophy and theology by the church.

But of course that’s where things are going South again. For unexplained reasons my grandmother shows up as she it takes my eldest sister and go to Minnesota then my mom’s 3rd husband’s parents show up and take away my youngest brother and younger sister.

My mother and eyes relationship quickly starts to crumble after that and in a fit of rage I drop out of church I pack my bags and I start to walk back to Saint Louis park in such my father.

My father is on his 4th marriage And his wife and I simply cannot get along and my relationship with him crumbles.

But I still had relationship with my Uncle Tom and my cousins Joe and Ben I meet up with my cousins one day at a card shop that I liked as a kid.

There I bump into our man that I haven’t spoken to and 15 years some but I knew from primary school his name was Justin if I member correctly.

I ask Justin if he still knows Phil Walker. It turns out that he does so I ask him if he knows where Phil is.

I have always had trouble forming lasting relationships my relationship to Phil Walker was one of the bass and ever had he might be the only person that not related to who I ever spoke to on a regular basis.

Justin gives me Phill’s phone number. And I start talking with him again. Fast forward to me being now 20 at some point in the intervening time my mother had then arrested for possession of controlled materials. She gets in contact with me through my cousins and I learned that she is living at Louisiana courts in Saint Louis park.

I tell him mother about the problems between my father and I she offers to let me stay with her rent free while I look for a house. I stay with my mother for a short period of time I apply for apartment in the same area that she is living.

But rent a slightly higher than I can afford off of my salary I ask Phil if you want to come stay with me. And so he does. We say there for about 12 years I think before my cousin Joe get in contact with me saying he wants to buy a house but he needs help.

I just gotten a new job working at Cub Foods and my salary had just tripled I tell Joe that I’d be happy to help if he invites Phill to come with us.

Phil’s mother had just died he has no contact with anyone that he used to know outside in me anymore as all of his friendships have fallen apart and he has no relationship with his siblings. Phil has looked after me protected me for decades at this point it feels I’m not going to abandon him.

It take some convincing but Joe Phil and I work out an arrangement and we are now living in a house in Osseo Minnesota.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

I started working my 1st book in 2003 maybe. Interestingly i when I started it though, Writing a book wasn’t my intention I had always had this dream of becoming a professional author brought that time I was more cell helping out one of my friends with a project he was working on. I don’t see remember which one out Phil’s friends I was helping it was either Charlie or TravO, But one of the 2 of them was studying computer programming and they wanted to try making a video game neither of them had any particular interests and writing though and they knew that I did so asked me if I can write a script for them. A month later I have a 200 page manuscript that I show them. And I’m told it is simply too big there is nothing they can do with it .

So I look around to see if I can maybe sell the manuscript somebody else. Then I bump into a man named Wes Lee Roy, West tells me that he works for author house publishing and that he can’t buy my script but he can sell me a publishing package and I can mass produce and sell my book elsewhere.

And so I did.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

Surrealism.

My 1st 6 books deal largely with metaphysics extra dimensional travel space wizards and the distinction between man and god.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

I am a card flipping dice throwing nerd. Do you like video games? Do you owe a like DnD ? Do you like heavy metal? If you were into any of this maybe I’m the author for you.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

Just how on godly expensive everything is. Every day I have people calling me ask me for money to do this or that and that can we advertise. And the types of money we’re talking about simply don’t exist in my world. 2 years ago was the 1st time in my life I had ever seen $20000, And that is still well below the national average that people earn.And here I have my agent asking me if I have $8000 to pay to attend the national library conference. A unfortunately know I don’t. Then the price that proof readers ask for and the amount that editors ask for. Or voice actors for an audio format. I’ll tell you these people must all make more money than I do.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

Don’t hire an art contractor, hire an independent artist. An independent artist will give you what you ask for a for price you can afford. My 1st time publishing my agent had hired an artist for me and that doubled the cost of production of the book and I really wasn’t that happy with the work he did.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

Ideally or realistically? Ideally I would like to be bigger than The Bible, I to see my book slid under people’s windshields, thrown at them during rock concerts, in dressers at motels. But that’s simply not likely, more practically and realistically I would to be a one million cover author.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

I assume it’s the same with everyone the largest problem in a post Google world that any artist has is gaining capital. There are so many people working and willing to work for such a low price that there are no more rock star artist. Instead when everybody is trying to sell to everybody the market become saturated and we are now hoping to break even at the end of the day.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

I am, to my core, a teller of tales I have been spinning ghost stories since I was 6 years old creative people will create is the only thing we know how to do.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Networking I suppose, There’s no visible road map to help authors navigate the world of publishing.I was told once I had an agent everything also be easy I can assure you it’s not, I don’t know what my agent goes for me but I feel it’s not enough for the price I pay. Personally I’m not interested in the legal side of things I want to write stories I would prefer to write full time but I don’t have that luxury.

When do you think you will write your next book?

I currently have 6 books and stores, one that’s loss in production hell, And 3 that I am actively working on,at I’m working I should have another book ready for production by the middle of next year.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

It was I am incredibly impatient and whether then wait for a traditional publisher to contact me I had taken the hybrid path. I have more than a pass with author house blurb Canada and Xlibris. Of them author house has been the kindest to me.