Interview with Lee Garrett

Author of Secret Places, Book Two in the Donovan and Scarecrow Series

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

My hometown is Fort Smith, Arkansas. I currently reside in Bossier City, Louisiana, on the Red River, across from Shreveport, our sister city.

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

I and my identical twin brother were dropped off at our Father’s grandparents for a visit that lasted fifteen years. My mother took m our two sisters and headed off for parts unknown. Raised by my grandparents, I graduated high school and attended West ark Community College, majoring in Bible and Social Sciences before transferring to Missouri Baptist College in Saint Louis. I spent a tour of duty in the Navy as a Religious Program Specialist, and made two Mediterranean/Indian Ocean cruises. Trained in fire-fighting, I served on the helo crash detail aboard the U.S.S SURIBACHI AE-21, an ammo ship out of Colt’s Neck, New Jersey. After an honorable discharge, I drifted from South Carolina to Santa Fe, New Mexico, went to Colorado for a number of years, moved to Oregon, then and back to Colorado again, supporting myself through odd jobs as well as working as a CNA for a mental health facility and a nursing home. A disastrous marriage left me in California where a warehouse injury left me disabled. I picked myself up off the ground–so to speak–and decided to develop writing. I’d been published in my high school literary magazine. Now was the time I decided to turn a long abandoned hobby into a possible avocation. I joined a writer’s group that helped chip off some rough edges, and spent ten years learning my craft. In recent years, I have been traveling and using locations across the country for the setting of various novels. Eventually, I’d like to use my VA loan to buy some property and settle down. I just need a little more commercial success to make that dream happen.

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

My first book, The Awakening, was written while I was in high school and only after decades of honing my craft could I go back to it and slash out the outrageous purple prose, making it readable. I published the book to an underwhelmed public. I had the writing bug by then and nothing to lose which is why I tried with another book, and another to break into the big time. I’ve been told that a writer writes because that’s what a writer does, what he is. I think that’s true for me.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

I deal with light and dark, and delight in giving my reader a roller-coaster ride. I don’t always care how plausible the action is. I believe in cool for its own sake. Although I do some paranormal romance, sci-fi, and Christian allegory, most of my work is magical realism or dark fantasy.

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

Teens and adults who haven’t lost a sense of wonder, who still know the value of a dream.

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

That those running mainstream publishing houses don’t know quality writing when I submit it to them, nor do they know what the public really wants. I also learned that there are a lot of predators out there taking advantage of unwary writers. I wrote a novel called: The Others. It had a group of students fighting the forces of darkness as represented by black figures with glowing red eyes. After submitting the book around, suddenly a TV show appeared with the identical title of my book and many identical scenes from the book in it, including a wall of graffiti that comes to life. After that experience, I learned to guard my work much better and to double check how reputable a publisher or agent really is.

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

Start earlier in life, work hard toward one dream, and understand that focusing on one possibility in life will return more than chasing a dozen dreams at the same time. You only need one dream that works out to open those other doors. Had I started writing and kept at it from my teens, I’d have many more books finished by now, expanding my legacy. As it is, I’m about to turn 60 years old and can only pray I have enough life left to complete all the dreams swirling around in the back shadows of my mind.

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

All of them, though I’m happy with the small group of devoted fans that have stuck by me over the years.

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

The way my physical disability eats into my endurance and the time I have to work.

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

I write stories that are absorbing, with strong visual prose, and human characters that people seem to enjoy. I can usually manage two books a years as opposed to just one from authors with a publishing house running them. I don’t really market myself; I just maintain a presence of forums and in chat rooms, building things by word of mouth.

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

I publish though Amazon so dealing with editorial demands just doesn’t come up, the flip side of this is that as an Indie writer, I don’t have an editor or proofreaders to help me out. I have to be my own editor. I have to design my own covers. It’s all on me, and Amazon doesn’t always keep the trolls under control who review books online that can hurt an Indie writer.

When do you think you will write your next book?

I’m working on four of them now. My main project will be out for Christmas, the others are at various stages of development. When I get writers block, I go jump on a different book and a few pages later, I can go back and pick up where I need to.

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

I use Amazon. They are not traditional. But they aren’t a vanity press either, so it’s not “self-publishing”. Amazon is POD, print-on-demand. You don’t pay them to get published. Amazon is just a new type of publisher, one that does the bare minimum but at least gives a platform to writers left out of the field by the publishing houses that have denied the really talented for too long.