Who is your favorite author?
William Faulkner. I also enjoy Alfred Bester and Philip K. Dick.
What inspired you to write? What inspired you to get published?
I was inspired by Ray Bradbury and Max Brand. I hungered for the creative life that they represented. As for publishing, it just seemed the like the next logical step – to get my work out to people.
What is your favorite moment from working with an editor? An agent?
As far as editors go, it would be selling a story to Fantasy & Science Fiction. Anthony Boucher was my favorite editor, and a very nice man. Regarding agents, I would have to reply that selling my Dashiell Hammett biography to Knopf via Kirby McCauley was a highpoint.
What is your favorite cover designed for one of your books?
My favorite cover for my books is for my book Hammett: A Life at the Edge. A close second would be The Devil’s Coattails: More Dispatches from the Dark Frontier.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers wanting to get published?
Never give up. Learn to overcome rejection. And write every day!
What are you currently working on?
Several books, including a collection of my best poetry, multiple anthologies and two novels…
Would you consider writing to be a career or a lifestyle? Or something else entirely?
Definitely a career. If it’s just a lifestyle, it isn’t your work, your calling. I’m a writer, period!
What would you change about the process of writing and publishing your most recent work if you could?
Using the computer. I prefer typing a manuscript on a typewriter to using a word processor. But I’m getting used more comfortable with it!
What challenges did you face before and during publishing your first work?
When I published the Ray Bradbury Review, I wanted to make it an exceptional fan publication, so I decided to use a different process to reproduce the booklet. I’m glad I did, as it resulted in excellent notices.
How do you deal with negative reviews?
I ignore the negativity, and look for the positive aspects of such reviews. Sometimes you can learn from them.
I read your book ‘How to Write Horror Fiction’. I particularly found the chapter on the narrative ‘A Dip in “The Pool”‘ informative. And the last chapter, i.e. chapter 13 ‘The Undead’ about how other successful writers, such as Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Dean R. Koontz, among others you mentioned started out and ended up. That their lives were average in the beginning, no different from most other’s. That they also suffered from rejection.
Even though the book is twelve years old its message is contemporary. Thanks for such a well written and highly educational little book.
[...] Meet William F. Nolan « Write to Publish [...]