Getting To Know Solitaire Parke

Recently indie author, Solitaire Parke asked me to review his thriller 'Vengeance of the Wolf'.  The blurb was enticing and I was more than happy to do a review. You can read that review here.  Solitaire was gracious enough to grant me an interview (my first!!!!!) and offer a signed copy of 'Vengeance of the Wolf' for a giveaway. (Giveaway details will be released in a separate post)

Solitaire Parke was born in Bakersfield, California in 1952. He has been avidly reading books of all kinds, but especially Science Fiction books, since he was twelve years old. It was the author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose style of writing evoked a passion for the written word and became his inspiration. Throughout his life he has acquired a degree in Music Theory, a Masters in Photography and spent a decade and a half in Graphic and Web Design. He is currently pursuing his dream of being a full-time Author. His books range from Horror/Thriller to Science Fiction as well as Metaphysical and Poetry. He resides in Arizona with his family and is the proud owner of Tairobi...his Manx cat. He has been a huge help in the writing process!

(This bio was taken from Solitaire's website )

The Interview:

How many hours a week do you typically spend writing? Is there a certain time or place that you prefer to write?  


I have an office set up in my home and I spend sixty to seventy hours a week writing. I don't get out much.

I know you are a Graphic Designer by day, is that something you truly enjoy or is it just to pay the bills?  


Just recently I stopped working a day gig and I now work full time on writing. But I did use the web stuff to pay the bills for a long time. You do what ya gotta do, but I'm a lot happier now.

You mentioned that 'Vengeance of the Wolf' was written several years earlier. If you were just writing it now what changes, if any would you make?  


That's funny, because I actually considered changing some things, but my family talked me out of it. I guess in retrospect, it should stay as is, but it did go through the whole edit thing again.

How did you come up with the idea of killing in dreams?  


I wrote a metaphysical documentary entitled "Beyond the Astral Planes" and in my research for the book, it occurred to me that if you could actually leave the body and travel about, then why not more. The “more” turned out to be Dorian and Vengeance.

If 'Vengeance of the Wolf' was made into a movie, who would you cast as Dorian?  


Stuart Townsend from "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" definitely, because the guy is creepy.

What is your favorite word?  


Success. There's just no substitute for that word.

Currently on your blog you are releasing one chapter of 'The Emerald Dragon' every Friday. I think that is a great way to introduce readers to the story, although I will admit the waiting is hard! Was there a specific reason for releasing it this way?  


There was a twofold reason for delivering the book this way. First, I wanted to get feedback from the writers and readers as to what they thought was cool and what they thought was not, and secondly to have a contest at some point, letting the readers style a dragon, a dragon rider complete with names and background. Two of these submissions would be selected and placed into the story and held as regular characters throughout the book. The winners will be mentioned on the book's dedication page and they get a signed copy of the paperback when it's released. I thought it would be fun for everyone. The contest will actually be hosted by “Alexia’s Chronicles” on June 28th. To check out the contest when it goes live, click here.

Besides new chapters of 'The Emerald Dragon' is there anything else in the works that your readers can look forward to?  


Sometime this month (June) My novel "Tinker Smith & The Conspiracy of Oz" will be released and it constitutes my first Y/A Science Fiction Book. I'm very excited about writing in this genre and can't wait to get started on book two.

What is the average airspeed of an unladen swallow?  


Well, it actually depends on which variant form of the species, but the average speed would be about 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour. See, I've discussed this with friends, and the answer was fairly easy to obtain, but I think a better question, and certainly more difficult to comprehend, would be...How many pancakes does it take to line the roof of a doghouse?

What is your favorite activity to do with your family? 

My family takes an active role in the creation of everything I get into, from the websites, to the artwork and of the books themselves. It's good bonding time for us and the jokes about whatever the project incites is good fun. Some great ideas have surfaced from these times and we all look forward to them.

My cat, Booker would love to ask Tairobi a question.

I see that you love to stretch across the keyboard to help out with the typing, as do I. Do you find that your dad appreciates your efforts or does he get exasperated like my mom?
  
At the beginning of his projects, he thinks I'm very helpful, but toward the end he gets testy and doesn't appreciate my expertise...Humans.