Today I am delighted to feature Drew Minh to Books, Life and Everything to talk about his writing life. Drew's debut novel Neon Empire is published on September 10th 2019.
Welcome to the blog, Drew.
Would you like to start by telling us a little about
yourself and how you started as a writer?
I’ve always wanted to write, ever since the second grade and
I could fully articulate sentences. When I realized I could create worlds and
let my imagination run wild, I knew it was what I wanted to do.
When did you first realise you were going to be a writer?
When I handed a short story to my wife and heard her laugh
out loud at my jokes and scenarios. I elicited similar reactions from friends
and knew then that this was something I was able to do. It’s been nearly twenty
years since that moment (and the story is shelved somewhere in obscurity), but
it was definitely knowing that my words induced emotions in my readers that
made me think: “This is something I want to take a stab at.”
If you didn’t write,
what would you do for work?
I’m kind a of a jack-of-all-trades, and have done everything
from drive forklifts, to doing light and sound work for rock concerts – the
Rolling Stones, Metallica and King Crimson among them. Don’t get me wrong,
there was nothing glamorous about that work at all. We were a bunch of grungy
misfits living hand to mouth. Currently I work as a digital strategist because
it pays the bills, but in all honestly, the jobs I liked most were those where
I could observe and converse with interesting people from all walks of life.
Probably a cab driver suits me best.
What are you interests apart from writing?
I’m a practitioner of Brazilian jiu jitsu and muay thai. I’m
a big fan of combat sports. I also love cooking and learned a lot while living
in Spain and France. Whenever I cook, I try to use the basic ingredients only –
never anything with premixed powders or sauces. I’m European in mentality, down
to the obligatory glass (or two) of wine with every meal.
What is your favorite
childhood book?
Jim Kjelgaard’s book, Lion Hound. I was obsessed with his
adventure stories when I was a kid. Tom Sawyer stuff. Thing’s like the movie
Stand By Me. I know it’s more than you asked for, but I think the whole genre
of adventure really fascinated me as a child. I happened across a tattered copy
of Jim’s book in my elementary school library in the first or second grade, and
that sparked my interest in the genre, and writing. I haven’t read it since, so
I have no idea how it stands up.
Where were you when you heard your first book was going to
be published? How did you celebrate?
On my couch with my wife right next to me. It came as a
complete surprise. I had reached the three-quarter stage of the hero’s journey
where all hope is lost, and I had genuinely lost all hope. I was already
planning for the next one and getting ready to assign this one to the
ignominious dustbin of unpublished screeds. I probably celebrated with a glass
of wine or a beer, but I honestly don’t remember. The dopamine rush was
euphoria enough.
Tell us about your
latest book without giving the plot away.
Here’s the way I queried it, and ultimately caught the
attention of Bob Peterson at California Coldblood Books:
Bold, colorful, and dangerously seductive, Eutopia is a new
breed of hi-tech city. Rising out of the American desert, it’s a real-world
manifestation of a social media network where fame-hungry desperados compete
for likes and followers. But in Eutopia, the bloodier and more daring posts pay
off the most. As crime rises, no one stands to gain more than Eutopia’s
architects―and, of course, the shareholders who make the place possible.
This multiple-POV novel follows three characters as they
navigate the city’s underworld. Cedric Travers, a has-been Hollywood director,
comes to Eutopia looking for clues into his estranged wife’s disappearance.
What he finds instead is a new career directing―not movies, but experiences.
The star of the show: A’rore, the city’s icon and lead social media influencer.
She’s panicking as her popularity wanes, and she'll do anything do avoid
obscurity. Sacha Villanova, a tech and culture reporter, is on assignment to
profile A’rore―but as she digs into Eutopia’s inner workings, she unearths a
tangle of corporate corruption that threatens to sacrifice Cedric, A’rore, and
even the city itself on the altar of stockholder greed.
How do you plan to
spend publication day?
I’d like to spend it like any normal day. Ideally starting
out with a writing session and going about the rest of my day. In reality,
probably checking Twitter too much for updates.
What are your
writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?
I used to write at night until I realized my brain functions
way better in the morning. Because of my work schedule, and family obligations,
I have a short window of time to write in the morning. When I’m in serious
book-writing mode, I’m waking up at 4:30 and writing until 6:45am.
How do you go
about researching detail and ensuring your books are realistic?
I always end up writing about what I know and adding
elements of my research to supplement it. I was working in digital marketing at
Universal Pictures while writing my book, so a lot of that crept into the book.
I never thought I’d be able to make a thriller about data and influencer
marketing, but I somehow did. I ended up researching a lot about those people,
and diving deeper into the industry I worked in. I have a lot of background
material on each character that could become spin-off novels.
Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most
difficult?
The conception process is probably the most difficult for
me, because I can go for weeks down rabbit holes in my mind, chasing plotlines
and concepts, only to realize they’re no good. Once I lock one down, I like to
write a general outline, refine that, then begin writing. The actual writing
process isn’t that hard for me, and I quite enjoy it. Refining it, revising it,
and chopping it up can be quite mentally taxing, however. I fall in love with
parts, and don’t want to lose them. Thankfully I have people like my wife and
my editor to knock some sense into me.
Were there any scenes which you had to edit out of your book
which you still hanker after?
Not so much scenes, as extended descriptions which I thought
were really good. Again, I trust my wife and editor who have no problem telling
it to me like it is. These descriptions were probably all masturbatory language
games that led nowhere. I love spare prose that doesn’t show off too much. But
I also love beautiful, bold writing. Style is so important to me. But I take
Stephen King’s advice on this when he says (paraphrasing): “Write with the door
closed, and rewrite with the door open.”
How long on average does it take you to write your first
draft?
Five to six months.
Are there any secret references hidden in your books?
Oh yes. There’s an easter egg in my book referencing Aldous
Huxley’s Brave New World. I’m thinking of holding a contest for the first
person who discovers it and tweets me about it. I have a couple self-published
books which I could gift them.
Do you have any
guilty pleasures which stop/ help you write?
Coffee. Lots of it. It’s terrible, I know, but nicotine does
seem to kick the brain into high gear in the morning.
Does writing
energize or exhaust you?
When I finish a paragraph and re-read it, sometimes I think
it’s the most amazing thing ever. That boosts my confidence throughout the day.
The downside, however, is that most of the time I’ll re-read my writing and
realize it’s terrible and needs a lot of work. That can really drag me down.
This is the proverbial double-edged sword of writing. It’s made me manic
depressive.
Do you or have you
ever considered writing under a pseudonym?
I have, actually. I lived in Spain a few years back and I
wrote a fictional crime column for a local newspaper under the pseudonym Larry
Kovaks. He’s a private eye that investigates petty crimes against tourists in
Barcelona. I might revisit him in the future. I had a blast writing his
stories. Quite a few folks, to my astonishment, thought he was real, and I even
received a few requests to investigate crimes. I felt I had reached peak Kovaks
when one guy wanted me to spy on his cheating wife. I didn’t do it, but
sometimes imagine what would have happened if I did.
Do you have any
other writers as friends and how do they influence your writing?
Not really. A lot want to write, but never follow through. I
don’t blame them. It’s a tough gig and most of us are toiling in obscurity. I
won’t recommend this career to my daughter unless she truly has her heart in
it.
If you could tell
your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to release your babies into the world and
let them live. I was too precious with my writing when I was younger. Too
insecure to write anything honest. Just lay it all out on the page and let it
loose in the world.
Do you believe in
writer’s block? What do you do to break its spell?
Yes, I certainly do. But, I don’t subscribe to the notion
that if you have writer’s block you should just write anyway, even if it’s
pages of stream of consciousness. That writing is so tedious and apparent. Go
for a walk, run, or just do anything else. Random circumstance will dictate the
next outcome in your stories. Just be ready to seize on the idea.
Can you give any hints about any upcoming books you have
planned?
I do have a future story: a continuation of sorts to Neon
Empire, with some of the same characters. There will be a cult, and it will set
on a beautiful island somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
Good luck with your novel, Drew and with any future stories you have!
About the Author
Drew Minh is a digital strategist living in Los Angeles, CA.
He has previously published short stories and nonfiction in 3AM, Word Riot,
Litro UK and many others. NEON EMPIRE is his debut novel.
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