Author Interview: K Michael Casey

K. Michael Casey is a professor at the University of Central Arkansas and lives near Conway, Arkansas with his wife, Diane, and their two children. Other than writing and hunting, he spends his time helping Diane, an ordained minister, plant a church in a nearby rural community. Chinchuba is his first published novel.

Plug time. What book or project is coming out or has come out that you’d like to tell us about?

Chinchuba is my recently-released supernatural thriller that I am trying to generate some buzz about. It’s based on one of the most intriguing archeological mysteries of the last 500 years which is the disappearance of the Biloxi Indian tribe inhabiting the region we know as coastal Mississippi and Louisiana. What happened to the Biloxi tribe in 1542? No one knows, but in my supernatural thriller, Chinchuba, modern-day disappearances begin anew.

While plundering Indian burial mounds, grave robbers unleash an ancient evil, the Chinchuba. Local authorities suspect a serial killer as dismembered bodies begin to surface. Meanwhile, archeologist Dr. Kat Abnaki discovers herself ancestrally linked to the string of deaths.

Kat, a descendant of the supposedly extinct Biloxi tribe, becomes the target of a New Orleans shaman searching for the sacrifice necessary to control the Chinchuba and magnify his powers. Kevin Croix, an unorthodox street preacher who sleeps in a coffin, will ultimately enter the spiritual and physical battle on Kat’s behalf.

Other than that blurb, I’d like to tell everyone to buy it.

Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract, how you heard and what went through your head.

It’s been a lesson in perseverance. I actually began trying to craft a novel in 1990 so it’s been a 15 year process to finally see that dream fulfilled with publication. However, Chinchuba is actually the fifth novel I’ve completed during that time period although it is the first one in print. The others are collecting dust in the attic. I actually did not get really excited until I saw the proof for the cover. At that time, I realized this was really going to happen.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

All the time. Every time I read one of my favorite authors, it fills me with self doubt. I also have a bad habit of watching the sales numbers of Chinchuba and constantly wondering if my work will generate enough interest to move to the next level. What keeps me going is that I don’t have very many authors that I truly enjoy reading, so I do believe there is an audience for people with similar tastes.

What’s the best advice you’ve heard on writing/publication?

Keep writing and submitting your work. I believe the current environment in the publishing industry will ultimately have to change and the big publishing houses will not be the only commercially successful outlets for aspiring writers.

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve heard?

Create a detailed outline (for fiction) before you start. I tried that method over and over again and ended up deviating from it every time. I don’t think all writers have to be structured. Reading King’s book on writing vindicated me since his creative process is similar to mine. He just writes and the story unfolds. I attempt to do the same.

What’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

How to craft an effective query letter is something that took me a long time to learn. I finally started generating letters that piqued interest and caused chapters to get requested. I also finally bought some letterhead. It sounds simple, but I think queries keep a lot of talented writers from being published. I still struggle with telling someone about my novel in a few sentences.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has been speaking to you lately?

My wife is an ordained Assembly of God minister and we are pioneering a small rural church in Arkansas. One scripture that continues to minister to both of us throughout this process that also applies to writing is Hebrews 12; 1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Is there a particularly difficult set back that you’ve gone through in your writing career you are willing to share?

A couple of times I’ve had well-known literary agents with high profile client lists give some serious consideration to my work. It is very disappointing to have a query letter pulled from the slush pile and to have chapters requested, and then the entire book requested, and then ultimately denied representation. You get so close, and then slammed back to reality.

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

My list of fiction favorites includes The Oath and The Visitation by Frank Peretti, Saving Faith and Total Control by David Baldacci, and Relic and Still Life With Crows by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I really enjoy every one of Preston and Child’s books.

If your authorial self was a character from The Wizard of Oz, which one would you be and why?

That’s hard to answer, but is probably the lion because I still need courage to continue submitting work that might get rejected 100 times before finding a home.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why?

Obviously Chinchuba is an achievement for me that I’m proud of but I also have an unpublished science fiction short story called Azure’s Fate that I enjoy. Otherwise, I am working on a non-fiction project about retirement and social security.

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

After submitting to a number of major agents on the coasts I am convinced that the industry gatekeepers are not very receptive to conservative viewpoints or Christian themed fiction.

Can you give us a view into a typical day of your writing life?

I am a morning person so I typically get up early (around 5:00 am or so) and write for a couple of hours. I try to put words on paper and generate a first draft of any project before I go back and rewrite. Since I don’t make a living from my writing, the rest of the day is devoted to my real job.

If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?

I love the way Preston and Child, and Baldacci for that matter, craft a plot with a number of related subplots. I’ve dissected their work to try to learn from them.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

I would love to see one of my novels listed on the New York Times Bestseller list and reach a point where I earned a living from writing.

Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

Yes. I periodically go through that the calculation of how many hours I spend on writing versus the payoff to date. However, I also enjoy writing so I always come back to the decision that I do this for myself more than anyone else.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

I love the creativity of fiction. You just put words on paper and the story unfolds. My least favorite part is the desire for someone to like my work. I’d like to get beyond that part.

How much marketing do you do? Any advice in this area?

My publisher’s marketing budget is non-existent so I’m trying to generate some interest on Amazon. I’m new to this part so I need advice more than I would have any advice to give.

Parting words?

Keep writing! And buy my book!