A Quick Chat with Author BR Stateham

My name is B.R. Stateham. I am a seventy-one-year old curmudgeon/hermit. I am lucky enough to be married to the same woman for the last 36 years. I am a father of three, and a grandfather of seven wonderful grand kids. My wife, bless her, has been crazy enough lo’ these many years in putting up with my eccentricities and picadilloes. Frankly, she’s nuts for doing so. But I’m very grateful for her infinite patience and quiet tolerance for my mood swings (as, you know, the vast majority of writers do have huge mood swings while gripped in the creative process).

How long have you been a writer?

Round it off to about an even 50 years. I wrote my first novel, a sci/fi tome, when I was 12 years old. I’m seventy-one now. Now, I know . . . you’re asking yourself this; “If he’s been writing this long, why haven’t I heard of him?”

Good question. I’m still trying to figure that out myself.

Do you write in any specific genre?

Currently, I write fiction. Genre fiction, to be precise. I write mysteries, historical mysteries, and sci/fi and fantasy. I’m old school enough to separate sci/fi from fantasy.

I’ve been tinkering around with the idea of writing a non-fiction book. Something involving History (I used to be a History teacher at the high school/grade school level). But I’ve so many novels lined up, one after the other, I don’t think the itch for a nonfiction effort will never see the light of day.

Which writers do you admire or have influenced you?

An old gizzard like myself will come up with names hardly anyone remembers these days.

Names like Raymond Chandler, Ed McBain, Dashiell Hammit in the realm of mysteries. Or writers like Robert Heinlein or Isaac Asimov in science fiction. Of course there are many, many others more contemporary I could name. But these five names infused into me both the imagination a writer must develop, along with the commitment to write regardless of what other people may say.

What is your writing style?

To be honest, I write a scene-at-a-time. The novels I write are movie-scripts written in long hand for the reader to enjoy. I come up with a clear and distinct image/plot for the first chapter of the novel. And then I improvise . . . visually . . . from there on.

The only plotting and planning I do; I do while in the midst of writing. Nothing is set down on paper or computer memory in regard to plotting out a novel beforehand. I like the free-wheeling, seat of your pants method of writing while I am writing. To plan ahead of time and know how the plot and story line is going to come out, seems to me, to be very stifling and very limiting of one’s imagination and storytelling.

But each to their own method.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Good question. Lots of times I like sitting in my chair and stare out the window as I chart out in my head the scenes which need to come, one after the other. At other times, the task of just writing itself takes over and words just flow out of me.

But then, there are times when the act of sitting down in front of the keyboard and doing the mechanic of writing is such an anathema to me, I want to get up and pound my head on the wall.

That’s, frankly, the lot of most writers.

About the Book

Lenny by B.R. Stateham
Genre: Mystery

Synopsis

Lenny has stared death in the face many times, from the jungles of Thailand & Vietnam to the mountain passes of Afghanistan. Now after a career of service he’s back in his hometown of Ballard, Texas looking for what comes next. Sheriff Greene knows an asset when he sees one and it’s not long before he signs Lenny up as his new deputy in the fight against the narcotics cartel that has over-run their quiet border town.20 years in the army have taught Lenny never to underestimate the things people are capable of but as the bullets begin to fly and the casualties begin to mount it’s just possible that his investigation may bring him closer to home than he ever expected.

Praise for B.R. Stateham’s Lenny

“Cooler than a fridge full of beer…”

“This is modern noir at its very best…”

“B.R. Stateham is at the top of his game right now…”

“Lenny may be the best thing B.R. Stateham has ever written, and as readers of his work will know, that’s quite a high bar to hit.”

“B.R. Stateham has created an action packed tale – another winner from Fahrenheit Thirteen…”

Add to your Goodreads shelf.

Purchase on Amazon | Fahrenheit Press

About B.R. Stateham

B.R. Stateham is a fourteen-year-old boy trapped in a seventy-year-old body. But his enthusiasm and boyish delight in anything mysterious and/or unknown continue.

Writing novels, especially detectives, is just the avenue of escape which keeps the author’s mind sharp and inquisitive. He’s published a ton of short stories in online magazines like Crooked, Darkest Before the Dawn, Abandoned Towers, Pulp Metal Magazine, Suspense Magazine, Spinetingler Magazine, Near to The Knuckle, A Twist of Noir, Angie’s Diary, Power Burn Flash, and Eastern Standard Crime. He writes both detective/mysteries, as well as science-fiction and fantasy.

Connect with B.R. on his Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads