Today we have author, S.S. Hampton, Sr.
1. When did you first realize
you wanted to be a writer?
Sometime around the age of
15, though I cannot remember what the actual “trigger” was. My first
publication was not until I was 38 years old, and 10 more years would pass
before the next publication. Since then I have been published on a fairly
regular basis.
2. How did you get into so
many different genres?
Let’s see—horror, science
fiction, fantasy, erotica, and military fiction. And throw in a little Western
and historical fiction (Greece and Rome). I have an interest in those subjects,
of course, and writing in those genres can be challenging and fun. I do and do
not like being scared, though I believe it is something “hardwired” within us;
science fiction, new worlds whether distant planets or time travel—stories are
wonderful possibilities. Fantasy, creating new worlds whether my vision of
Atlantis or writing of some kingdom that once existed before recorded history,
or even writing of elves and fairies that co-exist beside us. Erotica, ahem, ‘nuff
said! Military fiction—I have spent most of my adult life in the military or
associated with it, so the subject is very natural and familiar. I do, however,
usually like to add a supernatural element to such stories. Any Western I
dabble in usually has a cavalry focus to it, and of course, a supernatural
element. I enjoy dabbling in historical fiction, particularly during Greek and
Roman times. Of course, some genres are more fun than others, too. Perhaps that
is the key—writing, though it is a serious business, can and should be, FUN!
3. What are your struggles
when writing?
Well, too many cigarettes,
not enough coffee (two+ pots per day), or not enough beer, and finding myself
doing some basic editing while writing the initial draft. I should just write
and edit later. And of course, sometimes the story takes a turn I hadn’t
planned on which requires some revision to the outline so that I retain an idea
of where the story is going or may be headed toward.
4. Where do your book ideas
come from?
My imagination, the news,
something someone says, something I see, and even from my dreams. Ideas can pop
up anywhere, especially when you least expect it. The key is to listen and
observe, and write the ideas down as soon as you have them. I believe there is
an old saying, something like, “Luck favors the prepared.” You never know where
your next great idea is going to come from, so always be prepared.
5. What is your writing
method?
Give me cigarettes, coffee and/or beer, music or a DVD playing (I cannot
stand silence), an idea and/or outline, and I can start writing.
6. Why did you decide to go
with this type of publishing?
I have always been poverty
stricken, so vanity publishing is out of the question. Besides, selling and public
relations would have rested squarely on my own shoulders. To go with a full
service publisher, someone who provides the ISBN number, provides the cover
artwork, assigns an editor to work with me, and finds sale
outlets/distributors, all because they believe in the sales potential of my
manuscript, is a much better deal. A marketing plan, or public relations, still
rests on my shoulders, but I do not have to worry about the rest.
7. Is there anything you want
your readers to get out of your books?
Hopefully that the readers
enjoy my writings and they feel that their time has not been wasted.
8. Are you a plotter or a
pantser?
As I am not sure what a
“pantser” is, I will go with plotter. I generally start out with notes of
“Beginning,” “Middle,” and “End.” I will write down pivotal points in the story
and fill in additional details that form a basic outline. More and more these days,
especially as my writing becomes oriented toward novella length stories, I find
a detailed outline more useful. And I generally follow that unless the story
insists on going down an uncharted path. Then I will revise the outline to
ensure there are no loose ends.
9. Tell me a bit about
yourself.
Ah, I love cheese pizza with extra
cheese, sausage, and onion. I love orange cupcakes. My favorite breakfast is
biscuits and gravy with hash browns, bacon, and a cheese omelet. I love my
grandchildren; I tolerate my children, but I love my grandchildren. Oh yes. Someday
I want to visit the Himalayas.
10. Where can the reader find
your books?
Look for SS Hampton, Sr. at Melange
Books (http://www.melange-books.com/authors/sshampton/index.html);
And, thanks for having me on
your blog.
BLURB:
December, 1941,
and fresh Siberian troops from the Soviet Far East have launched savage
counter-attacks against the German invaders. The Eastern Front is torn open
with German units driven back, overwhelmed, or isolated. An exhausted Waffen SS
infantry platoon outside of Moscow needs to know what the Siberians, hidden in
a dark forest before them, are up to. A small patrol is sent into the snowy,
otherworldly forest…
EXCERPT:
A little more
than a dozen snow encrusted German soldiers, remnants of a once strong
motorized infantry platoon, grimly surveyed their surroundings. The frozen
winter sun cast a feeble light across theiroutpost on a small rise overlooking
a snowy road that bordered the forest before Moscow. Above them gray clouds
painted with broad pastel strokes of reds, yellows, and purples drifted across
the twilight sky.
"The sun's going down,"
Josef Frank said to no one in particular as he adjusted his leather “Y” straps
on which to attach his field gear. He carefully checked his 9mm MP 38
submachine gun. In the savage cold their weapons and ammunition were scraped
clean of lubricating oils because the oils froze and jammed the weapons. Even
then, successful operation was no guarantee. His weapon sometimes fired only
one to two rounds at a time. Then he checked the leather magazine pouches
fastened to his belt—three magazines, thirty rounds per magazine, ninety
rounds, and one “potato masher” stick grenade tucked in his belt. That was all
he had left to face the fresh Siberian troops lurking somewhere within the dark
forest before them—the last barrier that hid the suburbs of Moscow.
He glanced at the gaunt men wrapped
in all manner of clothing to protect themselves against the painful cold. In
that snowy otherwordly environment, it was sometimes hard to remember that he
was an SS-Unterscharführer, a sergeant and a squad leader, in a much
decimated Waffen SS motorized infantry battalion. All that was left of his
platoon was gathered on the rise—an MG-34 gunner and his assistant, a trio of
riflemen, a light mortar manned by two soldiers, and a pair of soldiers with a Panzerbusche 39 anti-tank rifle. Plus,
he and his squad of three surviving soldiers who would soon creep into the
forest to see what the Siberians were doing.
Their ground was no more than twenty
feet higher than the surrounding terrain, and though it gave them a good
overview, they were also sitting ducks. Low moans and an occasional cry came
from among the scores of dirty white forms sprawled on the snowy slopes of
their small rise of land. The shapeless forms trailed from the shadowed edges
of the vast forest…
BIOGRAPHY:
SS Hampton, Sr. is a
full-blood Choctaw of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a divorced grandfather to
13 wonderful grandchildren, a published photographer and photojournalist, and a
member of the Military Writers Society of America. He is a serving member of
the Army National Guard with the rank of staff sergeant, with prior service in
the active duty Army (1974-1985), the Army Individual Ready Reserve (1985-1995)
(mobilized for the Persian Gulf War), and enlisted in the Army National Guard
in October 2004, after which he was mobilized for Federal active duty for
almost three years. Hampton is a veteran of Operations Noble Eagle (2004-2006)
and Iraqi Freedom (2006-2007); he has recently been told that he must retire
from the Army National Guard on 1 July 2013. His writings have appeared as
stand-alone stories and in anthologies from Dark Opus Press, Edge Science
Fiction & Fantasy, Melange Books, Musa Publishing, MuseItUp Publishing, Ravenous
Romance, and as stand-alone stories in Horror Bound Magazine, The Harrow, and
River Walk Journal, among others. Second-career goals include becoming a
painter and studying for a degree in photography and anthropology—hopefully to
someday work in and photograph underwater archaeology. After 12 years of brown desert
in the Southwest and overseas, he misses the Rocky Mountains, yellow aspens in
the fall, running rivers, and a warm fireplace during snowy winters. As of
December 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hampton officially became a homeless Iraq War
veteran.
Melange Books
Musa Publishing
MuseItUp Publishing
Amazon.com Author Page
Amazon.com. UK Author Page
Goodreads Author Page
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6888342.S_S_Hampton_Sr_
I love reading your interviews, Stan. You sound so 100% honest I have trouble understanding how you come up with you mind-blowing stories. Maybe there isn't a contradiction, if the supernatural really exists...
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteHi. I'm glad you've enjoyed my writings. It's been slow going this year, balancing life and writing, but I'll have some more out there later this year. And novellas, even, rather than short stories! Thank you for your kind comments. And thanks for visiting.
Stan