An Interview with Martin Wilsey

Welcome Martin! Thanks for being here.

Tell us a little about yourself.
MW: I am a writer, hunter, photographer, rabble rouser, father, friend, marksman, story teller, frightener of children, carnivore, engineer, fool, philosopher, cook and madman. My wife Brenda and I live in Virginia where, just to keep me off the streets, I work as a research scientist for a government funded think tank. I have two awesome kids in college. I look forward to retiring so I can write full time and have a dog in addition to my cat Bailey.

What is the Soltice 31 Saga about?
MW: The story is about a simple maintenance man named Roland Barcus. When his deep space survey ship is suddenly destroyed, killing its crew of over 2000, he must fight to survive and figure out what happened, or die in a savage genocide.

Besides Science Fiction, are there any other genres you enjoy reading? Who (if any) are your ‘auto-buy’ authors?
MW: I enjoy a lot of mysteries. My auto-buy authors are Robert Crais, Lawrence Block, Larry Corriea, Elizabeth Peters, and many others.

Your house is on fire and you can only take three items. Assume your loved ones and pets are safe. What would you take?
MW: I would take the following three things:

My network mass storage drive. It has all my files, photos, music and software.
My family bible. It’s almost 600 years old.
My childhood stuffed rabbit.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
MW: Do NOT wait for the muse. Sit down and write every day. Make it a habit. Turn off the TV. Do NOT open Facebook of any internet social media. Just write. Something. Anything. Do outlines. Keep files of ideas. Keep a notebook with you at all times because you will find ideas everywhere.

Read a lot. Read the kind of books you like to write. Also read about writing.

When you finally sit down to write your novel, hammer all the way through a first draft without going back to edit or revise or polish. It’s a trap. There are millions of stories out there that remain unfinished because the author keeps going back. Give yourself permission to finish a first draft that isn’t perfect!