Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a full-time author and ghostwriter and holder of a Master’s Degree in Physics, which often plays well in my creation of other worlds. I am a master of creating alien and fantastical worlds, having written some 35 books to date, including the 13-book epic that is Maldene, the 5-book supernatural conspiracy story of Cyberdawn, the Inspector Flaatphut series, and more. I just have this one problem with writing, though: I can't stop! I am a writer and storyteller through to the core. I have been writing my own novels since 1993– close to 35 of them at last count, making my career wordcount close to 10 million words– and that was after about 15 years of planning out the first of them. I have been a professional ghostwriter since 2010, though I have lost track of the number of books so ghostwritten. Furthermore, I have a Master’s Degree in Physics and a second BS in Math, which plays well with my creation of other worlds and alien sciences. My mind has gone to the ends of the Multiverse and back, and engraved my imaginative musings into such stories as I would love the world to see. In short, I start at ‘epic’ and work up from there, but all while never forgetting that it is the characters that the story hangs upon.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
"Night Of The Skulls" It's a steam-pulp novel written by myself to cap off a series of stories that me and three others cobbled together about the Londinium Explorer's Club.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write to music playing, and pretty much start at 7:30 in the morning, writing through about 4 or 5, break, then edit that night. Once a chapter is finished then I edit that again and prep for the next chapter. At the end of a book I go through the endire book one more time. I can usually pen a 350,000-word novel in about 3 months.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
A LOT. Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, Andre Norton, A. E. Van Vogt.
What are you working on now?
Between ghostwriting gigs I'm outlining my next set of books that revolve around a world with 16 moons and a couple of rather original plot points. My current working title is "Many Worlds"
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
http://www.maldene.com I have al;l my social media linked through there. Also on FB my fan page is https://www.facebook.com/Mark-Anthony-Tierno-Author-of-Maldene-117102904979088/
Which Websites you like most to promote your book
Still haven't found any really great ones. I'm on FB, of course: https://www.facebook.com/Mark-Anthony-Tierno-Author-of-Maldene-117102904979088/ and my own site at http://www.maldene.com
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you aren't doing this because of a passion, if writing is work to you, then don't quite your day job. On the other hand, if Monday means "Oh, great, I get to start a new chapter today!" and weekends mean t's a long time to monday, if you work up an emotional sweat with everything you write, then don't give up that dream.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Coming from myself, which is the exact opposite to some advice a rather famous SF author gave in a book of his, and that is to forget the market and write your passion. The market will change, and if you write something you have little passion it then that will show. But write what your soul feels and that too will show in the extraordinary things you will find yourself putting to paper.
What are you reading now?
One of my old books from my LAnd of the Hive series; I like to re-rerad my stuff from time to time to remind myself how I write for me (as opposed to what I write for clients), but always with an editing pen in hand just in case I find a typo or two.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Well, I've got the "great writer" part licked, now I just need to get the "rich and famous" part of the equation going.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A rather thorough survival guide, a directory of Ham and shortwave frequencies (along with the complementary radio that would come with it, so I can call for help), an anthology of the best SF and Fantasy stories for whichever year it would be, and one of my own.