Interview with debut novelist Andy Holloman

My second guest of the new year is writer Andy Holloman to talk about his debut novel, Shades of Gray. He has a giveaway to a lucky commentor during his virtual book tour. Details below.

Bio:
Writer Andy Holloman has been scribbling stories since a young age. (According to reliable sources.) Shades of Gray is his first published novel and grew out of his experiences as a travel agency owner many moons ago. He was fascinated with the true story of a client of the business that was murdered.

He is the father of three and happily married for 20 years. A graduate of UNC-CH, he lives in the Raleigh, NC area and is busy carpooling, keeping his wife happy, and attending his kids sporting events. He loves the great outdoors in NC, is an avid reader, and a social media goofball. Most evenings, he can be found tapping on his well-worn keyboard as he "births" his next novel.


Welcome to Reviews and Interviews, Andy. What inspired you to write this book?
Many moons ago, I was the owner of a group of Travel Agencies (3 offices) in the Raleigh/Durham area. Sometime in the late 1990s, one of my sales people clued me in regarding a client of hers that appeared to be purchasing airline tickets in an unusual (but legal) fashion. My staff person speculated that this client may be doing something illegal. Not too long after this, we became aware that this client was found dead of a gunshot wound in her burned out home in Durham, NC. The news about her death indicated that she was a suspected drug dealer. After 9/11, my company suffered, as did the entire industry, and a story “seed” planted itself in my brain and continued to grow – “What lengths would a desperate business owner go to in order to save his/her company.”

What exciting story are you working on next?
I am in the very early stages of punching out a new novel that I would describe as an “Irving-esque romp through the 1990s as seen through the eyes of two Irish twins who come of age in the US during the rise of the internet.” Title is TBD.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I found it easy to consider myself a writer when I joined a writers group around 2004 in the Cary, NC area.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Like most writers, I have a day job as a residential mortgage lender and my life is rather full with my family life and my day job. I find that I can typically fit in about 5-7 hours per week of writing, mostly between 9pm and 11pm and on the weekends.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Hmm, I can’t say that I have any interesting writing quirks. But I can assure you that I’m going to try to develop a few!! Maybe I could do something interesting like switch to doing all my writing on an old electric typewriter? Nope, I’d be lost if I had to write without my “spell checker”! (*wink*)

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
My ambitions as a child were all about being a professional athlete. First and foremost, I wanted to play in the NBA. If that didn’t work out, then I would have settled for major league baseball!!

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I truly, truly love readers. Hands down the most delightful aspect of publishing my book has been the interactions with readers and prospective readers. Getting a book published is a long, long road as is SELLING books. Even though I’m just at the beginning of my publishing journey, I know that my long term success will be in the hands of my readers. I delight in the way in which Social Media sites (Twitter and Facebook) allow me to interact with readers and I pledge to everyone who reads my book to do everything within my power to respond to your questions, comments, and suggestions. THANKS SO MUCH !!!!!!!! KEEP ON READING !!!!!

Thanks, Andy. Best of luck with your writing.

Readers, leave a comment with your e-mail for the chance to win a free e-copy of Shades of Gray.