Meet Author A.P. Fuchs

I met A.P. Fuchs via email when he sent me a review request. Well you know me, I will definitely work for free books! I also like to check out all of the authors whose books I'm reading, it makes me feel more connected to the work. And there was a lot to find out about A.P.! He started from the bottom up and has grown a great little publishing company (and I don't mean "little" in a derogatory way, I mean "little" as in he still knows everyone he works with/publishes) and put out a lot of books. I only read the first in the Blood of my World trilogy, Discovery of Death, but I will be reading the others. And also more of his work. Read my review at See Spot Read. And then come back to meet the man:


1.) How long have you been writing?

About eleven years, though I flirted with it prior to then but nothing you would call serious.

2.) Do you write full time or do you have another job?

I write and publish full time and have been doing so since March of 2009. My “day job” is now running my own publishing company, Coscom Entertainment, and its imprint, Torn Veil Books. (see http://www.coscomentertainment.com and http://www.tornveilbooks.com respectively)

3.) What was your first published work?

If you’re talking non-self-published stuff, then I think it was a short story I did called Rag Man published by a place called Quasar Realm Studios. Actually, I don’t know if it was ever published, but I’m 99% sure it was something I got paid for and was my first sale. The story has since been revised and re-released in my short story collection, Magic Man Plus 15 Tales of Terror.

In terms of books, I subsidy-published—very naively, I might add—my first novel, A Stranger Dead, but my first Coscom Entertainment print publication was my B-horror novel, A Red Dark Night (now out-of-print but on the schedule for a revised edition for this year).

4.) What made you decide to go the Indie route?

Stupidity and naivety.

Let me explain:

Originally, Coscom Entertainment was meant to be a publishing house for comics, but when that career path didn’t pan out, and I got involved with writing, I got suckered into vanity publishing and paid over two grand for a book that I’m not proud of. Correction: a book with a story I’ll stand by until the day I die, but with writing that could use a good polish.

The whole procedure of going from manuscript to print with them was a nightmare and a half. It was a money pit. I was taken advantage of. It just plain sucked. However, ironically through it all I fell in love with the book publishing process and being the entrepreneurial-minded person that I am, I officially launched Coscom Entertainment in 2004—though it was already a registered company since 2001—and A Red Dark Night was its debut horror paperback.

The plan was for the company to publish my own stuff and that’s it. However, my friend and colleague, horror author Keith Gouveia—who you should be reading if you’re not already; his stuff is really good—asked me if I was interested in publishing a benefit anthology for the late Charles Grant called Small Bites. I did, and it was then that Coscom Entertainment changed from a house that published just my work to a house that published other folks. Things just kind of grew from there.

5.) This trilogy of YA novellas center around a vampire and the love of his life, who happens to be from a family of vampire slayers. Have you always written about vampires?

No. This is my first outing, actually. I have written love stories before under the pen name Peter Fox (April; My Angel and Me), but no vampire tales. I really enjoy writing love stories because it’s a genre that’s really dear to me for personal reasons and, since I write horror and superhero stuff as A.P. Fuchs, I thought it was about time in my career to combine the two genres and do a vampire love story. I guess you can say Peter Fox has an uncredited byline in the Blood of my World series.

6.) What scares you personally? Do you have any silly phobias?

Forests at night. Dark basements. The idea of that invisible evil that could be lurking around the next corner. But out of those three, dark basements get me every time. Blair Witch scared me so bad I haven’t seen it since it first came out as they incorporated the top two things that terrify me the most in that film.

7.) What is your writing routine?

These days, I do Coscom Entertainment and Torn Veil Books stuff during the day, and work on my own personal material at night.

My old routine was to pull up the story on the computer, see where I left off, go make coffee, then head outside and smoke a cigarette while I formulated what would happen next. I’d come inside and basically just write down what I saw in my head.

Now, though, I pretty much just decide, “Okay, I’m going to write,” and take the laptop to bed, get comfy, put the computer on my lap and just go.

8.) Have you always been a fan of horror?

Growing up, I was never allowed to watch it. I actually only ventured into it once I was living on my own when I was 18. At the time, the dark stuff happening on the screen really matched what was going on internally, so it seemed a perfect fit and something I ended up carrying into my writing.

9.) What other authors inspire you?

The top three are Stephen King, Alan Moore, and Terry Goodkind.

10.) What advice would you give to newbie writers out there?

I just recently wrote for another blog the following:

Two main things:

First,  stop talking about the book you’re trying to write and just write the thing.

I meet too many “aspiring writers” or even artists who talk about creating but never do it because they’re too busy with other stuff. If your art isn’t important enough to make the time for it, why even bother doing it? You’re better off spending time do that which means a lot to you instead.

Second, if you are indeed serious about this business, sit down and decide what your goals are. Do you want to write full time? Part time? Hobby? Each of those requires different roads to get to where you want to be. Usually, if you want to write full time, you get an agent and try and sell the book for at least enough money to cover your expenses for a year. Part time? Mid to small press is good, and you don’t need an agent for those. Hobby? Self-publishing can be an option.

I also strongly suggest not to buy into all this eBook hype that’s been going around. The reality is a big part of this business is chance. Sad but true. Some books hit it big, others don’t. No one knows why and if someone says they do, they’re lying (or got lucky). If publishers knew what would hit, they’d produce those books every time, right?

But in the end, actually write your book and decide what you’re going to do with it after that, and be specific because “getting it published” can mean just about anything these days.

Thanks for having me. It was fun.

About the Author:

A.P. Fuchs is the author of many novels and short stories, most of which have been published. His most recent books are Possession of the Dead, Magic Man Plus 15 Tales of Terror and Zombie Fight Night: Battles of the Dead, in which zombies fight such classic monsters as werewolves, vampires, Bigfoot, and even go up against awesome foes like pirates, ninjas, and . . . Bruce Lee.

A.P. Fuchs is also known for his superhero series, The Axiom-man Saga, and the author of the shoot ’em up zombie trilogy, Undead World. He also edited the zombie anthologies Dead Science and Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes: Zany Zombie Poetry for the Undead Head.

Fuchs lives and writes in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Visit his corner of the Web at www.canisterx.com

He can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ap_fuchs

Happy Tuesday,
♥Spot