Wednesday, April 15, 2015

My Guest: Wolf Schimanski

My Guest this week will have your heart thumping in your chest as you read one of his fast-paced action thrillers. But what makes an author choose to try to give you a heart attack? Ladies and Gentlemen...


Wolf Schimanski


My Writing and Motivation Influences

I really cannot say I have any experience in blogging whatsoever so I thought I would share some ideas and facts about how I came to write and who and what has influenced me along the way. My Mom was an insatiable reader and devoured books by the hundreds if not thousands throughout her 94 years on this planet. That passion must have been genetic as it was certainly passed down to me. Anything that looked remotely mysterious and suspenseful, I picked up and tore through. After some time, however, I started looking for that unique blend of excitement, suspense, action, spice and humor that only the Masters of my action/thriller genre could provide.

Amazon Link
I call them the Masters not only because of the millions of books they have sold world-wide but because of the way they have touched, motivated, inspired and influenced me. There is a long list of them but I have really concentrated on four to whom I am extremely grateful. First and foremost is the late and great Robert B. Parker whose dry wit, short sentences and unique stories amaze me every time I read one of his fabulous books.

Secondly, the amazing James Patterson; not so much his current work but his earlier Alex Cross series just blew me away and still gives me spine tingles every time I re-read those books.

Thirdly, Greg Iles has now become my favorite current author. His vivid descriptions of life in the deep south along with his scorching plot lines keep me turning those pages in awe. And last but certainly not least, John Sandford, just a terrific novelist and master storyteller of whom I can never get enough of.

Steven King, Dean Koontz, John Grisham and so many more have also managed to touch my thriller soul and to these authors I will always be thankful for what they were able to share with the world and myself. Because of these great writers, I was sitting around reflecting a number of years ago and a strange, wonderful and exciting thought came to me. “What would I like to read next?” And with that came, “Why not write the story I would like to read most that my favorite authors have not written?”

Now that I had a mission, how was I going to fulfill it? I started with a correspondence course on the essentials of writing as after all, just being a reader, what did I know about writing?  I had written some articles for a high school entertainment paper years ago but that hardly qualified me as a writer. So after learning the basics and being tutored by a successful author in his own right, the “Meter” series was born.  Once I finished the first book, 'Meter of Deception', my problem was now what do I do to get the message out to all the people out there that just could not wait for it, right?

Wrong. I had to figure out how to publish and market the book as well. After some unanswered query letters, I decided to take the book by the horns and do some research into what type of options were available for someone like me,  eager to  see my stories in print and get it into the hands of thriller fans. I found one such company called Createspace who designated a talented team of professionals to work with me on shaping and creating my dream, my first novel in print.

Amazon Link
The lessons learned from the first book were transferred into the second one, 'Meter of Corruption' which was published in early 2014, using the same characters from the first book. The reason being that I felt the characters had much more growing and experiencing to do so why not see what happens to them 5 years later? And so far my readers have agreed with my decision which has led me to work on my third book 'Meter of Redemption' to be completed sometime next year hopefully. This will complete the “Meter” series and give these unique and interesting characters the closure they deserve.

Anyone that has read Parker, Iles, Patterson and Sandford and then my books, will see where my influences and inspirations come from. I have never hesitated giving credit where credit is due. I owe them an immeasurable debt of gratitude along with my wife who is also my editor and staunchest supporter and all the readers and reviewers who have read and enjoyed my books so far. 

This whole journey has been a learning experience to this point and there is nothing more gratifying when a happy reader stops me or sends me a note to say, “I loved your book and cannot wait for the next one.” It proves that out of a crazy, totally obtuse idea, magic can happen; not only magic in my own life but magic in other people’s lives. It’s exciting to know I have the power to do that through a keyboard and some dear people that believe in me. 

So I will continue on my quest to write the most scintillating, exotic, thrilling and exciting page turners that I can and will never stop paying homage to the great writers that have inspired me and so many others, the Masters of my Action/Thriller genre.

BIO:


Wolf Schimanski is a man of many interests and talents. He has trained in martial arts, enjoys a variety of sports and is an accomplished guitarist and musician. Professionally Schimanski worked many years in the information technology, management and financial planning industries.

An avid reader turned breakthrough author, Schimanski brings his own unique spin to the action/thriller genre and thus far has released two exceptionally gripping, fast paced works of fiction - 'Meter of Deception' and 'Meter of Corruption'.

Schimanski lives with his wife Terri and divides his time between their lakeside home in Mount Forest, Ontario in the summer and their winter residence in London, Ontario, Canada.  He is currently working on his third novel, the final installment in the Meter trilogy.

When Wolf is not penning his action thrillers or plucking guitar strings, he can be found here:

Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/Wolf-Schimanski/e/B0094JVA8O
GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7066889.Wolf_Schimanski
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wolfschim
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorWolfSchimanski

Thank you, Wolf, for talking about a subject most writers seem to shy away from, the Masters who've influenced their own work. Best wishes for book 3 in the series, 'Meter of Redemption'.

Eric @ www.ericjgates.com

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