Today I welcome r. r. campbell to the blog to answer a few questions
for Author Interview³.
1) Tell us 3 facts about your writing history
• My first foray into fiction was in fifth grade, when I wrote a weekly serial about a man named Albert who was stranded on a desert island and had to confront some generally wacky circumstances. It was basically just an adaptation of the lyrics to Weird Al’s “Albuquerque,” but my classmates seemed to enjoy it at the time anyway.
• I started to take my writing more seriously after a volunteer program I was part of in Brazil went awry. Instead of teaching Spanish and English to university students, I ended up learning Portuguese and writing a book. Not a bad trade-off.
• During and after college, I spent a few years delivering pizza. At that time, much of my drafting took place in my head between late night deliveries, which helped me fine tune my pre-writing visualization process—something I continue to use today!
2) Describe your writing style in 3 words
I’m going to cheat a little and use some hyphens…
• Goal-oriented
• Voice-driven
• Focused
3) Name 3 of your literary influences
These are the authors whose work most affected my approach to my debut novel, Accounting for It All, and my upcoming sci-fi release, EMPATHY: Imminent Dawn.
• Tess Sharpe
• Margaret Atwood
• George R. R. Martin
4) Share your 3 favourite books
I’m not one to log favorites (seriously, I don’t even have a favorite color or food), but I’ve reread or fallen in love with these books in the last year.
• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
• The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood
5) What are your 3 essential writing tools?
• Coffee delivered intravenously
• The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
• Lofi hip-hop beats or TV and movie soundtracks
6) Where are your 3 favourite places to write?
• My desk! With dual screens and the cozy comfort of my home office, what’s not to love?
• I live in a city surrounded by three lakes; I used to spend time writing in parks near them, but have gotten away from it in the last few years. Maybe it’s time to go back…
• I’d love a week away at some point to write either beachside or in a hidden cabin somewhere in northern Wisconsin.
7) Name 3 items on your writing wish list
• I’d love to eventually work with a literary agent, especially for some of the writing projects I have planned going forward.
• I also plan to one day turn Accounting for It All into a movie script and the EMPATHY series into a number of screenplays for a television serial.
• I’d also like to find more speaking opportunities! I love learning and teaching, and doing so in the world of writing is no exception.
8) What are your top 3 tips for aspiring writers?
• If you can, schedule time to write. Once it’s part of a routine, writing becomes far less daunting.
• Join the community—online and in real life!
• Write first, edit later.
9) Tell us 3 of your writing plans for the year ahead
• I’ll be launching my EMPATHY science fiction series with NineStar Press in January 2019! If all goes according to plan, books one through three (out of five total) will be released by the time 2019 has come to an end.
• I’ll also be leading four sessions on various writing-related topics at the University of Wisconsin Writers’ Institute in April 2019. If you’re in the Midwest (or just looking to take a trip for an awesome writing conference), come meet me during this invigorating four-day event!
• Another one of my plans for the year ahead is to find time to complete a manuscript outside the EMPATHY universe by writing either Five Weddings and a Sinkhole, Spam, or Slickshot Abby and the Road to San Lagarto. Whether I’ll have the time to do so remains to be seen, but setting a goal is the first step toward achieving it!
10) Tell us about your latest release
My latest release is Accounting for It All, a work of contemporary fiction about an adult-film-star-turned-accountant who finds herself at the center of an IRS investigation into a money laundering scheme she had no idea she was a part of. As she sorts out that mess, she has to confront both her blossoming feelings for the man she’s enlisted to teach her accounting, as well as the return of the woman she’s always loved, who’s finally ready to try to make things work.
My original intent in writing this novel was to pen a lighthearted farce that straddled the line between novel and novella. That, of course, was before the romantic angles seeped into my plans for the manuscript, and well before things got further complicated for my protagonist when her mother’s health took a turn for the worse.
What we ended up with then, is a tale that’s in many ways lighthearted, yes, but also evocative: through Robin, we explore not only the stress that comes with being an incompetent accountant struggling to fend off the IRS, but also her inner turmoil as she confronts the long, winding road she took through the world of adult acting to end up where she is today.
Heap all of that in with her mother’s deteriorating condition and the complex relationship dynamics between Robin and an old flame that’s been reignited, and we have ourselves an emotional rollercoaster with twists and turns—along with loops, mountains, and valleys—for readers of all backgrounds.
Accounting for It All will be available in eBook and print from most major retailers on November 19th, 2018. You can learn more about it at accountingforitall.com, where I also have a series of blog posts about the research that went into writing the novel.
r. r. campbell
Publisher: NineStar Press
19 November 2018
89k words
Contemporary/FF/MF
Heat Level: Explicit
Add to Goodreads
NineStar Press / Amazon / B&N
Former porn-star Robin Whethers has skated by as Pornucopia’s do-nothing accountant for years. And who can blame her? Her supervisor has only encouraged her dillydallying, and it’s given her oodles of time to do what she loves most: coach the talent at her mentor’s all-female pornography studio.
But then the IRS comes knocking. With her supervisor unable to bail her out, Robin can either come clean and risk her friendships and career, or buck up and find another way to skirt the system. No matter how she chooses, along the way she’ll have to confront both her blossoming feelings for the man she’s enlisted to teach her accounting and the return of the woman she’s always loved, who’s finally ready to try to make things work.
This lighthearted yet evocative tale of one woman’s quest for self-actualization is sure to please anyone who’s ever made the wrong choice for the right reasons.
Giveaway
r. r. campbell is currently running a giveaway. To find out more, visit his website HERE.
About the Author
r. r. campbell is an author, editor, and the founder of the Writescast Network, a podcast collective for writers, by writers. His work has been featured in Five:2:One Magazine’s #thesideshow, Erotic Review, and with National Journal Writing Month. He is the author of titles including Accounting for It All (NineStar Press) and EMPATHY: Imminent Dawn (NineStar Press, January 2019). r. r. lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife, Lacey, and their cats, Hashtag and Rhaegar.
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