Interview with Andy Hollowman

The week's almost over, blogosprites! I don't know about you, but it's been a long one for me. So how about another interview? Today we're talking with writer Andy Hollowman. Let's get to know him.

Welcome to We Do Write, Andy. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Gladly. I'm a pretty typical, 40-something guy. Live in the Raleigh, NC area with my wife of 20 years and three wonderful kids (well, they're wonderful *most* of the time). I enjoy the outdoors in NC, (beaches, mountains), camping, running, and being involved in my kids lives. My day job is in real estate financing and I also do some real estate buying on the side. Went to university at UNC-Chapel Hill and did a fair amount of writing then and after college (nothing published).

How long have you been writing?

I've been seriously writing since about 2002, when the idea for my first novel "Shades of Gray" got stuck inside my brain and I found that the only way I could get it out was to write it down.

Tell us about SHADES OF GRAY. What’s the story about?

My novel is a thriller that is revolves around the life of single father and travel agency owner who finds himself in a very bad financial bind when his daughter is diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, and his formerly thriving business is ravaged by the effects of 9/11 on his industry. He teams up with a client of the business that is a drug dealer, and a single mom, and together they form a partnership to smuggle drugs aboard cruise ships. The story is mostly set in the Raleigh/Durham NC area with brief stops in Mexico and St. Thomas, V.I.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

I was a travel agency owner myself for most of the 1990's and one of my staff alerted me to a client that she suspected was doing something illegal during her travels. This client was later found murdered in her burned down home and thus our suspicions about her appeared to be true as the incident was reported by the police as drug-related. After this event (and the downfall of my business post 9/11), I began to think about the age old question of "How far would one go to save their company?"

Wow, interesting. What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Re-writing. No doubt about it. I truly enjoyed laying out the story for "Shades of Gray". It was fun to develop the characters and put them in difficult situations. I enjoyed the sculpting of the plot and finding interesting ways to reveal clues and provide foreshadowing as to what would be coming about at the end. But the re-writing, OMG! That has been tedious. I read an author who described the process of creating a novel not as "writing" but as "re-writing". Boy this is so true. It takes a lot of time and energy to re-write. It has been valuable in that I can see now where the novel is much improved over its earlier forms.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

I need the following when writing - Coffee and sodas, lots of caffiene. If it is after five o'clock, then I need a glass of red wine. I must have absolute silence, so no music. And I must have my handy, dandy notepad with my thoughts and my outline at the ready.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

No doubt about it, flying like Superman.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I truly owe the most incredible debt of gratitude to my best friend, my wife. She has been through so much with me and remains the most honest, caring, and loving person I've ever met. To have her in my life has made writing possible and has made me the luckiest person I know.

And finally, where can people find you and your book online?

http://novelistandyholloman.wordpress.com/

Thanks so much for chatting with us, Andy. Good luck with your book!