Interview with Alan Tucker

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Thanks for having me here! I'm a writer, a graphic designer, a dad, and a soccer coach — not necessarily in that order! I've been writing off and on since I was little. Plays, short stories, poems, you name it. I started a handful of novels but never completed one until 2010.
When I'm not writing or performing other tasks to keep a roof over my head, I like to spend time with my two daughters (21 and 16 now — holy cow I'm old!) and our family pets: Penny, the dog in my bio picture, and cat Goldielocks. I've also coached soccer for many years.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve always written, ever since I was little, but in most cases I would start something but not have an ending, or vice versa. My graphic design business was a little slow a few summers ago, so I thought I’d give this story a shot. About four months later, I had a complete first draft finished. Then, I sent it out to a few friends and relatives who encouraged me to take it farther. I haven’t really looked back since.

Tell us about A MEASURE OF DISORDER. What's the story about?

This book begins the tales of an eighth grade science class that is sent to another world while on a field trip. Once they discover what's happened, they try to find a way home, only to have the world begin to reshape each of them according to its vision of their inner being, or soul if you will. I had one reviewer describe the concept as "completely insane," but in a good way!

How did the idea of the story come to you?

My younger daughter was about the age of the characters when they start out as eighth graders and I wanted to write a story featuring that age group. Most books I found were either younger or older aged characters. As far as the story goes, I’ve never been a fan of the “everything goes back to normal” formula of a lot of stories. Change is an integral part of life and I wanted to portray that in the stories. Growing up is hard. Growing up and becoming something else entirely would present a whole new set of problems.

Are you a planner or a pantser?

A little bit of both, but if I had to pick one I'd say pantser. I usually have a pretty good idea of where I want the story to go when I'm writing it, but how I get there is rather unscripted a lot of the time.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Lately finding the time! I just finished up a ghostwriting project and I've also been busy with graphic design projects, but I'm definitely itching to get back to my current work in progress. As far as the process itself, the little unexpected details can take more time than anything else. You come to a point in a story where your character does something that, on the surface, seems like an ordinary activity, like fly fishing. But, when you start writing about it, you realize that you want to describe the flies he's using or just more about the activity. So, you have to start doing some research about something that has very little to do with the grand scheme of things in the story, but it's those little details that are so important to creating a rich environment.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

The only thing I can think of is my computer, but even that isn't entirely true because I often work on plot points or particular passages in my books while I'm walking the dog or running errands. My stories are never far from my thoughts.

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

The Flash was one of my favorites as a kid. I always thought it would be the coolest thing to be able to run fast enough to be invisible, or even time travel! Flash had a special treadmill he used a few times to do that and those stories really fired my imagination.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Mustard gas. I needed to research it for my last project.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: liquidate, liquid, and date.

The delicious, syrupy liquid from the last date dribbled down my chin as I frantically searched the house for something valuable to liquidate in order to purchase more of the magical fruit from the vendor across the street.

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

Thanks again to you for having me here today! And many thanks for Megan for putting this tour together. I never knew so much work would go into a book after I typed "The End"! Most of all, though, I'd like to thank all the readers who've given my work a chance and took the time to write reviews saying how much they've enjoyed the stories. No book will ever be universally liked, but I've had a tremendous amount of positive response thus far. I will do my utmost to continue to live up to the high expectations that have been set.

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

The ebook is free everywhere:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SUOZHM

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14010

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-measure-of-disorder-alan-tucker/1021181565?ean=2940000890691&itm=1&usri=a+measure+of+disorder

Apple: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-measure-of-disorder/id371474877?mt=11

The website for the series is: http://www.mother-earthseries.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MotherEarthBookSeries

Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Alan. I wish you lots of luck with your book!