Author Interview With Luke Wortley
What exactly do you write? (Fiction? Genre? Novel? Short story? Series? Technical or nonfiction? Articles? Reviews?)
I consider myself a fiction writer, although I do not attach myself to any one genre in particular. To be honest, I like to experiment with virtually every style. My primary focus is definitely the short story but I am writing my first novel and have written poetry for many years. In addition, I have a particular affinity for writing travel pieces in the realm of creative non-fiction.
How would you describe yourself in a short third person bio?
Writing didn’t seem to be high on the priority list for Luke as he was wandering through his first year of undergraduate at Wright State University. Although having been an avid reader and occasionally having written stories as a youngster, he didn’t start writing again until his sophomore year at college when he took his first creative writing course. Luke will be graduating in June of this year from Wright State with a BA in Spanish. As such, Latin American literature and style has had a tremendous impact on his style and his chosen studies reflect training as a true bilingual writer. Concentrating in short fiction, Luke will be attending Butler University to receive a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with an emphasis on the short story.
Do you have a day-job (other than writing)?
I do freelance document translation work and currently work as a student recruiter in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Wright State University.
What made you initially want to write? Has your motivation changed since then?
This is a funny question because I do not remember a time period in which I wasn’t writing. Well, my first experience with writing came when I was six years old. I wrote a small, non-fiction book called Animals around the World and won the state Young Author’s competition. I think that I have always been such an intuitive person with a knack for thinking up outrageous things and putting them on a piece of paper. Even when I was very young, I was articulate and wanted to share what I had to say in writing. As I’ve progressed in years and experience, my motivation hasn’t really changed much. Basically, I just think of really cool stories or a message / image I want to convey and I try to manifest that into the written word so that others can do with it what they will. However, as I said earlier, I did not start taking writing seriously until about two and a half years ago.
Tell us an interesting fact about you.
I am a two-time national champion in judo.
Do you prefer a physical book or an ebook? Why?
I love the feeling of physically turning a page. The smell of a fresh new hardcover. The crinkle of the spine as the cover is opened for the first time. For years I refused to get acquainted with an ebook. Yet, I am not so naïve as to think that ebooks are just en vogue. They are here to stay, and a lot of popular authors are moving to a strictly epub model for some of their works. I finally broke down and bought a Kindle because I couldn’t afford to not research the market. I had to know what it was all about. And here’s the funny thing, I love it. So, that’s the roundabout way of saying I like both, but prefer a physical book.
Are you a self-published author/indie author or did you go down the ‘traditional’ publication route? Why?
Well, at the moment, my only works published are in various anthologies, which were published via conventional submission and such. I am currently working on my first novel, whose publication I will tackle in due time.
Tell us about your first publication.
My first publication was a short story entitled “Ring around the Rosie”, which appeared in a post-apocalyptic anthology from Static Movement Press out of Georgia. I remember having only written a few complete stories and my professor and my peers telling me that I should try to publish. The consummate artist, I was convinced that there was no way in which my work could ever actually appear in a real book. It took some major prodding from my girlfriend at the time to finally get me to start sending out my work. When I received my first acceptance, I was just ecstatic and it made me want more. It is still sort of a surreal experience to be considered a “talented up-and-coming” writer by a staff editor at the press and mentioned by name in the introduction as a highlighted work in my first publication. Although I’ve had a few other stories published since then, this one was definitely the most memorable.
What’s the most important part of writing, for you?
The single most important part of writing, in my opinion, is work ethic. Although this does not necessarily seem like an orthodox answer, I think that it extends to virtually every part of the writing (and, by extension, publishing) process. Work ethic determines whether or not you are going to even take a few notes during your day on the corner of an old receipt. It dictates whether or not your ideas are catalogued in an intelligible manner. It will absolutely have an effect on how many edits you do for your piece and will also affect you’re the amount of research you do on markets to which you submit; it will even prescribe what sort of attitude you take into a meeting with agents, publishers, etc. People want to work with someone else who wants to work. Period.
Which projects are you working on at the moment?
I am currently writing a semi-bilingual collection of short stories that center on Latino culture both North and South of the border. Each story focuses on a different country or region in the Americas and ranges from purely speculative to gritty naturalism. Although I am only a few stories in, I am very excited and confident about this particular work.
I am also working on my first novel, a cross-genre piece set in crime-ridden underworld governed by drug trade that borders on urban fantasy (but no vampires or monsters or anything like that).
Have you ever written under a pseudonym?
Nope.
Where do you get inspiration for writing from? Do you listen to music whilst writing or have a ‘writing cave’?
I have a studio in my apartment where I do a lot of my writing, drawing, and painting. However, there is no one place or method for my inspiration. One of the advantages of having an overactive intellect is the fact that your brain is constantly moving, so it makes it hard not to have ideas all the time.
Is there a particular form, style or genre that you’d like to have a go at writing? Why?
I mean, personally, I feel like I already do try to tackle as many things as humanly possible. However, I do have a strangely prevalent desire to try my hand at romance, just to see if I could really pull it off, because I am pretty convinced that I can’t. I mean, it is just a genre with which I am not familiar and have never really tried. So, naturally, I am uncomfortable with it. I’m not saying I want to write the next great romance novel, but it would be something I would like to develop at least some semblance of competency.
Do you think it’s necessary to have a degree (in English or another subject) in order to be a writer?
As an academic, I encounter this question (or questions of similar nature) quite frequently. The really short answer, in my opinion, is categorically yes. There is no way around it. We are simply a diluted amalgamation of everything we have ever previously read, heard, witnessed, and experienced. In order to really grasp some of the more fundamental concepts of writing on a higher level, I think that a college education is mandatory. However, I will say that I do not think any particular degree warrants more value than another in terms of fundamentals. It just makes sense, though, that a college experience, in some fashion, be a requisite for writing anything of substance because of mechanics alone. You have to learn how writing is formed, manipulated, and eventually mastered, whatever the degree path is. Although English seems to be the default, there are other skills in other disciplines that serve writers equally well. In my opinion, a degree from college is of paramount importance by virtue of the fact that a collegiate education will give you three skills absolutely necessary for success as a writer: time management, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving.
Favourite book and/or author(s)?
There are so many…but to name a few:
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
Beloved by Toni Morrison
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
What would you say to those who want to become a writer?
Learn to be a professional. Even though a lot of writers like to have the “hip” or “indie” image, it is beneficial to learn professional etiquette. Whenever you are looking to publish a book or gain an internship with a publishing house or whatever the case may be, that company is entering into a business agreement with you. Professional etiquette (email / letter formatting, dress, manner of speaking, etc.) goes a long way in the business world. If you are willing to do the work, then act like it – it could give you an edge in the market later in life.
Twitter - @LukeWortley
Facebook - http://facebook.com/lukewortleyauthor
Website - http://lukewortley.com
Email - luke@lukewortley.com
