Rico Lamoureux, whose books include Six Degrees of SeXparation and Power of the Pen, talks about his approach to writing and his plans for the future.
Why do you write? Is it something you’ve always done, or always wanted to do? Or is it something that you started fairly recently?
I started off by writing quirky poems when I was eleven years old. Soon thereafter I picked up a book to participate in a reading contest. A half dozen books later another school contest came along. This one for writing. So I sat down, put pen to paper, and gave it a shot. Somehow my ideas began to flow, and before I knew it I had written my first short story.
A couple of weeks later I found out that I had won the contest. It was a real turning point in my life, although I really didn’t know what to make of it at the time.
The pen has been a best friend ever since.
Tell me a little about your books.
My autobiography, Power of the Pen, is a personal account of my life story thus far. I’ve had one of the most diverse lives I’ve ever heard of, and so far those who have read the book agree. I never set out for such. I guess it was just meant to be. And it all came full circle with the realization that my destiny was to become an author.
Are there any authors who inspire you?
As a teen, I really enjoyed the YA world of Roger Cormier. And in my twenties I fell in love with Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles.
How do you write? Do you make yourself write a certain number of words per day?
I can’t force myself to write a certain number of words/pages per day. I find that I tend to get the best results when I get straight to it, as in being the first thing I do after eating breakfast. Sometimes it goes very well, giving me several productive hours, while other days the flow stops after a short period of time, at which point I turn my attention towards the other half of my job. (Research, marketing, etc.)
Did you try to get a conventional publisher or agent interested before you opted for self-publishing?
My fiction is currently published by No Boundaries Press. Power of the Pen, however, was something I chose to self-publish. I wanted to write it in a conversational style, and was afraid it would be watered-down if it went through the hands of an editor.
What goals have you set yourself? Do you want to sell a certain number of books in 2012? Is there some way you measure success, on your own terms?
Right now my primary goal is to show readers that erotic storytelling can be more than just about the sex.
I call my genre Erotic Substance, and believe the majority of my readers will be fulfilled on more than one level by the time they reach the last page.
What’s next? Are you working on anything at the moment? Do you have anything new coming out in 2012?
My second novella, Bleeding Perseverance, will probably be released by my publisher in December or January. It’s a dramatic story involving a young Afghan girl and an American vigilante.
Rico Lamoureux’s Power of the Pen is available from Lulu. Six Degrees of SeXparation is available from Amazon. You can also visit his website.
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