An Interview with Author Lincoln Crisler

It is with great pleasure that I welcome author Lincoln Crisler to Bookhound's Den as part of his blog tour. I hope you enjoy this interview with Lincoln, and make sure you say "Hi" to him.

So who exactly is Lincoln Crisler?

Most importantly, I'm a married father of three. I'm also a staff sergeant in the US Army and an instructor at the US Army Signal Center of Excellence, Fort Gordon, Georgia. In addition, I'm the author of two short story collections and one novella. If you had to sum me up in one word, it'd be "BUSY." I always have a few irons in the fire. It's a great way to live life!

I couldn't help but notice you're a combat veteran. First off, thank you for your service. How has your military experience affected your writing?

You're welcome! My military service has, essentially, sponsored my writing. I've been a writer since birth, except the first five years of my military career, but I wasn't serious about it until I deployed to Afghanistan. It was my second tour in the Middle East, and I was a newlywed, and we wanted to make the year count instead of treading water for twelve months. She got a degree and I wrote most of what eventually became my first short story collection. I'd say the plan worked!

Do you have a "typical" writing routine? Or do you just write when you're able?

It's easier to establish a writing routine when I'm deployed than when I'm home. When I'm deployed and off work, I don't really have any obligations...go to the gym and do college work, maybe. But at home, I help my wife run her business and we have a toddler and a teenager together. Most writers with day jobs either get up early or stay up late to write, but I'm already getting up at 4AM to play GI Joe. So, no regrets, but writing at home is a slow climb rather than the nice, mostly steady pace it is when I'm overseas! Lately, I've been taking my laptop with me to work and writing after physical training and on my lunch break. That doesn't seem to work out too bad.

Tell us a little bit about your new novella, Wild. What inspired it? Who would it appeal to?

WILD is a detective-western with bonus! zombies and magic. If you like cowboys, you should like WILD. If you like zombies, you should like it. And I've gotten great response from readers that have never seen a zombie-western before.

Do you have any projects that you're working on now you can let us know about?

I have two collaborative projects that I hope to have published before the end of the year; one is brand-new and another is an overhaul of something fans of my work may have read before. I have a secret comics project in the works (just waiting for my artist to free up some time) and of course, like many writers, there are a couple of novels that I work on when the mood takes me.

One last thing before you leave. Your bio says you like to cook. What's your favorite dish to prepare?

There's a recipe I created a few years ago for my wife's birthday that I call Shrimp Consuela. It's sauteed shrimp and garlic in a bleu-cheese cream sauce, over bowties. I don't think I've ever made it for anyone but Connie and the kids. It's freakin' awesome. If we hadn't already been married, I'm pretty sure she'd have dragged me to the courthouse by the short hairs the very next day.

Credit for author photo to Clark Fox