Self-Publisher’s Showcase: Today we are joined by Sam Moffie, author of the historical fiction novel: To Kill the Duke. Welcome to the Showcase Lounge, Sam.  Can we get you anything?

Sam Moffie: My movie deal completed so I can start guessing which actors and actresses will be playing the characters from TO KILL THE DUKE.

SPS: We’ll get right on that. For any of our readers that haven’t come across your work previously, can you take a moment to tell us all a little about yourself?

SM: I got a very late start in writing. I always wanted to, but starting a family and getting involved in the family business put it way down the list. After being the victim of a hit and run driver and being laid up for a year, my writing came first and the result was my first novel SWAP.

SPS:  What are your perfect writing conditions, and how often do you write?

SM: I write every day. Sometimes for hours and create one sentence. Sometimes pages and pages and pages. Sometimes I write for a very short period of time and the opposite of the aforementioned happens.  All conditions are perfect to write once I am in the ebb and flow of creating.

SPS: Can you put your finger on the moment where you decided that you wanted to publish your work?

SM: Lying in a hospital bed with 7 broken bones in my neck and lower back.

SPS: A large portion of your work is Satirical, why do you think that is?

SM: Is this a trick question?   It’s my personality and my mentors were all satirists. It is better than being sarcastic.

SPS: If we picked up a copy of To Kill the Duke, what could we expect?

SM: A tale that no one expects. It begins with Joe Stalin ordering the assassination of John Wayne and cobbles together a hodge-podge of fictional and real people all trying to commit or stop the murder. Throw in the fifties, Hollywood, the Mafia, the Cold War, and it is too good to pass on.

SPS: Why did you decide to write about The Cold War?

SM:  I always wanted to say something about this time in our history. McCarthyism has been tossed to the dust bin of our present day society and popular culture. That is why it is making a comeback. I think my book is the canary in the cold-mine about what our government did and is willing to do.

SPS: The plot itself, to us is ingenious. Where on earth did the idea come from?

SM: It is a true story. Got it from when the USSR declassified documents. Although my version of it is far different from what has been reported.

SPS: Did you find it difficult to merge the humor with politics?

SM:  They go together like peanut-butter and jelly.

SPS: What reader reaction are you looking for? Enjoyment – but with some questions raised?

SM:  Great question that you answered yourself. That is the ultimate compliment. Someone who enjoys the story and characters and then asks a question or two or nine.

SPS: Can you take a moment to tell us how you came up with the cover for To Kill the Duke?

SM: My college friend Pat Saxton of the Saxton studios designed it. My website has a link right to her. She is a great artist. She captured the bomb, the duke (with hat) the encroaching communist menace that was a part of everyone’s life for so many years and the glamour of Hollywood.

SPS:  OK, we’re sure this won’t be the first time you’ve been asked this, but do people commonly mistake your book (The Book of Eli) for the other with the same name?

SM: hell yeah! Helped sales and I only had to refund a few.  The producers contacted me and when they read it they said they wouldn’t file a lawsuit because it made them laugh.

SPS: Tell us about Eli Canaan?

SM:  A good man with a bad fault that gets him sent to Heaven to be educated in the ways of the Almighty for one special reason.

SPS: As with the aforementioned To Kill the Duke you have inserted real historical characters. Is there a particular reason behind this?

SM: I love doing it. I think it helps move the story. Readers like it and either yell at me for how I portrayed a certain real life person vs. how they see that same person. 

SPS: How much fun did you have writing the book, did the humor come easily?

SM:  It was very enjoyable. People will tell you from far and wide that I am a very funny person. Humor comes naturally.

SPS: Eli Canaan is a believer.  Are you a religious person yourself?

SM:  I wish I was. Wish I was more spiritual, too.  Maybe someday.

SPS: You have several other works available, is there one in particular you’d like to tell our readers about before we move on?

SM:  My latest which is my best work. It will be out this fall. REQUIEM FOR A CASANOVA. My answer to FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY.  Please visit http://www.tokilltheduke for my other works.

SPS: It’s probably a good time to ask what we can expect next from the pen of Sam Moffie. Will it be something in a similar style to previous work or something totally different?

 SM:  I’m leaning on doing a biography of either Nelson A Miles or Dalton Trumbo.

SPS: Was the Self-Published/Indie-Published route always your preferred route for your work?

SM: The only way to travel. As they say.

SPS: Has the experience so far been all that you thought it would be?

SM: Can you give me five hours to explain…

SPS: If you could give one piece of advice for someone looking to get into writing, what would it be?

SM: Damn the rejections. Don’t let the bastards get you down and somewhere out there is a reader enjoying your work.

SPS: Before we bring this interview to a close, it’s your chance to name-drop. Anyone who you feel is deserving of more recognition at present or someone whose writing you have recently enjoyed? Now is your chance to spread the word…

SM:  Kurt Vonnegut’s BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. Just re-read it again. A masterpiece.

SPS: Thank you for joining us today Sam, and all the best for the future.

SM: My pleasure and thank you for this most wonderful opportunity.

SPS: For more information on Sam and his books, please do visit his Author page here.

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