Interview with E.B. Hauk

1-When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Around 5th Grade. I was big into playing pretend and started writing stories in my composition journals. I kept writing, primarily through play-by-post roleplaying–which, for those who don’t know, is a collaborative kind of writing where you send replies to another writer. One of my writing partners told me to consider writing a novel. It felt like validation, as I’d always considered writing an unreachable and impractical profession, but I dreamed of doing it anyway.

2-How do you schedule your life when you’re writing?

I try to get up early and start writing straight away or after exercising. Sometimes, I don’t get in my word count, but I come back around lunchtime and squeeze in more. The later it gets in the day, the less motivation I have to do much of anything–after dinner, I’m pretty useless and no good for anything but socializing and mindless entertainment.

3-What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m a complete “pantser,” writing style-wise. I get less pantsy in fantastic settings since they require a bit more worldbuilding, but usually, I stick to a rough outline–if that–and some character backstories.  Sometimes, I write their backstories as I go.

I enjoy the writing process more when I let the first draft write itself. Connections form on the fly, and I am delighted with the result; I figure if it surprises me, it’ll probably surprise the reader.

4-How did you get your book published?

I didn’t send The Perilous Awakening of Johnny Hazard out to many agents.

Maybe five or so. I’d written Blazing Ambition before that and must’ve sent it out to four dozen agents and never got a nibble. Later, I noticed I had sent out an earlier manuscript draft with flawed formatting and an obvious typo. It made me feel like an asshole.

I’ve had more of those moments during my self-publishing and marketing journey, so maybe I’ll try agents again for the third novel.  Who knows.

5-Where did you get your information or idea for your book?

Two sources, actually. My best friend told me about Benadryl abuse after she saw some memes on tumblr. I was so fascinated by the idea of who would willingly do a drug where a bad trip’s pretty much guaranteed. While I mused on it, a light bulb flashed over my head. I knew exactly who would do something like that. Earlier, I’d talked to someone through Discord. Never knew him well, but I learned plenty about his self-destructive tendencies and–well, we’ll call them special interests. My supposition about him and some artistic licenses formed Johnny.

6-What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Play-by-post and tabletop roleplaying, fiddling in Photoshop, drawing, reading, walking, and playing video games. I’m a homebody. Things might be different if I had the opportunity to travel, but I feel most fulfilled immersed in ‘elsewhere.’

7-What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?

Almost everything Johnny did surprised me. I facepalmed, shook my head, or cried aloud, “Jesus, Johnny!” Even rereading some of the scenes throughout the editing process stunned me.

8-Is there anything you would like to confess about as an author?

This industry takes a lot of work, especially as the author shoulders more and more of the marketing onus. Writing and editing are time-consuming, but after that, there’s so much more to do. The self-promotion practically feels like pimping yourself out, and it’s stressful to boot. If you want to be even moderately successful in this, you have to fight for it. It’ll be like a second or third job.

9-As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

A million things. I was a mad scientist, but I was practical enough to realize that no one would give me any grant money if I was openly mad, which put a kybosh in my grand plan to invent dragons. Also a director. I am a veterinarian, but I was worried about how I’d feel when the animals died. A graphic designer and concept artist—almost anything involving the arts. And always a writer.

Book Title: The Perilous Awakening of Johnny Hazard

Author Name: E.B. Hauk

Pub Date: 9/9/2023

ISBNs: EPUB ISBN: 978-1-962196-02-4 / Kindle: 978-1-962196-01-7 / Paperback: 978-1-962196-00-0

Book Category/Genre: Adult | Psychological Horror | Dark Comedy | Drama

Page Count: 268 ebook, 321 printed

Publisher: Hauk’s Nest / Self-Published

Author Bio: 

E.B. Hauk is a hyper-intelligent raccoon who learned English through a thrown-out collection of tabloid magazines.  They planned to write a scintillating tell-all on the lives humans bury in their garbage but wrote some novels instead.  After rounding up some other raccoons for a weekly game night, they started fiddling with their own tabletop RPG and took up dice making, too, because they didn’t have enough to do.