This month I got to interview author Tom Reppert who writes a mash-up of Science fiction, historical and thriller stories, most of his books containing all three.
LJ: What are your favourite genres are to read and why?
TR: I like many genres. Science fiction, historical, thriller—thus Assassin 13 and The Far Journey which combine all three. I just like a good book.
LJ: What is one book you think everyone should read?
TR: That seems like a simple, easy question to answer but it’s not. There are so many good books around and even quite a few great ones. How do you separate the love for Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven?
LJ: Describe yourself in five words
TR: I am persistent. That’s three.
LJ: When you’re not writing what could we find you doing?
TR: Hiking the forests and mountains around my lake. Somebody’s got to do it.
LJ: What is your favourite quote?
TR: He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad. (Who can tell me where that is from?)
LJ: Tell us about your latest book.
TR: As mentioned, it is an attempt to combine my three favourite genres. Here’s the gist of it: In the dystopian 22nd century, Lauren Ramirez is an Assassin 13, the best at her profession. Betrayed by her employer, the President of the United States, on an off-planet op, she escapes when her spacecraft hurtles through time and crash lands in 1927 prohibition Hollywood with its silent film stars and bootlegging gangsters.
She finds herself an alien in an alien land.
LJ: What is a piece of advice you’d give to someone who is thinking about writing a book?
TR: Make sure you’re well-read in the genre you will be writing in and tell yourself no matter how daunting the process gets at times, you will keep going with it.
LJ: Show us where you do most of your writing.
TR: 
LJ: Where do you find your inspiration for your writing?
TR: My inspiration comes from great storytelling, novels like the books I mentioned above, and countless many more. A great writer can transport you into realms to meet people historical and imagined who are both compelling and a joy to be with.
LJ: If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
TR: I’ve been most places I’ve wanted to go except two, Antarctica and the Amazon. I doubt if I will make the effort to go to either.
LJ: If you could time travel what year would you like to visit?
TR: That is such an interesting question. I’ve always been most interested in living in the Old West, but, of course, the Old West was nothing like what we think of it in the popular imagination, Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp walking down the dusty street. Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Cochise and Quanah Parker riding with the wind. No, reality was a lot more mundane. The other great time period for me was the time of the Trojan War. Helen of Troy, Achilles, Hector, and Odysseus. All periods have their romance. What they don’t have is antibiotics. That’s pretty much a downer.
Thank you to Tom Reppert for taking the time to have a chat with me. Check out Tom Reppert‘s books below!
You can find out more about Tom Reppert and his books on the sites below:
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