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Author Interview - Don Oestreicher


Please welcome, Author Don Oestreicher, as this week's guest.


I hope you find Don's answers as interesting as I did. Becoming an author and a substitue teacher when you are dyslexic is truly inspiring.


Thank you, Don, for participating in my author interview.




About Writing/Books/Being an Author


1. Do you remember the first book you read that had an impact on you - in what way and what was the name of that book?


I came late to reading. As a dyslexic, I experienced most of my education as a non-reader. Fortunately, many compensating strategies got me through graduate school. Once out of school, I discovered reading. The first book I recall was Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy. This was my first recreational read, and I never looked back.


2. When did you first realize you wanted to write?


I always wanted to be a writer even when I wasn’t a reader. As a spectator in a world of literary achievements, I revered books, libraries, and bookstores. In college, I took writing classes and wrote a ream of poems and short stories. I had a poem published in my college literary magazine and sold a short story. Then life intervened. I returned to writing after I retired.


3. Who is/are your favourite author(s)?


Isaac Asimov, Jane Austen, Bill Bryson, Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl, Jared Diamond, Jasper Fforde... Almost anything that’s not too nasty or violent.


4. What is your favourite thing about writing? What is your least favourite thing writing?


I love the research behind the writing. It is such a good reason to indulge my indiscriminate curiosity. I don’t like marketing.


5. Where do your ideas come from?


I write with my spouse. Our ideas come from science and travel.


6. I’ve often found that creative people have more than one talent, what is yours?


Whether writing is my talent, remains to be seen. I’m good at engineering, designing and building things. Before retirement, I managed many research and development teams in Silicon Valley.


7. When you create characters, are they completely made up or do they resemble or remind you of people you know?


Both. Our characters are a composite of people we've known, famous and historical, and often include the strengths and flaws of family members. We have few villains, and mostly honest, hard-working heroes.


8. What are you working on now and can you tell us about it?


The working title of our WIP is Kaaktagut (we are hungry): A possible future for our planet (Pandemic Mysteries Book 3). This is a story set in the latter part of the 21st century that follows families in the U.S., Nunavut, and China, as they work to solve the problems of a changing climate.


A Little More Personal


9. What is one thing you haven’t done but would like to do?


I would like to see my grandchildren graduate from college. I want to see the northern lights and controlled fusion.


10. Can you tell us about an embarrassing/funny moment?


When we visited Spain, I took charge of everything and held all the passports, tickets, and money. I didn’t trust my wife or daughters with anything. So…when my pocket was picked, we lost everything. I ‘d like to think I learned my lesson, but maybe not.


11. Do you have a favourite vacation spot? Where?


My favorite vacation spot is planet earth. The climate is great, and the natives are welcoming. We never go to the same place twice. There is too much to see. We like deserts, archeology, and history. We’ve been to all continents but Antarctica. We use our travels in our books.


12. If you aren’t writing (or doing anything associated with writing), what are you doing?


After I retired, I returned to school to get my teaching credential. I am a substitute teacher.


13. Have you ever met anyone famous – who?


I have never met anyone famous, but when the Internet started as the ARPAnet with only four nodes, I was responsible for one of those nodes and used that tiny network to do my research.



Don's Links


Omega Cat Press on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SpaDMN

Historical: Kitane, Bull Jumper, Courting and Catastrophe in the Bronze Age https://amzn.to/2K4yj4J)

Science Fiction: Legends of AZUREIGN - An orphaned girl and her big dragon have a big problem. Will he ever fly? https://amzn.to/2IQhLRS)

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