Monthly Interview With David G. Allen

Today I am having an interview with David Allen author of an amazing inspirational novel Pool of Echoes. 

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title: Pool of Echoes

Author: David G. Allen

Publication Date: 19 Oct, 2014

Publisher: Self-published 

Goodreads – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Summary:

In this Inspirational Thriller, Nothing Is Certain But The Truth 

Jordan Mitchfield is heir to a media empire worth billions. He also sees and hears things that aren’t there. 

Then someone close puts him in an insane asylum against his will. 

When it looks like there is no way out but to take his own life, he is stopped. Is it a vision? Is what he’s seeing actually real? Is it even part of this dimension? 

Whatever it is, it opens his cell door and throws him into a dangerous time-travel adventure through his memories. 

As he goes deeper into the Pool of Echoes, he is forced to confront everything he has ever known, reconstruct his own mental health, and play a role in something much larger than himself. 

Fans of Contemporary Science fiction, Action, Espionage, Christian fiction, and Fantasy with a Psychological edge will dive through each exciting moment. 

If you or anyone you know has ever questioned their own self worth, get on board this life-changing thrill-ride. You will never be the same.

Interview:

Katie: Hello, thank you for this interview, how are you?

David Allen: Awesome.

K.: It’s nice to hear. Can you tell us more about yourself?

D.: Sure. I was born in Alaska, and lived there until I was about 21. Then, after some traveling, I moved to Texas. There is a long scar on my right-bottom lip - I don’t know where I got it and noticed it for the first time in kindergarten. My first boss out of high school told me I was so bad at selling that I wasn’t worth the paper printed to train me. I’ve since tried sales 8 different times and after I earned enough to pay the bills every month I stopped. There was no need to prove myself anymore.

K.: My first question will be when did you first start writing?

D.: In kindergarten there was this show on public television called Reading Rainbow. It had that guy - I think he was from Star Trek - LeVar Burton. Anyway, the show collaborated with local affiliates to host writing contests all over the country. My mom heard about it and asked if I had an idea for a story. So the first story I ever wrote was about a mouse that knew the woods really well, and used his skills to evade an owl with a thirst for mouse blood. I didn’t word it like that, but it did well and won a prize. When you’re a kid, you often don’t know if you have talent without some third party validation or passion. For me it was both, but it took until I was 23 to write a novel.

K.: Do you remember the first story you ever read and the impact it had on you?

D: Growing up in church, the first book I heard about was the Bible, and it had a lot of stories. Then my parents took turns reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It took a long time, but those were the earliest books I remember going through, other than short picture-form stuff like The Little Cricket.

K.: Why did you write this book and what are your expectations on its behalf?

D: Pool of Echoes started out as a book designed to teach people how to build the kind of life they want without blaming other people. As the project moved forward, it ended up becoming about self esteem, where we draw our worth from. Did it do what I wanted? Maybe, because I’ve learned the two are highly related. Why do we blame other people? It may be because we don’t feel we have the confidence to take full responsibility for our lives. If that phrase cuts, don’t worry - we all do it sometimes.

It was my first book where I was the only author, so I didn’t expect it to become the next Hunger Games or anything. Still, you expect the best for something you care about.

K.: What’s the story behind your latest book?

D: The last person you would expect to have self esteem issues is an intelligent, attractive young man who is the son of a billionaire.

This is the story about that son, who discovers one flaw in who he is, and it unravels every source of self-worth that he has until he realizes it doesn’t come from external sources.

So, he has schizophrenia, a brother who hates him, and so forth. It just gets heavier and heavier until he learns his lesson. A few people help him along the way for many reasons, the biggest of which is that he has a role to play that can impact an upcoming election.

K.: I loved the book a lot but I had some questions, especially about the concept of Pool of Echoes. Could you tell me more how you came up with such an idea?

D.: I’m still trying to figure that out. It’s a combination of several ideas, like most great concepts are. The first is that to change ourselves, we must reinterpret how we experience the world. An easy solution, and the second idea, was to make a time-travel story. Those stories, however, have many predictable situations that have been done before - so I wanted to make a story that’s like time-travel, but introduces new dangers and complications that nobody has ever seen before. Then the third idea is the story of Naaman the Syrian, who in the Bible was cured of leprosy by washing seven times in the Jordan river. That became the symbol of change, and the catalyst for the whole time travel experience.

K.: What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

D: Giving a sense of wonder - that there is a whole world to explore in just a single idea. Every story I love has that.

K.: What motivated you to become an indie author?

D: Necessity. The book industry is acting a whole lot more like Hollywood - promoting a few major bestsellers based on attached household names, and not doing much for anyone else. I self-published before ever hearing about the heavy hitters like Joe Konrath or Amanda Hocking. When the first book was getting done, I lived in Argentina - a long way from English-language publishers. I didn’t have an agent, and wanted enough control over how to promote the book so it would have the most potential. Now I’ve learned a lot more about being indie, and would consider a publishing deal if I could still write and release other stories while under contract, get my rights back at some point, and the relationship led to great placement in bookstores, airports, and those kinds of places.

K.: When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

D: Working a lot. I have two jobs right now, which limits how much time I can devote to a lot of things. This will change in a while, though I don’t have an exact date.

K.: What are you working on next?

D: A fantasy based around Native American culture and setting. What if one Native tribe followed just one God? - that’s one question I’ve been asking. The setting is fictionalized so I don’t upset people if I should get anything wrong.

I’m also working on a series centered around a new kind of spy/hero. The first draft of the first book is already done, and now I’m looking for follow-up concepts before continuing with it.

K.: Can you describe your desk?

D: It’s a portable desk with lockable wheels at the bottom. Everything about the desk can be changed. I try not to work at home because it messes with my head, though I’m at home now.  The desk helps because I can change the elevation and positioning, which makes it feel like I’m somewhere else.

K.: Thank you for the interview. Good luck with the book and I hope to read more of your work in the future.

D: Thank you. Feel free to visit authordavid.com - that’s where I let people know about new stuff. And I have a mailing list so you don’t even need to revisit again and again. I’m giving them a short story based in the Pool of Echoes really soon, exploring the past life of Sam Solomon. It’s going to be great fun. Thanks for having me on!

K.: Today we had an interview with David Allen author of Pool of Echoes. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s your chance, grab your copy and start reading it now. If you want to read my review, you can find it here.