By John Crump
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- You are 250 miles away from home when your car breaks down, but it is not only your car. It’s all cars. It’s all lights, radios, TVs, and everything else electronic based. Planes are falling out of the sky, phones don’t work, and you are all alone.
What would you do?
This is the situation Morgan Carter is finds himself in throughout the book “Going Home” by best selling author A. American. “Going Home” is the first book of the wildly popular “Survivalist Series”. His books follows a group of survivors after the collapse of society. These books not only have a huge following in the prepper community, but also have a lot of mainstream popularity.
I have been a big fan of the books for awhile now. It just happened A. American and I had a friend in common. A. American has been a guest on my podcast a few times and I thought we should sit down and do a real interview for Ammoland News. Chris, better known as A. American, was gracious enough to grant my request.
John: What is your background?
A. American: I’m an industrial electrician by trade. I worked for over 20 years at it.
John: How did you come up with your pen name?
A. American: The pen name is my username on a website where I wrote “Going Home” originally. I just stuck with it because no one knew my name when I published it.
John: What are your books about?
A. American: The series is set in a post EMP world. Morgan Carter is 250 miles from home when the event happens. He figures out quickly that he’s going to have to walk home if he wants to see his family again. So that starts the journey. The subsequent books follow Morgan, family and friends as they try to create a new life.
John: How did you come up with the idea for your books?
A. American: I was reading works by other writers on the website I mentioned earlier. There were some very good writers and a number of great stories. It was about eleven at night when I decided I’d to throw my hat into the ring. I came up with the concept in about ten minutes and started writing. I posted the first 5000 word piece that night and went to bed. The next day there many, many replies. People loved it, so I continued. It was best thing that ever happened to me.
John: Your books are like a “how to” book with a story. Is this intentional or did it just happened that way?
A. American: It’s very important to me to put real skills into the books. I write fiction, but want folks to be able to take something away. Something they never think about until the day they need it. Then they say, I remember from the book! And maybe it will help them. It may be nothing, or it could make a difference someday.
John: How long does it take you to write a book?
A. American: It really depends. Sometimes they come real fast. I’ve wrote one in 90 days before. Sometimes they take longer.
John: Do you prefer self publishing over working with a massive company like Penguin Books?
A. American: Both have their advantages. Self publishing gives you full control. But it also gives you all the responsibility. It’s a double edge sword. You make money faster in self-pub too. It starts coming in 30 days. Traditional publishers take all the responsibility from you. They own it all. In essence you work for them, on their schedule. They will give you an advance, and that’s nice. But you won’t ever see another dime until that is recovered in sales at your royalty rate. Plus, they only pay twice a year. The one huge advantage is distribution. They get you onto the shelf of the bookstores. Your books will be everywhere.
John: Which character do you identify with most and why?
A. American: It may sound silly, but all of them really. Each one of them is a part of me in some way. But certainly Morgan.
John: What is one thing you would change about the story if you were to do it over?
A. American: I would modify a couple of things from the first book that would allow me to broaden the story a little. But it’s not that big of a deal. I’ve got plenty to work with.
John: How many more books do you plan on writing in the Survivalist series?
A. American: That all depends on the fans. I get asked this all the time. What I usually say is this; As long as they are easy for me to write and entertaining for the readers to read, I’ll keep going. When they get hard for me to write or worse, hard for them to read, I’ll end it.
John: Do you have any other upcoming projects you have on your plate?
A. American: I’m working on the next book in the series now. Of course someday I’d like to see it on the screen and I’m always working on that in the background.
American can be found at www.angeryamerican.net
The Survivalist Series of books are available in print, digital, and audio.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on the history of the patriot movement and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss or at www.crumpy.com.