Author Interview: Daron Fraley!

This week has been so much fun! I've truly enjoyed getting to know the authors I've interviewed and can't wait to conduct more. Don't forget to let me know if you'd be interested in swapping interviews!

Daron Fraley and I met through a writer's group made up of people from last year's LDStorymakers conference Bootcamp group. We found out rather quickly that we both have a love for Linux, and that he'd worked with my dad on a few occasions. I was thrilled to be accepted by Valor Publishing Group, because I already knew a couple of the people they represented (Daron and Jenni James). I'm excited to introduce him to my readers.

Daron's website
Daron on Twitter: @DaronFraley

Daron, welcome to my blog! It's a nice place, and my readers are nice, too. :-)

Now then, let's get to business. What sorts of things do you do when not writing/working?

Well, this is mostly a summer thing, but I really like camping and fishing. As a boy I would fish for hours. Never wanted to go home. I must admit that in the winter I am mostly a homebody. I don't care much for winter sports because I don't like the cold. But I love hot chocolate and wassail.

Hopefully your wife likes these things as well. :-) Speaking of her, she's one of the coolest people I've gotten to know recently. Tell us how you met.

She was dating my roommate at BYU. I was new in the apartment, and my roommate suggested that I take Jennifer on our group date (since I had met her), and my roommate took another gal. Pretty simple. We played volleyball and ate ice cream afterwards.

Then, I'm assuming, you fell in love and got married, right? :-) I knew I should've brought her in on this interview so my readers could get the juicy details. :-)

All right, back to the interview. Would you please explain to us why kill -9 would be Chuck Norris's secret weapon? :-)

Ooh. You are a vicious creature, aren't you Andrea? It couldn't be kill -15? You had to go for the jugular? Straight for -9? I think it will be far more fun to just say: "These are extremely technical computer procedures, not for the faint of heart, the uninitiated, or those who play minesweeper", and then leave it at that. Mystery... there is power in mystery, isn't there?

Most definitely. Especially where things like this are concerned:

"Make me a sandwich."
"What?
"Sudo make me a sandwich."
"Okay."

Uh... little bit of a command-line issue there...  the command "make" is going to get awfully upset about non existent targets like "me". Observe:

lachish@elessar:~$ sudo make me a sandwich
make: *** No rule to make target `me'.  Stop.

I am sure you know, but your readers may not... This is how you fix that problem:
lachish@elessar:~$ sudo make "me a sandwich"

It's good to be a geek.

Ha ha ha! I keep getting us off track. :-) Anyway, How did you get involved with computers, especially Linux (go tux!), and how did you get involved with writing? Is there a correlation between the two?

I got involved with computers because years ago I was forced to by a Zenith SuperSport 286 Laptop as part of my job as an insurance agent at Prudential. I became more interested in the computer than I was in insurance. I taught myself how to use WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS. After a couple of years and the when the internet started to become a household word (yes, I was a computer geek before Mosaic became Netscape Navigator), I got into Linux at the suggestion of a friend who said if I REALLY wanted to learn about computers, I needed to get away from that DOS / Windows 3.1 garbage. Wow. I'm getting old, aren't I?

Writing... I have felt a hunger to write ever since my Creative Writing class in High School. I always thought it would be cool to write a book. One day I made a list of written goals. "Write a book" was on the list. Funny how that works, isn't it? Is there a correlation? Hmmm. Maybe. I think both working with computers and writing are creative outlets. I like to build things. Perhaps my book was a building exercise?

Where did the idea for The Thorn come? How many books will there be total in The Chronicles of Gan series? Do you plan to write more books?

I am writing book two, "Heaven's Garden" right now. Well, not right this very minute, but now. Yes. There will be three in the series.

Time to get serious (what I mean is no more joking, for at least the next 20 seconds). The idea came from this quote by Neil A. Maxwell: "How many planets are there in the universe with people on them? We don’t know, but we are not alone in the universe! God is not the God of only one planet!

“I testify that Jesus is truly the Lord of the universe, 'that by [Christ], and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.' D&C 76:24"

—Neal A. Maxwell

That's a really good quote. I have to admit, a couple of months ago I started writing a book based on a different planet. But it's nothing like The Thorn--it's more sci fi than anything. Speaking of your book, I'm nearly finished reading it, and have really enjoyed it. Tell us how you manage to write, work a full time job, and be married with kids?

Yeah. Tough question. Can I say that this is nearly impossible? I am really struggling with it. There is not enough time in the day. If I figure this out... how to balance my life correctly so nothing suffers... I'll let you know.

Do you have any advice for writers who have crammed-full schedules?

Scratch out some time to write. Take the laptop with you to soccer practice. ALWAYS carry a notebook with you. Inspiration hits at strange times. You have got to be able to write it down, because you WON'T remember it.

What sort of writing goals do you have? Daily? Weekly? Monthly?

My current writing goal: 1000 words a day. And I didn't meet it today. :)

I haven't met mine yet for today, either. :-) It's tough getting everything finished.

Last but not least, who do you appreciate and look up to the most: Brandon Sanderson, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Tchaikovsky combined, OR Linus Torvalds? :-)

LOL. Linus Torvalds is a very respectable icon. He literally turned the information technology field upon its head. Linux is now EVERYWHERE. Embedded in just about everything you buy anymore. People just don't know it. But, I am going to have to give it to my writer and music heroes. I love the written word. And I love music. Once again, there is simply not enough time in the day to satisfy all of my interests! When the Lord came to Solomon and asked what he would want as a blessing, Solomon asked for wisdom. I would ask for either time, or stamina to be able to get more done with less sleep. :)

This is one of those things we've learned: nearly everything run by a computer is powered/operated by Linux. If you don't see the Windows icon, chances are it's Linux. Again, a "Go Tux!" is needed. :-)

Thank you for doing this interview. And readers, don't forget to check out his interview of ME over at his blog!

Also, let me know if you'd be interested in swapping interviews. :-)