Ask the Author: Andrew Franks
Answered Questions (4)
Andrew Franks
I wound never say that I don't ever get writer's block. I don't get it often though. If words are not coming to me I just start stream of consciousness writing. Sometimes what I end up writing has to be deleted it's so dumb. Sometimes it's so weird that it's golden. Almost always there is something within the writing that I can cherry pick out and turn it into a good chapter or direction. If this doesn't work, I take a long hot shower and talk to myself.
Andrew Franks
I am editing the third and final (for now) book in the Fat Whack trilogy. It is titled-
FAT WHACK: FATTEN YOUR SEATBELTS
Cover reveal coming soon. I'm so excited for people to see it and for readers to be able to experience the crazy conclusion of the Fat Whack story. It will truly be three skinny books that make one fat story!
FAT WHACK: FATTEN YOUR SEATBELTS
Cover reveal coming soon. I'm so excited for people to see it and for readers to be able to experience the crazy conclusion of the Fat Whack story. It will truly be three skinny books that make one fat story!
Andrew Franks
My most recent book is actually a new edition of my first book. Fat Whack: It's A Fat World After All (Second Edition) is currently available on Kindle Unlimited and will be release on paperback August 17th, 2020. (Physical copies were delayed due to Covid-19)
In my humble opinion Fat Whack does have a somewhat interesting origin. I explain a little bit about how I came up with the idea of fat whacking ninjas in a intro included in the new second edition of Fat Whack book one. So, to answer the question asked, I will copy and paste the intro here. Enjoy!
Welcome to the ultimate Fat Whacking experience.
In the late 1990s, I grabbed my father’s VHS camcorder and forced many of my family and friends to help me make a home movie. The story was inspired by the late night infomercials that were always trying to sell the next great weight loss product. Naturally, my brain went to ninjas jumping out of the shadows and knocking junk food out of people’s hands. Fat Whack was born.
My brother Steven, who could always beat me up (and still can) was the Ninja. He almost died during filming when I decided at the last second to push a boulder off of a cliff that he was climbing. He wasn’t aware that I was going to do it. I distinctly remember almost screaming out, “Move out of the way!” as the killer rock got closer and closer to my little brother. At the last possible second he moved out of harm’s way. When watching the movie, you can hear the faintest squeal during this scene. I’m glad I didn’t yell out; it would have ruined the shot.
Over twenty years later, I decided to turn my movie into a book. I had previously wanted to turn it into a comic book, but I’m not an artist, and I didn’t have the money to hire one. I also didn’t have the money to buy a computer. So, I wrote Fat Whack: It’s A Fat World After All on my cell phone. My thumbs felt like they were going to fall off by the time I had finished. Most of the time it felt like I was composing the world’s longest text message. Unfortunately, at times it read like a text message as well. However, people still liked it! The original book sold more copies than I ever expected. That’s when I decided to create this edition. This is an updated, re-edited version of the first book in the series. Also, there is a bonus chapter not found in the previous edition. The chapter is titled “Making A Mountain Out Of An Anthill.” It tells the story of the Anteater’s death defying origins. I hope you enjoy it!
I want to thank a few people who made this book possible.
Valerie Franks. You are the love of my life. Thanks for putting up with me and being supportive of my writing. I love you and our girls so much!
Jessica Specht. You are an amazing tattoo artist and book cover designer. I tell her what I’m thinking and she draws it better than I imagined.
Dana Lawson. When I realized that more than just my friends and family were gonna read this book, I also realized I needed a local editor. Dana is so thorough and worked very hard to correct my mistakes. I imagine weird word combinations, and she makes them grammatically correct.
Steven Franks. Thanks for being my brother and friend. Also, thanks for not getting squished by that boulder.
Thank you to everyone who gives this book a chance.
Bon Appetit!
Andrew Franks
Obviously I could go into greater detail, but this is the gist of it. Maybe one day I will be able to share my old home movie with the world as a sort of bonus feature. It would be fun to laugh at it with everyone. I can promise you this, the fight scenes are so bad that they are good.
In my humble opinion Fat Whack does have a somewhat interesting origin. I explain a little bit about how I came up with the idea of fat whacking ninjas in a intro included in the new second edition of Fat Whack book one. So, to answer the question asked, I will copy and paste the intro here. Enjoy!
Welcome to the ultimate Fat Whacking experience.
In the late 1990s, I grabbed my father’s VHS camcorder and forced many of my family and friends to help me make a home movie. The story was inspired by the late night infomercials that were always trying to sell the next great weight loss product. Naturally, my brain went to ninjas jumping out of the shadows and knocking junk food out of people’s hands. Fat Whack was born.
My brother Steven, who could always beat me up (and still can) was the Ninja. He almost died during filming when I decided at the last second to push a boulder off of a cliff that he was climbing. He wasn’t aware that I was going to do it. I distinctly remember almost screaming out, “Move out of the way!” as the killer rock got closer and closer to my little brother. At the last possible second he moved out of harm’s way. When watching the movie, you can hear the faintest squeal during this scene. I’m glad I didn’t yell out; it would have ruined the shot.
Over twenty years later, I decided to turn my movie into a book. I had previously wanted to turn it into a comic book, but I’m not an artist, and I didn’t have the money to hire one. I also didn’t have the money to buy a computer. So, I wrote Fat Whack: It’s A Fat World After All on my cell phone. My thumbs felt like they were going to fall off by the time I had finished. Most of the time it felt like I was composing the world’s longest text message. Unfortunately, at times it read like a text message as well. However, people still liked it! The original book sold more copies than I ever expected. That’s when I decided to create this edition. This is an updated, re-edited version of the first book in the series. Also, there is a bonus chapter not found in the previous edition. The chapter is titled “Making A Mountain Out Of An Anthill.” It tells the story of the Anteater’s death defying origins. I hope you enjoy it!
I want to thank a few people who made this book possible.
Valerie Franks. You are the love of my life. Thanks for putting up with me and being supportive of my writing. I love you and our girls so much!
Jessica Specht. You are an amazing tattoo artist and book cover designer. I tell her what I’m thinking and she draws it better than I imagined.
Dana Lawson. When I realized that more than just my friends and family were gonna read this book, I also realized I needed a local editor. Dana is so thorough and worked very hard to correct my mistakes. I imagine weird word combinations, and she makes them grammatically correct.
Steven Franks. Thanks for being my brother and friend. Also, thanks for not getting squished by that boulder.
Thank you to everyone who gives this book a chance.
Bon Appetit!
Andrew Franks
Obviously I could go into greater detail, but this is the gist of it. Maybe one day I will be able to share my old home movie with the world as a sort of bonus feature. It would be fun to laugh at it with everyone. I can promise you this, the fight scenes are so bad that they are good.
Andrew Franks
I love shark movies. I love shark week. I love sharks. During the summer I always get a sunburn-like itch to read a shark book. The last three summers in a row I read one book from the MEG series by Steve Alton. (THE MEG, The Trench and MEG: Primal Waters) These books are dumb summer fun! I do plan to finish the series, but first I have to fix a glaring issue in my HAVE READ column. I have never read JAWS: A NOVEL by Peter Benchley. So while I have quite a few books on my summer reading list, JAWS is my number one must read of the summer. Of course I'm gonna watch the movie a few hundred times this summer as well!
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