Ask the Author: Dan Purkey
Answered Questions (4)
Dan Purkey
For novels, I like the freedom to create whatever you want. I'm the master of the fate of my characters and can make up whatever I think fits the situation. As I said in the opening chapter of Trackers, "It’s my future. Why don’t you come along?"
For the management books, I like writing things that I know will be useful to people, if they choose to use the advice. At my core, I'm a teacher.
For the management books, I like writing things that I know will be useful to people, if they choose to use the advice. At my core, I'm a teacher.
Dan Purkey
I have a sequel to Trackers in mind, in which the leader of The Council gets obsessed with finding the culprit (Jack Dugan, PI) who ostensibly brought her empire down. She's not without considerable resources still. Jack becomes the hunted.
The Trackers sequel is taking a backseat to The Realm of Squatch, though. As I write this, I'm about halfway through and am excited to finish it. It's the most fun writing I've had so far, since I get to make up a whole sasquatch society, how they live their daily lives, and how they (mostly) stay hidden from humans. The main character is Eo who is captured by humans. She interacts with a late-teens human boy who works to free her.
The Trackers sequel is taking a backseat to The Realm of Squatch, though. As I write this, I'm about halfway through and am excited to finish it. It's the most fun writing I've had so far, since I get to make up a whole sasquatch society, how they live their daily lives, and how they (mostly) stay hidden from humans. The main character is Eo who is captured by humans. She interacts with a late-teens human boy who works to free her.
Dan Purkey
Mostly it happens organically, with ideas seemingly popping into my head of their own volition. Finding (or making) the time to write is the issue in the face of "actual" work that provides a steady income. However, the ideas never leave my head and, over time, guilt builds that I haven't put fingers to keyboard. At some point, I just have to get the ideas out of my head and so begin to write.
Dan Purkey
For Trackers, the idea just popped into my head on a flight from Seattle to Spokane. I spent the whole time just jotting down notes as my brain produced them. By the time we landed, I had an outline that I pretty much stuck to.
For Uncommon Sense Management (USM), the idea formed over a number of years working in the largely dysfunctional telecommunications industry. I knew there had to be a better way to produce true efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability without treating people like dirt.
For It's Not That Hard. Just Do This., I realized USM leaned to how to best run a business, along the lines of a "regular" management book. However, people need more specific tools (not theory) to make things happen. So, I provided those tools to help people communicate more effectively, helping eliminate miscommunication, misunderstandings, arguments, and stress.
For The Realm of Squatch, currently being written, the idea popped into my head of its own volition about fifteen years ago. Similar to writing Trackers, I've "cleared the decks" to allow a more focused effort on writing it. So far, I've had the most fun writing with this book and can't wait to finish it.
For Uncommon Sense Management (USM), the idea formed over a number of years working in the largely dysfunctional telecommunications industry. I knew there had to be a better way to produce true efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability without treating people like dirt.
For It's Not That Hard. Just Do This., I realized USM leaned to how to best run a business, along the lines of a "regular" management book. However, people need more specific tools (not theory) to make things happen. So, I provided those tools to help people communicate more effectively, helping eliminate miscommunication, misunderstandings, arguments, and stress.
For The Realm of Squatch, currently being written, the idea popped into my head of its own volition about fifteen years ago. Similar to writing Trackers, I've "cleared the decks" to allow a more focused effort on writing it. So far, I've had the most fun writing with this book and can't wait to finish it.
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