 Please tell us a little bit about your most recent work. My last published novel (in March) was my 30th published work and is called Little Vin at Dreamland. It captures life in Brooklyn NY, specifically Coney Island, within the Irish community during 1910-11. The hero is an entertainer; and I track his adventures through a career from the stables, to the art studios, to a vaudevillian to silent film. The excitement of Coney Island is presented with the events of the day. It also instills much of my family history and recollections from my grandmother's knee. What draws you to writing novels? I wrote my first novel at age 13 (a horrible piece of dribble). I am now 70, and have been writing novels my entire life compelled to bring to life that which is essentially living in the margins of my mind. Are you currently working on any side projects such as short stories, essays, etc.? I rarely write short stories, although my most successful work, Master Wu's Bride started out as flash fiction. I do best with novella, full-length and epic length works. I did publish one novelette of 35 pages, but my longest work reaches 700 pages and is more the rule for me than the exception. Of course, I have been writing poetry incessantly and besides 9 Poetry chapbooks, published in three volumes, I usually include verse in much of my prose work. Which topics interest you the most and why? Historical works, particularly China (I hold a Master Degree in Chinese History and Culture - Sinology) and gay themed works (I am a proud Gay American). But what catches my interest most is a story with human revelations. I love taking two-dimensional characters and bringing them to life so they can help me finish the work in a manner befitting their own story. Do you have any unique rituals? I find music and play music befitting the work - mostly classical - sometimes the same piece on a continuous track. This helps with the continuity of the work and keeps me in the creative zone. One novelist more people should know: Who is it? Alan Chin, a remarkable author whom I turn to whenever I want to read compelling, well-reasoned and beautiful prose. If I am allowed to mention another, it would be Donna Carrick, a brilliant Canadian author. Do you find it difficult to get your work out there? I have gone from sharing my works with a small group of appreciative friends to having 80,000 readers. It has been a long road, but when Amazon KDP is your distributor and social media is available to promote, it is easier. An author's primary goal is to be read. Making money is a side-effect if it happens. It's nice to get good reviews and feedback and a few royalties to pay a bill or two to boot. Tell us about your day job or your daily activities. I have worked for the same organization for 52 years in several capacities. At the turn of the century, I was a corporate director, but have since been downsized to a more manageable condition (and a modest salary) as a Senior Receivables Agent working on behalf of clients to encourage their customers to pay bills in a timely manner. I work full time at it and do not intend to retire. They will most likely find my carcass at my desk, the carrion crows perched on my cubicle's ledge. When it comes to your work, where do you find your inspiration? I find inspiration in every breath I take. Life is full of wonders and stories and change. Change is the key which inspires novels; and providing an exciting point of view for that change transforms a good idea into a great novel. What would you like to tell your readers. My readers are my legacy, because when they engage my mind through my books, they dance the good dance, and complete what began in my imagination. It's a comfort to know that someone out there is reading my words and knowing me, while their existence goes beyond my pale. In fact, my greatest hope is that when I am gone, my words with make it to faraway readers on the shores of the next century.  Author Edward C. Patterson has been writing novels, short fiction, poetry and drama his entire life, always seeking the emotional core of any story he tells. He has currently 30 published books. He is known for spinning magical and fantasy yarns grounded in history and favors epic tales revealed in books series. His flagship works are The Jade Owl Legacy Series, The Southern Swallow Series, The Farn Trilogy and the Nick Firestone Mysteries.
In many of Patterson's novels, he combines an imaginative touch with his life long devotion to China and its history, having earned an MA in Chinese History from Brooklyn College with further postgraduate work at Columbia University. This background is the cornerstone for The Jade Owl Legacy, The Southern Swallow Series and Master Wu's Bride, works drawing on Sung and Ming Dynasty History and Culture. History has played a major part in the coming of age tale Little Vin at Dreamland. Patterson's military experience is reflected in such works as Surviving an American Gulag, The Road to Grafenwoehr and Pacific Crimson - Forget Me Not. His gay life-way and work in diversity is reflected in his novellas No Irish Need Apply, Cutting the Cheese, Bobby's Trace and Mother Asphodel; and in larger works - Turning Idolater and Look Away Silence. A native of Brooklyn, NY, Patterson has spent over five decades as a soldier in the corporate world gaining insight into the human condition. He won the Year 2000 New Jersey Minority Achiever Award for his work in corporate diversity and is a proud U S Army Veteran of the Vietnam Era. Blending world travel experiences with a passion for story telling, Patterson's adventures continue as he works to permeate his reader's souls from an indelible wellspring. His novel No Irish Need Apply was named Book of the Month for June 2009 by Booz Allen Hamilton's Diversity Reading Organization. His Novel The Jade Owl was a finalist for The 2009 Rainbow Awards. He is the proud founder of Operation eBook Drop which, in its heyday, distributed over a million eBooks to deployed Armed Forces members from over 2,000 independent authors. He has guest blogged extensively and has appeared on the Bobby Ozuna - Soul of Humanity Show. He is also proud of his Cherokee heritage, knows seven languages (including Cherokee) and is a contributing member of the ACLU. "The little voice from between the lines can become a lion's roar, one listener at a time." You can find a collection of his books to purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/Edward-C.-Patterson/e/B002BMI6X8
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