Pure Writerly Moments 2 (Short Stories, Essays, Book Reviews, and More)

Mini-Author Interview: Ray Hecht

Hello everyone,

It's another exciting addition of the "mini-author interview" series.

This time, our guest is Ray Hecht, the author of "Always Goodbye" and "2020: A Year in Taiwan".

What does being an indie author mean to you?

It means I get to write whatever I want. This is important to me. I have a day job, but that doesn't define me, and I am compelled to write (and draw) whatever seems interesting to me with a minimal regard for pandering! It also means I get to share and self-publish when ready, on my terms. That's what it's all about, right?

What are your writing quirks and habits?

I find this an interesting question because it's changed so much over the years. I used to love to write in the middle of the night when everyone would leave me alone, but I don't find that a good schedule as I have gotten older. These days I tend to write in the morning and early afternoon. I'm lucky to have a job with ample free time, so I wake up and drink coffee and relax and then I get to my real work. I give myself a lot of self-imposed deadlines based on word counts, and try to do however many thousands of words a week or a month until I have a workable manuscript, and then the grueling rewrite process begins.

How do you see the indie scene in 50 years' time?

Wow, 50 years is a long time. This will probably have much to do with how algorithms will evolve. On the one hand, a lack of "gatekeeping" will continue to introduce more original ideas. On the other hand, it may be even harder to break through as more and more people try to game what will become viral content. I hope that readers' standards will improve along with technology, so quality can also break through. With luck, there will be many different niche scenes and genres and indie writers will enjoy success in this way. Frankly, the future for traditional publishing doesn't look good so this better happen.

Has a particular setting, landscape, or cityscape influenced you?

I find cities to be very influential in creativity. There are so many worlds out there, real and imagined, which make it all interesting. Personally, I've written about Southern California, the American Midwest, and most of all the Pearl River Delta megalopolis in China–including Hong Kong and Shenzhen. I always enjoyed stories in which the setting is a main character; this adds lots of authenticity and realism in my view. Currently, I've been exploring more autobiographical takes about where I live now in Taiwan...