Featured Interview With Carl Purdon
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born, raised, and still live in Pontotoc, Mississippi. I am married to a wonderful woman and have four kids and three (soon to be four) grandkids. As a boy, I dreamed of writing novels and flying crop-dusters. Guess which dream I chased until it came true?
My primary goal as a writer is to produce fiction that is not only entertaining, but realistic. I go to great pains to create characters my readers will remember long after they read the last page. A lot of the feedback I get is from readers who say they know someone just like one of my characters, or from people who saw themselves, their struggles, in one of my novels.
One of my greatest compliments came during an introduction at a speaking event. The host told the audience that my books reminded him of Merle Haggard with a touch of Mark Twain. I’ll take that any day.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I knew I would write novels at age five. I don’t know how or why I knew, but I have a distinct memory of standing in my front yard, wishing I could hurry up and start first grade (our school didn’t have kindergarten) so I could learn to write down the words in my head.
A lot of things happened during the time between that memory and when I finally sat down and started my first novel. I was in my late thirties or early forties when I started writing seriously. It took me several years to produce something I dared share with the world.
The only answer I have to the question of why did I wait so long, is that I wasn’t ready. Life had to knock me around a while, I suppose.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
James Fenimore Cooper made me fall in love with reading. Other writers who inspired me are John Steinbeck, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, and a slew of others I can’t name at the moment. A few weeks ago I discovered Elmore Leonard (yeah, I can’t believe I’d never read him) and I absolutely love his style of writing. It reminds me of my writing more than any other writer I can think of.
Believe it or not, most of my reading in the last several years has been non-fiction. History and biographies. Part of the reason is that I didn’t want my writing to be overly influenced by other fiction writers, but mostly I just love history and reading about people who did great things.
Who inspires me? Ordinary everyday people inspire me. I read somewhere the other day that behind every face is a struggle you know nothing about. I wish I knew who said it or where I saw it, because that single sentence holds so much truth.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
BLINDERS is a story from two points of view — an ex-con out to avenge his wrongful conviction, and the Mississippi sheriff whose job it is to contain him. Along the way they both learn things that challenge their convictions, and experience things that change them forever.
If forced to wedge it into a genre, I would say contemporary/suspense.
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