Featured Interview With Harlan Porter
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live in Tuscola, Illinois, where I grew up. I have left several times for career changes but keep coming back. A little over 10 years ago, I attended my 30th class reunion, where I reconnected with a classmate, who was a school teacher in our hometown. We married a few months later. My career has been in journalism managing both daily and weekly newspapers, and serving as Director of Communications for a large newspaper trade association. Aside from writing novels, I have two non-novel books published and have written a humor column weekly for 35 years, which has won first place for Best Humor Column from the National Newspaper Association twice.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
When I was a kid, we had a “teaching typewriter,” which does not have the letters on the keys, so I taught myself the keyboard when I was probaby 8-9. I was really interested in poetry in third grade and wrote dozens of poems. I started writing for local radio and newspapers while in high school and helped establish a journalism program there. I dropped out of college to take my first job as a reporter in my hometown. Six years later, I was recruited by the Illinois Press Association to be their editor. I didn’t start writing books until a few years ago; my first was a compilation of newspaper columns. I then wrote a how-to book on newspaper publishing. I wrote a novel about 15 years ago, which is not yet published but will be soon. I wrote another novel, Kill Seeker: Confessions of a Psychopath, which is available on Amazon.com. I am writing another novel (untitled) and have an outline for a third.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Stephen King, Mark Twain, John Grisham, Dave Barry. While still in high school, I wrote to Stephen King for writing advice, and he wrote back. A few years ago, I became acquainted with Dave Barry, who endorsed my first book for me.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Kill Seeker: Confessions of a Psychopath is story about a guy who kills his best friend when he’s 12 years old, and then takes over his life, eventually moving in with his victim’s family. He views his spontaneous action of killing his friend as the best thing that ever happened to him, and he wants to do it again. He goes through a series of “practice” kills as he grows increasingly confident. When the police begin to suspect him and his adopted father begins to figure things out, he confesses his murders to a priest.
It took three months to write the book. I then shared it with a small group of friends and family, who made good suggestions for improving the book. Best advice from my sister: I want to smell it.
When I write a book, like my newspaper columns, I don’t set out with an ending in mind. I let the story take me where it wants to go. I feel like I’m discovering the characters at the same time the reader is.
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