Today marks the release of Anton Strout's debut novel Dead to Me [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy]. Anton also keeps an entertaining LJ at antonstrout.

I figured, what better way to celebrate the release of his book than to make drag him over for an interview. So without further ado, the one and only Anton Strout.

1. So who are you, exactly, and why should we be reading this interview?

I AM ZOD! YOU WILL KNEEL BEFORE ME, SUPERMAN! Oh, wait, sorry ... wrong script. Although your resemblance to General Zod is rather
uncanny.

Anyway, I'm a long time worker in the book industry who finally decided to take writing seriously enough to pursue it professionally.

2. Summarize your book "Dead to Me," if you would. And do it in exactly 42 words :-)

42, eh? Wait.. these don't count!

Simon Canderous- unable to have a relationship because his psychometry ruins them all. Meets dead girl and tries to solve her murder while dealing with cultists crushing on him, red tape at the Department of Extraordinary Affairs, and spooky things in Manhattan.

Damn ... that took much longer than I thought it would.

3. You work for Penguin, so you've got a much better idea how the publishing world works than most new authors. Did this make you more or less anxious about the process, do you think? Also, could you share one juicy bit of insider info with me and my readers.

Oh, I'm far more anxious as I get to see every last step of the process as part of my day job. I was anxious over my editorial letter, my cover, what they wrote in the catalog, what all my fellow sales people were doing with ... having to sit at sales our conference and hear it talked about was extra special nervewracking.

Hmmm ... something juicy from an insider? Other than my endless campaign to instill No-Pants Thursday in the office? I think if I were to share anything, it would be to impress upon your readers that editors are people too ... each one has their own tastes, and just because one might turn you down, you need to shake it off and keep on looking. It's disheartening because your book is your baby, but there's very little personal feelings involved in their choices. In the words of GalaxyQuest, "Never Give up, Never Surrender!" Unless you suck ... then you might want to.

4. Sneezin' Jeff & Blue Raccoon: The Loose Gravel Tour. Please to be explaining?

I've been a musician for many years in a variety of bands. SJ& BR was basically a show I cowrote with actor Jeff MacCullough. We were basically A Mighty Wind before A Mighty Wind existed. Both of us had a love of old time folk music heroes like Arlo Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliot so we wrote a faux folk musical as if we were giving a concert as two of these folkies. We took the best storytelling award at the first New York International Fringe Festival.

5. How long did it take you to get to this point in your writing career? Tell us a bit about the journey.

Back in the 80s I dabbled and won writing awards in high school, but honestly, I never took writing all that seriously. I was going to act, play music ... basically entertain in any way I could. So I moved to New York City in the early nineties, supporting myself by continuing to work in bookstores and eventually the publishing industry. Eventually, I discovered the rejection cycle of an author was a much nicer one than that of an actor. An actor, for instance, constantly is in a cycle of audition, fail, audition fail ... it's a pretty quick process. Writers however can go off for YEARS writing, only to have rejection come at a much slower pace. I think my love of Joss Whedon and comics certainly helped to flavor the type of stuff I write ... with a little Douglas Adams mixed in.

6. What's next for Anton Strout, writer extraordinaire?

Thank you for recognizing my extraordinary status. Usually they use the words 'special bus.'

First thing I'm going to do is go out and buy book three in your Goblin series, which comes out a week after mine.

Then the day Dead To Me goes on sale, 2/26, book two in the series is due to my editor. Right now my beta readers have it, then I'll take their comments, go through the draft for three weeks then turn it in. There's a short story set in the same world of the series due out in July's The Dimension Next Door. Notes are already filling my wee brain for book three in the main series ... and I have a couple non-fantasy books I'd like to get back to as well.

7. What are you going to do to people if they don't buy your book?

I may sit them down ala Clockwork Orange and read them the first novel I wrote back in my high school days. Let's just say Frank Miller & the Daredevil crew would have a few things to say to me ... once their ears stopped bleeding.