Can we even call this an interview? Travis Borne’s ass should be kicked—and then, sentence him to death by cosmic black-hole spaghetti stretch.
Who is this Travis Borne dude?
I’m just a regular dude, dude. I got into writing and now some weird shit is happening. Like a snowball going down Mt. Everest. And I’m gonna reach out my arms and grab some authors to ride with me. This snowballing madness is going to be a BLAST! Read on if you want.
What are some cool questions you’d like people to ask about your books?
Are you mental? This is insane! Tell me more about those otherworldly acid trips! And, how’d you come up with the concept of “LENDING” consciousness itself, in order to save the world from—what’s coming.
What is your writing process? Do you follow a regular routine or do you have any weird, funny, or outlandish habits while writing, and if so, what are they?
My routine is all over the place. My mind is chaos. I ruminate a lot in good and bad ways. But when the moment hits, and you probably know what I mean, it’s good. It’s good, like Nooooooo, with lots and lots of extra ‘O’s.
And it scares me.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
Not really. I can almost always get the can of worms open. The problem is, and it’s super-duper-mega simple, but a worldwide conundrum epidemic, too… Peeling myself away from all that other shit. Shit like social media, political purgatory, humanity and my own frivolity—stuff like that.
When I can escape that voracious maw, though, the more I can distance myself, the better the worms wiggle out of the can. And their slimy, gooey, colorful, and really really weird.
To Mark Shultz: That ’their’ in the previous sentence, it was intentional.
Our inside joke!
What is the single most important piece of advice for aspiring authors?
I like the phrase, and I don’t know offhand who said it:
Shock everyone.
Make it happen.
Construct a habit. You’re just human. We all are. So, LEARN to be a human. Read the right books, the ones you neeeeeed.
And learn how to exploit this temporary form, to employ all of the meatbag’s flaws and fortes. Look at yourself objectively, use what the puppet has, as you look down on it, yourself, from above. Use everything to your advantage, to the meat bag’s maximum, and I might add, possibly very potent, potential.
What are your current projects?
I’m working on Lenders III, as I type this. It’s a fiasco of epic proportions. The worms are a wiggling! Ooh, how it gives me goosebumps.
Why did you choose to write in your science fiction?
If it even is science fiction… Read Lenders 1 or Lenders 2, and you tell me what it is! There’s sci-fi, sure, loads, but also something else!
But why? Well, I love dreaming (let’s add some ‘e’s in there… dreeeeeeeaming). I wake daily with dreams that are more real than this world! And they punch and beat me, maybe a few kicks and slaps, and they make me smile. It all pours out from that faucet. Kinda like The Stuff, in the 80s movie of the same name.
Uh, I like tequila too. Can I fit that one in here?
What do you think is the future for independent authors and do you think it will continue to be easy for anyone to be a published author?
Easy to self-publish. That, now that, is were it’s at! Currently, I have no interest in working with a traditional publisher. And I have no interest in putting my Travis Handcock on any paper material, ever. What is your goal? What do you want? What is my goal? What do I want?
I ain’t figured it, or myself out yet, but I might let you know when I do.
But I suppose, it’s just personal preference. Where one is at in his or her life? What led them to be there, here, now? How many beatings or hugs, or punch to the guts had he or she endured, or enjoyed? LOVE AND PAIN. Life, what a bitch. The FUTURE? Can’t say, but I know it’s gonna get weird. Read the Kindle version Sneak Peek for Lenders 1.
So I’m going self-pubalub, and I have no interest in having my blood sucked either. Although with self-pubbin’, and just about anything else for that matter, I suppose, I’m sure I’ll still get my ass squeezed through the juicer. But at least, I have a bit more control.
But then, what is—control? We live within a dreamworld… (Ooooh, I so want to say the name… Of who am I thinking?)
There be VAMPIRES out there!
Have you ever changed a title, book cover, or even the content of your book after it was published? What was it like?
Yep. It’s and it’s an ongoing part of THE NIGHTMARE.
Advice…
Edit thoroughly, ten passes, more!
Get your work proofread by a professional!
Get your work proofread by a professional!
Get your work proofread by a professional!
Quality over quantity!
I recommend master “Word Refiner” Mark Shultz. He makes what can be a tedious process, fun. We had a blast working together on Lenders 1 and Lenders 2. And work we did: 450K words, over 230 chapters, 1,400 pages. Yes, what a blast it was!
Which platform do you prefer?
Just Kindle for now. To keep it simple. And I don’t have to autograph anything. Muahahahaha!
What genre would you classify your books and what attracted you to write in it?
Science fiction is fantastic. I like adding humor to it. And some love, a daub of passion, a good dose of heart-wrenching madness—and oodles of sinister misanthropy.
I love movies like The Matrix. And having studied lucid dreaming for many years and having tried some really weird things with drugs, supplements, dream masks, and…
Well, the realm of dreams, it just meshes with science, ahem, I mean science fiction.
What do you do if inspiration strikes in an inconvenient place?
Jot it down…if I’m drinking.
A sober state of mind usually retains the idea just fine.
Do you believe there are competitors or readers out to sabotage authors with bad reviews and what are your experiences with this?
Yep. There’s a bad review on Lenders, book one, too. Another part of my fiasco of an experience. I had self-published Lender 1 as a trial run. It was an early draft and as soon as my insiders got their copies, I unpublished. I didn’t know much about publishing then, or doing anything of the sort, but the trial run was a success. My insiders provided some feedback and got to read the novel; it was great, fantastic, fun!
But Amazon kept selling this early version, my test-run, even though I had quickly removed it. I suppose, they must sell all of the copies that have been printed? Still not sure on this, and going through a similar ordeal right now. Remember that control deal, I mentioned earlier?
And the bad part, someone had snuck in, and snagged a copy. I should have known. Maybe it was a brash, stupid idea. But I was anxious, I had wanted to go, go, go. Uh…I’ve learned much since then.
We all pay for our hasty, frivolous mistakes. And my only “bad” review was born. And I think, I know who it is… Yeah, I know I’ll get more, bad ones, and I’m not whining, read on, wait for it. I’m actually, well, you’ll see…
I had reviewed a book for someone else, but then removed my review when I learned, after accepting this person’s friend request on Facebook, that this person was not a nice dude. This person would rant about politics, this person was captious, hypercritical, and all-out rude. So, I removed my review a day later because I won’t support evil dudes, and wallah! A splotch of badness. But I must admit, the bad review is what did it. I’m glad for it. Because now, where I’m going, and all of the good dudes I’m gonna drag with me! The bad, utterly stupid ere view was what drove me to try harder. Harder like I’m gonna take over the world, harder! So, I must thank whoever that evil dude was.
So, yep… There’s a lot of malicious pride and evil, in some people. There’s hate spreaders and like The Wizard of Oz so pithily said, evil-deed doers. And that, is the complete opposite of what I am about. I loathe haters. And I’ll go out of my way to support good, honest people, hardworking people. And when my snowball starts rolling, and it will, I’m going to reach out and grab many good people, and we’re all going for one hell of a ride!
We live and learn.
And as with us all, we get wiser with age—most times—and a little less hasty, less frivolous, less brash. Still, though, and hopefully, with a whopping good deal of go, go, GO!
Have you ever had an interesting, funny, or even bad experience during a live interview, reading, event, or autograph session?
Not yet, but if you’ve made it this far—you know it’s coming!
With self publishing being so easy now, do you believe there is an over abundance of books out there and how do you sort through all the hype or copycats?
Probably…no, yep, there is. I would recommend authors spend more time editing, as much time as possible. Again, quality over quantity. One good book is worth a million bad ones, maybe even more than that. It gets better pass after pass, usually, and proofing helps by truckloads! An outside eye. It takes longer, but if everyone took longer there’d be a greater pith of magnificent masterpieces out there.
What is your biggest fear about having a book published?
No fear. I might have to swat a few gadfly haters though. That’s just annoying.
What is the intended audience for you book?
Good human beings. Good human beings with a sense of humor. And people who LOVE to be frightened, terrified out of their gourd! Frisson! Because Lenders 1 and Lenders 2 get pretty technologically, trippingly, unnerving at times! Wait till you get a load of Lenders 3!
A fun fact about your books?
I just quickly snagged a random paragraph from Lenders 1, The Unlicensed Consciousness:
Many at the bar area noticed once again. Rab shook his head vehemently to destroy the feelings, to wipe his messy slate, to shake the lump-that-was-a-brain inside his skull. “Fuck—I’m here to unwind,” he said, audibly once again, and walked away. People moved aside as he stormed to the bar. Realizing he didn’t much care what they thought he was largely dismissed; clubbers went on sucking face, guzzling beers, and hiding all-out sex in ways only a borrachón could.
If you had the chance to get a message out, to reach readers all over the world, what would that message be?
It’s coming! (stretch that out in a spooky manner).
But this—is only ONE perspective, ONE possibility for our future. It really is, just science fiction…or is it? One way or another, none of us will be prepared for it!
Check out the “Peek Inside” And goes yet another…Muahahahaha!
FYI. Only the Kindle version of Lenders 1 is the newly remastered and proofed-by-Word-Refiner copy. Scoop up the paper copies (2nd edition) if you want something that might never exist again.
Now, back on topic (you see I’m a talker. I talk to myself a lot. That ruminating thing). All the other things, too, as far as messages I would like to spread to the world, those good ones like be yourself, be good to one another, don’t make assumptions, live well, be humble. Most of all, be supportive of one another!
Do you find it easier to connect with your readers with the advances in technology we have today? What social-media platform do you prefer and why?
Twitter lately. Great community. I’m really, really feeling the love!
What makes a good story and why?
A good story is like…hmmm…being stripped of your clothing after sucking in a bucket-load of oysters, then, being injected with roids, while bolted to an earthquake, upright, in front of a live-TV camera. Then take an ice-bucket challenge, just when you thought it was all over. And repeat some more sick-ass shit…kinda like that. Lots of color too. And smells, weird ones. Like gasoline, maybe the aforementioned oysters boiling in it.
Have you ever had a book idea, or characters, arrive within a dream? What did you do about it afterward?
Almost always!
Tack it onto the board.
Were your characters based off real life people/events or did you make it all up?
Write about what you know. That’s pretty much, a rule I follow. What parts really happened or not, however, I shall never say. If I did, well… Just imagine jumper cables attached to bolts on your neck!
Do you proofread/edit your own books or do you send them off to an editor? If you send them off to an editor, who/what have you had the best experience with?
Yes, I edit my own books. I believe it’s the only way to roll, because the learning never stops. And editing is learning on roids.
Lenders 1 and Lenders 2, proofreading services provided by the man himself. I give you no other than the master “Word Refiner,” Mark Shultz. Let’s go ahead and capitalize that. “MARK SCHULTZ.” Mark is not hard to find in the “writing” world. And he’s a wonderful human being. Check out Mark’s website, here.
An outside eye, by means of proofreading ONLY, not editing, that’s how I roll.
If your loaded, however, write a draft or two and pass to an editorial team? Then, however, it’s less a work of your own “imaginings,” and more a group effort, possibly geared only for $$?
Do not write only for $$. A pretty good rule to live by, maybe. YOUR heart and YOUR uniqueness is alive within in YOUR unique tale, a result of YOUR one-of-a-kind, temporary existence on planet Earth.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of self or traditional publishing?
Not sure. How ‘bout this…
Self: less vampires, perhaps. More control, for sure. And just maybe…
Traditional: riches, beyond your wildest dreams. Not. But just maybe…
What makes your book stand out from the crowd?
The covers are pretty cool, I think. And I post excerpts on Twitter. Most are well received. We have a lot of fun on Twitter, with good people like Martha Perez, Author Ellie, Russell the Author, David Padilla, David P Perlmutter, Mark Shultz, C A Asbrey, Veronica Cline Barton, and so many others. And it gets pretty crazy when we dance and do shots!
Do you design your own cover? If not who does, why?
I designed the cover for Lenders II: The Time Tribulations, and henceforth will probably keep designing my own cover. What ya think about my cover, guys?
What else do you have to say, if there’s something, anything, I haven’t covered?
That’s all folks. Later, dudes!
