Your Questions, my answers:
Where did you come up with the Name Nelson Sheffler?I honestly don’t have a romantic or inspiring answer for that. I wanted an uncommon kid’s name. Maybe something a little more old-school, like Harry Potter. I mean, you don’t run into too many kids named Harry nowadays, even after the success of the books. But I also still wanted his name to be ordinary, not a nickname like Flash or Ozzy or Atticus. The whole point of the story is that my character was a normal kid experiencing an otherworldly adventure. It’s geared for average readers. So, I happened to meet someone one day in passing who’s name was Nelson, and I realized it was the perfect first name for my protagonist - simple, and an uncommon name for most teenagers nowadays. And his original last name was going to be Sheffield, from a street in one of my local neighborhoods. But Sheffield just didn’t sound right, so I went with Nelson Sheffler and ran with it. I think it was a great choice.
How long did it take you to write the Nelson Sheffler saga?The short answer is years, primarily because of distractions in life and wasted time on trying to find a traditional publisher. The full Nelson Sheffler Saves The World story took me about 9 months to hash out from start to finish, but because of the querying process and waiting for rejections, I sat on the manuscript for years. The querying process to find an agent and traditional published is a long, cumbersome, exhausting process. Everything is pretty much put on hold during that time. There were also large revisions to the manuscript, copyediting, plot reconsiderations, and planning for sequels to the initial book. The entire series (4 books) took me about 10 years, on and off, to write.
Do you sell your art?So far, I haven’t sold any of it. I think I get a little too attached once it’s done. That being said, I’d be open to doing a commissioned work, if someone was interested. Admittedly, I’d probably only take that work if I felt I could satisfy the commission with a high degree of quality and patience from my commissioner.
Why is Nelson Sheffler Saves the Universe broken into two books?The primary reason for this is simply the length of the novel. The traditional young adult market is usually for work that’s about 60,000 to 90,000 words. The combined NSSTU novel would be somewhere around 120,000 words. So, keeping it in the same word count range as the previous books, meant I had to break it up into 2 separate novels. Additionally, sticking with the Nelson Sheffler Saves theme, meant titling them as a part I and II, because they are both part of the same overall story. The first half of Nelson Sheffler Saves The Universe doesn’t really have a separate overall “saving” theme.
Do you respond to emails if I were to contact you?It depends on what you’re looking for. If there is a compelling reason or interest for me to respond, I may get back to you. I just can’t guarantee it, especially with the world we live in nowadays and all the junk or nonsense I receive in my inbox everyday.
Can I get a signed copy of one of your books?At this time, I don’t have a payment mechanism to satisfy a request for signed copies, primarily because some books are not available yet. Try reaching out to me and I may have figured out a solution by the time of your request.