Tell us about yourself.:
I moved from Manhattan to the San Francisco Bay Area when I was three. I have no real memories of New York, so I consider myself a bay area native—but ask me to choose between avocado toast and a bagel and you’ll see my roots still run deep.

My fourth grade teacher, Roger, loved to give his students creative writing assignments. Every few weeks or so, we’d write new stories and take turns reading them aloud to the class. The day I decided I would get into writing, I had just finished reading my latest story. As we were dismissed for recess, Roger took me aside. I don’t remember everything he said to me, but I do remember one sentence: “If you don’t grow up to be a writer, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

It was exactly the sort of blunt, irreverent, vaguely threatening advice my younger self needed. I was a bright kid—reading and numbers came easily to me—but those assignments were abstract tasks, always given within the context of school. I did them because they were given to me to do. With Roger’s words, writing assignments took on new importance. If I did them well enough, and got better, maybe it could be my job. I could write books just like the ones I read, making people fall in love, as I had, with characters from distant, fantastical lands. I took writing more seriously after that.

Roger’s expectations stayed with me all the way through college; I left school with degrees in literary arts and writing for performance, as well as a contract to complete six young adult novels. That was the start of my writing career, and I’m determined to keep at it! Not only is it fun and freeing, I also get to stave off my perpetual fear of Roger showing up and kicking my ass if I give up.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?:
I'm a bay area native. I grew up on the Peninsula. However, I'm a lot more at home in unfamiliar worlds, whether they be fantastical or far in the future. At a young age, I discovered portals to these worlds called books! The bay area has had very little influence on my writing, but the worlds I explored as a young reader such as Oz, Middle-Earth, and Tatooine had much greater impact.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to write a little bit a day. And I do mean a little bit. Five sentences.

Of course, at five sentences a day, it would take forever to finish something. But committing to five gets me to the computer with the word doc opens and starts my fingers moving. Usually, by the time I hit five, I’m warmed up and ready to keep going.

Sometimes, my schedule is packed full of other responsibilities, social engagements, etc. On those occasions, maybe all I can do is squeeze in five sentences at the end of a long day. But all that means is that even on my busiest days, I make forward progress.

What authors have influenced you?
I'm a bay area native. I grew up on the Peninsula. However, I'm a lot more at home in unfamiliar worlds, whether they be fantastical or far in the future. At a young age, I discovered portals to these worlds called books! The bay area has had very little influence on my writing, but the worlds I explored as a young reader such as Oz, Middle-Earth, and Tatooine had much greater impact.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write!

It seems simple, but that really is the most important step, and it’s a step that a lot of hopeful writers never take. There is no substitute for putting words on a page. They don’t have to be good words. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed they won’t be. But the worst case scenario is, you toss them out and try again. More likely, you have a foundation that you can revise. It is so much easier to start from something than to start from nothing, so give yourself that something. The more you write, the more you’ll develop your voice, and the easier it will be to write more.

If you don’t have time, get inventive. Write on your lunch break. Dictate sentences on your commute. Don’t worry about being profound or changing the world. Just write, and the rest will take care of itself.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
"Don't kiss me like that, kiss me like *this*."

If you mean WRITING advice, "Good writing lives in the gap between leading the reader and trusting them to lead themselves."

What are you reading now?
"The Fifth Elephant", by Terry Pratchet. Discworld is a modern classic!

What’s your biggest weakness?
High cholesterol.

What is your favorite book of all time?
It's difficult to pick just one. I enjoy books for so many different reasons, and no book does everything perfectly! Today, I'll say The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson. The setting is unique, memorable, and evocative. Sanderson builds plots like a master watchmaker, assembling each cog into place and then watching as it winds down. The twists make me gasp. Truly a master class in storytelling!

When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
Cooking, ballroom dancing, playing board/tabletop games, cuddling cute dogs, or just chatting with friends. There's so much to do and so little time to do it! This is also why my books take so long.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I don't have any memories from before I could read at this point. I wish I did; that sounds like a magical moment to remember. Whatever it was, it clearly made me want to keep going!

What has inspired you and your writing style?
Other authors I admire are my main source of inspiration. For specific projects, it can be any little thing. The current state of the world. A silly hypothetical a friend suggested. An analogy that pops into my head at the wrong time. That sort of thing.

What are you working on now?
At the moment of this interview, I’m hard at work laying the groundwork for making Weapons of the Mind a success. New writing has taken a backseat to that, unfortunately, although a sequel is very much in the works.

I'd also like to pull together a production of my play Midsummer Night.

What is your favorite method for promoting your work?
Word of mouth. If someone enjoyed the book and tells their friend (or better yet, buys it for them as a gift), that's a more powerful advertisement than anything social media or paid ads can accomplish.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few projects I’m trying to get publish-worthy: a few short stories, a novella set in the Weapons universe, and one very long fantasy epic that draws a lot of inspiration from stories of King Arthur while exploring a rough approximation of the current political landscape. It’s meant to be a look at how kingdoms fall, not through invasion or any external force, but by the efforts of bad actors, the friction of petty grievances, and the failures of a system beyond the power of any lone individual to change. Who can say if there’s a market for it? The most important thing is that it makes my fingers come alive at the keyboard.

How well do you work under pressure?
Not well. This is actually probably my biggest weakness. Can I change my answer?

Unfortunately, I work even worse when not under pressure. So it's a matter of picking my poison.

How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing?
I don't. The piece decides. I'm just the conduit.

Sure, I'll go in with ideas, but sometimes the writing surprises me and I end up with more humor or more darkness (for example) than I expected.

All my initial thoughts come from a desire to amplify how I want my readers to feel when reading.

If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
I want readers to know that I’m always reachable! Contact me via my website. I love talking about my stories, answering questions, etc. I also have a cute Havanese puppy that I love showing off to people, so if you like receiving random dog pictures, I’ve got that too.

My website also has an experimental feature called the GIAB Portal that I hope you’ll take a look at. The universe of Weapons of the Mind is much larger and deeper than one book (or even an eventual two trilogies) could ever hope to cover, and the GIAB Portal is a great way to catch extra glimpses of that world—and maybe some hints at what is to come.

Lastly, I’d like people to know that I recently designed the expansion to one of my favorite board games: Anna’s Roundtable. Fans of tactical gameplay in the style of Fire Emblem should definitely give this game a look. I had a ton of fun with this project, and I think it shows in the final product.

Owen B Greenwald’s Author Websites and Profiles
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Amazon Profile

Owen B Greenwald’s Social Media Links
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