Author Interview With Richard Lowe | Fiona McVie

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? For more, see the real story of how I became a writer. Tell us your name.

My name is Richard Lowe

Where are you from?

I was born in northern California, lived most of my life in Southern California, and in 2013 moved to Florida. For more, see $15,000 in His First Month of Blogging. Richard Lowe’s Journey [Interview].

Tell us a little about yourself.

I was an Air Force brat, born in a small community in northern California, near where my father was stationed. My mother often spoke of the good times she had at the Nut Tree restaurant, eating dates and drinking soda pop. Eventually, the family found its way down to San Bernardino, a dusty city at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains in California. My dad left the Air Force and became a graphics artist civil servant working out of Norton Air Force Base. For more, see from trader joe’s to ghostwriter.

I have quite a few great memories of childhood in that dry, hot and dusty city.

I sheltered from the heat in a tree house that my dad and I built together. Everything changed on the fateful day in 1967, when I was dragged into a library kicking and screaming by my mother. She’d determined that I needed to experience a library, that it was time for me to become a reader.

The screaming stopped as soon as a librarian gave me a cookie and took me on a tour of the whole building. I fell in love with the librarian and with books, and before long I checked out as many as a dozen a week. As I grew older, I read every book that I could get hold of.

In junior high school, I ran across a book carefully stored in a box that my grandmother had left with the family for safekeeping.

That book was called Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. I read that masterpiece in a weekend, and soon discovered other authors such as Isaac Asimov, Jack Vance, and John Campbell. After pouring through those books, I decided I was going to be an author when I grew up.

Life got in the way of my dreams, as sometimes happens. The family moved to Lake Arrowhead and my parents opened an art gallery in Blue Jay Village. A few years later, they opened a larger store in Lake Arrowhead Village and sold arts and crafts.

For me, the pressure of high school, college, a full-time job, and eventually marriage and family got in the way of my dream of becoming a writer.

In 2005, my wife passed away and I decided that grief was something that I wanted to get out of as quickly as possible.

I became a photographer and photographed every national park in the western United States. From there, I was introduced to some dancers, and became a very well-known performance photographer in Southern California. During those eight years, I photographed over a thousand women, did 1,200 performance shoots, and photographed over 300 Renaissance festivals, Civil War reenactments, and other similar events.

For 33 years, I worked in the technology field, first as a vice president of a computer consulting company, then as a senior designer, and finally settled down to a job at Trader Joe’s as their Director of Computer Operations and Technical Services. I worked at Trader Joe’s for 20 years, managing a team of eight people and varying numbers of consultants to keep their operations working well.

In 2013, I decided it was time for me to finally pursue my dream of becoming a writer. I left my job at Trader Joe’s, moved to Florida, and settled down to become a ghostwriter and author. Since then, I have ghostwritten 54+ books for clients and written several hundred articles for blogs and publications.

When and why did you begin writing?

I’ve written most of my life, generally for work-related projects such as technical manuals and articles for technical magazines. In 2013, it was time to change direction, and writing seemed to be the natural place to put my talents.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I first considered myself a writer when I published my first best-selling book, Focus on LinkedIn. I sold over 15,000 copies in three days and became an Amazon Kindle bestseller. That was my third book.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book was a labor of love. I’ve always been interested in computer security, and I decided to take my knowledge and help others understand how to make their computers secure. The book didn’t sell well, but that didn’t matter. I just wanted to write all of that down in a well-done book.

Tell us about Peacekeeper.

Peacekeeper is a science fiction novel set about a million years in the future. The title comes from a fleet of spaceships designed to keep the peace. The book is about how large governments can be ruthless and enslave people, and how eventually the people revolt against their masters, regardless of the cost.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I tend to write in a casual or business casual format. I can work in any genre, from romance to science fiction to mystery to nonfiction. I haven’t found anything yet that I can’t write.

Who is your favorite writer?

My favorite writers are J.R.R. Tolkien, Mike Resnick, Robert Heinlein, Jack Vance, Winston Churchill, L. Sprague de Camp, Arthur Hailey, Alan Dean Foster, Robert Asprin, and Fred Saberhagen.

What strikes me about their work is they’re all well plotted, faithful to their genre, have strong characterization, and the stories tend to be solid.

Do you see writing as a career?

Writing is my career for the rest of my life.

Any advice for other writers?

If you’re a writer you have to write and get published. Don’t make any excuses, don’t stop, don’t accept any failures. Just write.

What books shaped Richard Lowe as a writer?

The first adult-level book I read was Stranger in a Strange Land. One of the early books I read was also The Narrow Land by Jack Vance.

Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet?

Isaac Asimov. He’s among the most prolific authors ever, and he had a way of making difficult subjects simple to comprehend. He’s one of the reasons why I decided to become a writer.

Do you have any hobbies?

I’m a photographer, and I collect amethyst and quartz crystals, miniature fantasy figurines, stamps, movies, and books. These days, my life mostly centers around writing since that’s my passion.

What TV shows or films do you enjoy watching?

My favorite movies are the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Godfather 1 and 2. To me, these are among the most well-done movies of all time.

Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

I’d probably be a photographer, because I’m a creative person and that’s just a different kind of creativity.

You only have 24 hours to live. How would you spend that time?

I have no idea.

What do you want written on your headstone?

I don’t want a headstone.

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