Today, we are interviewing Author William Hayashi, a Chicago resident, born and raised and have spent the last 50 years primarily in and out of the Information Technologies industry. He has also been an on-air broadcast professional since 1976. 2001 marked his first foray into writing commercially with his first novel, Discovery: Volume 1 of the Darkside Trilogy which was eventually published in 2009.
1. How did you get into what you do right now? Please tell us more about your journey?
A couple of notions prompted me to try my hand at producing a novel. The first was rebelling against the idea that there were no original stories left to tell, every plot had been explored ad nauseam, and only variations on a theme were available for writers to tackle. The second factor that made me sit down and write was that few epic, science fiction tales were populated by black characters.
2. Who are your role models?
In writing, it was the entire stable of science fiction writers from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. My father was a science fiction fan and had a study full of books written by Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, and the like. These were the books I picked up and read in my preteen years and became immediately hooked. In life, I admire those who fight for social justice.
3. What inspires you?
Exploring a “what if” scenario from a new, untried perspective.
4. Please tell us about what you do.
Up until just recently, I have run my own business consultancy, majoring in computer and networking solutions for businesses of all sizes.
5. What’s your most memorable experience?
I would have to say the day I saw a novel I had written available for sale on Amazon’s web site.
6. Which social media channels work best for promoting your work? What exactly do you do on the social media channel that makes it work for you?
Social media does not play much of a role in marketing my work. The flaw in using Facebook, for example, is that frequent posts of works I’ve written boil down to “shouting” to my friends and family, who already know about the works I’ve published, imploring them to purchase my work. Yes, there may be a few people who cross-post the information to those who don’t know about my work. But that only works once a certain number of friends has been reached.
7. What’s your greatest fear?
That I’ve made a conceptual or factual error in my writing that I overlooked and is flagged by a caustic reader or reviewer.
8. Looking back, what’s one thing you wish you understood better before you ever got started?
How much patience an author must have waiting for reviews to begin to show up, and if they’re positive reviews, how much time it takes for others to be compelled to read the work(s) based on those reviews.
9. What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
Reading a never-ending number of books to become acquainted with what good writing consists of and how to execute a storyline in a manner that readers will find value in and enjoy.
10. What keeps you going when things get tough?
Thankfully, I have been fortunate that I haven’t hit any significant bumps in the road. However, I’m sure they’ll eventually show up in one form or another.
11. Any message for our readers
I pride myself on two features in my story-telling. The first is I really like to produce an unexpected or ironic ending, something the reader doesn’t see coming. The second is that I never want my stories to appear derivative of anyone else’s work.
12. How can people connect with you?
The easiest way is via social media sites. I joined them for just that purpose. Check out the website (currently being upgraded) and Instagram handle.