Contrary Cats--Author Interview--Sean Cleary

So there I was, minding my own business, playing Candy Crush on Facebook fleshing out the plot in my current work-in-progress, when I received a message from another of my co-writers on Contrary Cats. I was overjoyed to hear from him. Apparently, there are other people besides myself who hardly ever read the 'Other' message folder. Without further ado, here is another interview!

Sean Cleary is a science nerd, who was lucky to be taught programming by undergraduates at MIT while still in high school. He received a BSEE from Northeastern U in Boston, studied programming (Computer Science) at Wichita State U, and several Los Angeles Colleges, and received a BSCS from West Coast U in LA. Sean has had 20+ years of combining Electrical Engineering and Programming in Firmware and test stand creation.Sean began playing D&D 6 months after the first books were published and introduced the game to Wichita KS.

1. How long have you been a writer?

I started to write several years ago, maybe 2007. My first story was a dragon based story for my eldest. It had prophesy vs prophesy and thus it died. But it was fun. Contrary Cats contains my first published work, and when I get paid I will be a paid published writer. That is a goal point. 

2. What is your favorite genre to write and/or read.

SF/F. But I have read romance, mystery, engineering technical books, and others. I enjoy reading Mystic and self help also.
I love filking, (Filk is science fiction and fantasy folk style songs as well as anything sung by a filk singer). SCA, (SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronisms, the people trying to bring back the middle ages as they should have been. You are in one of their kingdoms and likely do not know it). role play games, and the furries. 
I have sung Kipling's poems, as well as Martha Keller, and Robert Service. 
My favorite living writers are Pratchett, Bujold, MCA Hogarth, Eric Flint.


3. Where did you get the idea for your story, Empathy Day?

I have forgotten, but I can reconstruct a bit--There is a group of people that like anthropomorphic animals. This group is called the Furries. Within that group there are many different sub interests. There is a subgroup of animals eating animals. That is called 'vore. This story is in reaction to some of the assumptions of that subgroup. 

I have a teacher/reader, Pat. She was an middle school English teacher, she has retired. She was helping me learn to write. And she toned down the gore. 

So the first idea was that the dog would be eaten by the cat. The suicide beam came slightly later. I think most of the story came in one session, with the next 30+ revisions via Pat and me corresponding. 

4. What are you working on now?

It is another reaction to the Vore crowd. But it started out as a way to mourn a couple of people. I learned of their deaths in Feb 2013. And wrote a drippingly sad short story. And when I got done, what I knew about the story at the bottom did not match the top. And I wanted some hope. So I rewrote it. It is now over the 50K limit and so is a novel. I am still getting editorial comments from Pat. We are still improving it. 
Core: One BFF must kill the other in a population Lottery based dystopia. I am forbidding myself to directly make puns or to blatantly use Catholic ideas in a religion that is pantheonic. I still have fun.  

Sean doesn't have a website yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted when he gets one set up.

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