Author Interview with V. Lucien Maier

I've been having fun with this blog and getting to know books and their authors. I've also run across different ways of publishing than the main stream of big publishing houses. V. Lucien Maier is a writer friend of mine who does things differently. Currently he has a Christmas story out that he produces as an audio book. By donating to the Charity or organization he picks the story for, you get a code to hear his story and see artwork that goes with it.

Go HERE to see three different Christmas stories and donate to a worthy cause.


ME: What makes you stand out as an author/storyteller?
V.Lucien Maier: Not sure that I am much different. But I do try to push the way we envision publishing. I have two things that are my main goals with my work. One is like most authors which is to get my experiences out so other may benefit from it.
And the second is to show that the old methods of publishing are not the only choices anymore. I love all my fans, but the best fan mail I get is from other writers saying that I opened their mind to other ways to get their messages and stories out.

ME: This is the first time I’ve been exposed to storytelling like this. It’s fun and different. Why do you do your stories this way?
V.Lucien Maier: There many many benefits from working this way that I would be hard pressed to list them all. But mostly its the freedom. I have been in the paper world and if you want to be successful YOU WILL have to change parts of your stories. You will be forced into corners, and you will be underpaid. (At very least to start with, but most author throughout their entire career.)
I write and publish what I want and when I want.
Let me give an example, I have a good friend that is a Best Selling author, more than ten times over. But when he submitted a mystery to his publishing house they said no. Now this is bad enough for a author of his caliber but to insult it even worse because he is under contract he can't take the novel anywhere else....
And the most important reason. When I started writing I really had one big issue. If my silly little stories were ever really successful it would take a lot of trees to get them out there. with this method I don't have to harm any trees. I wrote a piece about it.
The Price of our Aspirations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1GFNeMmNmI



ME: The one I watched was about Zion’s National Park. What types of organizations have you supported through your stories?
V.Lucien Maier: Well Christmas with Wet Fur is the newest and for Zion National Park .
I also have Woof which is done for the Utah Animal Adoption Center
and Lights out done for the Tooele Children s Justice Center. They are all on storiestohelp.com
and of course I have a novel on my site "OF The Wolf" (for free) and a ton of free stories and poems on my site LucienMaier.com. My other three novels The In The Blood series which I was most well known for have been taken down for now.

ME: Where do you get your ideas from?
V.Lucien Maier: Everything. I strongly believe that if you go to one well for your ideas you will always write the same story. I do love to take a very tired and used genre and breath a new concept into it. In fact when you open your mind you will never run out of ideas, and you like me will not be plagued by what do I write, but what do I write today???? I wrote a piece on that too.
Idle Pursuits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yNWGcFfm4I


ME: Can your stories be listened to over and over?
V.Lucien Maier: If you can stand my voice... sure :D

ME: Who does the reading? How about the artwork? Is the format the same for each of your stories?
V.Lucien Maier: In the past I did it all, but as I keep going I have tried to expand into using others. I use friends to do voices in "Wet Fur" I wrote the story with Wendy's vocie in my head saying it. So when I convinced her to do the narration for me it worked out perfect. I try to use artists that have not been discovered so I can help with their exposure. But I do a project at a time so I can constantly work with new people. Feel free to contact me if you have a skill and want to be involved.
As for the format. I like to use audio, but for my free stories I use youtube. and for my novels they are just mp3 so you can throw em on your ipod or phone and listen everywhere. and For the charity stories I do it through a Flash so i can have a payment gateway to collect the moneys for the causes.

ME: What would you like new fans to know about you?

V.Lucien Maier: Nothing! I am hermit Get OFF MY LAWN! hahah
Because my first big outing was "In The Blood" a vampire series iT sure stirred a pot of very interesting fans. That first year or two I was sent some very.... strange questions. So I have shied away from my fans much more than I was before. However, over the years as my other more main line stories have taken hold I really enjoy talking to my fans.
I think fans are a double edged sword, they make you feel warm and fuzzy but it can also feel like they are taking a can opener to your head to try to figure out whats going on in there.
and believe me, no one should be digging around in there. (Talk about scary!)

Thanks for the interview
V. Lucien Maier


His website is HERE www.lucienmaier.com