Featured Interview With Author Drew Avera
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in Mississippi. I was not an avid reader until I discovered comic books, and I collected hundreds of them. I started playing guitar when I was fifteen and played trumpet in the high school marching band. I graduated and enlisted in the Navy when I was seventeen. After boot camp and A-school, I spent the rest of my career stationed in Virginia as an Aviation Electrician's Mate, primarily working on the F/A-18 platform.
I'm married with two daughters and we continue to live in Virginia. I retired from the Navy a few years ago and now work in simulation. We have two cats (Edward and Chucky) and a German Shepherd/Great Dane mix named Misa. I call her Misa the Menace, but I love her anyway.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was big into comic books as a teen and I refused to read books until I was around fifteen years old. When I was sixteen, I discovered "What Savage Beast" by Peter David on the shelf at a local grocery store. That book was a novelization of The Incredible Hulk. I spent my lunch money on it instead of another stack of comic books and ended up reading it three times. I went from wanting to be a comic book artist/rock star/astronaut, to wanting to be a writer. It took me until I turned thirty to finally buckle down and write my first book as a participant in NaNoWriMo. Since then, I've written about thirty or forty books/stories. It's hard to keep count.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy reading military science fiction and space opera. Some of my favorite authors are Rick Partlow, James S A Corey, David Weber, and Neal Asher.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
I'm currently rebranding and republishing several books this year, but one book I'm very proud of is Damaged Incorporated. As a disabled veteran, I wanted to write something that takes a wounded veteran who was taken out of the fight and give them an opportunity to return. Of course, I needed to put a twist on the concept. I wrote Damaged Incorporated after taking a year and a half off writing shortly after retiring from the Navy. I was in a new career and focused on learning a new trade. I started with very low daily word counts of around 500 words per day and gradually increased. I believe the first draft was completed in around four months, then another month or so for editing.
I took another break to pursue school for a while and I recently returned to writing once again. Part of my plan for 2025 is to edit, rebrand, and republish several books as well as write two new series. One is a space opera series focused on redemption. The other is a military science fiction series about humans vs aliens.
In typical fashion, I'll likely shoehorn in something else before the year is done.
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