AJOW Author Spotlight: Dennis Doty | Victoria Griffin Fiction

A Journey of Words Author Spotlight: Dennis Doty

9/12/2016

Today in the spotlight, Dennis Doty!

His story, "The Flying Tiger," appears alongside my own in A Journey of Words. And you can catch us both on October 4 at Corbin, KY Municipal Library signing copies of the anthology!

Author Name: Dennis Doty

Story Title: The Flying Tiger

Story Synopsis:
A man wanders back to the old home place and finds himself talking to a pile of scrap lumber about the places they’ve been and the things they’ve done.

What inspired you to write this story?
I was searching my memories for something to write about and somewhere among the dusty boots and broken bones I stumbled upon a childhood memory.

How long have you been writing?
I wrote a couple of “creative” term papers in college, then just didn’t write again ‘til around 1989. I started putting out a monthly newsletter for a bookstore I owned and caught the bug. I started writing fiction while between jobs around 2004. I didn’t start my first novel until 2015.

What genre do you usually write in and why?
I write a lot that could be called Western or western themed, but I also write a lot of military, historical, slice of life kinds of things.

What else are you working on writing at the moment?
I am always writing short stories and essays, and I have two Western themed novels in progress.

What advice do you have to give to new writers?
Write. Write any time you get a chance even if it’s only a few words. Read. Read anything you can get your hands on. Read books in and out of your genre, read magazines. Heck, if you don’t have anything else to read, walk downtown and read the window advertising. Share. Share your work with other writers and readers and try to get honest feedback. Not the kind your kinfolk will shovel at you, but the real deal. Ask what works and what doesn’t and why.

How can people discover more about you and your work?
Mostly you can find me at home writing, but if you can’t get out my way you can find me at my website or my Facebook page.