An Exciting New Science Fiction Novelist,
David L. Erickson has burst onto the scene with
his latest novel, Mankind’s Worst Fear . . .
Biography
There are moments in one’s life that will never be forgotten. The morning I finished reading Ray Bradbury’s ‘Martian Chronicles’ I knew I wanted to be a writer. I was fourteen and that weekend I hammered out the first chapter of ‘Strongpoint 208’ on my small Royal typewriter. Like most of my earlier writings, it was lost when I joined the Marines after high school.
Perhaps because I took an instant liking to science fiction, especially time-travel, that is what I write most, but I am proud of my only horror story and I’ve written kick-butt tales and took first prize in the only poetry contest I ever entered, though I can count
Mankind’s Worst Fear ISBN # 1-60610-700-3
on one hand the number of competitions I've entered. I’ve written lots of social commentary, business manuals, even did a political campaign once.
Mornings are best for me, and not just with writing. It’s when my muse is fired up and refreshed, my mind sharp and uncluttered. All of my favorite stories come to me in passionate dreams filled with sights, sounds, colors, often exhilarating, but almost always a place I’d rather be because I’m in control. I’ve been able to manipulate my dreams since I was lost in a pitch black house and only by reaching the top most floor and flinging wide the shuttered window was I free of this recurrent nightmare. Anything can set me down in front of the keyboard – a news article, a day dream, talking with someone. The plot for my latest novel came after watching a grade d movie about a guy who could travel into the future using a submarine.
I’m especially proud of the first novel I wrote as an adult, called ‘The Right-ous Shall Inherit the Earth’, in which a family man and business owner becomes a high-profile assassin for ‘The Program’, an international group that takes over the world by murdering major criminals, be they drug kingpins, politicians or civic leaders. Because it was my first major work, it still needs....work, so as time permits...
My current project is a story about a boy who discovers a 1950 Buick with four corpses in it after a storm washes away part of the riverbank at the town park. His father is a recent divorcee and down-on-his-luck writer who lives in a small southwest Missouri town. With all that has been going on in my life lately, and with my first novel in print, it is difficult to set aside writing time, but I manage. As new plot ideas keep popping into my head, I'm always tempted to set it aside and hammer out another short story, article or letter-to-the-editor.
Between my writing, maintaining and restoring this 1948 bungalow and allowing time for family needs, I do make time to read one or two novels a month (Dean Koontz and Isaac Asimov of late), read daily from various national newspapers online and research items of interest. I critique a story a week with Critters.Org as well. It is amazing the unending variety of plots writers can come up with. My most entertaining read was Tim Allen’s, ‘I’m Not Really Here’, and ‘Galaxy Quest’ has to be my all time favorite schlocky film. Beyond that, weather permitting, we’ll drop the top on Kathi’s Mustang and pick a back road just to see where it takes us. At least once a month we’ll cruise to Shell Knob to visit with my parents. Dad is eighty-one now and should be slowing down, but he and mom cherish their independence, and visits from the kids.
Raised in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis, I left at 17 to see the world. As a Marine avionics tech I was stationed in California, Tennessee, Vietnam and Virginia. Kathi and I returned briefly to Minnesota before spending the next 26 years in Florida where we built a business and were both active in the community. In 1998, we sold out and moved to southwest Missouri to spend time with my parents and siblings. After all these years, I’m still struggling to overcome the culture shock.
With a view of Bull Shoals lake and living in a home formerly owned by another author who penned three novels on agriculture here, I'm right smack in the middle of this great country. The former owner, Roy Donahue is a legend around these parts, but a lousy house painter. I hope to follow in his footsteps, building on this old home's historical footing and maybe pass it on to another writer someday. In the meantime, I'll do my best to restore the original character of this aging abode while repairing some of Roy's excesses.
I know that a novel is as much about the author as the story he tells, and all I've given you is a suggestion of my past. I've got lots more stories to tell, adventures to share, some more inflated than others, and many more books to write.
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