Fletcher Best is an American author of
humorous fiction and science fiction. He is the author of the Stranded
In Time series of science fiction novels, including Pirates of the Storm,
The Corpornation, and the upcoming third installment, Timeless.
His humorous works include Sniffing Out Stink Ape, The Great Chupacabra
Kerfuffle, and The
Eight Fingered Fiend of Lake Porker.
In addition to his novels, Fletcher Best
also writes short stories that are published exclusively for the enjoyment of
visitors to his website, FletcherBest.com. These include the popular, Manatee
Vengeance - Blood at the Boat Launch, Alien Invasion of the Zombie
Apocalypse, Operation Black Friday, and A Fabulous Business
Opportunity.
Born in Miami, Florida, Fletcher has lived in Texas since 1988. He (or more correctly,
his real-life alter-ego George Best) attended Parker College of Chiropractic in
Dallas before beginning a chiropractic practice in
San
Antonio
in 1992. He has resided in San Antonio ever since and now lives in sin with his
girlfriend and their 4 cats (the sin being strictly with the girlfriend, not
the cats).
Readers are invited to connect with Fletcher
through his website at http://www.FletcherBest.com.
Can you tell us
what your book is about?
The Eight Fingered Fiend of Lake Porker is about a huge freshwater octopus named Octavio
that was secretly bred by Dr. Helga Braun, the brilliant woman scientist who
runs a fish breeding facility in the small town of Lake Porker, Texas. Between the good doctor’s loneliness and sexual frustration and Octavio’s abundant
affection for her, one thing has led to another and the octopus has become
quite a skilled lover. Those skills
become problematic when Octavio periodically escapes into the lake and
unleashes his sexual talents on unsuspecting swimmers. His victims(?) experience a strange
combination of arousal and horror at the hands, or more correctly tentacles, of
the libidinous octopus. The stories of
the lake monster attract the attention of not only local law enforcement, but
also a pair of documentary filmmakers out to make their next hit cable
television special. But Octavio is just
one of the secrets of Lake Porker. Just below the surface of this sleepy Texas town there’s illicit affairs, methamphetamine
distribution, racial tensions, election fraud, and murder - so there’s
something in the book for everyone!
Why did you write
your book?
I enjoy outrageous
humor such as the work of Christopher Moore and Carl Hiaasen and I wanted to
write something that I hope will bring as many laughs and as much enjoyment to
my readers as those authors have brought to me.
Do you tend to base
your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Well, the giant
octopus is based on a guy I went to school with, but all the other characters
are at least mostly from my imagination.
Are you consciously
aware of the plot before you begin a novel or do you discover it as you write?
In this case, I had
worked out most of the characters and plot in advance, but I have written books
in which I’ve just started writing and let things develop as I went. Either way actually works fine for me.
Your book is set in Lake Porker, Texas. Can you tell us why you chose this setting in
particular?
Lake Porker is a fictitious
town, but it is somewhat of a conglomeration of various small towns I’m
familiar with in Texas. I chose to set the story in a small Texas town because such
places tend to have a lot more going on than meets the eye, often things that
outsiders would be shocked to learn. For
example, the quiet, scenic communities surrounding the real-life Canyon Lake are reputedly a
hotbed of methamphetamine production.
Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?
It does. The lake and the small
town atmosphere figure prominently in the story. I don’t think it would work if I had set the
story in the suburbs or an urban area.
Open the book to page 69. What is
happening?
It would have been so perfect if I could have honestly answered, “69,”
because there is a scene in the book that features a sexual act that happens to
be known by that number. Sadly, that is
not what’s happening on page 69. What is
happening is the newly-hired town deputy is being confronted by his aging
father about his (the deputy’s) illicit affair with the sheriff’s wife. I know it must sound like there’s a lot of
sex in this book, but that’s not… OK, yeah, there’s a lot of sex in this book!
Is it hard to get a humor/satire book published?
I’m self-published,
so I don’t know how this book would be received by traditional publishers. I suspect that it might be a bit more
difficult to get published than some other genres, since this book is difficult
to fit into a standard classification beyond being humorous fiction.
Have you suffered from writer’s block and what do you do to get back on
track?
I have experienced some mild writer’s block in the past, although not
with writing this particular book. What
I do is write something completely different.
For example, if I get blocked on writing something humorous, I might
switch to science fiction or vice-versa.
What do you like to do for fun?
I enjoy being outdoors. Fishing
and hiking are favorite activities. When
I get a chance, I really love to travel to someplace with clear ocean water and
go snorkeling.
What do you like the most about being an author?
Not having to shave or even put on pants before I go to work. Oh, and not having to be at work at a
particular time or in a particular place is pretty cool, too!
What kind of advice would you give other
fiction authors?
Find an easier line
of work and when you stop writing, refer any followers you may have to my
books. Just kidding (mostly)! Actually, the best piece of advice I have is
to do the best work you can and when you’ve done the best work that you can, be
willing to pull the trigger and publish it.
I know people who write but never publish because they don’t think their work is good enough. While there’s definitely a lot of people out
there who have delusions of their grandeur regarding their writing, there’s
probably just as many or more who are crippled by their self-doubt. If you aren’t sure if your work is good
enough to publish or not, go ahead and publish it and find out for sure from
the people who read it.
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