Interview with Ichabod Temperance

Tell us a little about yourself. Where you are from? Do you feel where you live influences how or what you write?

Thank you, Aimee. I am a lifelong resident of the Birmingham Alabama area. I have been involved with many forms of construction, played drums in a band for many years, was a sushi chef for a spell. I was also a karate student for over twenty years, and spent much of that time as an instructor. I have also been heavily involved with professional wrestling for the past 13.5 years. It is this association with wrestling, I believe, that helped to teach the art of storytelling. I and my character in the novels are from this area, so it definitely influences the way I write.

What sort of expectations did you have when being published was on the horizon?  

Well, I suppose I thought I would be an overnight success. Much to my surprise, it is actually pretty dang difficult to become rich and famous.

What is your biggest pet peeve ?

To be truthful, I am a pretty easy going person. I try not to allow myself to be annoyed at other folks' little idiosyncrasies. Goodness knows I have enough myself!

Are you Steampunk all the time or only when you write?

I think the term Steampunk merely puts a handle on the eccentricities that I have harboured for a long time. As Popeye would say, "I am, what I am." I am the same person at this keyboard with you right now, as I am when I am running around in 1876 fighting monsters and saving the World.

Where/how did you come up with the idea for your Ichabod Temperance novels?

Some friends of mine are local independent film makers. As a martial artist/professional wrestler, I pursued them to allow me to be a part of a film that might need a fight sequence, or some other stunt work. They wrote a screen play for a sweeping, no-budget, Steampunk epic, "Engines of Destiny". This was my introduction to Steampunk. I was directed to a website, "The Steampunk Empire". This site encourages one to create a backstory for one's character. I quite stumbled onto writing the novels by accident!

Is there a genre you prefer to write? What about to read?

I am involved with an experimental story process, "Cloud-based storytelling". It is a multi-platform venue including audio, video, and written storytelling formats and an ensemble cast. I do a bit of writing and acting there. The main site is Theatrics.com, and the show is called "Aurelia". My reading tastes fall along the lines of Steampunk, thrillers, and humorous fiction such as the works of Terry Pratchett.

Care to give us a peek at what your latest writing project is?

Sure. It is same as the others. I fight lots of monsters, save the World, and get the girl. We live happily ever after.

Halloween is just around the corner will you be dressing up this year? 

No plans as of yet, but I am hoping to be inspired to dress up and go out. Thanks for the reminder, I will have to put on my thinking cap.

A lot of authors use pen names. Is there a reason for using Ichabod Temperance as yours? Are you really Batman?

I have always enjoyed using nick-names. In wrestling, no one uses his or her real name. We address each other by our "gimmick" names. It is considered rude to insist on using the "real" name. I believe nick-names, aliases, and pen-names allow a person to be even more true to his or her real self image.

And yes. I am Batman.

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