INTERVIEW with I.M. TELLING

I. M. Telling's most recent work is titled MARI. Telling is from North Carolina. Normally, Telling's work is explicit erotica, however Mari is more of a drama/thriller/adventure.

In Telling's words, "Mari is a young African woman who is tricked into coming to America. She has a lot of dreams and hopes. She decides that while she is still young, she should try to see if her dreams are possible. She has plenty of time to punch a clock later on. Unfortunately, her dreams quickly become a nightmare as she is kidnapped by a group of white supremacists intent on placing Mari into a life of sexual and domestic slavery. The story includes a lot of hard core horrors that Mari must endure so 18 and over is highly recommended. This is a story about courage and a willingness to do what is necessary to survive."

Telling's writing process takes form in this manner. "It usually begins with a premise, however I know I need to write it once I start hearing the dialog and narrative erupting from somewhere in the recesses of my mind. I often do not know where a story will lead. I simply take dictation from my thoughts." Inspiration comes from many directions. "With over fifteen current titles, this is a hard question to answer because each work has been triggered by different factors.The story about Mari begins with her making a new online friend on Facebook.  Facebook is where I met the REAL Mari. Although the story is totally fictional, background information about the main character was drawn from real life. The book cover is Mari's own image. Up until now, I have done my own covers using tools at CreateSpace."

Time is always a challenge with writers, having many demands on their time. "At present, writing is a second job while I maintain the day job. Hopefully, soon I will make writing my day job. The only future issue I see will be finding a new part time job/hobby."

Certain popular authors have appealed to Telling in the past. "Stephen King is probably the author I've read the most of in later years. Before that, Robert Heinlein. As to reasons, what can I say except I like the topics they write about. In my younger days, I was an avid reader but for most of the last 20 years, 99% of my reading was CNN.COM and technical articles relating to computer programming. I recently purchased a Kindle just to go back in time a little, reread a few old favorites and that sparked a desire I have had for years to create my own stories. So, at the moment... no new authors have attracted my attention. Again, it is a matter of budgeting time."

When asked about authors that influence Telling, Telling says, "I won't answer that simply because I believe I would be doing a disservice by claiming to write 'like' some of the great writers of our time."

One of Telling's author quirks is an identity problem. "Since my genre is explicit erotica, I have no other choice then to write under a pen name and keep my mouth shut about what I am doing. Family and co-workers, they would be asking far too many questions about what is real experiences and what is pure fiction in my stories. The challenge is keeping my mouth shut. I often wonder what I would do if I wrote a New York Times best seller... got picked up by a major publisher, and had to start going to book signings and the like. Not sure I am ready to come out of the closet."

Some of Telling's work includes short stories as well as full length novels. "I love writing full-length because it allows me to evolve my characters. To start them at one place and take them to another. The short pieces tend to be one-dimensional. I enjoy writing those as well but it's just less fulfilling." The full length books are Mari,The Ebony Letter, and Brenda Bailey Cunningham's Ankle Bracelet. "I cannot easily say one is better than the other, as each is very different from the rest. Of my short stories, my best seller is called 'Being Serviced.' As I speak, I am currently working on a sequel called 'Being Serviced by the Best.'"

To promote, Telling is currently using Twitter and Facebook. "http://latenightpublishing.biz is my web site. It contains excerpts and purchase links from all of my stories...Come and visit my website and you can see all of my titles as well as new ones as I create them."