About Sean Cummings

 

Sean Cummings is a comic book geek of the highest order and self-described nerd. He's been writing since 1978 (as a means of liberating his "inner nerd") He's a huge fan of the television series Being Human and asserts that if urban fantasy happened in the real world, Being Human is as close to real as you can get. His interests include speculative and science fiction, the borg, cats with extra toes, east Indian cuisine and quality sci-fi movies/television.

He lives in Saskatoon, Canada.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do you get your ideas?

I'm heavily influenced by my life-long love affair with comic books. Reading and collecting them has always influenced the kinds of ideas fermenting in my bean.

How cold is Saskatoon?

Really freaking cold. Skin freezing in less than a minute cold.

Why did you choose Calgary as the setting for Shade Fright?

Because there's not a lot being written in my genre where the setting is Canada and I thought, why not Canada, eh? I chose Calgary (or the great Canadian prairie) because I grew up there.

Is there a sequel to Shade Fright in the works?

You bet. If you buy the book you can read the first chapter.

What are you writing now?

I've just completed the first of a young adult series about a teenage witch and her geeky boyfriend. It's on submission with some agents and Snowbooks is looking at it. I am also flushing out the story arc for the Valerie Stevens series.

Do you have an agent?

Where? Where? Do you know any good ones that don't charge fees? Seriously, I'd love to find a literary agent but that's actually a LOT harder than getting a book published.

How's your experience been with Snowbooks?

Snowbooks rocks. Period. They place a huge focus on marketing your novel because ultimately that's what really matters in this business - getting your book into as many people's hands as possible. Emma Barnes is awesome and Anna Torborg (who did the cover art for Shade Fright) is amazing.

Any advice to unpublished authors?

Yep. Keep writing. Learn the business of publishing. With the web, there's a ton of information on who is a "good" publisher and who is running a scam. Try not to get disheartened when you face rejection because rejection happens for a whack of reasons and you just have to keep your chin up. Also, you ain't gonna get rich at this, so keep your day job!

 

How Can You Tell It's One Of My Books?

1. It takes place in Canada. I've got nothing against the rest of the world but Canada is a cool place and hey, why shouldn't there be Canadian settings?

2. Really eccentric characters. I've written about characters from a little old lady with a penchant for rye who can bench press a battle tank to a zombie with a law degree. I think it makes for a colourful story.

3. Really awkward romance. I suck at romance, but it's sometimes necessary to throw on the oatmeal in a novel. The romance I insert is generally awkward, clunky and often humorous.

4. Humour. I try to create a blend of humour mixed with action in my stories.

5. First Person POV. I love writing in first person because my books always revolve around a central character who is relaying their experience to the reader. I can write in third person and who knows, maybe I will write a series of books that way. For now, I will keep on doing what appears to be working.