Travis Borne is a father of four fantastic kids. He is supported by his beautiful wife of more than twenty years. Travis is a coder of various programming languages, creates plug-ins for graphic software, designs dynamic websites, and has been in the graphics industry for nearly twenty years.
An avid hiker, he loves the outdoors, usually spending an hour or so running or walking before starting the daily grind. A few of his passions include the studies and experiences of lucid dreaming, fitness and nutrition, science, astronomy, particle physics, and of course whipping words into bizarre concoctions.
No matter the temperature you might run into him outdoors, trekking with either of his two large dogs: Miller the sometimes lazy, golden retriever, or George, the newfypoo with boundless energy. Spending time with family is given priority whenever possible. As his wife says, he always pushes things to the extreme—a good thing, and bad, as it has turned out at times.
LENDERS II is Travis’ second novel and he is currently in the process of writing the first draft to, possibly the final experience of the Lender’s trilogy, LENDERS III. Travis has many ideas for future novels and plans to keep at it until he burns himself out—and probably ends up flying real airplanes instead of imaginary ones, or getting himself lost.
Author Interview
What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book(s), but nobody has? Write it out here, and then answer it.:
Are you mental? This is insane! And tell me more about those otherworldly acid trips! How on earth did you came up with the concept of “LENDING” consciousness itself, in order to save the world from…what’s coming. Muahahahaha!
What is your writing process? Do you follow a regular routine or do you have any weird, funny, or unusual habits while writing and what are they?:
My routine is all over the place. My mind is chaos. I ruminate a lot in good and bad ways. But when the moment hits, and you probably know what I mean, it’s good. It’s good, like goooood, with lots of extra ‘O’s good. And it scares me.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?:
Not really. I can most days get the can of worms open. The problem is, and it’s super-duper-mega simple, but a worldwide conundrum epidemic… Peeling myself away from all that other shit. Shit like social media, political purgatory, humanity—stuff like that.
When I can escape that maw, and the more I can distance myself from it, the better the worms wiggle out of the can. And their slimy, gooey, colorful, and really really weird.
To Mark Shultz: That ‘their’ in the previous sentence, it was intentional.
Our inside joke!
What is the single most important piece of advice for aspiring authors?:
Construct a habit. You’re just human. We all are. So, LEARN to be a human. Read the right books, the ones you neeeeeed.
And learn how to exploit this temporary form, to employ the meatbag’s flaws and fortes. Use everything to your advantage, to the “meatbag’s” maximum, and I might add, possibly very potent, potential.
What are your current/future projects?:
I’m working on Lenders III. It’s a fiasco of epic proportions. The worms are a wiggling!
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?:
I love dreaming. I wake daily with dreams that are more real than this world! And they punch and beat me, and make me smile. It all pours out from that faucet.
Uh, I like tequila too.
What do you think is the future for independent authors and do you think it will continue to be easy for anyone to be a published author?:
Easy to self-publish. That’s were it’s at. Currently, I have no interest in working with a traditional publisher. And I have no interest in putting my Travis Handcock on any paper material, ever. What is your goal? What do you want? What is my goal? What do I want? I suppose it’s just personal preference. Where one is at in his or her life? What led them to be there, here, now? How many beatings or hugs, or punch to the guts had he or she endured or enjoyed? LOVE AND PAIN.
The FUTURE?
Ummm. Just read Lenders.
Are you traditional or self-published, and what process did you go through to get your book published?:
Self, and I have no interest in having my blood sucked. Although with Self-pubbin’, and just about anything else for that matter, I suppose, I’m sure I’ll still get my ass squeezed through the juicer. But at least, I have a bit more control.
But then, what is—control? We live within a dreamworld! There be VAMPIRES out there!
Have you ever changed a title, book cover, or even the content of your book after it was published? What was that process like?:
Yep. It’s an ongoing part of THE NIGHTMARE.
Advice…
Edit thoroughly, ten passes, more!
Get your work proofread by a professional!
Get your work proofread by a professional!
Get your work proofread by a professional!
Quality over quantity!
I recommend master “Word Refiner” Mark Shultz. He makes a tedious process fun. We had a blast working together on Lenders 1 and 2. 450K words, over 200 chapters, 1,400 pages. And what a blast it was!
If you are a self-published author, which platform do you prefer? (Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu, Author House, or something not mentioned), and why?:
Just Kindle for now. To keep it simple. And I don’t have to sign anything. Muahahahaha!
What field or genre would you classify your book(s) and what attracted you to write in that field or genre?:
Science fiction is great. I like adding humor to it. And love, passion, a good dose of heart-wrenching madness—and oodles of misanthropy. I love movies like The Matrix. And having studied lucid dreaming for many years, and having tried some weird things with drugs, supplements, dream masks, and… Well, the realm of dreams, it meshes nicely with science.
What do you do if inspiration strikes in an inconvenient place like (car, restaurant, bathroom/shower, etc..) and how do you capture that moment before it gets away from you?:
Jot it down…if I’m drinking.
A sober state of mind retains the idea just fine.
Do you believe there are competitors or general readers out to sabotage authors with bad reviews and what are your experiences with this?:
Yep. There’s a bad review on Lenders, book one. Another part of this fiasco. I had self-published as a trial run. It was an early draft and as soon as my insiders got their copies, I unpublished. I didn’t know much about publishing then, or doing anything of the sort, but the trial run was a success. My insiders provided some feedback and got to read the novel; it was great, fantastic, fun!
But Amazon kept selling draft 1, even though I had quickly removed the item. I suppose, they must sell all of the copies that have been printed.
And someone had snuck in and snagged a copy. I should have known, a stupid idea, perhaps. But I was anxious, I had wanted to go, go, go. I’ve learned much since then.
We all pay for our hasty, frivolous mistakes. And my only “bad” review was born. And I think, I know who it is.
I had reviewed a book for someone else, but then removed my review when I learned, after accepting this person’s friend request on Facebook, that this person was not a nice dude. This person would rant about politics, this person was captious, hypercritical, and all-out rude. So, I removed my review and wallah! A splotch of bad. But I must admit, the bad review is what did it. It make me try harder. So, I must thank whoever that evil dude was.
Yep, there’s a lot of seething pride and evil, in some people. There’s hate spreaders. And that’s the complete opposite of what I’m about. I loathe haters. And I’ll go out of my way to support good, honest people. And when my snowball starts rolling, and it will, I’m going to reach out and grab some of those good people, and we’re all going for one hell of a ride!
So, we live and learn. And as with us all, we get wiser with age—most times—and less hasty, less frivolous. Still, though, with a whopping good deal of go, go, GO!
Have you ever had an interesting, funny, or even bad experience during a live interview, reading, event, or autograph session?:
Not yet, but if you’ve made it this far—you know it’s coming!
With self publishing being so easy these days, do you believe there is an over abundance of books out there and how do you sort through all the hype or copycats?:
Probably…no, yep. There is. I would recommend authors spend more time editing. Again, quality over quantity. One good book is worth a million bad ones. Gets better pass after pass, and proofing helps loads! An outside eye. Takes longer, too, so if everyone took longer, then there’d be a grander pith of magnificent masterpieces out there.
What is your biggest fear about having a book published?:
No fear. I might have to swat a few haters though. That’s just annoying.
What is the intended audience for you book?:
Good human beings. Good human beings with a sense of humor. And, people who LOVE to be frightened, terrified out of their gourd! Frisson! Because Lenders 1 and 2 get pretty technologically, trippingly, unnerving at times!
Give us a fun fact about your book(s)?:
I just quickly snagged a random paragraph from Lenders 1, The Unlicensed Consciousness:
Many at the bar area noticed once again. Rab shook his head vehemently to destroy the feelings, to wipe his messy slate, to shake the lump-that-was-a-brain inside his skull. “Fuck—I’m here to unwind,” he said, audibly once again, and walked away. People moved aside as he stormed to the bar. Realizing he didn’t much care what they thought he was largely dismissed; clubbers went on sucking face, guzzling beers, and hiding all-out sex in ways only a borrachón could.
If you had the chance to get one message out there to reach readers all over the world, what would that message be?:
It’s coming! (stretch that out in a spooky manner).
And this—is only ONE perspective, ONE possibility for our future. One or another, none of us will be prepared for it!
Check out the “peek inside.” And goes yet another…Muahahahaha!
FYI. Only the Kindle version of Lenders 1 is the newly remastered and proofed-by-Word-Refiner copy. Scoop up the paper copies (2nd edition) if you want something that might never exist again.
And all the other things, too, as far as messages I’d like to spread to the world, those good ones like, be yourself, be good to one another, don’t make assumptions, live well, be humble. Be supportive of one another!
Do you find it easier to connect with your readers with the advances in technology we have today like social media? What platform do you prefer, and why?:
Twitter lately. Great community. I’m really feeling the love!
What makes a good story, why?:
A good story is like…hmmm…being stripped of your clothing, injected with roids, while bolted to an earthquake, upright, in front of a Live-TV camera. Then take an ice bucket challenge, just when you thought it was all over. And repeat some more sick-ass shit…kinda like that. Lots of color too. And smells, weird ones.
Have you ever had a book idea or characters come to you in a dream? What did you do about it afterwards?:
Almost always!
Were your characters based off real life people/events or did you make it all up?:
Write about what you know. That’s pretty much the rule I follow. What parts really happened or not, however, I’ll never say. If I did…well…imagine jumper cables attached to bolts on your neck!
Do you proofread/edit your own books or do you send them off to an editor? If you send them off to an editor, who/what have you had the best experience with?:
Yes, I edit my own books. I believe it’s the only way to roll, because the learning never stops. And editing is learning on roids.
Lenders 1 and 2 were proofed by master “Word Refiner” Mark Shultz. Mark is not hard to find in the “writing” world. And he’s a wonderful human being.
An outside eye, by means of proofreading ONLY, not editing, yep, that’s how I roll.
Or, if you’re rich, on the other hand, write a draft or two and pass to an editorial team. Then, however, it’s less a work of your own “imaginings,” and more a group effort, possibly geared only for $$
Do not write only for $$. A pretty good rule to live by, for your heart and unique soul lives in YOUR unique story, a result of YOUR unique, temporary existence on planet Earth.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of self or traditional publishing?:
Self: less vampires, perhaps. More control, for sure. And just maybe…
Traditional: riches, beyond your wildest dreams. NOT. But just maybe…
What makes your book stand out from the crowd?:
The covers are pretty cool, I think. And I post excerpts on Twitter. Some flop, but most are well received. We have a lot of fun on Twitter, with good people like Martha Perez, Author Ellie, Russell the Author, David Padilla, David P Perlmutter, Mark Shultz, and so many others. And it gets pretty crazy when we dance and do shots!
Do you design your own cover? If not who does, why?:
I designed the cover for Lenders II, and henceforth will probably keep designing my own cover. What ya think about my cover, guys?
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