Who is Michael-Scott Earle
OH, hello there, thanks for stopping by, and thank you for reading my novels, joining my mailing list, and sharing my books with your friends!
A little about my background:
I started writing stories back in the late 80's, when I was introduced to the classic Palladium game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness.
I was just a kid at the time, and didn't have a lot of friends, but I still spent countless hours making characters and thinking about cool adventures to take them on. When I got into high school, I found a bunch of other gamer friends and we played all sorts of Dungeon & Dragons, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Super Spies, Rifts, Legend of the Five Rings, Deadlands, and of course- Shadowrun 2nd edition (which is my favorite tabletop role playing game).
I played oboe/saxophone in high school, and went to college for performance arts. A year or so in, and I decided that I didn't want to be a pro musician. I've always like math, sales, and money, so I switched my major to Finance and then got an MBA a few years after I got my undergrad.
My first job out of school was in accounting. I worked for a company that did outsourced sales for various telecommunication, energy, and office supply retailers. I worked my way up the ranks of the company until I was director of sales for one of our mobility partners. I liked my job, but I was on the road 40 hours out of the week, and I didn't get to see a lot of my family.
On one plane trip, I found myself reading Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind novel. I remembered all of my role-playing friends telling me that they really loved the games that I created, so I figured that I could write my own fantasy series, but it would be a story for adults, with lots of bad ass violence and detailed sex. I wrote the first four books in the Destroyer series while I was on planes or in hotel rooms. They were incredibly well received, and I was able to quit my day job and write full time shortly after publishing them.
I now own my own a small publishing company, and work with a few other authors to get their work out to fans.
What authors influenced my writing?
I've read a fuck ton of books, and while I don't read that much anymore, I've read most of the fantasy and sci-fiction written between the 1980's and 2000's.
I am probably most influenced by David Gemmell.
My favorite is Morning Star, but I love all of his stuff. I started with his Rigante series, but ANY of his stuff is great.
I also enjoy the writings of Guy Gavriel Kay. The Lions of al-Rassan, A Song for Arbonne, and Sailing to Sarantium (two part series) are my favorites.
I also like Matthew Woodring Stover's Caine series. It is very adult, violent, and super dark.
I've been reading Michael Stackpole ever since I was a kid. My favorites of his are Talion: Revenant, Dark Glory War (although I did not enjoy the following books in the series), and Wolf and Raven.
One of my favorite epic fantasy series that not many have heard of is Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World series. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should. It is a great epic read.
My favorite Space Opera novel is The Last Legends of Earth by A.A. Attanasio.
I also like the work of Alastair Reynolds.
And of course, Alan Dean Foster. My favorite of his is The Man Who Used the Universe, but Foster has written a hundred novels, and you can't go wrong with any of them.
What kind of music do you like?
I have an eclectic taste. When I write I am normally listening to Somafm's "Groove Salad", or "Suburbs of Goa", or "Sonic Universe" stations.
Rock
I grew up listening to Grunge music. I love Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Screaming Trees. A lot of these guy's aren't really making new albums anymore (well- AIC did get back together), but Mark Lanegan is (he was the lead singer of Screaming Trees). One of my FAVORITE rock albums is his "Blues Funeral" album that came out in 2012.
I also like a lot of "Post Hardcore" bands. My current favorite is Hail the Sun. These guys are really good, and if you like At the Drive In, you'll really like them. Check out their Album "Wake". I also like their EP "Elephantitis".
For Metal, I like Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Red Fang, and Khoma. I also like a lot of prog-metal and prog-rock.
I'm also a big fan of Mike Patton. My favorite album of his is probable Peeping Tom. I also love his Mr. Bungle stuff.
Jazz
I like classic, but also nu-jazz (sometimes called acid-jazz) like Jazztronik, Jazzhole, Thundercat, and Avishai Cohen.
Hip Hop
I'm a fan of Aesop Rock, MF DOOM (and all his pseudonyms), Childish Gambino, Kool Keith, Lil' Dicky, and pretty much anything that Dan the Automator touches.
Electronic/Chill
I love this stuff. Most of it I listen to on SomaFM. I've also been listening to a lot of RetroWave- AKA "Cyberpunk Music". Current favorites are Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, Lazerhawk, and Trevor Something.
New Age
I love the old band Shadowfax, also Michael Hedges, I dunno if Camille is considered "New Age", but I love her stuff also.
What do you do for fun?
I don't have a ton of free time, but I love playing guitar (I'm very bad), bass guitar (I'm better), shooting my handguns, shotguns, and various rifles, playing videogames, and riding bicycles. I've got a rigid single-speed mountain bike built by Jeff Jones, a twenty year old titanium frame Litespeed road bike, and a few other titanium gravel and road bikes from SAGE.
I've been married for 14 years, and I have two young girls that are also tons of fun. :-)
If you have a question please visit my Facebook page and shoot me a DM. Please keep in mind that it might take me a while to respond.
