Were you a big reader as a child?
Yes, I was. I was part of the initial Sesame Street generation, so I always saw reading as a wonderful adventure. Whether I was journeying into the deep blue sea with Jacques Cousteau or battling morlocks with H.G. Wells, books were my passport to a good time. So much so that my mother frequently scolded me to put down my books and go outside and play with other kids.

What genres are your favorites?
I love a wide variety of genres, including literary. I’m not a big reader of romances or historical fiction, but I have an appreciation of the ones that are well written. As a teenager, I was a big fan of Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr series. I loved how he could write a murder mystery that was both humorous and suspenseful. I’ve also loved a number of science fiction and fantasy titles. Water for Elephants and Middlesex are some of my recent favorites.

When did you start writing?
I must have been in my early teens. My first story was a poorly written rip off of The War of the Worlds with aliens that looked like dinosaurs. I owned a manual Smith Corona typewriter that weighed a ton, though I did my rough drafts in longhand. Later, I wrote some short stories about people in conflict including one set in India that involved confrontations between various religious groups.

What motivated you to write?
I loved that I could create people, creatures, and worlds that didn’t exist except in the mind. I also wanted to share the life lessons that I was learning. Writing fiction allowed me to frame those lessons in ways that nonfiction doesn’t do as well.

More recently, I was motivated to tell stories about LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and allies) community that weren’t being told. The vast majority of LGBT fiction could be broken down into coming out stories, romance, erotica and lesbian murder mystery. But there is so much more to the gay and gender-variant experience than coming out, falling in love, having sex and discovering dead bodies. I couldn’t find many stories that fell outside these subgenres so I decided to write them myself.

You were originally a journalist. Why did you leave that profession?
It was the end of the 1980s and I’d really only been in the profession for a few years. But I realized I didn’t care much for that writing style. It lacked the creativity I sought. It was also difficult to make a living as a journalist. So I left it to do other things.

What other kinds of jobs did you have?
I did all kinds of things including customer service, washing cars, bill collection, selling substandard dental policies, silversmithing, and writing macros for accountants. I was a quick learner and would do whatever I could get a job doing.

A few years ago, I quit my job to take care of my wife’s parents. That was quite a change because I was used to being in an office all day and working with other people my age. But it also forced me to grow in ways that I needed to and it helps keep me humble. It also gives me time to write.

You are also an essayist and an advice columnist, aren’t you?
I have written several essays, many of which have been published either in print or on websites such as www.aworldofprogress.com. I’ve drifted away from that form to focus more on my fiction.

As for being an advice columnist, I was honored a few years ago to be invited to be a part of the advice panel on www.thelesbianlifestyle.com, where several lesbians and I impart our diverse wisdom to lesbians who find themselves baffled by their current circumstances. It’s fun to do and I love reading the advice from the other columnists.

Where do you get your story ideas?
Everywhere. I started out with bits of my own experiences, such as my struggles with alcoholism and codependency. But I also draw ideas from dreams and from the lives of people I know. I try to keep an ear out for any tidbit that could be turned into a story whether it’s a person with a funny personality trait or an interesting place or a crazy situation.

You hold the distinction as being the first person living in Arizona to donate a kidney to a stranger. Tell us about that.
At the time, we were down in Tucson visiting a church that my wife used to belong to. During the church service, an announcement was made that one of the members needed a kidney. When I heard it, I heard God speak to me and say, “Dharma, this one is yours.” I knew nothing about the person other than the name Max. Nine months later, my right kidney was inside her.

It was a strange thing for me to do because even today, I can be a rather selfish person. But I was alive because strangers had shown up and chaired AA meetings and shared their wisdom. I was just paying it forward.

What made you want to switch from writing nonfiction to fiction?
I blame National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. It’s an event held every November where people all over the world attempt to write a 50,000-word novel (or novella) in 30 days.

A few years ago, I decided to take the challenge. I wasn’t interested in writing fiction, but I thought the forced discipline of writing every day would improve my writing habits. I managed to succeed in that challenge and afterwards decided to finish the novel and edit it.

Has it been published?
No, I’m afraid not, but it managed to collect a nice stack of rejection slips. It wasn’t a bad story really, but it lacked a lot in structure and could have used more tension. It was a learning experience that I value.

I’ve heard it said that a writer must write a million words before she or he produces something that’s publishable. I think there is a lot of truth in that. There are so many skills to master including style, voice, structure, grammar, and character development. The only way to learn these skills is by doing and learning from your mistakes.

On a separate note, is Dharma your real name?
Dharma is short for Dharmashanti, which is my middle name. I adopted that name when I became a Buddhist. It is Sanskrit for “the Divine law of peace”. It reminds me that as I practice compassion and selflessness, the result will ultimately be peace.

What are your goals as a writer?
To have my writing published commercially, of course. But I also want to experiment with characters that you don’t often see in commercial fiction—people with alternative lifestyles, people of color, people of various sizes including little people and people with weight issues. Fiction should reflect the diversity of humanity but too often we see protagonists that are straight, white, average-sized and usually male. I prefer my fiction with a little more flavor.

Where do you see the publishing industry and the world of literature headed?
It’s hard to say. Books have been around so long and their evolution in terms of form has been rather slow. Consider how long it’s taken to go from clay or wax tablets to scrolls to bound books to movable type. Now digital duplication has opened the door for eBooks and audiobooks.

Publishers, booksellers, libraries and even writers must re-evaluate their business models. Some writers have given away their work in electronic and audio form and later netted a book deal from a traditional publisher. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have created eBook readers, though the format for an eBook hasn’t yet solidified. Print-on-demand technology has opened the way for more independent publishers to compete with the industry giants.

Where this will ultimately go is anybody’s guess. Personally, I like reading a physical book, though ecologically it’s not such a good thing. I have only read a couple of eBooks. Audiobooks are great, but I am such a visual person that I’m easily distracted from what I’m hearing. I often find myself asking, “Wait a minute, how did the character get there? Who are they talking to?”

Any advice for other aspiring writers?
As an emerging writer myself, I’m not exactly in the position of giving advice. But I do encourage aspiring writers to read a lot and to take the learning of this craft seriously. It’s hard work and you’re going to make a lot of mistakes.

There’s a lot of disillusionment early on. You’ll write something you think is clever. Then you let someone critique it and you learn that it’s crap. Disillusionment isn’t something a lot of people talk about, but it kills more writers’ dreams than anything else does. But if you’re willing to let go of your pride and work hard at improving your skills, then your chances of success improve dramatically.

How can someone get in touch with you?
My email address is dharmashanti @ gmail .com (minus the spaces).  You can also friend me on Facebook . And of course you can follow me on the Infinite Mega-Monkey Blog and on my Podcast Fiction page.