Dragon Soul Press interviewed Larry Hodges, an author featured in Apocalypse and At The End.

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I live in Germantown, Maryland, USA, but I really live in two worlds, science fiction and table tennis. I’ve been reading and writing science fiction & fantasy for many years. When I have a great idea, if I don’t write the story, my head will explode. I have four published novels, but find short stories more fun to write.
My other world is table tennis. I was top 20 in the US as a player, won 17 Open singles titles, and at various times was state champion of Maryland, Colorado, and North Carolina. I won the US Open and US National Hardbat Singles Championships (and Hardbat Doubles a record 14 times!), as well as numerous senior age events. (Hardbat
is a specialized version of TT where you play without a sponge covering. I play both ways.) But I’m a member of the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame primarily for my coaching and writing about the Olympic sport, and was the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, the youngest ever for a “Contributor.” (But I’m only 64 now!)
I have 21 books; four are SF novels, five are SF anthologies, twelve are table tennis (mostly instructional), plus one book on my travels in Europe and Egypt. That adds up to 22 because one of the novels is a fantasy table tennis novel, “The Spirit of Pong,” and so counts as both SF and TT!!! Academically, I have a bachelors in math, with minors in chemistry and computer science, and a master’s in journalism. The math and science background help my SF writing, and the journalism degree helps my writing in general.

1. What prompted you to begin writing?
   • I’ve been reading science fiction since around third grade. Around eighth grade I wrote
     my first story, “The Giant Snowflake.” But I didn’t do much SF writing for many years
     after that. Due to my table tennis, I began writing table tennis articles – coaching articles,
     writing up tournaments, player profiles, and so on. Then USA Table Tennis began a
     Resident Table Tennis Training Program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado
     Springs – I lived in their dorms for over four years. I was brought in as player-manager,
     and later I became one of the coaches and finally the director. Training was in the
     morning and late afternoon – and I was free in between. So . . . I began writing science
     fiction for fun. Then I started submitting them, and sold a few. Then I went to the six-
     week 2006 Odyssey Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing Workshop. As my writing skills
     improved, more stories sold. As of this writing, I’ve sold 206 short stories and 4 novels.
     Hopefully more to come!
2. Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?
   • That’s a tough call, but I’d have to go with my novel, “Campaign 2100: Game of
     Scorpions,” a drama-satire. It covers the election for president of Earth in the year 2100,
     where the whole world has adopted the American two-party electoral system. The two
     major parties are conservative and liberal, but there’s a third-party moderate challenge.
     The third-party candidate directed the campaign for the current president of Earth before
     having a falling out, and now his daughter is running the president’s re-election
     campaign, pitting father vs. daughter. Right at the start we have first contact, and the
     alien joins the moderate campaign as an observer as they travel the world, battling for
     electoral votes!!!
     
     Another good one – on June 15, my SF novelette “First Galactic Table Tennis
     Championships” went up in the Summer issue of New Myths! Aliens from around the
     galaxy converge on Beijing, with bribery, blackmail, and other intrigue.
3. How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.
   • I keep debating about whether to write another novel, but you know what? I find writing
     short stories more fun. I don’t really need the money anymore – I’m semi-retired – so I’m
     pretty much focused on short stories. I’m pretty prolific, and often have six or seven
     stories that I’m jumping back and forth from. I’m going to “The Never-Ending Odyssey”
     writing workshop in Manchester, NH, July 19-27, where about 20 graduates of the
     Odyssey writing workshop get together and proof each other’s work, run workshops, do
     readings, and other writing-related activities.
     
     I have three stories being critiqued there, which I have high hopes for. One involves
     Earth having first contact with visiting aliens who are indoctrinated from childhood to
     immediately kill anyone, even family and friends, that make the slightest mistake. They
     believe that this is the only way for a species to evolve, and assume this is the way for
     all intelligent life. They send a contingent of 20 to Earth, but only two survive the journey.
     Get ready for cultural shock! Another is about a rat civilization a million years from now
     (humanity is extinct), and a rat historian (a ratropologist) rediscovering her idealism. The
     third is about an optimistic, go-getter criminal who goes to war with Death.
4. What is your writing process like?
   • I’m always brainstorming ideas, and when I find one I really like, I start making bullet
     points in Word. While many say “Character is King,” I believe character and idea are
     equally important. Most of my stories are strongly themed, often with satire. For
     example, in my upcoming story “Tooth Apocalypse” in Dragon Soul Press’s
     “Apocalypse” anthology, we have a black market for human teeth, as some alien races
     believe these teeth have magical properties – and so we have alien poachers killing off
     humans for their teeth, and the human race soon faces extinction. It’s a dark fantasy/SF
     allegory on rhino horn and elephant tusk trade.
     
     Regarding my writing process specifically, I have one interesting habit – I like to write
     snippets of dialogue in advance. This helps me develop and discover the characters. I
     also do a lot of fervent rewriting, perfecting each paragraph, one by one, and constantly
     looking for ways to add something interesting. I also do 95% of my writing at a local
     Panera’s, where I go nearly every afternoon for 2-4 hours, sipping away at Dr Pepper.
5. Where do you draw inspiration from?
   • Everywhere. I just let my mind go and the ideas flow. I always keep a pocket notebook
     with me and am always jotting down ideas. I have an “Idea” file on my computer that’s
     incredibly long – I would have to live ten lives to write them all. (In fact, by not writing
     those stories already, I guess my head must have already exploded!) In fact, I’m
     currently between writing projects, and so as soon as I finish this interview I plan to
     brainstorm for a flash story. I’ll come up with something. (And yes, I’m at Panera’s with a
     Dr Pepper.)
6. Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?
   • I really like the philosophical and hard SF of Robert J. Sawyer. My favorites of his are
     End of an Era, Calculating God, Quantum Night, and the WWW trilogy. He just came out
     with “The Downloaded,” another great one.
7. What is one goal you have for your writing future?
   • To sell stories as fast as I can write them!!! Besides anthologies like the ones from
     Dragon Soul Press, I’d like to be published regularly in the biggest markets. I sell a lot of
     stories, but I get a LOT of rejections as well. Sometimes I get rejections for stories I
     haven’t even written yet. 🙂
8. What do you hope readers enjoy most from your work?
   • The ideas and themes from my stories, as well as an occasional good laugh. (I can’t
     help but include humor in my stories, even the “dark” ones.)
9. Where can readers learn more about you?
   • On my website and on Facebook.