About Russ Colchamiro

Ah, yes. The “About Russ” section.

As most journeys go, mine has been strange and circuitous, taking me across the globe a few times with all sorts of twists and turns in between.

If you noodle around on this Web site, and check out the Finders Keepers character illustrations, you’ll see that each one includes what is, essentially, the back of their baseball card, with their key “stats”.

Taking that model, here’s the quick pitch on yours truly:

Name:Russ Colchamiro
Age: 42
Occupation: Writer
Childhood Town:Merrick,NY
Current Address: Forest Hills, NY (Queens)
Status: Married to Liz Kaufman, 10 years
Children: 2 1/2 year-old twins — a.k.a – my ninjas
Pets: Simon (crazy dog)
College: Buffalo State College
High School: Calhoun High School
Favorite Ice Cream: Butter Pecan
Favorite Movie: Raiders of the LostArk
Favorite Musician: Billy Joel
Life Changing Trips: Backpacked through Europe and New Zealand, which formed the basis of my novel, Finders Keepers.

Keeping with a “formatted” theme, I’ll continue with a Q&A, mostly because I’ve been interviewed several times about this topic, I don’t feel like re-inventing the wheel!

Q: When did you start writing?

A: I wrote a King Arthur short story in the 3rd grade. It was pretty bad. Years later, in high school, I wrote a trilogy, which actually now serves as the backbone of my second novel, Crossline, which I’m finishing up now. But I got serious about writing in my late 20s and went full throttle on novels starting in my 30s. My first novel, Finders Keepers, is out now, and getting excellent reviews.

Q: Why did you start writing?

A: It fuels me. I’m different without it. Writing for me isn’t a hobby. It’s an integral element of how I live. It’s in my DNA.

Q: What is your favorite subject to write?

These days I’ve been writing comedic science fiction romps. And it’s not because it has to be science fiction, per se. It’s that for a long time I was experimenting with sparse, slice-of-life short stories, and I felt really confined with that style. I discovered through pure trial and error that I prefer the room to go big and broad where I can juxtapose very intimate, comedic, character-driven journeys, where we can really bond with the characters, which are challenged physically, spiritually, emotionally and
psychologically.

I then set those character journeys against a humongous, galactic undertaking where I like to mess with the space/time continuum. It allows me to shine a light on the smaller struggles of every day life by bouncing them off the meaning of the cosmos!

Plus I throw in some philosophy, mythology and religion just to spice things up.

Q: What inspires you to write?

A: Trying to make sense out of living day-to-day, while finding my place in the Universe. Plus being a dad—I have 1-year-old twins (Nate and Abby)—has totally changed how I make decisions both large and small. It’s a trip. I love it.

Q: What do you like the most about writing?

A: Those incredible moments when magic seems to happen. When I’m really on a roll, it’s like I’m not doing the writing. My fingers are clacking the keys, but I’m just the conduit, channeling these ideas and characters that seem to funnel from the ether. It’s like being in a trance. I just “go” and when I “wake up,” sometimes there’s some pretty awesome stuff on the page.

Don’t get me wrong, I do a ton of research, planning and revisions, so I don’t just “wing it.” But all the prep allows my creative side to take over.

Q: What has been your experience in getting published?
A: The publishing process itself was filled with zigs and zags. I was able to land an agent after about a year of looking around, and between us we were able to secure a handful of publishers who were initially interested in publishing Finders Keepers. But then the economy crashed in 2008, and nobody was taking chances. I was told by several publishers that I was on the bubble, and in a better economy, I would have had a deal.

After that I had two choices: wait out the economy and try again, or seek out other avenues.

I was simply unwilling to wait, and after considering a few other options I was fortunate enough to arrange a self-publishing partnership with Rich Koslowski (www.richkoslowski.com), an award-winning comic book writer and artist. He’s also a very good friend of mine. We jointly published Finders Keepers under his 3 Finger Prints banner.

Turns out it was a great decision. Had I waited on the economy, I’d still be waiting. On our initiative we landed a book distribution contract with Small Press United, have gotten excellent reviews–including a thumbs up from Publishers Weekly–and recently Finders Keepers was picked up by Barnes & Noble in about 20 locations across the U.S.

For a “small” publishing team, we’ve done extremely well.

And just as a matter of full disclosure, Finders Keepers is a bit racy in a few places. This novel is not for children. It includes a few naughty sex scenes and has its share of f-bombs.

Q: What is your next step?

A: I’m actively promoting Finders Keepers through a multi-media campaign, and doing signings and conventions. And an e-book is due literally any day now.

Meanwhile, I’m finalizing my second novel, Crossline, which is a stand-alone space adventure, in the spirit of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Firefly. No connection at all to Finders Keepers. After that, I’ll start on the first of two Finders Keepers sequels.