A Slice of Cake With... Ted Dawson Akin

This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cake with indie author Ted Dawson Akin.

TD is a self-described unsuccessful farmer, mediocre writer, and the world’s okayest musician. He has also taken to referring to himself as “The People’s Writer; A Writer For The People”. Redundancy aside, indulge him if you see fit.

What kind of books do you write?

The first two stories I have out are vastly different. West Texas Swing was overall an adventure questy sort of thing. I like to refer to that one as a rural fantasy instead of urban as it mostly takes place out in the unpopulated open wild. Wham! on the other hand was more of a light-hearted mystery and a small look into a blue collar world.

Can you describe your writing why?

I “re-started” writing when I first started the process of cutting alcohol out of my life. I began keeping a journal to mark progress and how I was feeling. Additionally, I began exploring things to do now that I wasn’t going out on the town and found myself becoming a patron of the library and coffee shop where I was living at the time. Once I mixed all those together, I got an idea for some stories in my head and I’ve been working them ever since. Also, I’m currently hundreds of miles away from the farm living in a travel trailer working the West Texas oil patch, so I have a bit of time on my hands when I’m not at work!

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

There are quite a few to choose from but if I had to pick one, it would be from the relative beginning of West Texas Swing:

Rick hesitated for a second before poking his head out of the washout. Morgan’s flames extinguished, and she sat there smoldering and smoking with a smug sense of satisfaction. Rick dusted himself off and stood. Aside from the smell, it was quite nice having a Hellhound around.

Tell us about your latest project

So the latest project I have/will have out (depending on when this comes out) is Promenade, which is the follow up to West Texas Swing. Though not a direct sequel, it resides in the same magical world introduced and furthers the sense of questing and adventure. Because I think that I’m somewhat clever, I’ve been using the phrase “Its just not that kind of faerietale” as the tag line. Hopefully, I should have the story out near the end of January so fingers crossed!

What is your favourite cake?

Now, the important stuff. I am partial to angel food cake because that’s just like what I imagine eating a cloud would be like. If I had to pick a favorite though, it would definitely be confetti birthday cake with the caveat that it HAS to have the white icing that has the cream or sugary balls of deliciousness that are colored like the rainbow. I feel like I should know what the common street name for this confection is, but I don’t. I do know that if I were in the vicinity of a random birthday party that had this cake/icing combo, I wouldn’t hesitate to act like a distant relative and get my paws on a slice.

Thanks Ted, that is a very fun looking slice of cake indeed!

You can find Ted's books and all sorts of other stories on his website as well as the following social media sites - The Book of Face and Instabuela.

Join me next week when I'll be having a slice of cake with Anita Stewart.

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.