Check out this spotlight for author Tim Goff!

You can find all his links furthest down the page, and don’t forget to check out his books!

1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!

I was born in Alaska and grew up on a homestead at the very edge of the road grid. That gave me a bit of experience in everything from carpentry and automotive mechanics to swimming, boating, skiing, and more. I liked to read, which set me apart from my peers. Afterward came a bit of college and on-and-off stints at a range of jobs finishing with a dozen years as a USPS contractor. It was during this period that I took up writing.

2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!

Winter, spring, summer or autumn?

Summer. Winters here are long, cold, and dark, and I’m a bit old for the wintertime activities anymore. Spring is mud, and autumn can morph into winter on a whim.

Cat or dog?

Cat. They be self-reliant. Not anything against dogs, just don’t care to have one.

Tea or coffee?

I will drink either, but it is not a big deal.

Morning or evening?

I tend to stay up late (often writing) and sleep in late. While with USPS, I was often at work by 6:00 am, which…I did not care for.

Library or museums?

I have not been in an actual museum in over a decade. I do visit the local library a couple times a month. Currently, I attend the local Writers Group there – it came back to life after being dormant for years.

Hunter or gatherer?

More of a scavenger.

Witches or wizards?

Different sides of the same coin.

Ninjas or pirates?

Pirates.

Mountains or beaches?

Should be ‘mountains and beaches.’

Plotter or pantser?
Used to ‘pants it.’ Wrote myself into multiple dead ends that way. Anymore, apart from ‘test pieces’ to see how a idea works, I don’t begin a tale without knowing the beginning, middle, and end. Shorter stories – under 20,000 words, I don’t usually have an outline; for novels I will have 2-3 page outline with a few short sentences for each chapter that depict key scenes.

Pen and paper or computer/phone?

Desktop computer. Way, way back, I sometimes used a typewriter.

Standalone or series?

Currently at two series (‘Empire’ and ‘Labyrinth’). ‘Empire’ has six books, four published. ‘Labyrinth’ has two finished books and a third I’ll have to write from scratch.

Apart from those, I have written literally dozens of stories ranging from 500 – 30,000 words, ranging from standalones to series of short stories.

Book or ebook?

Up until a few years ago, paper book. Local bookstore closings and issues with mail order made me switch to Kindle.

Hero or anti-hero?

Both. I take a more complex view. A hero struggling with past misdeeds or walking into darkness. An anti-hero who does the ‘right thing’ on a whim or who views the world very differently than others.

3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?

Ordinary people caught up in the grand sweep of events.

4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!

Currently, I am wrapping up the so-called ‘rewrite lite’ of ‘Empire: Spiral,’ fifth book in the ‘Empire’ series. ‘So-called’ because the book doubled in size AFTER cutting 10,000 words and leaving out another 18,000. This was the second rewrite for this story – there was a timeline issue that didn’t work and some plot-holes that needed filled.

5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!

That would be ‘EMPIRE: METROPOLIS,’ fourth book in the ‘Empire Series,’ which went on sale November 15th.

Corber Port – largest metropolis of the Solarian Empire – and a city in turmoil after an earthquake and fire turned a fifth of it into rubble.

Tia is held captive in this urban wasteland by demons masquerading as men. Tia’s former companions scour the city for her but hit one roadblock after another.

Worse, dark forces conspire to unleash yet another catastrophe on Corber Port – and Tia’s captors might be the only ones able to halt it – if they choose to do so.

Amazon.com: Empire: Metropolis eBook : Goff, Tim: Books

6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!

I got to (slightly) know quite a few people over the course of my life – coworkers, relatives, casual encounters. When writing, I will go – ‘okay I have this situation. How would I react in it? How would some of these other people react?’  

I was a big fan of ‘Lord of the Rings,’ ‘Wizard of Earthsea,’ and similar works as a kid. Later, I got into Feists ‘Magician’ series and a whole slew of ‘pulpier’ fantasy/sf books.

7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!

Usually late at night. I was working full time during the day, so I’d get home, eat, tackle a few chores, and write until I crashed. Now that I am semi-retired, I still find myself mostly writing at night.

8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to becoming an author, what would it be?

Write every day. There were long stretches where I didn’t even attempt to write.

9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!

Not really into social media apart from Facebook. I did set out to create a website, but that didn’t go too well.