Spotlight On An Indie Author: A Closer Look at Franklyn C. Thomas

[ad_1]

Franklyn C. Thomas has weaved a masterful plot in his boxing-themed novel, The Favorite. If you like sports, you’ll love this book, which is injected with pain, humor, and love. The talented author has wanted to be a writer since he was 10 or 11-years old, but he didn’t realize he could thrive at it until he was 17. At that age, he was in college and nursing a massive crush on a girl who’d taken an interest in his writing. Although the relationship never worked out, the writing became a powerful part of his life.

Franklyn has published two sports-based novels. Growing up in New York City, it was hard not to be a sports fan because there are so many teams all year round. Franklyn also dabbles in writing science fiction and action, which he owes to a childhood watching The Twilight Zone reruns and cheesy 80’s action and cop shows like MacGyver and T.J. Hooker.

As a result, Franklyn reads anything that will interest him. He doesn’t have one favorite genre. He’ll read science-fiction, literary fiction, urban fiction and crime fiction. The only exception is romance, and he doesn’t necessarily think those were written with him in mind.

His debut novel, The Favorite, was published through iUniverse earlier this year. It’s about veteran prizefighter Michael Dane who believes he’s on top of the world. He’s had a star-crossed career and a life with plenty of wins in the ring as well as an eighteen-month stint in prison. As the number-one contender for the IBF Light-Heavyweight Championship, he’s training to go up against Quin Cortez, the undefeated champion, in a title fight in Las Vegas. Michael’s drug-running manager, Dante Alexander, has driven his career, making no friends along the way. Now, after a tense meeting with Dante, Michael is rethinking his choices as a man and as a professional fighter. Worse, he’s doing all he can to stay one step ahead of the treacherous men who would exploit him for their own gains. With nowhere else to turn and with few people he can really trust, Michael turns to his former trainer for advice. Terence “Dutch” Masters raised him like a son and influenced him to reconcile with the love of his life. His former girlfriend, Selena, now several months pregnant with his child, represents a life he has never known. Now Michael must do what it takes to keep everyone in his life safe from Dante. With his old trainer in his corner for one more fight, with his old flame back in his life, and with rival gangsters flanking him, can Michael get out with the title . . . and his life?

After writing and promoting The Favorite, Franklyn is working on a few projects, including a few short stories and a few ideas for novels. He’s halfway through the first draft of a novel called Open, which follows a bored married couple’s decision to loosen the rules of their relationship. He’s plotting a novel titled Urban Legend, which is a revenge story disguised as a super-hero adventure. Finally, he’s plotting the “episodic” novel The Game, the first draft of which he’ll periodically post on his blog and on Wattpad.

When not writing or plotting novels, Franklyn works full-time in a Sleep Disorders Center as a tech. He also watches and plays sports (baseball and basketball), reads, and watches movies, feeding his active imagination. He says, “Writing, telling a story, allows my imagination free reign within the constraints of vocabulary. It’s freeing and peaceful.”

If Franklyn could be a fictional character, he’d imagine himself as Batman. His favorite author is Christopher Moore. Moore’s stories are accessible. His characters, even the bad guys, are so very likable. Franklyn is such an unabashed fan of his work.

Finally, I asked Franklyn what he would like his readers to know about him and/or his writing. He responded, “My writing is most influenced by comic books. When I learned to read, my brother’s comic books were always in my house, and I devoured them. I learned lessons on pacing, vocabulary, and long-term character development through the pages of X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman. My book can be found at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQKZ7E6/.

[ad_2]

Source by Tracey Lampley