FAQ
Aren’t you dead?
To paraphrase Mark Twain on the premature publication of his obituary: The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I have noticed that some online author/publication directories list the dates 1944-1990 in parentheses after my name. For some reason the folks who compiled those directories confused me with another David Kubicek; I don’t know if that fellow had any connection to the writing/publishing industry, but I am not him. Nor, while I’m at it, am the the lawyer in Cedar Rapids, IA, or the transportation employee in Washington, D.C. Just saying, in case it ever comes up.
Which writers influenced you the most?
Ray Bradbury was the seed from which my writing grew. I read The Martian Chronicles, then quickly devoured everything I could find that this amazing author had written. Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck also were strong influences. I also learned a lot from Stephen King, especially about writing novels.
What are you working on now?
Empath, a young adult dystopian novel about a sixteen-year-old girl with a mutation – she can feel other people’s emotions – and is persecuted because she is different. My novelette “A Friend of the Family,” originally published in Space and Time in 1987 and included in my collection The Moaning Rocks and Other Stories (a revised version has also been published in book form), inspired Empath but there the connection ends. By the time I had worked the idea around the convoluted pathways of my brain the story, the characters, and even the mutation in question had changed dramatically.
Damage Control, a science fiction/mystery novel that conspiracy theorists will love.
Unfortunately, due to other commitments, Book II of my In Human Form trilogy (working title: Transition) has been put on hold indefinitely. I’ll let you know when it is in process again.
