Meet Mike Baron | I”m just a writer. You can’t swing a dead cat up here without hitting six novelists.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mike Baron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to be a writer as I clutched a John D. MacDonald paperback on the streets of Mitchell, SD, when I was twelve years old. It was The Deep Blue Goodbye. I looked at the author’s picture on the back and I had a revelation. MacDonald wasn’t writing these for his heatlh! I knew then I wanted to be a writer. My path was long and arduous but I got there. When I was in college, I had a friend who ran a weekly alternative newspaper. You know what I mean. Stickin’ it to the Man. Up Against the Wall. I was at his house one day and saw hundreds of new LPs leaning against the wall, still wrapped in plastic. “Mark,” I said. “Where did you get all these records?” “The record companies send them to me. Want some? Take ’em. Just write something about them.” I staggered out, arm full of records and went to my dorm to listen. I’m still writing about music just for the free records.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Becoming a writer has been a long process. It took me thirty years to learn how to write a novel, but that’s because I’m a slow learner. William Styron wrote Lie Down In Darkness when he was twenty-six. Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter when she was twenty-three. I always knew I could write comics. Comics seem so easy. Pictures and words. Everybody thinks they can write a comic. Everybody does. But just because the words are limited doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take them seriously. In a comic, you start with a bag of words. Each word is a gold coin. Once you use up those gold coins, the next words you add turn to copper. Once you use the copper, the next words you add turn to lead. Comics are a visual medium. Any information you can impart to the reader visually, without talking, you should. I choose my words carefully for maximum impact, but also to entertain. My first goal is to entertain. I may have a message. Harper Lee did in To Kill A Mockingbird. Steinbeck did in The Grapes of Wrath. But first and foremost, those were gripping stories that sucked you in and kept you turning pages. Unless the reader cares about what happens next, he won’t turn the page. Therefore, the most important question in fiction is, what happens next? I want every word, every page to entertain, whether it’s happy, sad, or in between.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My best friend and I both ride motorcycles, and Tom has been out here many times. I live at the base of the Rocky Mountains. We wind our way up Rist Canyon, a spectacular drive, then circle clockwise over to the Poudre River, down the River to Mishiwaka, a concert venue on the water, where we have lunch. When I first moved out here I was a hiking fool. I’m glad I climbed all those mountains because these days I couldn’t. Fort Collins has more bands per capita than any city in the world. My wife Ann and I go out night after night to hear live music. I never tire of hearing live music. Odells’ Brewing is probably our favorite venue, but there are many.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When I was in college, I took a writing course from Jerry McNeely, who wrote for Marcus Welby, M.D. Jerry told us, “You make ’em laugh a little bit, you make ’em cry a little bit, you scare the hell out of them, and that’s entertainment. Those words have stuck with me. Frank Peterson and Judi K-Turkel taught writing at the University of Wisconsin. Long after I had graduated, and worked at an insurance company (!), they encouraged me. My parents were endlessly tolerant. Then they were thrilled and gratified when I burst forth into the world of comics with my own creations Nexus and Badger, and began writing Punisher, Flash, Deadman, and Star Wars. Thank you, my dear parents, for putting me through college.

Website: https://baroncomics.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikebaron2016/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-baron-7b57413/

Twitter: @bloodyredbaron

Facebook: The Comics and Novels of Mike Baron

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuoSDaLXN3BNSkHI61jZRPg

Other: https://linktr.ee/mikebaron
bloodyredbaron.com

Image Credits
Photo by Ann Baron