Author Answers with J.A. Konrath

Welcome to Author Answers, Word Nerd's new and hopefully semi-regular feature of a short Q & A with a published author.

The first writer who responded was J.A. Konrath, who turned around these answers a mere 60 minutes after Word Nerd sent the questions.
Konrath is the author of the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels mystery novels, Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary, Rusty Nail and the forthcoming Dirty Martini. To learn more about him, go to either his website or his blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.

J.A. Konrath's answers are in italics.
1. Place you do most of your writing:
I do 95% of my writing at my desktop computer, 5% on my laptop.
2. While you write, do you do anything else (munch on carrots or drink tea or listen to heavy metal, for example?)
Nope, I just write. Usually I sit for about four hours at a stretch, and can average about 2500 words a day.
3. Why did you decide to be a writer?
I love to read. I have about 5000 books on my shelves.
4. What author(s) inspire you?
Robert B. Parker, Lawrence Block, Max Allen Collins, David Morrell, Robert Walker, and anyone else who has been able to stay in this business for 40 books or more.
5. How long did you have to work on writing before your first book was
accepted for publication?
I spent 12 years trying to get published, and wrote 9 unpublished novels, getting rejected 450 times, before my first sale.
6. What made you keep working until it was done?
Quitting is for wimps.
7. How did you feel when you first saw your name on the cover of a book?
I cried. But I cried like a man, like Stallone at the end of Rocky 2.
8. If you had to actually live the life of one of the characters in your book(s) who would you want to be and why?
Harry McGlade. He's rich, says whatever is on his mind, and is unbelievably lucky. Some readers think I've based Harry off of me, except for the rich part. And the lucky part.
JA