Never Stop Exiting

Neenah-based author Michael Hopkins recently celebrated the launch of his first book, Never Stop Exiting — a collection of short stories with a little bit of something in it for everyone.

“What you’ll find in there is a variety of literary styles,” Hopkins said. “Some of the stories are literary fiction, some are speculative fiction and then there are science fiction, flash fiction and experimental fiction.”

Before he added author to his resume this spring, Hopkins spent almost four decades in engineering and several years reviewing books and music for local newspapers and magazines.

“I studied electrical engineering and I actually worked in engineering, research and engineering management for almost 40 years,” he said. “I had an aspiration to write… I used to read a lot of science fiction when I was in college and I think some famous author said, ‘If you’ve read enough of it, you’re going to get the urge to try to write it at some point.’ But I never had much luck with fiction, so I started to write for newspapers and magazines. For 17 years, I was a music critic and a book critic… I retired from my day job about eight years ago and I started to focus on writing fiction.”

Once he started writing, Hopkins said he quickly discovered his love for short stories.

“I thought about writing a novel and I had ideas, but I wanted to kind of complete whatever I wrote,” Hopkins said. “So I started focusing on short stories and I’ve fallen in love with writing short stories.”

The stories featured in Never Stop Exiting are all independent of one another, meaning Hopkins had to come up with many unique ideas before the book was complete.

But that wasn’t a challenge for Hopkins as he said he gets inspiration from the world around him as well as his own life experiences.

“I’ll get fragments stuck in my head — I read something or hear something or see something — and I write them down, and eventually the ones that kind of stick or come back to me, I’ll think, ‘Geeze, maybe that might be a good idea for a short story,’” Hopkins said. “And as I do that, it’s almost like a mystical experience occurs. The universe starts pulling back curtains in my life and says, ‘There’s a part of your short story.’ And when I get a couple of those, I sit down and decide to write it.”

And the ending of his stories? Well, those are a surprise even to Hopkins himself.

“One thing about my writing is that I never know how my stories are going to end until I write the ending,” he said. “If I sat down to write the stories and knew how they were going to end, I might get a little bored or not as motivated.”

Hopkins said a considerable amount of research goes into his writing, and he hopes that’s something readers will appreciate.

“I’m a lifelong learner and I love to learn about things…” Hopkins said. “I always find it interesting that if I’m writing my own story, I’m learning something I can pass on to my readers… I like people to learn. I like people to be entertained and think after they’ve read my work.”

Those interested in learning more about Never Stop Exiting can visit michaelhopkinswriter.com or attend one of several upcoming author events celebrating the launch of Hopkins’ book on Saturday, June 7, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Thomas A. Lyons Fine Books in Neenah; Saturday, June 14, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at The Bookstore in Appleton; Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Carmel Crisp and Cafe Bookstore in Oshkosh; and Thursday, July 10, from 6-7 p.m. at Lion’s Moth Bookstore in Green Bay.