Robert Custus is my guest today for #WriterWednesday.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Figuring out the business of being a writer. Editing, publishing, social media and marketing decisions. For a new writer, some of this can be elusive, and while it is all very important, it also takes time to navigate.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Writing when I have ideas in my head. I easily lose track of time when I’m in the zone.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Not much, just my eTablet for writing, and a good cup of coffee.

Things that hamper your writing: Things that take me away from what I was doing.

Words that describe you: Driven, grounded.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Soft-spoken and too serious.

Last best thing you ate: Carrot cake. My friends and family know this is my kryptonite.
Last thing you regret eating: Some kind of coated warm cheese appetizer at a party.

Favorite music or song: British rock from the 70s & 80s & New Country.

Music that drives you crazy: The Chicken Dance.

The last thing you ordered online: Headphones. Once a month, all the guys in our family go online to play video games and catch up with each other. Good times!

The last thing you regret buying: Earbuds. Why did I think smaller was better?

Things you’d walk a mile for: My wife & family, carrot cake or a good cup of coffee.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Cooked eggplant (gagging & choking as I write this).

Things to say to an author: “You must share your story. The world needs to hear it, in your own words.”
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: At this early stage of my writing, I don’t think I’m qualified to talk.

Favorite places you’ve been: Ireland. It was a lifelong dream for my wife, and we spent 16 days traveling from one county to another, staying at different B&Bs along the way. Unforgettable!
Places you never want to go to again: At the risk of offending some very fine people, London, Ontario. It was a series of unfortunate and tragic events.

Favorite books (or genre): Spy thrillers, especially with the behind-the-scenes geopolitics.
Books you wouldn’t buy: Historical romance. History has always been a textbook thing, and I’m still working on the romance trope.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Move to another continent by myself when I was 19.
Something you chickened out from doing: Applying for the army officer training program after high school.

The funniest thing to happen to you: Playing Speak Out where players wear a plastic mouthpiece and read phrases while the others try to guess what is being said.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: Trying to fill a jerry can with diesel and getting it all over myself when it came out with more force than I expected. I was not looking or smelling my best.

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Christopher Reeve, during our honeymoon on Galiano Island, BC.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Christopher Reeve. It was while we were having breakfast at a quaint little resort, and I pointed him (and his future wife) out to my wife. She looked over at the couple dressed in their sweatsuits, and said “no, he doesn’t look like that!” When we were checking out, they were on their way back to their room and they stopped to talk to us. It was very memorable.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: About my memoir, “I could imagine myself right there beside you as it was happening.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “The manuscript currently requires a greater degree of substantive intervention than I would typically expect.”

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Painting. During COVID I did several acrylics, and now I am doing pastels. They will never be in a museum.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Woodworking. I tried making a cutting board by gluing different types of wood together. A classic case of not knowing what I didn’t know.

My favorite book as a child: Asterix comics. I still enjoy them!

A book I’ve read more than once: Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. Makes me want to spend more time in northern Italy.

Your favorite movie as a child: Jungle Book. Going to a movie was a rare occurrence when I was growing up, so this was special.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): Alien. Freaks me out just thinking about it.

About Robert:

Robert Custus is a writer whose work is shaped by a lifetime of movement, adventure, and the open sea. An accomplished sailor and retired technical executive, he spent decades traveling throughout Canada and around the world, honing the clarity and precision that now define his storytelling.

Today, Robert writes from his home in Calgary, where he explores themes of adventure, partnership, and the quiet truths revealed by life on the water. His work marks the beginning of a new chapter—one driven by curiosity, craft, and the call of the horizon, and he is currently writing his debut fiction adventure novel, inspired by real events at sea. When he’s not writing, Robert is likely planning the next escapade with his cherished wife.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: https://robertcustus.ca

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/custus.robert

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/custus.robert/