Action Pulp!

January 28, 2026

By Adam Messer

“You should have bought American.” – Frank Hodge (main character in Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper)

Leonard Apa is a writer and English teacher who has a penchant for thrillers.

Please introduce yourself.

Hello! I am Leonard Apa. I am a writer from New Jersey. Up until recently, I have only had short stories published, but September of 2025 saw my debut novel Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper released. As of this writing, the second book of the Scrapper trilogy is written and off on submission. The third is in the infancy of development! I am an English teacher who has also taught creative writing, and journalism, and soon I will be teaching a History of Comic Books course that I developed for my school. 

What genres do you write and why?

I generally write thrillers because those are the books and movies I enjoy most. When it comes to short stories, I write whatever story calls to me. I have written sci-fi (a little), horror (a little more), literary (a lot), and thrillers (the most). I’d love to write a comic, and for the screen too!

What is your earliest memory of reading?

Growing up, I mostly read gaming magazines (Nintendo Power!) and comic books (Spider-Man; Superman; Batman). It wasn’t until High School that I started reading books voraciously. 

When did you know you wanted to write? How did it happen?

I think this is kind of a funny story… There was a show when I was a child called Ghostwriter. It was about a group of teens who solved mysteries with the help of a spirit that could only communicate through writing. There was a character in the show who wrote stories. One episode sticks out clearly in my mind where this character shares one of his stories with his friends. As he read the story, I thought, I could do that! I want to do that! I can even remember the gist of the story he told despite 30 years passing.

What’s one of your favorite scenes in one of your books?

In Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper, the main character, Frank Hodge, is an actor on the radio. I loved doing research about old time radio and the sound effects they achieved for the shows. In one scene of the book, they are recording the episode and one of the sound effects guys tried to fire a gun, but there is a misfire and Frank improvises the line, “You should have bought American,” before he finishes the scene with a “punch” to knock the bad guy out.

What makes a good character? A bad one?

I think a good character is someone you can relate to in some degree. Someone you want to root for, whether they are good or evil. They should feel real to the reader. If you think about a character like Walter White from Breaking Bad, you start off empathizing with him, but as the series goes on, you should really start to dislike him, but it is hard too, and you still want him to win despite his spiral to ruthless criminal. 

A bad character is someone who doesn’t catch the reader. Generally they are boring, or a walking cliche. What’s interesting is when a good character (someone you initially find intriguing and want to follow) becomes stale as a series progresses and you sort of hold on because you’ve followed them for so long. 

What moves the story for you?

I love a good action story, or scene, but they sometimes drag on. I am a firm believer in the get into the scene as late as possible, and get out as early as possible. But, I think what most interests me in a story is character. I am always interested in what makes characters tick. Why do they do the things they do? Who/What set them on their current path? I try to approach stories with that in mind. I like action, but I like character so much more. People are interesting.

What is your favorite book and why?

This is a difficult one. If pushed into a corner, it would be First Blood by David Morrell. Growing up in the 80’s, I loved (still do) the Rambo movies. I watched the Rambo cartoon (yeah, there was a cartoon!), I had the action figures and playsets. I ran around my yard with a red headband tied around my head. I had numerous toy Rambo knives. Then as an adult, I learned that First Blood was a novel! I went straight to the bookstore and bought a copy (the book has NEVER been out of print since it’s publication in 1972, how cool is that?). I read it and have read it so many times since. David Morrell is also one of the greatest authors and men I have met.

What do you want to say to your audience?

Well, I am not sure how much of an audience I have at this point, but I hope their number grows! For those who have read Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper or any of my published shorts, I want to thank you! I hope that you continue to enjoy the adventures I spin, and I hope at some point we can meet face to face and say hello especially now that I am doing conventions!

What advice do you have for new writers?

Don’t quit no matter how many setbacks you come up against (there will be a lot of them). Keep pushing. Keep writing, but don’t rush the process. 

Do you have anything else you would like to add?

I just want to say thank you! This is great. It is great to have the opportunity to introduce myself (and the Scarlet Scrapper) to more people. I love talking about writing almost as much as I love to write. Thank you everyone and thank you Action Pulp!

Website: My Site

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