INTERVIEW: Ellen Booraem - Journalist, Award-Winning Writer and Author of "The Unnameables"

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Ellen Booraem. She spent thirty years as a journalist, including ten years as the managing editor and award-winning writer for The Weekly Packet, a tiny weekly newspaper in Blue Hill, Maine.

After a three-year stint as managing editor of The Packet’s parent chain, she continued to win awards as arts and special sections editor for The Ellsworth American, the highly regarded county weekly. She served in that post for six years and continues to work for The American as a freelance reporter and reviewer.

She is a member of the Class of 2k8 with her debut novel THE UNNAMEABLES (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, was published October 2008). Her second novel, tentatively entitled Small Persons With Wings, will be published by Dial Books in 2011.

A native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Wheaton College, Ms. Booraem lives with her cat, a dog and with Robert Shillady who's a painter in the coastal Maine, town of Brooklin population 900, where they built a house with their own hands.

She blogs in a halting and sporadic way at http://ellenbooraem.blogspot.com/

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Ellen Booraem -- the woman behind the former journalist, managing editor, award-winning writer and now an author?

E.B I was a hybrid: a bookworm/literary magazine geek who also was a baton-twirler. (How embarrassing.) The city newspaper gave me a column, writing about high school stuff, but I remember it as being pretty brainless. The editor was so demoralized I don’t think he replaced me after I graduated. My father (a former reporter) told me I didn’t have a nose for news and he was right…it took me years to develop one.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

E.B. Writing doesn’t enchant me much. It’s become more of an addiction—if I go for several days without writing anything I get ill-tempered, and eventually I stop being able to sleep nights. I enjoy developing the characters and doing the research, and revising the first draft. Revision usually is more fun than drafting, which can be scary unless you keep reassuring yourself that you can fix everything when you revise. I do love fixing things.

E.I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

E.B I’m definitely a character writer, and developing a plot is the hardest thing for me. When I get stuck, the characters get me out of trouble: I write character descriptions, explore what makes them tick, or write journal entries in their voices, and eventually all becomes clear. Or clearer, anyway.

E.I. How do you imagine the audience when you are writing? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

E.B My audience is me. Possibly me at age 12, but there’s not much difference. I write reams of notes to myself, many of them on my computer, others scribbled on scrap paper and pinned to a bulletin board or floating around on my desk. No sheets of newsprint or story boards—my office is way too small for that. It’s always a mess, too.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in writing “The Unnameables”? How did you decide what level of details your reader will accept? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

E.B My biggest challenge in THE UNNAMEABLES was making it clear to myself how main character Medford’s journey related to the chaotic Goatman’s, or vice versa. My editor, Kathy Dawson (then at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, now at Dial Books for Young Readers), was a huge help, because she’s adept at asking the right questions to bring out what’s stuck under a brain cell someplace. The answers always turn out to be in your noggin—my goal is to learn how to find them myself without making Kathy do so much work. I think I’m getting better at it.

The details seem to bubble up as a I go along, and usually I think them up to entertain myself. I know I have too many if I get bored when I’m reading a chapter aloud to my writer’s group.

E.I. In “The Unnameables”, How much of Medford Runyuin is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with your story?

E.B I knew Medford very well from page one, because I did a lot of thinking about his character and his problem before I started writing. I knew how the book would end, but had no idea how I’d get there. I would plan out a couple of chapters in advance but no more than that, and even then I got ambushed by events. One surprise was when Medford’s friend Prudy met the Goatman—I expected her to react one way, and discovered a couple of sentences beforehand that her reaction would be the opposite of what I’d expected.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “The Unnameables” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

E.B When I’ve done readings, I’ve assumed that no one has read the book and have tried not to give anything away. With those parameters, my choice would have to be when Medford first meets the Goatman—the Goatman has to be involved, because I like the way he kicks Medford off balance.

E.I How do you weave so many unusual elements of fantasy and information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

E.B Details of fictional worlds come easily to me, possibly because I’ve spent so much of my life daydreaming. Pacing is a real problem, also something Kathy Dawson’s been trying to help me fix. My characters have a nasty tendency to sit around and talk when they should be up and doing. Again, I hope I’m improving with experience.

E.I. What did you find to be the hardest part of writing the book? What was your biggest challenge in developing the characters, “The Goatman” and Boyce? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

E.B Both Medford and the Goatman existed as visual characters before I got my hands on them. My partner Rob Shillady is a painter, and he’d made pictures years before that included a guy named Medford Runyuin and his side-kick, the Goatman. After he let me appropriate them, I changed them according to my needs: Medford got younger, stopped being Rob, and became a lot more like me, while the Goatman acquired hooves, a staff, and the ability to call the wind but not control it. I had a pretty good idea what the Goatman’s personality was like from the get-go—as I said above, the hard part was integrating him into Medford’s situation. Boyce came into my head as a whole person, too, although I had to work to understand why he treated Medford the way he did. I wrote myself notes about him, and a journal entry in his voice, and all that helped. And of course you do learn more about characters when you see them in action.

E.I. You are well known in the writing community as the former journalist and the award-winning writer. Do you sometimes ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

E.B Actually, I’m not that well known, which keeps the pressure off for the most part. I regularly feel insecure, but I’m used to feeling that way so it doesn’t inconvenience me much. When necessary, I get reassurance from my partner (who understands because he’s a painter, which if anything is worse than being a writer), from my writer’s group, and from my agent, Kate Schafer Testerman. Also from Anne Lamott’s BIRD BY BIRD, the single most encouraging “craft” book I’ve ever read, although Stephen King’s is pretty good, too.

E.I. Ms. Booraem, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

E.B A Cape Cod friend of mine once accosted Kurt Vonnegut for writing advice, and he said, “Apply the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair.” That’s pretty much it. Schedule writing time every single day, and if you get “writer’s block,” write notes to yourself about your characters or the setting or what you had for breakfast until it goes away. Don’t feed yourself stories about why you can’t write today or how stupid it was to think you could write at all—everybody has those stories, and they’re hardly ever true.

Thanks for interviewing me—your questions were fun to think about. And good luck with the blog!

Photo of Ellen Booraem by Sherry Streeter

To learn more about Ellen Booraem please visit her web site
To purchase her book, please visit AMAZON and Barnes and Noble

INTERVIEW: International Bestselling Crime Writer, Poet & Musician, Known For His Lew Griffin Mysteries: James Sallis

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing his views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with James Sallis. He is a renowned poet, critic, essayist, editor, translator, professor, musicologist and novelist. He is the author of more than two dozens volumes of fiction. He is best known for his Lew Griffin novels set in New Orleans. His biography of the great crime writer Chester Himes is classic book to read.

In addition he has written a critical work - Difficult Lives - examining the work of Jim Thompson, David Goodis and Chester Himes and a book on Jazz guitar and many more...

Critics agree that James Sallis, author of the Lew Griffin mystery series," may be one of the best mystery writers that most readers have never heard of.

Universal Picture has optioned one of his novels Drive and is now in production. Drive, is about a stunt driver on the run from a hit man, who enjoys a double-life as a getaway man for robberies. Golden Globe & Emmy nominee Hugh Jackman set to star in the movie.

Drive will be a Steve McQueen type role for Hugh Jackman, so fans can expect lots of chase scenes. Expected release date of the film is 2012.

Mr. Sallis lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Karyn.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about James Sallis -- the man behind the award-winning crime author?

JS: I always claim that I completely missed childhood, as I was holed up in my room reading, and utterly missed the Sixties, as I was holed up in various rooms writing. Like many who become artists of a sort later on, I was your prototypical geek. My wife would insist, rightly so, that I still am – but I’ve learned camouflage.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

JS: There is something about taking in the world, adding it to whatever is inside us, then putting the world back out there in such a way that we recognize it anew. Something about creating a space in which we truly come to inhabit the world; about making that bridge, that crossing, which exists for all of us, manifest.

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

JS: First and last, I’m an improviser. I gave up writing the well-made story many years ago – about the time I began publishing. I tell my students it’s like throwing yourself off a cliff. If you encounter surprise and delight in the text, in what happens, that surprise and delight will communicate itself. For me, as a musician, it feels much like playing: You take the “head,” the melody, the chord changes, the rhythm, and you start poking at it to see what’s in there. I rarely know from page to page, paragraph to paragraph, where I’m going; or more properly, where this thing is taking me.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in developing the character, John Turner & Eldon Brown in your book “Salt River”? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

JS: Let’s go back to your prior question. Cypress Grove began with the image you first encounter upon opening the novel: A man is standing in the woods listening to the sound of an approaching motor. That’s what I had, that image. And as I began to ask questions – who is this man, where is he, who is coming and why – the story began revealing itself to me, began unfolding. The image came as I was out walking. By the time I’d got back to the house, I had the first chapter in place, pretty much as you see it, creating further questions to be answered. It’s all about discovery.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Salt River” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans?

JS: I can’t think of a single page, but I’m inordinately fond of the final chapter; it still gets to me after all this time. I remember it coming in a rush as I sat there marvelling at how it pulled everything together – the relationships, the story line, the story of the town, the tone of beauty and sadness that I’d been working with the whole time. I wrote it with tears in my eyes – just as I wrote the final Lew Griffin novel. That time, when I met my wife at the door, she looked at my face and immediately said, “You finished it, didn’t you?”

E.I. How do you weave so much suspense and paranormal elements of information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

JS: For one thing, I strive never to stray too far away from being, myself, a reader. As a reader, I want things to move, to happen, both internally and externally. I want a language that is so alive, so evocative, that it crackles as one turns the page. I want the world in my novel to look as close as possible to the world I see when I lift my eyes from the page. I want to make the world large again – to rescue both the reader and myself from what phenomenologists call dailyness.

E.I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

JS: I decry that distinction. We may be locked into Aristotelian thinking, where everything is A or non-A, but we can at least resist it – and certainly must, as artists given to reflecting a world of remarkable parallels, contrasts, conflicts and complexities. I’m a writer who tries, quite simply, to gather up as much of the world in my net as I can with each story, each sentence, each phrase. As for the hardest part, I’ll echo John Updike: The hardest part is getting my butt in the chair each day.

E.I. Mr. Sallis, you are well known in the writing community as a poet, critic, essayist, editor, professor, musicologist and novelist. Your writing has been published in notable publications in the US and other countries. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

JS: You know, in many ways I’ve led a blessed life as a writer. I received little attention for many, many years, just enough to keep me going, which allowed me to develop and write as I wished, to keep poking and whittling away at those few things I do well. Again and again, I came to editors who were in sympathy with what I was doing, and who supported me – people like Damon Knight and Mike Moorcock, Joseph McCrindle at transatlantic review, Bob Lewis at North Dakota Quarterly, Eleanor Sullivan at Ellery Queen’s, George Gibson at Walker. Most importantly, I owe everything to readers who, against odds, have found their way to my books. Bear in mind that I am not a particularly commercial writer. And I’m decidedly a quirky one.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

JS: Though I’ve taught in an MFA program, I mistrust them and think of them as something akin to pyramid schemes. I do my best to dissuade students from such, asking if they might not better spend that time and energy actually writing. Hacking their way into the undeveloped territory where they will live.

E.I. Mr. Sallis, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

JS: Get your butts in the chair.

Photo of James Sallis by Marshall J. Greer

To learn more about James Sallis please visit his WEBSITE

To purchase his books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

To my friends and readers,

Thank you so much for your enduring support and encouragement. I am very grateful.

I wish each and everyone a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.



Warmest Regards,

E.I. Johnson


"Thanksgiving is generally considered a secular holiday, and is not directly based in religious canon or dogma".
Author Unknown

INTERVIEW: Kristina Springer - Author of Young Adult Fiction

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Kristina Springer. Her debut novel, Espressologist, is about a 17-year-old teenager with an unusual talent. The teen, Jane Turner, takes people watching in a Chicago coffee shop, where she is a barista, to a new level. Moving from the sublime to the surreal, she explores her ability to "match make" by observing nuances in the way customers take their coffee. The premise is a clever twist, and perhaps social commentary, on the coffee phenomena, and the art of people watching.

Inspiration for the book came from Ms. Springer's personal coffee shop experience.
In fact most of the manuscript was penned while the author observed customers as they performed this seemingly benign ritual unaware that every flavor-adding-impulse was being translated into a greater meaning with life altering implications.

Ms. Springer has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Education from Illinois State University, and a Master of Arts degree in Writing from DePaul University. She lives in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois with her husband, and their four small children.

She is currently working on a new novel, My Fake Boyfriend Is Better Than Yours, which due for release in 2010.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Kristina Springer-- the woman behind the “Espressologist” novel that is being compared to Jane Austen’s writing.

KS I was silly mostly. I often had crushes on cute boys, I loved hanging out with my friends, I was in the swing choir (dancing and singing. We were so NOT Glee. Glee would have kicked our butts big time), I played flute in the band, I loved being in the musicals, and I worked part-time at a grocery store.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

KS I love seeing where a story is going to go! The first draft for me is always very freeing. And I love surprising myself too. Often when I reread something I wrote I'm shocked that I actually wrote it.

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

KS I write for myself but I also write for my audience. I was a technical writer for years and with that you are always just writing for your audience-- never for yourself. So you need to constantly think about what their needs are. But with fiction you are mostly writing what you enjoy. I try to keep a balance of both. And regarding storyboards etc., no-- I don't really have them all over the walls or anything. When I outline (which I do more of now then when I first started writing) I just enter everything into a chapter by chapter outline in a word doc. And when I'm brainstorming I type out notes into another document (usually always cleverly titled notes.doc) or I write them down on post-its, backs of receipts, pieces of junk mail etc.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in developing the character, Jane Turner and her friend, Em in your book “Espressologist”? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

KS I don't recall any big challenges when writing Jane and Em. And honestly this book sort of flew out of me. This was one of the times when I didn't outline or plan. I just showed up at Starbucks a few nights a week and wrote whatever I felt like at that time. And the words always came easily to me. There wasn't a time where I really got stuck or didn't know where to go next with the book.

E.I. How much of their life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with any of your characters?

KS Like I mentioned above, with this book I didn't pre-plan anything. In the first book I ever wrote (never published) I did do the character sketches with each character and I knew their whole lives. But with The Espressologist I learned about them as I wrote them. Of course now I love them and I can see their futures clearly in my head so who knows, maybe someday I'll write another Espressologist book.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Espressologist” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans?

KS Oh, that's a hard one! Maybe the first page to hook them and hope they want to read more. Or maybe halfway down pg 24 through to page 25 where Jane first gets the idea for Espressology.

E.I. How do you weave so much elements of information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

KS I naturally write very fast-paced stories. So I just go with it and when I'm finished I go back and add in the needed details.

E.I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

KS I'm definitely plot driven. Once I get a story in my head I'm writing it as fast I can and then I go back and add in the quirks and details. I'd say the hardest part for me is revision. It always takes me awhile to see how something should be different or could be better.

E.I. Ms. Springer, you are well known in the writing community as a YA writer. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

KS I'd say I totally seperate myself from it. When I'm writing I'm just thinking about the story and getting it out onto the screen. Writing is my little escape so I'm not generally letting the rest of the world in while I do it.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

KS I think it depends on what you're going to do with it. You don't need a M.F.A. to publish a book. But if you want to learn more about writing and editing and publishing or if you want to teach someday then it's worth it. I loved my Master in Writing program just because I learned so much more than I ever imagined.

E.I. Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

KS Don't quit. If you're dream is to have a published book then you must always, always, always, push ahead no matter what. It's ok if 10, 100, 200, or whatever number of people reject you. Let it roll off your back and just keep trying. It really only takes one yes. And during that time that you're trying your writing will only keep getting better.

Thanks so much for having me!

To learn more about Kristina Springer please visit her WEBSITE
To purchase her books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: Environmentalist, Attorney and Author: S. Terrell French

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing his views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with S. Terrell French, author of Operation Redwood. A novel about an eco-adventure modern day fantasy book for ages 9-12.

The book is about young people, who put so much on the line in defending the importance of preserving our natural habitats. Our hero is a twelve years old; Julian Carter-Li who lives with his wealthy, high-powered uncle and finds himself embarks on a campaign saving redwood trees.

The author spends her summer sailing and swimming in the Chesapeake Bay, and loves to run around barefoot in the forest as a child.

S. Terrell French, is a graduate of Harvard College. She moved to San Francisco to work with a environmental organization. She loves her job so much that she decides to attend Berkeley Law School and finds a company that practice environmental law. She and her husband have three children.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about S Terrel French-- the woman behind the “Operation Redwood” novel?

STF I loved to read as a child and a teenager. There wasn’t as much “Young Adult” literature then, so I read a lot of classics and Russian novels. In high school, I also played sports, babysat, sang in the school chorus, and worked every summer in different jobs – camp counselor, research assistant, tour guide at a doll house museum. After college, I was able to explore the outdoors more, mostly in California and Alaska, where I spent a summer working for the Forest Service at Misty Fiords National Monument. As a lawyer, I have worked on environmental issues throughout California.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing eco-adventure modern day fantasy book that enchants you the most?

STF I enjoyed the challenge of creating an adventure plot while keeping the characters and setting realistic. The real world is a fascinating place and setting a book here can teach you a lot. In writing Operation Redwood, I learned all sorts of interesting things about tree climbing, John Muir, logging, environmental activism, and the latest research on the redwood canopy. When National Geographic came out with its October 2009 redwood issue and television special, I was excited because I felt like all this amazing material was reaching a new audience.

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing your YA novels? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

STF My imagined audience is really myself, or my kids. I wrote the first draft of Operation Redwood in a very linear fashion. I would write one chapter, then plan out the next in my head as I was doing other things. I had only the most minimal outline. Of course, in the editing process, the shape of the book changed somewhat and chapters were rearranged or added (for example, the e-mail chapters).

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in developing the character of Julian Carter-Li, Danny Lopez and Robin Elder in your book “Operation Redwood”? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

STF The children in the book appeared in my mind mostly formed. The main character, Julian, I saw as a boy who is led, quite by accident, into an entirely unexpected series of adventures. Much of his motivation centers around his yearning for something different from his own somewhat lonely life with his mother and his terrible life with his uncle and aunt. Danny was, in part, a composite of my son’s very funny and warm-hearted friends. I didn’t have a lot of boys in my life as a child and watching these boys close-up – their humor, loyalty, imagination – was a novel experience for me. Robin, from her first appearance, I imagined as brave and fierce and a little superior.

E.I. How much of Julian’s life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with any of your characters?

STF I’m still working on that!

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Operation Redwood ” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans?

STF You can click on an excerpt of the book from the home page of my website: www.operationredwood.com. When I read at book stores or on school visits, I usually read the scene in Chapter 3 when Danny “improves” Julian’s first e-mail to Robin. The storm scene in Chapter 24 is one of my favorites, but I don’t usually have an occasion to read it.

E.I. How do you weave so much elements of information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

STF I did a lot of research about redwoods for the book, but only put in information I found really interesting. In total, it probably doesn’t take up more than a few pages. I didn’t want Operation Redwood to be a preachy diatribe – kids are already pretty knowledgeable about and interested in environmental issues. In part, I was trying to write was a funny, fast-paced adventure -- who doesn’t like a page-turner? At the same time, the character of Julian really spoke to me, and the book is very much about his journey, his friendship with Danny and Robin, his exploration of what family means.

E.I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

STF I think I am probably a character writer, but in Operation Redwood there’s a lot of plot because I had my own kids in mind. Plot can be tricky in a modern, realistic setting but I was interested in writing a book where kids were engaging in the real world. I wanted to explore how people (including kids) find the courage to stand up for what they believe, where they get their information, how they sort out different messages and decide how far they’ll go.

E.I. Ms. French, thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

STF Read wonderful writers and pay attention.

To learn more about S. Terrell French please visit her WEBSITE
To purchase her book please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

FAVORITE OF THE WEEK: Bestselling Author and Journalist: Lauren Weisberger "The Devils Wear Prada"

Welcome to Up Close and Personal. Once a week, on a Sunday, a favorite author, journalist will be featured as ‘Favorite of the Week”. The article will give them more exposure and publicity about their work.

This week we choose Lauren Weisberger. Ms. Weisberger was a Vogue magazine's editor-in-chief's assistant of Anna Wintour from 1999-2000. Her first novel The Devil Wears Prada which was published in 2003, was a thinly veiled account of the hellish life of a fashion magazine editor's assistant. It was critically bashed, but it was a mega success and spends six months on the New York Times bestseller list.

The book provides a semi-fictional but highly critical view of the Manhattan elite’s obsession with materialism and fashion. The Devil Wears Prada, which exists in more than 4 million copies, became the Golden Globe award winning motion picture starring Oscar two time winner, Meryl Streep and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, Anne Hathaway and was released by 20th Century fox in June of 2006. The Devil Wears Prada was one of the top grossing films of summer 2006.

Her second book, Everyone Worth Knowing was published in 2005 and is based upon the trial and tribulations of the New York City public relations world. Again she proved that she was not just a one hit wonder, with more than a million copies in print to prove it and was on the The New York Time bestseller list.

Chasing Harry Winston is Ms. Weisberger's third novel, which was released on May 27, 2008. The main characters are three best friend New Yorkers, Emmy, Adriana and Leigh, who are facing the horror of turning 30. In September 2008,it was announced that Universal Pictures had picked up the rights to the book.

Jennifer Weiner, Adriana Trigiani, Lauren Weisberger and fourteen other American women authors collaborated on a novel American Girls About Town. The anthology includes brand-new stories from America's best-known women writers. Benefiting from the sale of the book are Barnardo's, the UKUs largest children's charity, and America's Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Lauren Weisberger graduated from Cornell University and is now married to Mike Cohen who is also a writer.

Photo of Ms. Weisberger by Robert Deutsch

To learn more about Lauren Weisberger please visit her WEBSITE

To purchase her books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: International Bestselling & Award Winning Nonfiction Author: Anthony Flacco

For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing his views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Anthony Flacco who won the True Crime category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards for his book, The Road Out Of Hell which is a real life events during 1928 in Los Angeles. "The Road Out Of Hell" is the untold story behind the movie Changeling.

Changeling was released in theatres in October 2008 starring Oscar and Golden Globe winner, Angelina Jolie and Oscar nominee and Emmy award winning actor, John Malkovich.

The film was directed by Academy award winning director, producer, Clint Eastwood.

Changeling, a dramatic recreation of the sex-driven child-murder spree in the late 1920s is told in a breathless you-are-there style that depends almost exclusively on dramatically recreated scenes.

The Road Out of Hell is not technically a thriller but has written an astonishing, spell-binding and mesmerizing book. It’s an incredibly historical non-fiction crime drama that demonstrates a mentally deranged human being.

The hero a 13-year-old Sanford Clark, delivered in 1926 by his deranged mother into the hands of his homicidally sadistic uncle, Gordon Stewart Northcott, a pedophile and a murderer. For two years, Sanford struggles to survive the beatings, the abuse and the assaults on himself, to survive the same on other children, only they are murdered.

Mr.Flacco has published six books, among them are: A Checklist For Murderer, Tiny Dancer, The Last Nightingale, The Hidden Man, Published Your Non-Fiction Book and The Road Out Of Hell. The Hidden Man and The Last Nightingale are two of his historical novels dealing with the California during the early 1900’s.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Anthony Flacco -- the man behind the award-winning International bestselling nonfiction author?

A.F. Oh, man, E.I.—my teenage years? You’re going straight for the kneecaps right out of the box? All right, I’ll play, but you’ve tipped your hand—I’m going to have to keep a sharp eye on you…

In my teen years I was an amorphous mass of bewildered confusion, unfocused anger, and a fissile weapon of horniness packaged into a lanky class clown whom I would not wish upon any of my teaching friends today. Back then, the correct term for a child like myself with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder was “what an asshole.” I cringe to remember that time and have no excuse for it, other than to add that I grew beyond that place as fast as I could. My awareness of my limitations has always sharpened my hunger to learn.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

A.F. It’s as close as I will ever get to living the life of an alchemist, working in an arcane laboratory turning base metals into valuable things, employing secret methods of my own device while supervised by nothing more intrusive than the usual inner demons.

E.I. How do you imagine the audience as you are writing nonfiction? Do you have sheets of newsprint covering story boards all over your walls?

A.F. In today’s literary marketplace, issues of a book’s target audience are worked out at the publishing house before the contract is signed. Beyond that, I don’t find any value in visualizing the audience while I am trying to work, thank you, since my internal editor is given to savage fits of dissatisfaction and frequently chases me through sleep.

Speaking of sleep, I eagerly anticipate a reality show featuring a writer who writes for a viewing audience in front of his/her web cam. Insomniacs delight: real-time webcasting, fascinating as a bridge cam, only not as useful.

Considering today’s media world, I trot this out as an idea for a new reality show—miserable, tick-infested, flea-bitten idea that it is—and parade it before you to ask: can an idea as repellent as this one not happen? I say buy the all the stock that you can get in that sorry excuse for a television broadcast while the price is still low.

As for your question about story boards, I am very visual and love to cover every flat surface with relevant material. But I do find that the specific look of the working environment changes for every book. The amount and the kind of visual material is very much affected by the imagery of the story, its setting, time period, general climate, and its general social condition. The sound quality of my working environment is the most important thing to me. We all know what happens when you try to actually find some quiet time, but I need it to do my best work, and live where I do for the peace and quiet of it. I have lived and worked in the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City for most of my life, and I used to fight for a quiet corner and a few moments of silence. My sense-memory of that is one of literally drowning from the lack of silence.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in writing “The Road Out of Hell”? How many years of research did you do, and how did you decide what level of details your reader will accept? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

A.F. All of those questions lead to one answer—I accepted from the very beginning that Sanford Clark’s story was a personal holocaust for one isolated boy, and that it was no different than the personal experience of the Nazi Holocaust in terms of its horror for the individual victim. Therefore, I knew that I had to write this story exactly as I would handle any story of the Nazi death camps, meaning that it is paramount to express the individual experience of confusion, terror, pain, uncertainty, desperation, and one’s frantic struggle to figure out how to mollify the captor in order to slow down the torment inflicted. I am convinced that you would fail to write anything truthful about such a phenomenon unless this deep level of honesty is employed. These are burdens upon the writer that go far beyond questions of accuracy. Journalism is the wrong tool for the job. It can’t tell the story unless it morphs into a narrative that employs a far deeper subjective experience, emotional turmoil, and a generally threatening level of writing. This is definitely not some memoir of an unhappy childhood and resulting addiction issues—such struggles fail to rise to a journey of recovery from sustained captivity under the evil of human nature at its very worst.

E.I. How much of Sanford Clark’s life is planned out in your head in spite of the great darkness of the story? How do you know where you will go next?

A.F. Since Sanford Clark’s life was over before I began my research, the facts of it directed the overall story arc. There wasn’t any planning needed at first beyond learning everything I could about him from multiple sources, in addition to the personal information that I got from his son, Jerry.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “The Road Out of Hell” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans?

A.F. I like to start at the top of Chapter One and read through Sanford’s unwilling departure from home and continue well into the road trip, until right about the time that young Sanford finally realizes that there is something very wrong with Uncle Stewart.

I invite all of your readers to listen to my audio reading of Chapter One on my website, www.AnthonyFlacco.com Just click on the book cover shot of “The Road out Of Hell.”

E.I. The media had once said that if “The Road Out of Hell” had come out in 1966, it might have been the most controversial book in America. That’s because in 1966 was the year Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood came out. What can you say about that?

A.F. I think it’s probably a good idea to stay away from such observations, other than to say that I am always grateful for enthusiastic readers.

E.I. What do you find to be the hardest part of writing “The Road Out of Hell? How do you weave so much suspense and elements of information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

A.F. I focused this story on the internal life of the boy Sanford Clark, tying each moment of the story to his personal experience of the event. Readers will note sometimes his reactions are visible to other characters who can see and react, but most often his reactions are things he keeps invisible, for his own safety. In that sense, he could be sitting alone in a chair in an empty room, but the description of his experience of that moment could be filled with stress and a chaos of tumbling emotions. This is because his condition is one of being continually presented with more than he can handle and of being violently overwhelmed by it all. He sometimes experiences the flow of time as “flying by,” even nothing is happening. The reader’s sense of speed comes from that. If they are engaged by the story as I would hope them to be, it will often feel as if it is moving fast only because it felt fast to him at the time it happened. This imparts the feel of motion without the need for chase scenes and gun battles.

E.I. Mr. Flacco, you are well known in the writing community as the International bestselling nonfiction author who won the True Crime category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards for your book “The Road Out Of Hell.” Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

A.F. I believe you are referring to sort of doubt demon that causes a major chunk of writer’s block. The old 2:00 a.m. of the soul. I can tell you that in my experience, the most effective way to deal with the million subtle doubts that can ride in on neurosis, is to perform the healing with an axe. Ignore the countless complex knots and cut through entire bundles of strands with simple and uncomplicated will power. I found a Nike ad in a magazine that was so good I cut it out and framed it, and it now sits on my desk directly in my line of sight. It is a plain sheet of white paper with three handwritten lines, using three different types of handwriting, and the simple message is: “Just do it. Just do it. Just do it.” More often than not, the thing to do is shut up and write. Fix it later if you need to. Re-writing, if the Old Testament is to be believed, is of Divine origin; consider the Flood.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

A.F. If you have a passion to write and to approach writing as close to the state of the art as possible, then you have simply got to get yourself into a situation conducive to that process. This means that you must be where your commitment to writing is understood and supported. You must be where there are positive examples to learn from and to inspire your planned growth. You need to have access to constructive feedback from other writers who share a level of dedication similar to yours.

So if an M.F.A. program is something that will provide those things to you, then chase it like a dog goes after a car’s rear tire. Get into that program. But the thing is, it has to be a situation that causes you to get the writing done. Avoid literary theory like a major carcinogen. It is little more than art appreciation via autopsy. You need to produce a regular stream of pages that are either competitive on their own or which serve the purpose of raising your skill level toward better writing in the future.

The degree itself is of little value unless you plan to teach at the high school or college level, in which case an MFA may serve you well if you have attended a reputable graduate program. But whether in the academic environment or the literary marketplace, the beautiful tyranny of the writing life is that the work is either done or it is not done. Everyone has reasons not to write and nobody has the time. The writers are the ones who find time anyway. The simplicity of that is as bracing as Witch Hazel on a fresh cut. So please go for a degree if—but only if—the process of qualifying for that degree helps you to actually get your writing done.

E.I. Mr. Flacco, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

A.F. FELLOW WRITERS – Consider how many of today’s historical writings were done by people who had no idea their work would survive them. That said, how can you know that your writing won’t someday be among theirs? The world needs to hear from you whether it knows it or not. Write it down! Write it down! Write it down!

Mr. Anthony Flacco's photo by Goan Vindaloo

To find out more about Anthony Flacco, please visit his WEBSITE

To purchase his books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble Books

INTERVIEW: New York Times Bestselling & Award Winning Author- Charles Shields

Charles J. Shields is the author of two books about critically acclaimed author, Harper Lee, written for the young adult audience. The former English teacher proffers a unique understanding for Harper Lee the person, and offers a nuanced appreciation for her iconic novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Mr. Shields spent four years researching and writing "Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee," published in 2007. His portrayal earned critical acclaim, and established Mr. Shields' literary credibility. The new author's achievement is exalted by the fact that Ms. Lee was unwilling to participate in the project, rejecting his request for an interview. It should be noted that she had not granted an interview since 1964. Nevertheless, he went on to publish his second book on the same subject, "I Am a Scout: A Biography of Harper" in 2008.

Harper Lee's rebuff forced Mr. Shields to rely on exhaustive background work to ensure accuracy. He conducted more than 600 interviews to fill the void left by the reclusive Lee. The daunting list of contributors includes Harper Lee's neighbors, childhood friends, and law school classmates. Notably Kansas residents, who Lee met while working as research assistant to childhood friend Truman Capote on "In Cold Blood," proved to be a valuable source. They validated the speculation about her collaborative role in Capote's success, and offered some explanation as to how an unknown writer could catapult into iconic stardom.

Mr. Shields has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in American history from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he was a James Scholar.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Charles Shields -- the man behind the former English teacher and now a critically acclaimed author of Harper Lee’s biography & life.

CJS I decided at fifteen that I wanted to be a writer. It was an actual statement I said out loud, in answer to a friend asking me, “What are you going to do after high school?” (We were playing soccer: strange time to be asked about career plans.) And I said, “I want to be a teacher and a writer.” Because I said it without hesitation, I realized I meant it. And besides, whenever I dawdled in front of racks of paperback books I thought nothing would make me happier than to have a book of my own.

I was a loner as a teenager, but well-liked. I still enjoy being alone. I can’t imagine being an extrovert and a writer, too. The two don’t seem compatible.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

CJS I enjoy imagining my reader. I work as hard as I can to entertain, surprise, inform, and delight him or her.

E.I. How do you imagine the audience when you are writing? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

CJS No, I tried that and it didn’t work for me. For the book I’m currently writing, the first biography of Kurt Vonnegut, I’ve kept my study practically paperless. First, I scanned absolutely every document, article, dissertation, and letter; then placed each file into desktop folders by topic; then created extremely detailed, chronological outlines. Using the Spotlight feature on my MacBook Pro allows me to find any word or phrase I’m want to add to the outline. Considering that I have 1500 letters— not to mention the hundreds of book reviews and interviews with Kurt I’ve collected (I also interviewed 125 people myself)— being able to locate a term or a name instantly is like having a genie helping me.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in writing “Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee”? How many years of research did you do, and how did you decide what level of details your reader will accept? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

CSJ Miss Lee not only refused to allow me to interview her, she also called friends and asked them not to speak to me. Instead of feeling discouraged, I felt more determined when I found that out. I spent two years researching the book and two years writing it. I never had the opportunity to choose how many details my reader would accept; it was a struggle trying to find enough. But remember, a biography is not an obituary, which is just a list of facts written as prose. It needs all the elements of fiction: setting, exposition, description, scenes, reversals, character. So when I was stuck for details, I turned to some other aspect of storytelling.

E.I. In your book “I Am Scout”, how much of Harper Lee is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with your story based on your research?

CSJ The chronology of a person’s life drives a biography, of course. But then you have to structure the chapters by deciding what needs to be explained clearly, logically, and a little slowly in each one. “What point am I trying to make about her?” you keep asking yourself. There has to be a sense of development.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “I AM Scout” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

CSJ The page I think about the most is the first one when Lee is pulling other kids off Truman during a playground fight. I think about it because if I don’t hook the reader immediately, I’ll lose him or her. So the beginnings of both I Am Scout and Mockingbird haunt me in a sense.

E.I. Why do you think Ms. Lee refuses to give interviews or talk about the novel that made her a household name? Was it to avoid topics pertaining to Truman’s Capote or just to keep her privacy?

CSJ Miss Lee is tired of talking about her only published novel and of resisting the pressure to produce another one. She doesn’t have a career she can converse about like Mailer, or Updike or Joyce Carol Oates so to her, it’s a dead issue.

E.I. What did you find to be the hardest part of writing both books? Was it the research or frustration with people who were uncooperative?

CSJ The hardest part is watching the seasons change outside my window and having to accept that I spend most days in a room, doing something that comparatively few people understand.

E.I. You are well known in the writing community as the former teacher and the New York Time bestseller of your books. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

CSJ Writing is my reason to be. I don’t have a choice except to go on writing, so feeling insecure, etc. doesn’t factor in.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

CSJ Aristotle said, “Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it... We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate ones, brave by doing brave ones.” I believe that applies to writing, too. You have to do it; not be taught to do it when you’re old enough to be a graduate student. So no, I’m not in favor of MFA programs. Read Wayne C. Booth’s The Rhetoric of Fiction; Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer; or James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel. Then go and do likewise. And read deeply in the genre you want to practice whether it’s playwriting, fiction, or nonfiction. Read with a pencil in hand. Underline; make notes.

E.I. The media has it that you are writing about the first biography of author Kurt Vonnegut which will be published in 2010. Are you excited about being the first one to write his biography? How many years of research have you done?

CSJ I met Kurt and interviewed him on and off for six months before his death. He passed away in April 2007. So I’ve been researching and writing for about two-and-a-half years now. This book is the best work I’ve done so far.

E.I. Mr. Shields, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

CSJ Start referring to yourself as a writer. Say it in conversation. People may act skeptical; they do even when I say it. Some ask me, “Yes, but what do you DO?” Never mind. Anything artistic endeavor is mysterious. That’s part of the excitement. Say you’re a writer and push off with the Argonauts to explore places unknown. Pen and paper will take your there.

Charles Shields photo (B/W) by Michael Bailey
Mr. Shields (Study) by Guadalupe Shields

To learn more about Charles Shields please visit his WEBSITE
To purchase his books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: Award-Winning and Bestselling Author of Dark Fiction primarily Thriller & Horror: Nate Kenyon

Nate Kenyon is a member of the Horror Writers Association, and the International Thriller Writers. His dark fiction stories have appeared in various magazines, and in the horror anthology Terminal Frights. Mr. Kenyon earned a BA in English from Trinity College in Hartford, CT in 1993, where he won awards in both playwriting, and fiction.

His short fiction has been published in several magazines. He sold his first novel, Bloodstone, in 2005. Bloodstone was named Bram Stroker Award finalist, and won Horror Novel of the Year, and that year became a bestseller.

Nate Kenyon has been a publishing dynamo ever since he found his creative stride. His second book, The Reach, was published in 2008. It received a "star" review from Publisher weekly, Booklist and many more industry sources. It also has been optioned for film by PCH Films, an independent film production company who produced the famous movie, Walk the Line starring Oscar nominee & Golden Globe winner, Joaquin Phoenix and Academy award winner, Reese Witherspoon.

His third novel, The Bone Factory, was released in July 2009 the same month Prime, his fiction novella, hit the market. Sparrow Rock, which is Mr. Kenyon’s fourth novel, will be available in bookstores in May of 2010.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Nate Kenyon-- the man behind the award-winning writer of dark fiction?

NK That's a complicated question! I suppose on the surface, I was pretty well adjusted for what I'd been through, losing my mother and father at an early age. I had lots of friends, was athletic, fairly easygoing and I'm sure I seemed happy enough to most people. Under the surface, though, things were different. I was still learning how to cope with my own mortality at an age where that normally doesn't come into play very much. I had to be responsible (or at least I felt that I did) for both myself, and to some extent, my little sister, while figuring out who I was and where I wanted to go with my life. But I loved reading and writing, and although I got away from it a bit in my later teen years, as sports, friends and girls distracted me--I came back to it pretty quickly after college, and being a writer was always what I wanted to be.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

NK I think it's the idea of creating an entirely new world from scratch, a world you control. It's a bit about playing God. It's also about readers loving your work, wanting to walk through that world with you, and not being able to tear themselves away until they find out what happens. I love that.

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

NK I don't think too much about my audience during the writing process, but I do after i finish a book. I normally work in a more free flowing way, with a spark of an idea, frantic notes and pieces of dialogue and scenes, and then letting the novel unwind from there. My most recent novel, SPARROW ROCK (May 2010), was the first one I ever wrote off a pretty detailed outline. I needed the outline to sell the idea to my publisher, but I found that once I had it, the writing actually seemed easier. So I may try that from now on.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in developing the character, David Pierce and his daughter, Jessie in your book “The Bone Factory”? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

NK They developed as I wrote. I often go back to earlier parts of a book as things come to me, so character becomes more fleshed out and complicated as the story develops. It helps to do it that way, too, because sometimes you need a character to react in a certain way in a later scene, and it only makes sense if you go back and adjust some of the details to make it fit. Sometimes this can be frustrating, but it usually works. If I have particularly complex characters with major backstories, I do sometimes write out those backstories in 5-6 page character profiles, which helps to keep me anchored.

E.I. How much of their life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with any of your characters?

NK Again, things often just spring to mind, and a lot of times they make sense and I realize I have a pretty good idea of who this person is in my subconscious. I really love the moment when a character "clicks" with me, and I realize I'm beginning to hear their dialogue in my head as if they are a separate person, and their backstory makes sense to me, as if they're a friend I've known for years.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “The Bone Factory” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans?

NK Probably the scene that ends the second part of the novel. I won't give much away here, but it's an intense yet brief, very chilling scene where the little girl goes into her mommy's room and announces that "the bad man is coming for them." Writing that gave me chills.

E.I. How do you weave so much suspense and paranormal elements of information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

NK It's a lot of fun to do that. I try whenever I can to drop important pieces of information into the action or dialogue, always try to keep the story moving, even when explaining something that might seem un-explainable. I love that part of the writing--working out something paranormal by trying to apply logic to the situation. It's like a puzzle.

E.I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

NK I think I'm a character guy, if only because I firmly believe that great characters are the most important part of a novel. Plot is wonderful, but if you don't care about the people, no story will stick with you. You have to be emotionally invested as a reader, and that comes from truly complex, well rounded characters.

The hardest part of writing I suppose is getting about 2/3 through, and hitting that "wall" where nothing seems to make sense anymore, you've written yourself into a corner, you can't see the end, and you feel miserable. That's tough to fight out of.

E.I. Mr. Kenyon, you are well known in the writing community as a mystery and YA fantasy writer. Your writing has been published in notable publications and genre magazines. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

NK Oh, sure, all the time. I never really think anything's that great, and so it's a pleasant surprise when people like a book or story. I mean, I have moments where I'm sure something I'm writing is the best thing I've ever done, but it never lasts.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

NK Hmmm...I don't have one. I don't know how valuable they are. I think the process can be dangerous, actually, if you're not in a really good program. Same thing for writer's groups--if the people around you aren't that good, and don't give good advice, it can hurt you.

E.I. Mr. Kenyon, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

NK Thanks, this was fun. Advice? Write every day. If you really want it, never give up. People and the process are going to try to bring you down, but you have to separate the business from the personal--rejections come to everyone, and it doesn't mean you are a failure. See your projects as separate from you, products for sale, and go to it.

To learn more about Nate Kenyon please visit his WEBSITE
To purchase his books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

FAVORITE OF THE WEEK: Bestselling Author and Journalist of New York Times Magazine” and Bloomberg News: Michael Lewis

Welcome to Up Close and Personal. Once a week, on a Sunday, a favorite author, journalist will be featured as ‘Favorite of the Week”. The article will give the author or journalist more exposure and publicity about their work.

This week we choose Michael Lewis, a contemporary non-fiction author and a journalist. Mr. Lewis, received an art history degree from Princeton University and a Masters Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.

He went on to work with Wildenstein Company famous for the finest art in the world, as an art dealer. He then became a bond salesman at Solomon Brothers in London, an experience he described in his first book, Liars’ Poker which was published in 1989. While at Salomon Brothers, he continued to work nights and weekends as a journalist,

He also written best-selling, insightful books that became bestsellers which include The New New Thing, Moneyball: The Art of Winning and Unfair Game, Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood, Coach: Lesson on the Game of Life, Next: The Future Just Happened, The Money Culture and Floating off the Page.

His book “The Blind Side” which is now a Warner’s Brothers film starring two time nominated and Oscar winner, Kathy Bates , and two time Golden Globe nominated, Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron . Award winning, director John Lee Hancock directed the film. “The Blind Side” will be out in theaters before Thanksgiving.

His column “Dad Again” began in 2002, for Slate Magazine after the birth of his second daughter, Dixie. Mr. Lewis was one of the high-profile hired to Condé Nast Portfolio . In February of 2009 he left Portfolio to join Vanity Fair, a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and politics published by Condé Nast Publication, where he is currently a contributing editor. The magazine Portfolio, which launched in April 2007, closes last April of this year.

Michael Lewis is also a contributing writer to the “New York Times Magazine” and a columnist for Bloomberg News.
He is married to the beautiful former MTV “veejay” Tabitha Soren. He and his wife have three children.

Photo of Mr. Michael Lewis by Dan Deitch

To purchase Michael Lewis books please visit www.amason.com

and www.barnesandnoble.com

INTERVIEW: Boston Globe Journalist and Shamus-nominated Mystery Writer: Mark Arsenault

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing his views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Mark Arsenault, a mystery writer and former Providence Journal reporter. As a reporter, he covered the 2003 Rhode Island night club fire that killed 100 people. He writes frequently for the Boston Globe and is a member of the Mystery Writer of America

His novel, SPEAK ILL OF THE LIVING, which was published in 2005 by Poisoned Pen Press was inspired by two years of jailhouse interviews he did inside “Supermax,” Rhode Island’s most secure state prison.

To read Mr. Arsenault’s newspaper series from his prison interviews click the link here: PRISON INTERVIEW

His new novel Loot the Moon is the second book in the Bill Povich series that began with Gravewriter. His previous novel, Spiked, was nominated for the Shamus Award for Best First Mystery.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Mark Arsenault-- the man behind the journalist and bestselling mystery writer?

M. A. As a teenager, I was a skinny cross-country runner who didn’t read very much, rarely studied my school work, watched too much television, played too much Dungeons & Dragons, and worked a boring summer job as a cargo van driver. There’s not much in my history to suggest I would become a writer. What I did have was imagination. I was an excellent daydreamer. I thought of becoming an astronomer, then maybe an architect. In college, I majored in philosophy, which expands the mind but doesn’t help much getting your first real job. I became a newspaper reporter by default—it was the only job I could get. But maybe because that’s what I was supposed to be.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

M.A. The telepathy—I can transfer my thoughts to the reader’s head using only paper and ink. It’s like sorcery. Writing is also a cumulative exercise that’s very satisfying, like splitting logs with an ax. At the end of a long hard day, you have something honest and tangible to show for the effort. A nice 1,000-word scene makes me happy, like a half cord of freshly split sugar maple, all shiny white.

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

M.A. I don’t imagine the audience directly when I’m writing because I’m too busy trying to keep the story on pace, though I’m aware of the audience. Make sense? No? I think it’s like working as a circus juggler, who must concentrate on the objects in the air. I’m a terrible outliner, probably because I can’t come up with big ideas. I can only create small ideas, which I pile on each other. I build a novel by evolution, not intelligent design. What little outlining I do is limited to a list of 5 or 10 things that will happen in the next scene. Most of my brainstorming is done at the keyboard, and it all gets typed into the manuscript. If an idea stays on the screen for more than 10 minutes it has a good chance of making it into the book. (Wow, I re-read what I just typed about my writing process and I sound like the least organized writer on the planet. It’s a miracle I ever finish anything, except for the fact that I never give up.)

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in developing the character, Bill Povich and Martin Smothers in your book “Loot The Moon”? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

M.A. Billy and Martin were born in the first book of the series, “Gravewriter.” [St. Martin’s Press, 2006]. Billy came first, loosely named for my Polish grandfather. I wanted a character who worked on the outskirts of journalism, so I made him an obituary writer. I wanted him wounded, so I killed the woman he loved. The relationship between Billy and Martin evolved organically as I wrote the novels. After two books, their partnership reminds me of my relationships with my brothers. We are allies to the death, with wide leeway to tease and mock each other without ever causing offense.

E.I. How much of their life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with any of your characters?

M.A. Very little of Billy’s life is planned out ahead. I know he’ll never die, but anything else is possible if the story demands it. My books contain a lot of humor, but they are noir stories and it’s the way Billy fights off tragedy and pain that gives him his personality. So he will suffer, but he’ll always persevere. I never know where any of the characters are going before I write the first scene and begin to make the decisions about the characters. I don’t want to say that characters “run away with the story,” because they don’t. It’s still me at the keyboard who has to type it. But I’m very promiscuous with ideas—I’ll go round and round with every single idea I get, looking for one that’s a keeper.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Loot The Moon” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans?

M.A. One page that means a lot to me—which might not make much sense out of context—comes early in the book: the last page of Chapter 7. Billy’s father (the Old Man) talks Billy into writing the Old Man’s obituary, complete with all his faults. He tells Billy, “When I go I want to be carried out on the truth. The lies, the affairs, everything—put it all in there. Okay?” Billy agrees. The old man seems to get older before his eyes, “Not exactly like he was aging; more like he was beginning to decompose.”

It’s a very tough scene, but revealing of the relationship between father and son. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the book.

E.I. How do you weave so much information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

M.A. I hate backstory. I hate when writers introduce a character and then force me to read two pages about that person. Large passages of history take the reader out of the narrative. I call it time travel, because the reader is forced back in time to read about what has already happened. What’s important is what’s happening now. I try to avoid breaking time to explain history. If I must, I’ll do it as a separate backflash scene so I can write it “live” and make it feel immediate. When I have critical information to deliver to the reader, I try to break it up and sneak it in here and there; much better to do that than serve up two pages of historical spinach for the reader to choke down all at once.

E.I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

M.A. I’m a character writer. This may be a side effect of rarely working the plot out ahead of time. Character comes first. The characters must feel like real people or I won’t be able to wind them up into a mystery. Mysteries are about resolution: the main character resolves the mystery and at the same time resolves something about himself or herself. The hardest part is developing a story arc that brings all the threads together at the end.

E.I. Mr. Arsenault, you are well known in the writing community as a journalist who covered the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people. You are also known for the jailhouse interview you did inside Supermax Rhode Island state prison. Your writing has been published in notable publications such as: Boston Globe, Providence Journal... and now an author? Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

M.A. Every writer feels the pressure of deadline, which is normally a good thing. Deadline sharpens my mind and squeezes out distractions so I can write. If I have six hours to write a news story, it will take six hours. If I have 30 minutes, then that’s how long it will take. In producing both fiction and non-fiction, every writer is also mindful of the gap between the scene we’d like to write and what actually ends up on the page. Sometimes the gap is huge and that’s disappointing. But I don’t feel insecure, because I know that writers have been battling creative pressures since we first painted our stories on the walls of our caves.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

M.A. Not important. I don’t have a writing degree. I’ve been a journalist for 20 years, too, and I’ve never taken a journalism class in my life.
Now that I’ve said it, let me qualify it.

Good coaching early in your writing career can flatten the learning curve. I think about all the mistakes I’ve made, and how much time I could have saved with good instruction and editing.

E.I. Mr. Arsenault, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

M.A. Don’t quit. The publishing industry is set up to dispense huge doses of disappointment to aspiring writers. Those who don’t quit are eventually published.

Photo of Mr. Mark Arsenault by John Freidah

To learn more about Mark Arsenault please visit his website at markarsenault.net

To purchase his books please visit www.amazon.com