I was tagged by a friend, fellow author and
co-member of the Laguna Woods Writers Group, to do something I rarely do:
continue a chain letter. There was no
threat, no claim for riches if I sent to five or more friends within the next
12 hours, no promises other than I might stir interest in my book from a group
that is often both appreciative of writing efforts and occasionally willing to
buy a book.
So, I am devoting this issue of my Blog, regularly
found at www.DoctorEclectic.com
to answering ten standard questions about said book. Easier research than usual and a chance to
follow some new bloggers.
First Question: What
is the working title?
That’s pretty easy because the book is now published
and can even be found at: Amazon.
Second Question:
Where did you get the idea?
I married and entered the US Navy as a dentist right
after graduation from Marquette and embarked on a 25 year career with at least
15 major moves. With little money we
rented through half that time and a major furniture possession was a Danish
Wall Unit, which seemed to fit in wherever we were. Now, after thirty years in the same place,
that wall unit’s shelves and fixtures have assumed a story of their own. As I watched television I was struck by the
fact that these stories; how and why things appeared there, might have general
interest. So, each of the Chapters in
the book has its own shelf or space. The
cover of the book is the wall of our bedroom, most of which are items my mother
had framed, which tell the story of her family from the 1830’s to the 1880’s.
It struck me that my children and grandchildren have not been gathering their
heritage like my mother, my wife and I have done. Each chapter ends with a one-pager on how you
might use the information in the chapter to develop that child’s sense of their
own heritage.
Third Question: What
is the genre of the book?
Definitely, a Memoir.
Fourth Question: Who would you like to play the character(s) if the book were made into
a movie?
As I was growing up I was continually told that I
resembled either Woody Allen or Tony Bennett.
Today I suppose I still resemble Woody Allen if I substituted glasses
for my bifocal contacts. In truth I
would have liked to resemble Paul Newman but when I mentioned that desire to my
wife around age thirty-five, she told me I should have started earlier.
Fifth Question: Could
you give a synopsis of the book?
I pretty much covered this in question two, but the
chapters are topical, rather than chronological, which is another reason for
Woody Allen to play the protagonist (me).
He has a film history of juxtaposing characters to provide flashbacks
effectively.
Sixth Question: Is
the book self-published or through representation?
Actually, a little of both. When I decided to self-publish, on the advice
of an author friend who self-published her 19th book, realizing the
industry had changed, I went to Amazon and their linked service called CreateSpace. There are other, perhaps
better and certainly cheaper services, but this has worked well for me and the
editor feature was a true lifesaver in bettering the quality of my book. The lessons I learned would make writing a
second book infinitely easier and publishing it much less expensive. The distribution of self-published books is a
challenge as to getting it available in bookstores and libraries, but it is not
insurmountable. I would be more than
happy to provide dialogue on what I learned.
Seventh Question: How long did it take to get your first draft?
This was one of the more significant lessons I
learned about writing. I had heard
several authors speak about writing habits: “Write every day at the same time.”
”Start with the end in mind.” “Don’t move on until you have that first sentence
exactly the way you want it.” But for me writing developed into putting the
chapter in my mind, noodling it until I felt I had a handle on the content,
then researching what background was needed to flesh out the subject and then
just writing what ended up being a stream of consciousness narrative
approximately 3,000 words long. Completing the thirteen chapters took almost a
year, but I didn’t write something every day.
Eighth Question: What would be a comparable book?
Not to put too fine a point on it, but I haven’t
seen a book that used either the format or the content of Harnessing a Heritage, but books of a more traditional,
chronological format that I would like to be compared to would include Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
by Alan Alda and Open by Andre Agassi. Both seem honest and were written with intent
to inform in a humorous fashion.
Ninth Question: Who
or What was your inspiration?
When I came up with the concept of a memoir based on
a wall unit, I bounced the idea off a personal friend, mentioned above, who is
a successful author, Rosalie Maggio.
Rosalie has written nineteen books now, with subjects as diverse as a
glossary of politically correct words, Dictionary
of Bias-Free Usage to a collaboration with her brothers and sisters, Pieces of Eight. She encouraged me but offered the sagely
advice, “If you want to actually sell a book, find a ‘How To’ hook. People want to
learn something from what they read.”
From that piece of news came my end-of-the-chapter tag of how one might
use the information in the chapter to encourage one’s children or grandchildren
to develop a sense of their own heritage.
Also, that gave me the idea for the book cover.
Tenth and Last Question: What
are some links to your book?
That’s easy.
Advanced reading on any of the chapters would be my finest
recommendation. Learn more about, books,
photos, music, other cultures, art, museums, and more importantly, involve
children in your search for knowledge in these fields. I can’t imagine a better indication that my
book accomplished what I hoped it would.
Well, I’ve completed my assignment and actually have
had fun doing it. I’ll forward this to
five blogger/authors I know and hope they have as much fun next week as I did
today.
Next post at www.DoctorEclectic.com
will be on a practical application from my book: taking my grandsons to the LA
Science Center to see Endeavor. Please check me out.