Robert “Doc” Gowdy is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Ph.D. in Literary Criticism and Theory and an emphasis on Nineteenth-Century British literature. His specialization in literary theory is psychoanalytic criticism and theory, particularly Lacanian psychoanalysis, with further emphases on Milton and Eighteenth-Century British literature. Doc Gowdy is currently an adjunct assistant professor at Texas Woman’s University where he teaches various literature classes. His interest in writing is long standing, but aside from academic writing, his first novel, Captain Bonny Morgan: The Cassandra Prophesy is his first foray into fiction. Captain Bonny Morgan is based on archetypal themes and patterns from mythology, such as fairies, goddesses, and the Hero’s Journey, and based loosely on Doc Gowdy’s active duty service in the United States Marine Corps with special emphasis on the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean at the turn of the Eighteenth-Century.
Q: Welcome to Beyond the Books, Doc. Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?
About two years ago I self-published an academic, or scholarly, book called The Text and the Other: Toward the Caesura of the Unconscious. So my new science fiction novel, Captain Bonny Morgan: The Cassandra Prophesy, is my second publication.
Q: What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?
My very first book was the scholarly work I published two years ago, The Text and the Other: Toward the Caesura of the Unconscious. It was self-published by me given the rejections I had received from various academic publishers.
Q: For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?
I’d say, if memory serves, that I received about four rejections from academic publishers concerning my first book. I was given the impression that none of them were interested in really reading what the book had to say, especially given the quickness with which I received the rejections. So, I decided to self-publish the book after about the fourth rejection.
Q: How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?
Given my experience as an academic writer, I’ve developed a rather thick skin when it comes to criticisms of my writing and rejections of my book. I’ve come to let such things just roll off my back and don’t let them bother me very much. So it was not difficult for me to overcome the blows with respect to the rejections of my first book.
Q: When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?
I self-published my first book with Wasteland Press. I chose Wasteland Press because they had a variety of affordable publishing plans to choose from. I also chose to self-publish my new novel with Wasteland Press. They do very good work, and I have been very pleased with the publication of both of my books.
Q: How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?
It’s rather hard to describe the feeling you have once you have a book published and out among the public. It’s quite a good feeling, but a rather strange one, nonetheless. With my first book, I celebrated rather quietly with my students, given that it was an academic book. We celebrated a bit in the classroom, and later, with a select few students, a libation or two away from the university. In other words, with my first book, there was just a rather subdued celebration.
Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promotion when you were published for the first time?
With my first book, all I did as far as promoting the book was to inform personally my students, my friends, my colleagues, and the university. The university department in which I work placed a notification of the book’s publication on it’s webpage. That’s really about all I did, given that a scholarly book is meant more for publication than mass distribution.
Q: If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?
No, I’m quite comfortable with the route I took. I think in today’s market, self-publishing is a fine way to go with respect to being published.
Q: Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?
I have just recently, this February, 2010, self-published a science fiction novel titled Captain Bonny Morgan: The Cassandra Prophesy. Writing a work of fiction is quite different from writing a formal, scholarly work. So, yes, I think I have grown quite a bit as an author. It’s one thing to write a scholarly work while relying on research and strict academic writing rules, and quite another to write something that is wholly from your imagination. While I was quite timid from the outset while writing my new novel, the longer the writing process went along, the easier it became, and the more sophisticated my writing became. Writing a descriptive narrative, and complex dialog sequences, is not easy. However, with tenacity, and daily writing, the more my abilities as a writer seemed to grow. By the time I had finished the novel, I was quite pleased with the end result, and rather surprised at how much I had evolved as a writer. Not wanting to toot my own horn, I was, nevertheless, surprised at how “smart” and “sophisticated” my narrative turned out. The more I read my own novel, the more I liked it and felt it was something to be proud of. It was almost like reading a novel someone else had written. And, surprisingly, it was quite funny too.
Q: Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up? What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?
Given that I only attempted to first get published a little more than two years ago, I don’t think I made many mistakes since I decided, very nearly from the outset, to self-publish my first book. Self-publishing tends to speed things up rather quickly.
Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?
My biggest accomplishment since publishing my first book has been writing and publishing my new science fiction novel, Captain Bonny Morgan: The Cassandra Prophesy. That has been quite an achievement. Seeing your new 480 page novel in book form is a very rewarding experience. You tend to hold the new novel in your hands, look down at it, and say, “Wow! I wrote that?”
Q: If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?
Well, since in my lifetime I’ve had several professions, such as Marine, professional musician, photographer, cosmetologist, cook, teacher, author, etc., I guess if I had to choose another profession other than author, it would be professional clown. Clown would be fun.
Q: Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?
Oh, I have definitely combined the best of both worlds. So, no, I wouldn’t give up being an author to be a professional clown. My clown side is clearly evident in my fiction writing. My new novel is quite funny in places.
Q: How do you see yourself in ten years?
Still writing. I am currently a third of the way through a sequel to Captain Bonny Morgan: The Cassandra Prophesy. I expect to make Captain Bonny Morgan a trilogy. And from the Cassandra Prophesy in my first novel, I expect to write a second trilogy involving Princess Cassandra who is born between novels one and two in the first trilogy. My second novel, in which Princess Cassandra is introduced, will be called Captain Bonny Morgan: Fenians Wake. Fenians Wake is a reference to the Fenians of Irish legend. From the first novel, Princess Lysette’s Princess Guard (her personal bodyguard detachment), re-introduced, and fully characterized in Fenians Wake, are entirely made up of an ancient people known as the Fenians from the snow planet, Prilla. The Fenians are also based on the mythological Fianna of Irish myth.
Q: Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?
Yes, be consistent. A writer should write every day. Sure, a writer needs a day off now and again, but writing as much as possible, very nearly every day, will get the job done. The more you write, the closer you’ll get to your desired end result—a finished novel. And, don’t ever give up. Not on yourself, or you writing. If you believe in yourself and your writing, you can’t help but succeed.
