Interview with Literary Fiction Author Linda Merlino

Life is our daily teacher. One lesson begets another and then another.

Once-upon-a-time life kicked me off my writer’s path and led me to pursue a more practical profession. My childhood dream of becoming a journalist was silenced.

Years later, I became a single parent, not by choice but by necessity, and my most trustworthy partner became a ballpoint. The fiction in my head turned into words on yellow legal pad. I wrote anywhere, any time, on my dining room table, and on my lunch hour. No place was my sacred space. I wrote in my car during soccer practices, under an umbrella on rain drenched sidelines, in fast food restaurants and in chain hotels. I wrote during championship after championship in cities and states, from Jersey to Phoenix.

The quieted yearning to be a writer reawakened onto the pages of a novel. My first was self-published after five years of juggling work, kids and day-to-day. A flawed but beautiful story emerged onto paper and “Swan Boat Souvenir” enjoyed local acclaim and success.

I knew there was more to do, more to write and that the next book would be published traditionally, that the next manuscript would have the benefit of an editor and the advice of professionals. After months of writing, Belly of the Whale went from paper, to computer, to draft after draft and finally into the arms of Kunati Publishers.

My children are grown. My passion to write remains a constant. Each book I complete is dedicated to the magic of believing in my dream, to my son and to my daughters.

You can visit Linda’s website at www.lindamerlino.com.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Linda. Can you tell us whether you are published for the first time or multi-published?

Belly of the Whale is my debut novel in mainstream publishing. In 2003 I self-published a novel. This gave me the inspiration needed to pursue another project, this one focused on mainstream publishers.

Can you give us the title(s) of your book(s)?

The self-published book is still available through Amazon; Swan Boat Souvenir is the story of twin souls. My debut novel: Belly of the Whale released April 1, 2008 by Kunati, Inc is about a young woman with breast cancer.

What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

Swan Boat Souvenir was published by First Books Library, currently renamed: Author house.

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?

Since I did not attempt to query or seek out professional help for Swan Boat I can only use my current experience with Belly of the Whale. It took about three months to find an agent and a publisher.

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

No matter how thick skinned we say we are, rejection stings. When those letters or emails came my stomach would ache for a short time and then I’d resource more and tell myself, wrong way and moved on to another possibility.

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

I will refer to my debut novel Belly of the Whale to answer these questions. Kunati, Inc is my publisher. The three men that make up this publishing house are geniuses. Formerly from Simon & Schuster Derek Armstrong and Kam Wai Yu invented the book trailer concept in the 80’s. James McKinnon is their editor and a brilliant one at that. I liked Kunati’s New Voice mission statement, they were not afraid to take a chance on first-time authors.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

When the email came, December 18, 2006, I stood on a chair and screamed at the top of my lungs. I’ve been celebrating ever since, every day. I wake up and say to myself, how blessed you are Linda, your dream has come true. Yes!!!

What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

Promotion has been a learning curve. Kunati is a strong resource for all its authors and they have hand-held us through the process. Internet marketing was the first step to promotion and continues to be huge.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

No, mainstream is the way to go; one can only go higher from here.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

Since Belly of the Whale just released I am still very focused on what needs to be done to promote and get the message out there. I have taken the leap from writer to author and have begun giving-back to other writers. I could not have succeeded without the support and encouragement of the writing community.

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?

Honestly I do not see the way to speed things up. I believe that there is a season for everything. My life was on course, not perhaps the way I might have planned it to be, but on course. I tell groups and writer’s workshops to do their researching, do their homework, don’t query until you have a completed clean manuscript don’t add anything that isn’t requested…if an agent wants only a query then send only a query. Stay true to yourself and your belief in your gift as a writer. It will happen, be patient, keep writing.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

My best so far has been to stand in front of a writing workshop class of 4rth and 5th graders and see their eyes go wide when I tell them I am a published author, that I wrote a book.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

I have been in another profession for decades…that profession served its purpose, I am a writer, and I am ready to be that exclusively.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

Beyond my steady job profession, I am also, a professional astrologer, this accomplishment blends well with my writing…it is time to be a writer, it is what I always dreamed I would be…

How do you see yourself in ten years?

In ten years, I see myself in a house not far from the water with a generous backyard, gardens of flowers, herbs and vegetables. There is a separate structure on the property, perhaps a barn with a loft where I write everyday…

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

Writing is an act of faith…don’t give up or give in…never.

ATTENTION: This interview is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion. As a special promotion for Linda Merlino’s novel, BELLY OF THE WHALE, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away one FREE virtual book tour or $25 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky person who comments on her blog stops during her virtual book tour in June. Leave a comment below to have a chance to win one of these prizes! For more stops on Linda’s tour, visit www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com.

Interview with Author Camille Marchetta

Born in Brooklyn, Camille Marchetta received her BA in English Literature from the College of New Rochelle, and later studied fiction with noted writer Anatole Broyard at The New School in New York City. Shortly afterward, on a visit to England, she fell in love with the country, decided to stay, and was fortunate enough to find work with Richard Hatton Limited, a theatrical and literary agency, in a few years becoming a literary director of the company.

The agency was small but powerful, its client list including well-known writers, directors, and actors such as Sean Connery, Malcolm McDowell, and Leo McKern. Among the writers with whom Ms. Marchetta worked were Robert Shaw, author of many award-winning novels and plays (though he is best known in the United States for his acting performances in To Russia With Love and Jaws); the playwright Richard Harris, whose Stepping Out appeared on Broadway; and Anthony Shaffer, who wrote Sleuth, a hit in the West End, on Broadway, and as a feature film.

Returning to the States, Ms. Marchetta went to Hollywood, found an agent, and eventually got an assignment on the Dallas mini-series. Asked to join the staff, she remained until the series soared to the top of the ratings. With that, her career in television was established. She wrote television movies, pilots for new series, produced Nurse, which won Michael Learned an Emmy, and Dynasty in the season it finally crept past Dallas in the ratings and reached number one.

In 1985, Ms. Marchetta took a sabbatical from television, returned to London, and, fulfilling a lifetime ambition, wrote her first novel, Lovers and Friends, which was published in the United States in 1989 and subsequently in England, Finland, Sweden, and Germany. Following its publication, Ms. Marchetta co-executive-produced Falcon Crest, co-authored two best-selling novels with Ivana Trump, and worked as a story consultant on the television series, Central Park West. St. Martin’s Press published her second novel, The Wives of Frankie Ferraro, in 1998. The River By Moonlight is her most recent book.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Camille. Can you tell us whether you are published for the first time or multi-published? Can you give us the title(s) of your book(s)?

I’m really excited to be doing this. It may be old hat to you, but I’m still a stranger in a strange land on the internet. It seems a wonderful adventure. Thank you for inviting me.

The River, By Moonlight is my third novel. My first, Lovers and Friends was published by William Morrow in 1989. St. Martin’s Press published my second, The Wives of Frankie Ferraro, in 1998. It was a long time between books. I spent the years before and after each one, in television, writing.

What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

My first book didn’t get far enough to have a name. Or get published. I started it when I was eight, writing in a green notebook in turquoise ink, with a quill, no less. (My best guess is that I had just seen a film about the 19th century French novelist, Georges Sand. That’s the way she wrote, so I thought I ought to as well.) I got as far as Chapter 5, I think. I can’t remember why I stopped, but final exams probably had something to do with it.

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 don’t remember any rejections for Lovers and Friends. My agent submitted it simultaneously to several publishers. I don’t suppose all of them made offers, but I’ve forgotten the ones who didn’t. I was too excited by the positive responses for the negative ones to register. The whole process took less than a month. I was very lucky.

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

As I said, getting Lovers and Friends published was easy. The Wives of Frankie Ferraro was more difficult. Because writing it was taking me so long, I decided at one point to submit only the first section of the novel to William Morrow, something I’d never done before, and haven’t since. My editor was long gone, and whoever took his place turned it down. I was crushed. I sank into a really black mood. I had all the usual dark thoughts. Was it worth going on? All that sort of thing. Ultimately, I did continue, mostly because for me the only cure for the blues is writing. It took a while to finish, but once the novel was done, fortunately, the response to it was good. Within a few weeks, it got a couple of offers.

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

William Morrow made the best offer but there were reasons beyond the financial ones for accepting it. The editor at the Arbor House imprint, Alan Williams, who actually bought the novel, seemed to think it was not only a commercial book, but a good one. That mattered to me a lot. It was the right decision. He was a fabulous editor.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

How do you feel when a dream comes true? I was over the moon with joy when I heard the book was accepted for publication. I called my family, my friends. Beyond that, I don’t remember. I was delirious. I’d wanted to be a published writer for as long as I could remember, and then I was.

What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

I threw myself a big party at the Bel Air Hotel in Beverly Hills. My family was in New York, but lots of my friends came, and people I’d worked with over the years, and because many of them were actors, the press showed up too. I had some newspaper interviews and William Morrow took an ad in The New York Times, but nothing was as good as the party. I’m not sure it sold all that many books, but it was so much fun. And a great present to myself.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

No, I wouldn’t have done anything differently with Lovers and Friends. The whole experience was a joy.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

I had a second book published in 1998. And of course now there’s The River, By Moonlight, which I’ve self-published. That’s been a lot of hard work, but I have to say I’ve enjoyed it, and I’m very proud of myself for having done it. It’s a huge accomplishment. I loved being in total control of the process.

How I’ve grown as an author is a more difficult question for me to answer. I’m not sure I know. I suppose with each passing year I’ve accumulated more knowledge, more information anyway, and insight, and perhaps my craft is a little more polished. But I’m not really convinced of it, or convinced that it matters. Often I think the whole process is out of my hands. Once I choose a story (or the story chooses me, however it is), the book itself settles on a form, a style, characters. That’s how it feels. But I do work very hard, rewriting constantly, to tell my story in as interesting and entertaining a way as I can. Even if it’s a sad story. I want my readers to have a good time reading.

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?

I could have worried less about earning a living and spent more time just writing. That would have speeded up things. There would have been less time between books, meaning more momentum going forward (and I think momentum matters a lot). And I could have ignored all the advice I got to leave the publicity for the novels to the publishers, and handled it myself – as I’m doing now.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

Writing two more books. I imagine other authors might take it for granted that they’ll just go on writing, that they’ll start and finish book after book, but for me each one is difficult to begin, difficult to keep going, and downright amazing to complete.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

Oh, I can think of a whole list of things, but at the top of it would be diplomat. I would have loved those foreign postings, the chance to live in different countries and experience their cultures at first hand.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

I don’t think I could ever NOT write. And imagine all the wonderful stories a Foreign Service diplomat would encounter in the course of a day’s work.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

At my desk writing; or if I’m not there, I’m traveling. That’s been my pattern so far, and I like it, so I see no reason to change.

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

When I was in college, wanting desperately to be a writer and sorely in need of encouragement, I had an English teacher (let her not be nameless, Mother Marie Louise) who seemed to me to take every opportunity to belittle my talent. No matter how hard I tried, or what I accomplished (getting a story published in the school magazine, winning a prize in a short story competition, having a poem placed in a poetry review) the only thing she would ever say to me in acknowledgement was, “well, you certainly are persistent.” I used to wither away inside each time. It took me years to understand that, though she was right – I am persistent, however she meant it (not kindly, I’m sure), it was, in reality, a great compliment. Persistence is a quality I’m grateful to have. Its importance to a writer can’t be overestimated. Talent matters, yes, and luck, but neither will get you very far if you can’t keep yourself going through the bad times. So, my final words: Be persistent. Never give up.

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Interview with Literary Fiction Author Aram Schefrin

Aram Schefrin is the author of four novels. He is a pioneer in the new art of podcasting fiction. He practices law in Rhode Island and Florida, and was lyricist and guitarist for Ten Wheel Drive, a rock group which had its moment of fame in the early 1970’s. He lives in Wellington, Florida with his wife, two dogs, four cats and three polo ponies.

You can visit his website at www.aramschefrin.com.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Aram. Can you tell us whether you are published for the first time or multi-published? Can you give us the title(s) of your book(s)?

“Marwan” is the first book I have published in print. But I have published three other novels in audio format: “Glorious”, which is the story of General Custer told by Frederick Benteen, who hated him; “Consider the Elephant,” the life and death of John Wilkes Booth as told by his brother Edwin; and “The Tenth Cow.” Those three books (as well as “Marwan”) are online at podiobooks.com, and three of them (excluding “Glorious”) are available from audible.com.

What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

“Glorious.” It was circulated by an agent about ten years ago and did not find a buyer.

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?

“Marwan” was circulated in 2003 by a agent, and rejected by about eighteen publishers.

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

I resented the rejections. Then I wrote another book.

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

Leaving out the audio versions, “Marwan” was published by AuthorHouse. I chose them because they were efficient and helpful.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

I didn’t get a charge from self-publishing. I didn’t celebrate.

What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

Sent the book to important people I hoped would read it, gave it to the press and placed it in local bookstores.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

If I had the option, of course.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

I plan on putting out “The Tenth Cow” in about three months. It’s the first book I did which I had to plot completely – the others were based on history and were pre-plotted. It turned out pretty good.

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?

If I’d lived in New York and networked there, I think I’d have done better.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

A review in the Naples Sun Times gave me some very nice validation.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

I am a lawyer.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

I would give up the law for writing, if that were possible.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

Old.

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

The internet (and the “long tail”) have made it possible to put out a book today and keep it on sale, in focus and fresh for years. On the other hand, access to a publisher has become more and more difficult. My advice would be to get to know everyone you possibly can who has any connection with literature, and if that doesn’t work, put the book out yourself and stay on top of it.

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Interview with Literary Fiction Author Garasamo Maccagnone

Garasamo “Gary” Maccagnone is the author of the children’s book, The Suburban Dragon, the collection of short stores entitled, The Affliction of Dreams, and the novel, St. John of the Midfield. You can visit his website at http://www.garasamomaccagnone.com/.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Gary. Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

I’ve been published three times since I started writing in the late 70’s.

What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

The book was called, “Sentiments of Blue.” In the 80’s I lost the entire manuscript in a basement flood.

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?

Technically, what I received back was worse than a rejection slip. Most often, the publishers I sent stuff to didn’t even take the time to respond back. I know I sent the SASE. Eventually, through a friend, a small press operator became interested and took a chance on publishing my children’s book. Back in the early 80’s, the only way to distribute the book was to go school to school.

How did the rejection make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

I’m very competitive. Just like the time I was cut from a basketball team in 9th grade, I made certain to work hard enough in order to prove the coach wrong. With writing, I’ve maintained the same mentality. It’s about proving the bastards wrong.

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

A local down river publisher in Michigan took a chance with me. Like me, he was into producing a quality product. We worked well together in creating two books that had a professional look to them.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

I was pretty high about the end product and then reality struck me. My friend Monte Nagler, who was a well-known and published photographer, told me my books were the kind you had to sell out of the trunk of your car. That hurt. Not much of a market in the 80’s for my stuff.

What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

I simply went school to school with my children’s book. Basically, the teachers and students liked the book enough that word spread and soon I was booked as a visiting writer at the school. Al Ochsner, the illustrator, and I had down a little skit we would do for the kid’s 2nd grade and under. We were a big hit with the youth crowd.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

I would have sought harder to find a literary agent to help get me in front of publishers. Since I was fairly busy developing a worldwide logistic company at the time, I didn’t focus as much as I should on getting published.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

My short stories have published over the years in periodicals. All of my books I’ve re-published through a self-publishing firm. It’s worked out very well.

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? I would have found a strong literary agent and convinced him or her to get me in front of some people. I depended too often on a half-hearted way of presenting my work. Often times, I didn’t have the time to follow up.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

Being interviewed on the radio or television as a person seen as a legitimate writer. That’s a nice feeling.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

My first goal was to become a major league baseball player. I heard those fellas do pretty good for themselves.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

In the end, the writing brings me more satisfaction. A lot of people can hit a baseball. Not too many can think metaphorically.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

I hope to have a well-respected portfolio of work, one in which my peers and my readers appreciate.

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

Don’t let the bastards get you down. Even though they keep sending the heat at your head with the high hard stuff, you have to pick yourself up, clean yourself off and get ready to rock the next pitch out of the park.

Gary’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/  and choreographed by Cheryl Malandrinos.

Leave a comment and you could win a copy of Gary’s book! All winners will be announced at www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com  on Feb. 29!

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