About

Author Life Questionnaire

1). Could you tell us three interesting facts about yourself?

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I operate a food truck and catering company. I grew up very poor, with 6 brothers and 2 sisters, and we always struggled to have enough to eat, which is probably why I love food so much.

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I have many artistic pursuits, though writing has always been the most important one. I also paint (abstract art), create marketing materials and recipes for my company, and have a food blog.

I’m obsessed with music and I probably listen to music 24 hours a day; I listen to music when I work in my office, I listen to music while I write, while I sleep, and we rock out to loud tunes at my catering kitchen. It is very rare to find me in a silent moment; music always inspires and calms me.

2). In your own life, what influences and inspires you to write?

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A realization I came to a few years back was that what really inspires me, is offering entertainment to other people. Whether that’s taking a friend on a trip to a place they’ve never been to, or showing them a movie I love, playing an album for someone who has never heard of a band, writing a story, buying the perfect gift, sharing a favorite book, teaching someone a recipe or taking them on an adventure. It’s the idea of having the experience again myself, through new eyes, that really excites me.

3). Which book or author has had the biggest impact on you, and why?

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I have so many influences. When I was a child, I would cut school and go to the library and read all day. My mother taught me how to read when I was about 3 years old, and she was a huge horror fan. I read The Shining before I went to kindergarten. I remember walking around, reading The Stand, when I was in 2nd grade. So obviously Stephen King has to be mentioned.

 

In general, I love science fiction, horror and literary fiction that has some sort of psychological or emotional vibrance. Some of my most beloved, reread authors are Charles Dickens, John Irving, Ray Bradbury, John Steinbeck, Joseph Heller and Douglas Adams.

4). Can you tell me about the book?

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I wrote the book as an homage to my late grandmother. Her early life during the Great Depression was very tumultuous. Her own grandmother had starved to death before she was born and her mother tried to kill the entire family multiple times, because she was afraid of them all starving as well. Her mother was also obsessed with the supernatural and spent a lot of her time trying to contact the dead via crystal ball, Ouija board, tarot cards, and more.

 

Both of my grandmother’s brothers were involved in bootlegging during prohibition and subsequently murdered. I wanted to tell my grandmother’s story, and the book is filled with real characters, stories she had told me, and details about her life. I would consider it to be semi-fictional, since so many of the stories are true.
 

5). What were your first experiences with writing?

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Being an avid reader, I always also enjoyed writing. I remember when I was around 10 years old, I won a prize for writing an essay about Martin Luther King Jr. We were invited to city hall to accept the prize and I was excited to see that they had cookies, but I was too shy to take any. I ended up also being too scared to go up on stage and accept the award, ha ha, so it was a failed event altogether.

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I think the first time I really decided that I wanted to be a writer was when I was 17 and I started writing a novel. I did finish writing that book, but I never tried to get it published because I don’t think it turned out very great. But, the experience of working on it, led me to keep writing, and it’s been something that I’ve worked at ever since.

6). In your opinion, what are the key ingredients for a good story or novel?

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That’s a hard question because everyone has different taste. For me, I enjoy stories about complex characters; particularly families. I am always interested in stories about class divisions. I suppose I have a particular taste because of the fact that I grew up in poverty, with a large family. I’m always intrigued by the psychology of delving into a given character’s personality traits and motivations.

 

I also simply love a beautiful turn of phrase. Regardless, I think ultimately a story that is well written, has an interesting premise, and keeps the reader engaged is all it takes to create an enthralling experience.

7). How long should an author spend on their craft each day?

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I try to write every day, if I can, even if it is just one sentence. We all have completely different day to day lives, so there can’t be just one answer to this question. I run a small business and often work 20 hour days, so I certainly cannot spend as much time as I’d like to on writing.

8). What was the most challenging part of writing this book, and what did you learn from writing it?

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In the beginning, I think the hardest part was the research, because I wanted to get it right. Something as simple as what streets my grandmother lived on in Newark in the 1920’s, what the city was like at that time, finding real photos that she had saved from her early life.

 

The novel took a long time to write simply because it was important and emotional to me. Then, the final hardest part, was writing the ending. I am not a planner, when it comes to my writing; I sort of let the ideas and words flow from my fingers. I knew from the beginning that part of my dream was to write something that would leave my grandmother in a happy place, but it hadn’t come to me. I stopped working on it for like a year, waiting to write that last chapter. Then suddenly, inspiration hit and I finished it, and I feel good about the ending that I gave her.

9). What common pitfalls should aspiring writers avoid?

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First, I think reading is the number one thing anyone who wants to be a writer should do. I haven’t taken writing courses or even finished a college degree; I learned to write, by reading so much.

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Second, I think editing is very important. Whenever I don’t feel inspired, when I don’t know what’s going to happen next, I start back from the beginning, read over what I’ve already written, and there is always some tiny change, even if it’s just one word modified or deleted, that I make. This is likely an odd practice, but usually, when I do this, it inspires me to add something, elucidate or expound on something, and often times it leads me to the kernel of what I want to do in a next chapter.

10). What writing advice would you offer to your younger self?

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To keep working, because I feel like all the writing I have done has led me to be a better writer. It’s just like practicing anything; most of it will stay in folders on my computer forever, but simply writing it has been educational. And, to be patient. This particular novel took me over 10 years to write (and get published).

 

Now, I’m working on the next one, and it is going so fast; I feel like I’ve locked down my process, learned my own style, and have a real grasp on what kind of writing suits me.