a close friend and industry insider, who wishes to remain anonymous (you're so cool), has been helping me during the process, giving feedback, listening to me vent and all that. she put her business shoes on, i guess, and sent me a pseudo-interview. here goes nothing...
q1 - what inspired you to write the book?
a - life, love and the ups and downs that come with both, i guess. there are so many emotions i still haven't even figured out, so much life still left to live, but i kept going back to the past. my memories and feelings and everything...they'd just keep coming up like roadblocks in the path i was trying to take away from it all. i had gone through so much and just left it all behind me without really trying. but there was more to it than that. i had something to say about it. i had to get that message out, somehow. even if no one ever read it. i just started writing.
q2 - the voice behind the story seems so personal and the main character seems so real. how much of the experience in the book is yours?
a - it's definitely pretty honest. good or bad, it's me. i mean, i didn't kill myself. god didn't bring me back from the dead and plant me back on earth for a second go at it. but it feels like that. the characters are all very real. the setting is very real. the plot, while obviously fiction, is very personal, very closely based.
q3 - is there a message you're hoping your readers will take away from your story?
a - actions matter, not intentions. but it's never too late to make things right. keep your heart open because you never know how life will open back up those wounds and let you try again.
q4 - is there meaning to the title aside from the textbook, business definition?
a - i could say something a little corny or a little contrived here, i think. if i try to make too much of it, it won't stay real. so...no. so much happened that was right and wrong. i made and gained just as much as i lost. i hurt as many people as i learned to love. the pieces are broken all around me. for whatever's left, this is my makegood. it's all i've got to offer.
q5 - how hard was it to relive your past and life experiences?
a - honestly, that was the easiest part. dreams and flashbacks are a significant part of the story. and they're real to me. i can close my eyes and see the streets i used to drive on. i can taste all the foods i used to eat. i can smell the thick, smog in the air. los angeles has this way of just getting under your skin. the memories and emotions i pulled away from that time of my life are just the same. reliving it was as simple as closing my eyes.
q6 - who/what do you think has had the most influence on your writing?
a - my father. easy. i mean, the story has nothing to do with him. but he's been there my entire life and, every step of the way, he's encouraged me to write. even the theme of the story has to be attributed to him, in so many ways. through all the fuck-ups, he's always been there telling me i'm better than i fear, stronger than i hope and more loved than i can imagine.
q7 - will there be a sequel?
a - absolutely not. i barely made it out of this one alive. the follow-up is in the works, though. i've got a couple ways to go with it, too. i've had a cookbook in the works for a while (MAKE HER BITE). i'll probably focus on that. i've also got another novel in mind that i think will be pretty epic. so i really have no idea what my next move will be. but no sequel. promise.
that took forever. but i can't imagine the interviews and questions will get any easier from here on out. i wish i could pull the Ghost Man card like when you're a kid on a sandlot playing stickball. "ghost man on third!" and he'll address all future questions/concerns. that's all, thanks.
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