Thanks for logging on.
    The site's been up for a month now and there's been a very
good response from fans and publishers.
    Here are some updates;
    I was kindly invited onto the Sean Moncreiff radio show
where Sean considerately interrupted his flow of dozens of texts
in response to the question of how to get in and out of public
toilets without touching the door handles. We had a nice on-air
discussion about the history of the Mafia and my new novel,
Operation Underworld. I believe Tom,the Honcho at Legend Press,
the nice people who publish my novels, is going to post it on
their site, (Legend Press. SEE; 'Links Page').
    Tom has recently posted on YouTube the two or three minutes
surreptitiously captured on mobile phone, (technology scares me
sometimes), of the Dublin book launch for Operation Underworld.
    Incidentally, many thanks to the staff and management of the
Hostel for giving us a dig out at the launch. No telling what we
would have done with those 7-8 cases of Sauvogon Blanc had they not
showed up.
    Ros Dee, Editor at the Irish Daily Mail featured me in a
full page article, (SEE; PR Page, bottom of Bio Page).
    Legend are proposing to have me over to the U. K. for a
little speaking tour in the Spring. That's gonna eat into
Bruce Springsteen tickets! (Sorry Bruce).
    And finally I've been running around town with my brilliant
agent and new best friend, Geoff Bryan of Independent Publishers,
(SEE Links Page), signing books, hyping Underworld and offering
money, drugs and sexual favors to book shop owners to feature
my latest attempt at fame,glory and most importantly a
semi-dependable income.
    Since you're probably sick of reading about my new novel,
(did I mention the title? Operation Underworld?), there was a
nice surprise last week when I was told that Fever Dream, a play
relating the story of Edgar A. Poe's last three days on earth,
I was commissioned to write three months ago, went into
production and will have a short one week run soon.

    I've had a few inquiries about the thumbnails to your right,
(your other right, Dave). Basically they're posters and icons
related to the four novels comprising The Building of Empire
series. So if you read the enclosed, relevant synopsis of each novel,
you'll get the connections.
  
     I'll leave some of the interview questions I've been asked
up for general interest.
    Meanwhile if you have any questions, comments or snide remarks
be sure to mail me at the below address or Geoff at his e-mail,
(Contact Page), and let us know you're out there.

    The literary pages give the genre, synopsis, back ground and
a sample of each work along with some relevant graphics.
    Also, thanks to my agent pushing me day and night, there's
a new PR/Press Page accessible by going to the bottom of the
'BIO' page or through the 'Links' page.
    They'll be frequent updates and, as always, feedback is
very welcome.


  
PK

Waterstone's Author Interview

Which book has made you laugh?

            Getting Even, Woody Allen.

Which book has made you cry?

            Real men don't cry.  But if they did, they'd probably cry at reading Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand.  At least at the ending.

Which book would you never have on your bookshelf? 

            I don't hate any book strong enough to NEVER have it on my book shelf, but if you have to have a book I think was pretty bad it might be something like Shipping News.  The sexist undercurrent was so blatant as to taint all the characters and obscure what the author was trying say.

Which book would you give to a friend as a present?

            The most appropriate genre title for his or her particular interest.  Books are and should be very personal items.

Which other writers do you admire?

            In no particular order, the top few of a list of a dozen or so are Vonnegut, Heller, Thompson, Hellman, Chandler and Billy Wilder.

What are your top five books of all time, in order or otherwise?

            As with film or music I can't rate them in order, and they change over time, but if I were leaving on the next star ship to Tralfamador for all eternity and could only take five with me I would take Catch-22, Welcome To The Monkey House, The Agony and The Ecstasy, Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday.

Is there a particular book or author that inspired you to be a writer?

            Not really.  I was made to start wading my way through The Classics at around age ten.  It was my equivalent to a bar Mitzvah with my dad as the Rabbi.  
            "You vill reed all da Classics before you are 18!"  Eventually I came to see patterns and techniques in the overall story telling method and then became inspired by the sporadic but brilliant passages each writer flavored their stories with.

What is your favorite time of day to write?

            Anytime really, it's more about the piece, my mood and having the discipline to get stuck into the next task. related to the project.  After 16 years in the military I really don't have a biological clock anymore.  It's like Bukowski wrote, "If you have to wait for it to roar out of you, then wait patiently". 
            For me it's anything, any time of the day or night.

And favorite place?

            I'm a hardcore traditionalist, cafés and restaurants.

Longhand or word processor?

            Longhand first, then a systematic transition to laptop.

Which fictional character would you most like to have met?

            Hunter S. Thompson.  I know most people believe he was a real person but I've researched this and in reality he was a character created by Kilgore Trout, whom I'd have also liked to have met.

Who, in your opinion, is the greatest writer of all time?

            You can't apply superlatives to art.

Which book have you found yourself unable to finish?

            With the exception of Carrie Fisher or Candice Bushnell, any Chick Lit book I've ever attempted to read.

What is your favorite word?

            Spatzieren, pronounced spaats-eer-in.  It's the German infinitive to walk.  No philosophical overtones, it just sounds cool.

Other than writing, what other jobs or professions have you undertaken or considered? 

            As a profession my heart was in medicine, but you used to have to be a maths wiz to get in and that punched my ticket right out of the gate.    After that I painted and became heavily involved in theater for quite a few  years.
            As far as trades, I did full apprenticeships in sign writing in New York City and later furniture making in Eschborn, Germany.  I love them both, but both have become extinct in my lifetime.  Scary.

What was the first piece you ever had in print?

            A comedy piece a U. S. Marine buddy and myself sent to Dear Abbey back during the war with Viet Nam while I was in the U. S. Navy.  We were pretty proud of that and apparently she liked it too.

Tell us all about your writing background- what you’ve written, what you’re currently writing.  

            I just finished my third novel, The American Way which chronicles the true story of the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts strike against the J.P. Morgan owned woolen mills led by the outlawed labor union the Industrial Workers of the World.   ( see A.W.  page, this site)
            I'm also 20K words into my fourth novel, The Broad in the Kimono, the story of the on-going fight between the U. S. congress and Hollywood for control of film content.
            Last month I finished up and sent Ghost Story, a three act satirical play to Samuel French in New York and am currently waiting to hear back on Don't Eat to Live.  Live To Eat! a travel/cookbook which went out to several publishers two weeks ago.  It's based on the last thirty years of my travels.   ( see D.E.T.L. page, this site)

Other work besides writing; i.e. Editing, dramaturgy, tutoring, and how it works for/against your own writing.

            In conjunction with writing I paint, draw and photograph.  Too old to dance much anymore.
            I'll be directing my thirtieth play in October and I don't see how practicing any of the arts can do anything but enhance your depth of knowledge, technical abilities and overall skill levels in each of the others.
            Dance, music, fine art and literature are all parts of the whole we call 'Art'.  Art is the primary organism by which we recognize and express the aesthetic which in turn is the critical element in truth.
            Much like the Western Narrative, that is how we tell stories in The West, the creative process has certain set elements which are common to all disciplines of Art.  It can't all happen in front of the keyboard.

How, when and why did you first start writing?

              My father never finished primary school but always held dear the value of education, As a result, to this day he reads an average of a book a day.  At about age ten I was made to start reading The Classics.   By my last year in secondary school I had done twenty or twenty-five plays, learned the basics of scenery and started taking up music.  At university in New York I was exposed to the highest levels of professional theater in and around Broadway and got sucked into the prop wash.  The next logical progression to me was to learn how to tell a story.
            While at university in New York City I got involved in theater and film at that level and never really got away from it.

Who are your favorite writers/influences and why? 

            Some of my favorite writers, in no particular order, are Moliéer, Ray Chandler, Kurt Vonnegut, Woody Allen, Stan Lee, Joseph Heller, Joel and Ethan Coen, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, Lillian Hellman, Fran Lebowitz, Billy Wilder, Carrie Fisher and Hunter S. Thompson.
            I see a common thread in these writers in that they don’t pander to the reader.  They write what they want to say, how they want to say it and don’t lose any sleep over whether or not people in any given area are going to understand the word “schmuck” or whether or not they write in the vernacular.
            This affords them a tremendous freedom to focus on their ideas, concepts and how they want to express them, (essentially style), and as a result every one of them has earned the titles, groundbreaking, innovative and most importantly original.

What’s the worst thing about writing? 

            The pay.  I think professional writers, now days, get tremendous respect. I know I do anywhere I go. 
            "What do you do?"
            "I'm a pediatric neurosurgeon and in my spare time I volunteer for Save the Children in Africa.  What do you do?"
             "I'm a novelist."
             "OOOHHH!"  But when the conversation inevitably gets around to the green stuff, the reactions are more like, "Oh."
            A government sponsored survey last month in Ireland, (June "09), apparently revealed that, discounting the few big names, the average income of an Irish artist is around 10,000 Euros per annum, and the over whelming majority of artists, 75%?, have to work part time jobs to eat and most of them work two or three part time jobs to live.
            However, there's a few reasons for that type of situation in a modern society.  Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan . . .

And the best? 

            The incredible, ever-present sensation of satisfaction and self fulfillment.  It's nearly twelve years now for me writing full time and the sensation just seems to get stronger.  It's a drug.

Tell us what kind of response you get from audiences/readers and if/how this affects/influences your writing.

            Audience/reader response is a primary barometer for me and, particularly from my comedy, I get great responses.  It's a helluv'a shot in the arm when you stand off in a dark corner of the theater and watch the audience react to your gags and the slightly overweight lady in C-17 is in tears from the last line one of the cast delivered.
            In novels feedback's not so immediate but I've got a pretty nice little collection of e-mails from readers of excerpts of some of my books.  An architect in Philadelphia wrote she went three stops past her station reading the chase in the end of Operation Underworld.  That makes you feel good.
            Of course you don't always get gold stars but if the negative criticism is given in a constructive manner it can be just as helpful.  More so I'd say.  In either case it does affect my writing to the extent I put credence in the audience/reader's comments, positive or negative.

What was your breakthrough moment? 

            If you mean financially, I'll let you know.  Artistically it was when I wrote an unsolicited script for the Fox production Futurama.  I was on lock down in my apartment during a week long marathon writing session on a novel and decided to take a break.  I turned on the T. V. and there was Fry and Bender lining up in front of a suicide booth.  I watched the rest of the episode with tears in my eyes, went down to the off license for some whiskey and peanuts and wrote for two days straight.  By Thursday night I had a script.

What inspires you to write? 

 More like who.  Masha Dunaeva, from Bryansk Russia.  She's a genetic fluke, and not just her physical beauty.
            God forgot to give her eyes and so as an after thought somebody on the production line gave her a pair of mini Panaflex cameras with Zeiss lenses for eyes.  Her photography is a slow-mo walk through the universe.  Some of her shots are worth ten thousand words, and she's yet to have her break thorough project.   We just finished a travel/cook book together. 

(See "Don't Eat  to Live . . .") 

Do you have a writing routine? A place that’s special? 

Yes on both counts.  I compare writing, or probably anything you're really passionate about, to sex.  It should be long and slow.  I don't keep track of time when I write.  I write for chunks of days, half a day a whole day, my unintentional record is 56 hours straight, but that would be rare.  So my writing routine is pretty straight forward, sit down, shut the hell up and write.  And don't stop until you're done.
            As far as locales, I've written huddled in a one man tent in the Arctic, in a helicopter during a medivac or on the way to an operational area or even in really distracting places like discos.  The kind with indiscernible music blaring through speakers hard enough to spill the watered down, over-priced drinks.  However, at heart I am a European traditionalist, 90% of the time I write in cafés and restaurants.  Preferably Italian.  Because of the waitresses.

Do you address particular themes or issues in your writing?

            My novels so far, deal with the duality of crime and politics in America.  No country on earth has honed to perfection the intricate, interdependent symbiosis of politics and crime as has the United States of America.  I directly attribute the current world -wide recession/depression on the state of American politics.
    My plays are usually political or social satire.  Always comedy.

Where do you get your ideas from? 

            There's an idea for a story around every corner.  If I lived to be a thousand and had a full time army of stenographers on swing shift I couldn't write all the stories I want to write.  But specifically the golden goose is sniffing out the story.  Where's the best place to find a story?  Research, research, research.
            I've kept a very detailed morgue. I used to keep a note book exclusively for ideas but after the first three I realized 99% of them would never be written, I'd get depressed and so said, "The hell with it!" and chucked them.  Reading can't be overstressed. 90% of all the bad shit that's written is probably due to the writer not being well informed enough to creatively articulate the story attempted.

What would be your dream writing job?              

             Working on a sitcom in the morning, a West End or Broadway play during the day, preferably comedy, and leisurely chipping away at a serious novel at night.

What’s next for you?

            I need to finish editing Politically Erect, the political satire based on the last year of Viet Nam and leading up to the American Evac of Saigon.  Simultaneously, I'm pushing to finish the sequel to Op Underworld and by Christmas I want to start a play with my daughter who's currently in university studying Creative Writing and Literature.

Have you ever won any writing competitions? Please give competition titles, titles of works and dates:

I have never entered any kind of writing contests.  I think they are by and large scams, particularly as regards theater or film writing 'contests'.  With respect to literary contests, the concept of writing to win a prize is about the lamest reason I can ever think of to write. 
            It’s right up there with writing to be rich or to get girls in bed.

Do you have any writing qualifications?

I have a B.A. in the Arts & Sciences, a Master’s of Education and have written a Ph. D. dissertation on the influence of the Noirists in the U. S. in the area of censorship in film.  Although I’m not sure any of these are technically qualifications. 
            I just really like doing it.

If you've made it this far you certainly have earned
 the right to suggest anything you might like see or read
on my Home Page. So please, do keep the cards and letters coming.

Thanks again for all your support.

PK