This week's featured author is Joseph Carrabis from Nashua, NH and his sci-fi thriller The Augmented Man.
By Joseph Carrabis
1. What
message are you hoping people will receive when they read your book?
I’m hoping people will receive the message “Buy all of Joseph Carrabis’
books.” Beyond that? That people can heal and healing requires effort. People
have to make a decision to get well and then make getting well more important
than air, food, and water. You can’t be free of your past unless you’re willing
to embrace it. Embrace it, acknowledge it, accept it, then you can move on from
it.
2. Why
did you write this book?
The concept is a simple one, and I’m surprised by people’s reactions to
it; the majority of first and ARC readers tell me it’s fascinating, powerfully
disturbing, well written (I hope so! After all the editing we did?), and
innovative beyond imagination. That noted, I wrote it simply because I could,
because I lived through most if not all of it - I always tell people my work is
autobiographical. All authors write an autobiography, some admit to it - because
(I hope) it explains to those in the kinds of pain described a way out (I’ve
been told the middle section reads like a psychotherapeutic case study).
3. What
has been the hardest part of the publishing process?
Patience. I wrote the story in the early 1990s.
4. What
has been the biggest (pleasant) surprise in your publishing journey?
Hmm...probably realizing I really can write, really can tell a good
story.
5. Give
some advice to someone who wants to get a book published.
First, if you want to be published in today’s world and are not
published, you simply don’t want to be published. People can self-publish and
most do (unfortunately, me thinks (and I self-pubbed two books, although not
for the reasons most people go that route)). There are also lots of “indie”
publishers which are just people in the basement wanting to look impressive -
be careful. Remember, it’s your work, not theirs (I had one publisher threaten
me during a video call if I didn’t give him the book. Fascinating experience).
Also, I know a fellow who’s “still deciding” whether or not to self-publish or
seek a publisher after some thirty years. His real problem is that his work
sucks; sucked back then and sucks now. I suspect he knows it and that has more
to do with his not deciding than anything else. Perhaps he’s afraid to find out
the truth? But that’s another thing that’s necessary: Be willing to be
uncomfortable. The only way I’d learn if I could really tell a story worth
reading was by sending it out, again and again and again. In the early 1990s,
nobody was interested. The publishing world changed. This time I had several
offers (hence patience). If you want your work to be published, be
willing to have your work rejected. Note the emphasis. People’s likes
and dislikes are always subjective. Editors and publishers may know what’s
selling and have an idea of what will sell, your work may be a perfect fit, but
they don’t like your protagonist so they reject your work. Their loss, not
yours. Move on.
6. What’s
the worst advice you have ever received about publishing?
“You’ll be sorry if you don’t let us publish this book.” Another gem was
“It doesn’t matter how you wrote it, we’re going to change all your colons and
semicolons into emdashes.” A basic rule I have is “If the information isn’t geared
towards making the work better, it’s worthless.” This is based on the axiom
“Criticism without suggestion is worthless.” My suggestion regarding any advice
- good or bad - is “Thank them first, then decide if the advice gets you closer
to your goal. If yes, act on it. If no, move on.”
7. What
author or book has influenced your writing?
How long a list would you like? AJ Budrys, Katherine Mansfield, Wells,
Doc Smith, Homer, Lucien, The Grimm Brothers (original stories), Virginia
Woolfe, Poe, Shelley, Dick, Wouk, ... ancients through the 1960s, from all
cultures. Craig Johnson’s Longmire series until the last one (“Winter”
something. He was writing literal poetry until that one. No idea what
happened), Leonard, and we haven’t even gotten to the poets. Oy, the poets!
Dickey, Giovanni, Hall, ... Western (culture) genre writing tends to peter out
once you get into the 2000s.
8. What
is your philosophy about rejection?
Move on. If there are suggestions, decide if they move you closer to your
goal. If yes, act on them. If no, move on.
9. You
are stranded on an island with only 3 books. What are their titles?
The complete annotated Shakespeare
The complete, annotated Upanishads
The
complete, annotated Histories of World Civilizations
