Other people who have encouraged me through the years have been the late Father Frederick Bailey, S. J., my aunt Mary Ann Valenti, my siblings Bob, Paul, Mary and John.
What was your favorite book to read as a child?
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
What is your favorite book at the present?
Tied between The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
If you could trade places with one author who you have admired over the years, who would it be and why?
Absolutely Mark Twain, although I would hope never to suffer the losses and tragedies he had.
Can you tell us a little about your latest book, A Jolly Good Fellow?
The original manuscript of A Jolly Good Fellow was written in six weeks during the fall and winter of 1976. First called Wake Me Up, it was a straight kidnapping story. Over thirty years and probably twenty complete revisions, it has been to every publisher in the United States and a few in Canada, England and Australia. But something was keeping it from success, and thankfully an old high school friend and writer, John Michael Williams, read it and provided expert editorial help from cover to cover.
The secret in the final rewrite was to get both main characters to participate more or less equally.
How do you deal with rejection?
It’s part of the cost of doing business, so just relax and remember every name of every miscreant who rejected your work so you can one-up them some day when they call begging for your newest best seller. But really, literary rejection is great practice for the dating scene.
Do you have an agent? What were your experiences finding her/him?
All bad experiences with agents, both legitimate and hacks, and I do not recommend them for the majority of writers until you have writing income well over $50,000 per year.
Do you blog? If so, what can you tell my readers about the advantages of blogging as a useful tool in book promotion?
At this time I don’t have time to devote to blogging, but hopefully that will change in the future.
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