The King of Good Intentions Blog Tour

The King of Good Intentions III is lyrical, heartbreaking, discursive/digressive, startlingly as poetic as it is laugh aloud funny… 

At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication?

I think I wrote a little novel when I was a freshman in high school madly in love with J.D. Salinger.  The first KING was accepted then rejected by three different publishers.  He persevered. It was bloody and it sucked and it was maybe fifteen years before I found Verse Chorus Press and that was grand. Verse Chorus published my first novel, and The King Three is my fifth now–plus the book on Wes Anderson’s early films. 

What do you do when a new idea jumps out at you while you’re still working on a book? Do you chase the squirrel (aka “UP syndrome”) or do you finish your current project first?

I write very quickly.  And on one thing only–when it comes to fiction.  Songs I work on simultaneously. the black watch is my longstanding indie rock band wherein I am the lead ego/singer/songwriter. 

Who is your favorite character to write, and why is that person your favorite? If picking a favorite character would be like picking a favorite child, which character seems to be the most demanding or your attention and detail as a writer?

My theory always has been this:  “Let people talk and talk and talk and they will reveal the REAL them, the one they hide from not only oneself, but from themselves.  The more the proud, vain, foolish, insufferable the character, the more fun I have writing him or her.  I am a satirist, after all! I think my favorite character is the one I’m limning at the time, really.  The more egotistical or vain, the better.  The more vulnerable the better as well.

Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?

Plots are for graveyards.  I write to find out what’s in the Pandora’s Box in my mind.

Tell us what you enjoy most about writing fiction.

When I make myself laugh.  That really is the gist of all my fictive endeavors. 

What have you found to be most challenging about writing fiction?

Not to be too ludicrous–and yet to be preposterous at times.

Have you been able to incorporate your previous experience in [jobs/education] in your writing?

I was a sub for LA Unified School District.  So was John, the hero of all three novels in the series.  By the second King he has quit subbing and is a musician full-time. But in the third novel, he has a part-time job at a book store.  And of course as a writer and musician, I know a LOT about part-time jobs!

Do you identify with your main character or did you create a character that is your opposite? 

Paradoxically, both. I don’t like to give away too much but I certainly play upon, if not encourage, readers to question/wonder whether (since my writing is very tongue-in-cheek at times, as well as desperately earnest other times) the characters hew too closely to people I’ve known in real life.  And yet, I am kind of a nihilist when it comes to the epistemology of people.  I don’t think we can EVER know anyone–let alone our real selves. 

Describe the [book/series] in 10 words or less for people who are just learning about it. 

An uproarious tale of love, rock, and LA.

Is there anything you would like people to take away from your book?

A yen to lend it to someone else.

Do you have any odd (writing) habits?

I often write while a bit high and/or tipsy.   Not too too much so, but a little bit.  It loosens one. 

What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author? What has been the best compliment? 

Oh that I’m adjective-happy.  The best compliment has been this:  “Oh, there’s a part three?  I have GOT to find out how the series ends!”

Share some advice for aspiring authors. What advice would you give to your younger self? 

Anger is an energy.  Ah, that’s Johnny Rotten. 

What is your take on book boyfriends? Do they actually exist? Or do they set the bar for “real life men” impossibly high?

John the character is a terrible boyfriend.  The worst.  The best too but mostly the worst. 

Have you ever experienced writer’s block? How did you deal with it?

Never ever. 

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Play tennis, play guitar, flirt like mad, watch tennis, make my kid lavish meals, drink scotch, drink beer, make people laugh in real life, and read, read, read and re-read Shakespeare.