Take a peek inside the head of Brad Listi, author of Attention. Deficit. Disorder. (Read my review of it here.) This is What My Head Sounds Like is a collection of the blogs that Listi wrote between August of 2005 and December 25 of 2006. (Check out the A.D.D. blog here.) The time span is significant because this is what Listi was writing when his first book came out. This is when the A.D.D. blog got big. As a long time reader of the A.D.D. blog, I was really excited to read this collection. The fact that I have read all of these blogs before, the first time they were on the internet, didn’t diminish the wonder, joy, and sometimes even disgust that Listi’s writing brings (depending on the topic). All good things. If you are brand new to the A.D.D. blog, this book will give you a good idea of what to expect in Listi’s future blogs. And then you can tune in and read them “live” all week long, like the rest of the Listi Fans.

What are the blogs about? A whole lot of different things, actually. Some touch on political candidates and issues, other blogs cover celebrity news. Many blogs point out the stranger news stories found on the internet. Some of the blogs touch on Listi’s day to day life, (or on scenes from his childhood), and the candid observations about these events he shares with all of us. All blogs are what was inside Listi’s head when he started writing the blog. It is what he was thinking about. This collection also gives the reader something of a “time capsule” sort of feeling, because the news (and sports) related stories really did happen. No matter who you are, you likely saw or read about the news article Listi is commenting on, which makes this book of blogs something everyone can relate to. It even has a happy ending!

My favorite blogs in this collection are the “Hyper Caffeinated Self Interviews”. I think there are seven of them in the book. No other author does self interviews as well as Brad Listi! What does a “Hyper Caffeinated Self Interview” look like?

Brad Listi was kind enough to do an interview with… himself… for Book Sandwich.

Hi.

Hi.

What is this?

What do you mean “What is this”?

I mean what are you doing?

I’m doing a hyper-caffeinated self-interview for Jen.

Why?

Because she asked me to. She’s reviewing a book of mine called ‘This is What My Head Sounds Like,’ and she thought it might be interesting if I interviewed myself in conjunction with the review.

Oh.

Yeah.

So what do you have to say about yourself?

I’m sitting at my desk, staring at a flashing cursor.

And what do you have to say about “This is What My Head Sounds Like”?

TIWMHSL is a compendium of things I published online during 2005-2006 at The A. D. D. Blog. It functions as a humor book, a memoir, a nonfiction non sequitur, a journal, a scrapbook, and a Farmer’s Alamanac. It is the Swiss Army knife of books, and it’s perfect for reading in the bathroom.

Perfect for reading in the bathroom?

It performs wonderfully as a nice, gentle laxative.

Gross.

Sorry.

Are you really sorry?

No.

Why did you publish this book?

Because readers kept asking for it. They wanted a “Best of the Blog” book, essentially. So I figured, give the kids what they want. Make them happy. Feed the beast.

Do you feel that the beast will now be sated?

The beast is never sated.

The beast.

The Beast.

Do you remember that roller coaster named The Beast at King’s Island?

Yeah. The largest all-wood roller coaster in the world.

It kinda sucked.

Yeah. It kinda did. I preferred The Vortex.

The Vortex.

Yeah.

What’s a vortex?

It’s a whirlpool or a whirling motion or a whirling mass. Essentially it involves whirling.

Did The Vortex whirl? (The roller coaster?)

Yes, it did indeed whirl. It whirled a great deal.

Do you feel that This is What My Head Sounds Like is, perhaps, the literary equivalent of a vortex?

Indeed I do. The book is a whirling mass. And if you’re not careful it could suck you in.

Suck you in.

Yes. Suck you in.

Do you believe that readers are looking to get sucked in?

Yes. Anyone who reads a book is hoping, on some level, to get sucked in. Getting sucked in is kind of the whole point.

Maybe you should’ve titled the book This Book Will Suck You In.

Maybe I should have.

Maybe when people ask what you do for a living, you should look them dead in the eye and say, “I suck people in for a living.”

Maybe I should call my website suckyouin. com.

Maybe you should.

Maybe I should.

I like getting sucked in.

Me too.

You had me at “They ate Jorgensen first.”, the very first sentence of this book. This book is a roller coaster ride of excitement, and I could not put it down, dying to find out what would happen next.

In this book, nanotechnology that was designed to fight cancer goes terribly wrong. Instead of doing what it was supposed to, it kills nearly five billion people, in the first machine plague humanity has ever had to face. The few people left are struggling to survive on mountaintops that are over ten thousand feet high, the only place the nanotech seems unable to exist. The environment is crashing, as the nanotech monsters invade more and more species. Food is scarce. “They ate Jorgensen first.”

It is in this small group of people where the reader meets Cam, who turned out to be one of my favorite characters. Something about him is very likeable, and it is clear that this is a guy who just wants things to work out and everything to be okay again. He has made a friend named Sawyer, who is a bit more mysterious, and whose actions drive large parts of the story.

Humanity’s last hope rests in the International Space Station, where several astronauts, (and cosmonauts), are scrambling to find something that will stop this plague, “kill” the nano-technological beasties, and save the world. There are quite a few interesting characters here, but my favorite among them is Ruth. She’s super smart, and determined to do whatever she sets her mind to. I got the feeling that if there was an answer, Ruth just might be the one to identify it.

Of course, whenever you have a group of people involved with anything, it is not as simple as just finding the right answer. People, by nature, add complexity. I never knew what to expect the outcome would be as I read through this book. Sci-Fi fans will really enjoy this book, and so will readers who like stories with a whole lot of action and suspense. Readers who love apocolyptic story lines will love this book as much as I did!

Jeff Carlson was kind enough to do an interview with me for Book Sandwich.

Jen Thorpe: Hi Jeff! Thanks for doing this interview.

Jeff Carlson:Hi, Jen, and thank you for letting me be the pickle in the Book Sandwich.

Jen Thorpe: I love books about “the end of the world as we know it” and have read many. I’ve never read one that involved a nanotech plague, though. Very creative choice! What inspired you to write about civilization ending this way?

Jeff Carlson:In one sense I’ve been chewing on the basic concept of Plague Year since I was a boy. I grew up skiing and hiking in northern California, including the Tahoe area… and as a kid I was always fascinated by Donner Pass, near the site of the infamous, unlucky Donner Party.

The trick was building a scenario in which the entire world was trapped in the highest mountains. My first attempt with the idea was a short story. Originally the problem was a virus, but I couldn’t make a virus obey a barrier. It kept coming up over the entire mountain and killing everybody. There’s a story there, too, but it’s a story without much hope, whereas in the final version, the heroes have at least a faint chance of overcoming the plague.

What happened was that I hit upon the notion of a mechanical bug and gave it a hypobaric fuse as a control. Real labs do use air pressure and sealed chambers to contain biohazards. Then I threw in a little industrial espionage and shazam, the nanotech was loose, but I had my barrier at 10,000 feet where the bug self-destructs. After that I was off to the races.

JT:Do you have a favorite end-of-the-world book? What about a movie?

JC:Oh, absolutely. By my vote, Stephen King’s The Stand still ranks as the best ever, although Niven & Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer is a very close second. Don’t let your impressionable kids read these books, though. They might grow up to be writers!

As for movies, I love the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nemoy. It’s not quite an outright end-of-the-world story, but the tension and paranoia are extremely well done. I also think 28 Days Later is among the all-time best post-apocalyptic films.

JT: How did you learn enough about nanotech to write this story? It all sounded so real and possible as I was reading. Just the concept of these little tiny machines getting inside people is frightening!

JC: Unfortunately, it gets worse. The nanotech in the book is very, very real. It’s happening now.

There is a huge amount of eye-popping material being published in the field these days and I read as much as I could get my hands on. I also went to seminars and corresponded with the researchers afterward.

Yes, we’re still a few breakthroughs short of the nanobots featured in Plague Year, so far as we know… but there are dozens of private and military labs who aren’t publishing their work, like the science team in the book. Nobody has any idea how far those labs might have progressed.

JT: Do you think nanotech will bring on the end of humanity? If not, what do you predict will be the cause of the end of us all? Do you see the end coming from something we humans do to ourselves?

JC: There must be rat poison in this book sandwich!

Call me crazy, but I don’t predict the end of the world at all. I’m actually a happy guy. I enjoy what I do, I love my family… and sometimes my writing is a little dark. That’s just part of developing a thriller novel, especially in this case. Once you accept the premise of Plague Year, that people are no longer able to survive below 10,000 feet, you get to the Donner Party in a hurry and on a global scale. It’s a brutal, skin-of-your-teeth scenario.

I do believe that humankind is facing a lot of tough challenges. Overcrowding. Pollution. The increased spread of disease as our environment warms. But as in Plague Year, I also believe that we can outwit nearly any obstacle. People are tough and clever and the smartest of us are ultimately good at heart.

JT: What music, if any, did you listen to while writing this book? If not music, then what sounds were in the background while you wrote? Did you listen to the same stuff while writing “Plague Year” as you did while writing “Plague War”?

JC: I like it quiet when I work because I’m listening to my characters or listening for background noise in the world that I’m in, whether it’s a lonely breeze in a forest or the roar of attack helicopters…

I do know writers who listen to music when they’re working, and I’m envious, but I don’t know how they manage it.

JT: What is it like to write stories about a plague that kills off most of the world when you have small children at home? Can you keep your book and your life in separate places in your head, or do things get weird?

JC:Well, it helps that I’m not all kinds of normal to begin with. Ha ha. For one thing, I’m a part-time stay-at-home dad, which is the hardest and most rewarding job I’ve ever had. It’s definitely not a 9-to-5-in-the-cubicle sort of thing where you clock in and the boss tells you what to do. Plus, I’m usually the only man at the park during weekdays, or the only guy schlepping kids around the grocery store.

At the same time, I’m also a full-time professional writer, which is also an up-and-down business. For years you’re trying to break in. Next minute you’re signing six figure foreign rights deals for three books… one of which you haven’t even written yet! So my wife and I are insanely busy. And, I like to think, we’re happier for being so involved and overcommitted.

JT: This book had more than enough action to make one heck of an exciting movie! There are chase scenes, gun fights, crash landings… it’s wonderful! If there were a movie, what actors and actresses would you choose to play your characters? I’m wondering particularly about Ruth, Cam, and Sawyer, but would like to hear your selections for other characters too.

JC:You’re right that Plague Year would translate perfectly to the big screen or make an excellent mini-series. The situation is loaded with conflict as well as tough, intelligent characters caught in impossible situations…

Perhaps fortunately, casting wouldn’t be up to me (I’m just the writer), so I haven’t worried much about who to fit into which role. If I had my choice, though, they’d do the movie like the original Star Wars, with a cast that was, at the time, a bunch of no-names. Let the story be the focus, not the celebrity faces.

That being said, one easy rewrite puts Nick Cage or Will Smith into the role of Cam, which would be unspeakably awesome.

JT: In “Plague Year” we have a book that starts out with a small group of people stranded on a mountain top, fighting to survive, against an enemy they don’t entirely understand. Some readers are going to notice the similarity to the TV show “LOST”, especially with a character named Sawyer existing in both stories. Were you influenced by the show “LOST” while writing “Plague Year”? What can you tell my readers about how the two
stories differ?

JC:I’m flattered by the comparison. LOST is one of only two TV shows that I follow, and I think it’s incredibly well crafted.

The stories are very different, although I like to think the gripping suspense is the same. LOST tends more toward the mystical voodoo fantasy aspects of the genre, whereas Plague Year is a tech thriller in the Michael Crichton tradition, i.e., it’s supposed to be more scary because it could really happen, whereas LOST is more about wild coincidences and psychic weirdness.

As for similarities, well, the wheels in publishing turn veeeery slowly. I know it’s hard to believe, given an August 2007 release, but Plague Year was already done and making the rounds in New York before LOST came on the air. My Sawyer was first! (And, for that matter, my anti-hero has a receeding hairline instead of those floppy girl bangs.) No less than five editors said they loved Plague Year but couldn’t get permission to buy a first novel. First novels often don’t sell well, because nobody’s ever heard of you. So that ate up a couple years. Finally one guy put some money on the table and we had a small three-way fight for the book, with Ace/Penguin coming out on top. Even then, it was another year and a half before the book actually hit the shelves.

JT: Where can my readers go on the internet to keep up with you, your book signings, and other news?

JC: I have a nice web site at www.jverse.com that we’re looking to upgrade in the near future. One of those upgrades will be posting the cover art for Plague War, which I just got a peek at last week. There will also be a free excerpt of the book!

In the meantime, my book signings are always posted. Expect to see more tour dates for Summer 2008. There are also free short stories, fun photos, news, and a mind-croggling trivia contest—the prize being the chance to name a character after yourself or a friend in one of my upcoming novels.

JT: Can you give my readers some kind of a “teaser” or “trailer” about your upcoming sequel, “Plague War”? I just cannot wait to read it!

Thank you. I’m excited to see the book breathed into life myself.

Plague War works as a stand-alone novel but it is a direct sequel of Year, picking up the storyline just days after Year ended. Uh, there’s a war in it… Really I can’t say more for fear of giving too much away. Here’s an endorsement from New York Times bestselling author Sean Williams, who calls Plague War “A break-neck ride through one of the most deadly—and thrilling—futures imagined in years.” That sounds like a good time, right?

Next up for me are no less than three projects: a third novel to complete the Plague trilogy, an adventure novel entitled Colony High written in collaboration with New York Times bestselling author David Brin, and a big new thriller called Interrupt.

I’m a busy duck and having a lot of fun at the moment. Thank you for the chance to talk about it, Jen.

JT: Thanks, Jeff! This was fun!

How do you want to depart from this life? Do you have an evacuation plan? These are not easy questions to think about, in part, because most people become uncomfortable when they think about death. O’Connell has created a series of short stories that explore, evaluate, and cope with death in it’s many forms. Some characters think back to when a loved one has died, and the circumstances surrounding it. Another character is a nurse in a hospice, dealing with death of patients. A woman thinks about the death of her unborn child, and a man thinks about the death of his hope. Another man confronts his own death, in his last moments, and reflects upon the events of his life. The main character is a screenwriter, who is visiting the patients who are in the hospice dying, in the hopes of finding a story. Things become very personal, and very involved.

One of the things I found interesting is the way this book works, with many of the characters overlapping into other stories and interacting with each other. Reading this book feels something like watching a good ensemble cast preform a play. It was so real, I couldn’t look away, and I found myself caught up in the stories of each character.

Joe O’Connell was kind enough to do an interview for Book Sandwich.

Jen Thorpe:What kind of music did you listen to while you were writing this book? Or, did you work in silence instead? How did you manage to stay in the serious frame of mind required to write this book?

Joe O’Connell: Sometimes music works for me when writing. I’m partial to loud punk rock and mellow singer-songwriter tunes. But I wrote a lot of this novel while doing a residency. I was given a small room, and I’d go there and quietly type away on an old Mac. It was heaven. The best gift you can give a writer is a place to write and the time to go there.

JT: In Evacuation Plan, it seems that every character is deeply affected by death, in wide variety of ways. What made you decide to write a book with such serious subject matter? Was it difficult to continue writing about so much tragedy and sadness, or did you find it to be more of a cathartic experience?

JO:Back in 2001 I was chosen for a project that sent writers and visual artists into Christopher House, a residential hospice in Austin, Texas. It wasn’t some great altruistic thing for me; I was doing research for a mystery novel I was working on. For a few months I would visit the people there, and the experience stuck with me. Hospice, in my mind, is not a depressing place. It’s where the dying are both made comfortable and empowered to be in charge of their own demises. They get to say a proper goodbye to their loved ones. Who could ask for more?

It was reading Tim O’Brien’s book July, July that really showed me the novel-in-stories form that I could use to tell this story. That is having a larger story that digressed into the stories of individual characters. In the end I wanted to tell the story of this place and what pivotal moments lead these people–the dying, their families, the hospice workers–to this hazy line between life and death.

JT: Are any of the characters, or their specific stories, based on a real person or an actual, true- to- life event? It all seemed so real when I was reading it.

JO:I was certainly inspired by people I met in the hospice, but I strived to steer this book toward fiction. I was mostly brave about asking people about how it was to face death, but I chickened out one time. It was with an older guy, a builder from Houston, who reminded me too much of my own father. I quickly slipped out of the room before the questions got too deep. I realized when I wrote about this experience in fiction, I had to tell the story of someone like him, or at least an imaginary version of him.

But a better way of answering your question is to say I believe that writing a story is like making a quilt. We sew together little moments of actual experience–I was a valet parking attendant in my early 20s, for instance, and that shows up in two stories–and create something brand new.

JT: Two of the stories in your book refer to Christmas. Carla has set out to get a Christmas tree for herself, and Charlie Wright’s kids are bringing a tree into his room at the hospice for him. These two concepts, Christmas and death, seem like opposites to me. Can you explain why you combined them in not one, but two parts of your book? What were you trying to say to readers?

JO: You’ll actually find even more references to Christmas in the book. The Guy in the Hall looks at Christmas photos before going off on his odd personal meetings with his younger self, for instance. Have you ever heard of the term clan consciousness? It’s this notion of how we pass down the stories of our culture. In my mind, Christmas is a big part of that. Beyond its original religious meaning, Christmas means family to
most Americans. It’s when you go through the old rituals–dragging a tree into the house and decorating it, spending too much on presents, raising old arguments with your parents or siblings. I’ll bet it’s when the most photos are taken, too. So Christmas is when the family comes together, just like Charlie Wright’s family comes together around his deathbed. They put off the big Christmas celebration because he wasn’t there. I guess it’s a matter of now or never.

JT: I was very impressed with how well you were able to write from a female character’s point of view when I read the story about Carla, the woman who was recovering from an abortion. Many times, writers who attempt to write from the viewpoint of a character that is the opposite gender from themselves end up getting things not quite right. How were you able to make Carla and her story so vivid, and so believable?

JO:That’s a big compliment. Thanks! I think Carla is so real because I know what it is like to go through that moment of being cut adrift. It’s when you are first completely on your own and have to fend for yourself in a sometimes cruel world. It’s not an easy time, and the abortion really adds to that for Carla. I worked with the great short story writer Andre Dubus when I was in graduate school, and he was also known for writing about female characters well. I think it’s a matter of getting at what it is to be a human being. That should be at the heart of any piece of fiction.

With Carla and her brother Bob I was very interested in the notion that children have stories about which their parents know nothing, but those are the stories that make them particularly human. Perhaps it’s OK for the parents not to know, and part of the child growing up is to be able to keep those secrets close to the heart.

JT: The chapter that is about “The Son” was sort of creepy! Something about the little girl calling him “Bo-Bo” combined with his thoughts about the hotel room. At the end, I wasn’t sure what really happened? Did he kidnap this kid? To what end? Care to elaborate?

JO: It is a creepy story! And that’s a piece that Dubus actually worked closely with me on. (Carla’s story was written much more recently.) In the end I think he doesn’t kidnap the girl, but he certainly considers it. Bob is emotionally a kid himself, and a lot of this flows from his anger at his own parents for their perceived abandonment of him. This story came from an interesting place. I read an ad in the University of Texas student newspaper, The Daily Texan, seeking someone to drive a child back and forth between parents who lived in different cities. I instantly wondered if they hated each other so much that they just didn’t want to see each other face to face!

JT:Will you share with my readers some of your thoughts about the afterlife? Do you follow the belief system of a particular religion? Do you believe there is something waiting for people after they die, or that it just ends in nothingness? Did you question any of your beliefs about life after death while you were writing Evacuation Plan?

JO:This is a question that came up recently when I spoke to a book club made up entirely of hospice workers–counselors, doctors, nurses. I’ve had perhaps an odd religious upbringing. My family was very Catholic when I was a young kid-we’d pray around the bed together. But that largely disappeared after my parents divorced. And my mother later moved to India where I spent a little time as well, which had an influence. Plus I have major problems with how large segments of organized religion have been co-opted by politicians whose actions demonstrate they don’t believe in much of anything but their own selves. Which is a roundabout way of saying I do believe there is something bigger out there. And spending time in a hospice, and writing this book, just made me more certain of that.

JT: Your main character is writing a screenplay, and the chapters that are from his point of view start with the header “The Screenwriter”. Should my readers expect to see Evacuation Plan in a movie sometime soon?

JO:I have had a little interest from independent filmmakers, and I’m a film industry columnist for both The Austin Chronicle and Dallas Morning News, so I know more film people than most writers, so it’s a strong possibility. I’m a screenwriter, too, and I was preparing to teach a screenwriting class while chosen for a residency at which a lot of the book was written, so it was on my mind. But I framed the story through the eyes of a screenwriter because they are the real storytellers of our modern times. People watch a lot more movies than they do read books! I liked the notion of having my story told by a character who is himself in search of a story. I think in the end he discovers the story was really his own.

JT: What’s next for Joe O’Connell? Will there be another book that includes some of all of the characters we met in Evacuation Plan? Or, are you thinking about doing something completely different in your next book?

JO:I have a completed mystery novel I’m trying to place, and I’m working to complete a second one, which is the one I put aside in order to write Evacuation Plan. It’s somewhat similar in subject matter, but the hospice/halfway house where it’s set is a lot lower on the totem pole. It’s full of the outcasts of society who can’t get a break, and they’re one by one dying before their time.

JT: Where can my readers go on the internet to keep up with your book signings, and future projects?

JO:My official writerly Web site is joemoconnell.com, which has a feed to my blog, joemoconnell.blogspot.com. Reviewers, editors, agents and such can also check out joeoconnellnewsroom.com for info on upcoming events, recent reviews and newspaper articles about Evacuation Plan. I also encourage book clubs to contact me. I’d like to use my novel as a means of starting discussions about hospice. I will talk by phone or in person if possible to any book club that will have me!

JT: Thank you so much for doing this interview for Book Sandwich!

JO: Thank you, Jen. Some great questions!

If you somehow learned exactly how and when you would die, what would you do? Would you continue your current path in life, or would you make changes in an effort to prevent your death from happening? What if you knew you would die doing something extremely important for all of humanity? Would you still do it? Douglas Cole has to answer these questions.

Douglas isn’t your typical guy. As a child, he causes something to happen that should be impossible. Twice. No one can explain it. After a family tragedy, Douglas finds himself haunted by a seriously scary entity, that no one else can see. Driven to the brink of insanity and the depths of drug addiction, Douglas is given a choice. Stay and die, or go with a mysterious friend of his, and fight a battle he is just beginning to understand.

This is a very deep book, that entwines concepts from Physics and Eastern religions into the story line. It is both basic and complex at the same time, which makes it hard for me to describe in detail. The second after you finish reading the last page you are going to want to flip through, and read it all over again. It’s just as good the second time around.

Author Paco Ahlgren was kind enough to do an interview with me, and answer the questions that went through my mind as I was reading Discipline.

Jen Thorpe: When I write, I find that listening to music, the right kind of music, helps me.  When I read a book, I often wonder what sounds were surrounding the author when he or she was creating the story.  What music did you listen
to while you were writing Discipline?

Paco Ahlgren: Patty Griffin got me through a lot of the tragedy, Erik Satie taught Douglas Cole how to play cello and helped with Taoism, Silversun Pickups carried me through the chess and subatomic physics, and the Bad Brains inspired a lot of the fight scenes.

JT: The cover of your book is beautiful, and when I first picked it up, I was immediately drawn to the intricate, circular, design that sits, subtly, behind the title.  Parts of this symbol also appears at the start of each chapter.  In a book where nothing is random, this makes me wonder, what does the symbol mean?  Did you create it, or is it from something else?

PA: I’m not sure where the symbol came from, and I’ve come to love the mystery surrounding it. When we began the process of creating the cover, I asked for “simplicity, born of complexity,” because that’s really what Discipline is all about. I don’t think anyone could have captured that spirit more than the designers.

JT: Your characters play chess, often for hours and hours on end, and the result is that large parts of your book are spent describing the various chess games.  In my experience, reading about people playing chess is rather dull, or done in an instructional manner.  Not so in your book!  You have made reading about some guys sitting around playing chess as exciting as watching a fast paced sporting event.  How long have you been playing chess, who taught you, and who did you spend the most time playing chess with?  Do you still play?

PA: I’ve been playing chess since I was six, when my neighbor Dianne DeBruyn taught me. Since then, I’ve played both casually and seriously. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to find out I used to spend a lot of time in Austin coffee shops, playing chess and drinking beer.
 
I don’t play as much as I used to, because now I spend all my time in bookstores, shaking hands, and signing copies of Discipline. Maybe I should set up a board… [Paco purses lips and rubs chin, staring at ceiling.]
 
I’ve tried to Google Dianne Debruyn, by the way, and I can’t find her. I think she was a “chess angel.”

JT: One of the concepts emphasized in your book is the idea that “experience is everything”. Is this idea just part of the story line, or a concept that reaches over into “real life”?  Can you elaborate a bit more about that?

PA: At one point in the story, the mentor-figure, Jefferson Stone, tells the student-figure, Douglas Cole:

“Knowledge means nothing without experience. You can read a thousand-page book about how to ride a bicycle, but until you actually get on the seat, the information is almost meaningless.”

I have a big problem not only with the emphasis we place on organized education – both public and private — in modern society, but also the methodology behind both these institutions. Mistakes aren’t tragedies to be swept under some proverbial rug; mistakes are stair steps to progress and the growth of knowledge. Yes, this concept is part of the story — inasmuch as Discipline should force us to question our perception of reality, as well as our intentions. Unfortunately, we tend not to see our mistakes as assets, and so “real life” becomes a cesspool of shame — full of secrets and skeletons — rather than an open universe of knowledge we can all share and benefit from.

JT: What can you tell my readers about “the entirety?”  I get the feeling that there is something more to it than just a piece of a science fiction story.

PA: One of the most difficult tasks I faced with Discipline was creating an adrenaline-charged thriller while subtly weaving all these different concepts into the story. Fortunately I had a great team of editors helping me – again pulling simplicity out of complexity, creating a story than anyone can read. My dad was my most vociferous editor; he called the book “a cornucopia of paragraphs pregnant with intricate hogwash and scientific rigmarole.” My dad can’t operate a remote control with any measurable degree of efficacy, but by the same token, I don’t really know what “rigmarole” is, and I respect my dad, so I took out the hard parts.
 
Yeah, there is a lot more to the entirety than mere science fiction.
 
In the mid-twentieth century, Hugh Everett proposed something called Multiverse Theory, in which certain scientific anomalies might be explained if our universe wasn’t alone, but rather was part of a collective of infinite universes – in all of which all possible outcomes of any event in space and time would occur. His work was advanced by David Deutsch, whose book The Fabric of Reality influenced me tremendously. Maybe the best way of looking at the entirety is to take the calculable aspects of the Multiverse (I know, I know… how do you calculate infinity? Just suspend disbelief and pretend I know what I’m talking about for a second), and to combine them with the sheer nothingness that seems to be the cornerstone of Taoism. If you can wrap your mind around that – or rather let your mind go – you’ll be closer to understanding what I was going for when I described the entirety in Discipline.

JT: Part of your book describes acts of terrorism, and how the general public responds to those acts.  Are those parts of your book written as a reaction to the acts of terrorism that really did happen in the United States on September 11th 2001?

PA: I actually finished those sections of the book in the spring and early summer of 2001 – months before the September 11th attacks. I also wrote about the failing dollar, and it’s potential link to economic terrorism in 2001. And I hope it doesn’t look like I’m proud of myself; I don’t want to be known as some sort of reincarnation of Edgar Casey or Nostradamus, and I definitely don’t relish the idea of the tragic things I write about becoming reality.

JT: Can you elaborate a little bit more about some of the physics concepts that you touched on in this story?  It seems to me that some of these concepts are a large part of the story, and, since I know only a teeny bit about Physics, I think I might be missing something.

PA: I think the place to start is distinguishing between traditional, Newtonian physics (which describes the world around us – everything at the atomic level and larger), and subatomic physics (which describes the way forces act on each other at levels smaller than the atom).
 
Newtonian physics, with some minor exceptions, is fairly straight-forward and mathematically explicable. Subatomic science, on the other hand, is exceedingly mathematically uncooperative, and often causes nuclear physicists to abuse controlled substances, throw furniture, and/or fight fat people.
 
I could go on about all this for hours, but suffice it to say that it all boils down to a philosophical conundrum no one has been able to resolve adequately: no one can figure out why certain things don’t act the way they’re supposed to at the subatomic level.
 
At the subatomic level, a thing can act like a particle. Or a thing can act like a wave. Do you care? No. Do you care about neutrons, protons, electrons, quarks, or photons? No. Do you care that they don’t act the way they’re supposed to? No.
 
Okay, well, what if your dog suddenly started acting like your cousin? If it happened long enough, (like all the time), the philosophical conundrum would undoubtedly cause you to abuse controlled substances, throw furniture, and/or fight fat people. And it may be that your cousin and your dog do act a lot alike, and you might very well abuse controlled substances, throw furniture, and/or fight with fat people. But that’s not normal. Which is precisely the problem.
 
You don’t have to a physicist to see that this has epistemological and social ramifications. Enough said.

JT: What’s next?  Will there be a sequel to Discipline?  Do you have another book in the works?

PA: I am definitely working on the sequel, but I’m not forcing any deadlines on myself. Unlike too many sequels, this one is going to be right.

JT: Where can my readers go to learn more about Discipline, and keep up with you and your future book signings and readings?

PA: www.pacoahlgren.com

www.disciplinenovel.com

www.myspace.com/pacoahlgren

Any of these sites will get you to sample chapters, the Discipline trailer, all the reviews, and a lot more.

JT: On your web site, and also at the back of your book, you list several “suggested reads”.  Which of these should someone start with, and why?

PA: This is a fairly common question, and my answer is always the same: Tao Te Ching. I consider Taoism to be the connecting factor between all the schools of thought in the book.

JT: Thank you so much for doing this interview with me!

PA: Thank you, Jennifer! I’ve never done anything quite like this before! I hope we can do it again soon…

Something is haunting Monroe House in Cambria, a quiet picturesque town in California. No matter what your guess might be about exactly what is doing the haunting, let me assure you that you are not only wrong, but way off. This book will surprise you!

Parker and Lily are newlyweds who get married and purchase Monroe House on the same day. They intend to open up a Bed and Breakfast. Before they can even get started, tragedy strikes, and Parker is left to pick up the pieces, unsure if he even wants to make an attempt.

He is a stranger in this small town where everyone knows everyone else. He has no idea what is required to renovate Monroe House, other than a certainty that the ugly victorian wallpaper must go! Parker finds that Monroe House comes with an awkward, skinny, caretaker named Eleanor, who can’t be talked into leaving, and Lily’s grandmother is basically causing him trouble. What else could go wrong? Plenty!

Eleanor has seen, heard, and experienced some terrifying things during her stay at Monroe House. Instead of describing them, she waits, and lets Parker, (and the reader), see for himself. As time goes on, Eleanor and Parker make all sorts of plans about just what they should do, and a friendship is started.

Parts of this book really freaked me out, they were that scary! I haven’t had the pleasure of being frightened by a book in a long, long time. This is one of those books where you get to the end of a chapter and can’t wait to read the next one, and the next one, because you just have to know what happens next. It’s more than just a scary “ghost story”, however. This is a book with something for everybody. Scary things that go bump in the night, love and romance, lots of really funny scenes, and even some lesbians! Chapters ten and eleven are laugh-out-loud funny, which I found balanced nicely with some of the scary-as-hell chapters.

Don’t miss out on this one, it’s a real treat.

Richard Taylor was kind enough to do an interview for Bookwyrm U. S.. What follows are my questions, and his answers, for all my readers to enjoy.

Jen Thorpe:Your book describes Cambria so vividly that readers will feel  like they are right there, walking around town.  Readers might be  inspired to visit Cambria, and see the sights.  Do any of the  places mentioned in your book exist?  Did they ever?  Is there a   real “Monroe House”?

Richard Taylor: Actually, everything mentioned in the book actually exists EXCEPT  Monroe House. Since the book was published I’ve been approached  numerous times with the question, is Monroe House Squibb House, or J.  Patrick House? It’s neither, merely a figment of my imagination.  Actually, Monroe House is far too big a place for Cambria, which for  the most part is made up of far more modest buildings. The one  building that could have been Monroe House is now The Burton Inn, but  of course it’s located in the wrong place. The Brambles, Cambria’s  granddaddy restaurant, is architecturally accurate except for being  single story.

JT:I had very vivid pictures in my head as I was reading your  book.  You have described the scenery, and the settings so well, I  could just about see it.  From the beach with the driftwood, to the  monstrous victorian wallpaper in the house, to the stars in the  sky, it was all right there to be seen.  Are there any plans in the  works to make this book into a movie?

RT: It’s a little early to be thinking about a film sale. THE HAUNTING  OF CAMBRIA is a debut novel and it’s only been out for several  months, so I’m hoping word of mouth will work for it. I’ve had a  couple of inquiries from producers I’ve worked with in the past, but  they too are waiting to see if it will have the appropriate impact.  Early reports are that it is selling well, so we shall see.

JT:Some of the characters in the book, the “historians”, seem to be  passing on local urban legends to Parker and Eleanor when they  start asking questions about the history of Monroe House.  Did you  come across any actual urban legends about Cambria before you wrote  the book?  Is there anything really haunting some part of Cambria,  that you know of?

RT: You know, I ran into a reader at The Cookie Crock, Cambria’s only  supermarket (well, mini-supermarket would be more accurate) and while  she was praising the book profusely a passerby asked, “Oh, is the  book really about Cambria?” My reader said, “Oh, no, but it’s really  good!” As far as she was concerned, HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA had nothing  to do with the real town at all! I started writing the novel the week  I moved to Cambria five years ago and finished it Halloween night  (Boo!), so the truth is, I was an outsider then (as I probably am  now). I took great liberties — well, truthfully, I lied a lot. It’s  fiction, right? I’ve had several readers approach me with ghost  stories of their own since then, but in each case it was long after  the book was written.

JT:Most of the book comes from the viewpoint of Parker, with all  his “typical guy” kinds of thoughts.  Later in the book, in a few  key parts, the viewpoint switches over to a female character,  Laura, and now the reader is getting her very female point of  view.  Often when authors write characters that aren’t the same  gender as they are, the internal dialogue of the character is a bit  “off”, but you have done a great job here.  Did you need to do any  additional work to get the thoughts of Laura to be so authentic?   Or was it just as easy as writing what goes on inside Parker’s head?

RT: Hm, interesting question. I’ve just finished a novel told from the  point of view of the female lead. Is it harder to write from within  the head of the opposite sex? Yes, of course it is. Thankfully most  of my early readers (the ones who provide editorial guidance) are  women, so that helps. Jackie, my wife, mocks me into understanding  women better, sometimes, so that helps. Much of what makes Laura work  is her relationship with her father. Laura’s older sister was  brutally raped, so her father explained to her that what happened to  her sister wasn’t about male sexuality. Laura’s father saves men for  her, which of course is what parents do, they provide models to  imitate. The truth is, I think, men and women are very much alike  except by degrees. They are as capable of every human failing, they  love, they hate, they envy, they can be kind, caring, generous. I  have a line from my new novel, THEY FEAST, that I’m proud of. It  delineates the difference between how men and women approach sex: Men  tend to see women as art, while women tend to see men as literature,  for character. Of course, every generality is wrong much of the time.

JT:The book ended with all the questions answered, and still the  potential for there to be a sequel.  What’s next?  A book that  takes up where this one ends, or something entirely new and different?

RT:I sold THE HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA to St. Martin’s Press/TOR as a  series. They have tentatively okayed a second book, VAMPYR OF  CAMBRIA, but as yet we haven’t signed a contract. In the interim I’ve  written two books, STONES SKIPPING ON WATER, a reincarnation  thriller, and just today finished THEY FEAST, which is billed as a  vampire story for the new age. Stones hasn’t been placed yet. The  book marketplace is very difficult. My editor at TOR told me it’s a  miracle to sell a first novel, and to have that novel do well is an  even greater miracle. A lot rides on how well HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA  does commercially. The reviews thus far have been nothing less than  sensational, so I’m hopeful.

JT:Something I often wonder when I read a book is: “What does this  author like to read?”  Your book has a little something for  everyone.  It’s a ghost story.  It’s a love story (well, I guess  it’s actually more than one love story).  Parts are terrifying, and  other parts are laugh- out- loud funny.  There are even parts that  might almost be considered “travel writing”, because Cambria is an  actual town in California.  Whose work do you like to read, and how  did those authors influence your writing, (if at all)?

RT:Cambria is a writer’s town, you know. Until recently absurd  humorist Christopher Moore lived here. His novel LAMB is one of the  best I’ve read. Katherine Ryan Hyde also lives in Cambria. She wrote  PAY IT FORWARD, which is considered a classic by many. My favorite of  her books is WALTER’S PURPLE HEART, which is a very low-key, lovely  and romantic reincarnation story. I love Stephen King, of course, but  most of the horror writers leave me dissatisfied. My favorite writer  is J.K. Rowling. I’ve read the complete Harry Potter series. I read  the last book in forty-eight hours. It was wonderful. I don’t think  any one writer influences me. though. Not one of my books is like  another — why repeat yourself?

JT:Just out of curiosity, what grows in your garden at home?  Do  you have any houseplants?  What kinds?

RT:Ha-ha! Trick question. Read the book, get the trick! To answer  your question seriously, we don’t garden. We allow our neighbor to  grow tomatoes in our back yard. Jackie requests that certain kinds of  flowers are planted (she’s in a wheelchair, so she doesn’t garden  herself). As for me, I spend most of my time inside my head. I tend  not to garden in there.

JT:What music did you listen to while you were writing this book?   What made you choose to listen to that in particular?

RT:My taste in music runs to the abnormal. I love soundtracks. I  collect movie soundtracks, combine them into one long orchestral work  and then play them on my iPod. Some of my favorite pieces are MEET  JOE BLACK by Thomas Newman, THE DA VINCI CODE by Hans Zimmer, CIDER  HOUSE RULES by Rachel Portman, among others. I love romantic  classical pieces, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, those guys.  Delius, Dvoråk, Grieg too. My favorite symphony is Beethoven’s 6th. I  love the 9th, too, but without the vocals. I’m not an opera guy.

JT:Where on the internet can my readers go to keep up to date  about the when and where of your upcoming book readings and signings?

RT:www.hauntingofcambria.com. Thank you very much.

JT:What was the most interesting, or the strangest thing that has  happened at any of your book signings or readings?  I’m always  curious about what it’s like to do those.

RT:One woman drove a long distance to buy the book. More than twenty  miles. One woman bought seven, to use as gifts, Christmas, I think.  The manager and assistant manager of one store each bought a copy. I  thought that was wonderfully odd. One woman was going to buy it for  her child. No, I don’t think so. Frankly, I’m always amazed to find  people wanting to buy it. It’s a new and thrilling (yes, thrilling)  experience for me. I think the one thing I’m not prepared for, and  this exceeds your question because it’s about reviews, not signings  or readings, and that’s how enthusiastic people seem to be about THE  HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA. No one has ever used the word ‘brilliant’ in the  same sentence with my name before (they described an aspect of the  book, not me). I’d prepared myself for critics to hate it — you know,  you prepare yourself for the worst — but so far every review has been  at least good and most have been enthusiastically positive.

JT:Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me!

RT: Thanks, Jen.

This book is weird. And weird is good! I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

Nikki Nasco has an average normal day, and wakes up the next day with no electricity, disappearing coffee, a talking coyote on her doorstep, and a green, nearly naked, man in the backyard. The television still works, though, and shows different episodes of various “Reality TV” shows, and, of course, “Oprah”. Things get stranger from there.

From there, Nikki and Amber (her best friend) are on a quest. Problem is, they don’t know what the quest is, what to do or where to go. They don’t even know why they are on this quest Why them? Hints and clues are given along the way that they have to figure out. Help comes from unexpected sources. There is a group of eccentric people who is trying to stop them. By the end, Nikki knows not only what she must do, but also how strong she really is.

I was impressed by how many little details Del Sesto wove into this story. I found this book to be exciting and laugh out loud funny. Fans of bizarre stories will enjoy this book, and so will people who enjoy the work of Douglas Adams. It’s that kind of humor.

I highly recommend going on the “long strange trip” this book will take you on.

Nicole Del Sesto was kind enough to do an interview for Bookwyrm U.S.. What follows is both my questions and her responses.

Jen Thorpe: I have never heard of the term “Bizzaro Fiction” before I picked up your book. I work in a bookstore, and no one has ever come in and asked me “Where’s your Bizzaro Section at?” What does it mean to be considered “Bizzaro Fiction”? Is this a brand new thing, or have just been unaware of this genre all this time? Is it a brand name, or specific publisher, or a grouping such as “Mystery” or “Romance”, or what, exactly?

Nicole Del Sesto:The Bizarro community is trying mightily to help Bizarro to become a sub-genre. Of what, I’m not quite sure. We tend to get grouped with Horror/Sci-Fi and Fantasy. It is a relatively new term, but not a new thing.

There’s a great article on Bizarro at Wikipedia Click Here

Basically, Bizarro is the genre of the weird. People like weird books. I’m one of them. But you can’t go into a bookstore and say, “where are your weird books?” Because you’d probably get a “weird” and confused look. By labeling the genre, we are trying to create a space for fans of the weird/surreal/absurd/cult type fiction.

P.S. If you build a Bizarro section in your bookstore, we will come!

Jen:Your book is filled with musical references. What music did you listen to when you were writing this book? Did any of those songs make it into the story?

Nicole:Yesterday I finished reading a book called Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, which was brilliant and also filled with musical references. It’s always surprised me that music hasn’t featured more prominently in books. I think it makes them more interesting.

All that aside, I don’t listen to music when I write. But I’m always thinking about music. I’m the kind of person who is constantly playing lyrical word association games in my head. You say, Good Morning and my brain starts singing “Good morning starshine, the world says hello.” When someone answers the phone, “Hello” my head goes, “Hellow, I love you won’t you tell me your name.” It’s very busy in here.

My book had four different titles before I settled on All Encompassing Trip. I was driving up to Lake Tahoe and decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to listen to my “desert island” CDs. While I was listening to No Code, the song Present Tense came on and as I listened to the words I thought “oh yes.” This is it. This is my book. This is my title.

The song starts:

do you see the way that tree bends?

does it inspire?

leaning out to catch the sun’s rays

a lesson to be applied

are you getting something out of this all encompassing trip?

It felt like my book. And it stuck. If I could have gotten copyright permissions, I would have printed the lyrics in the front of the book.

Jen: Just what are your Top 5 Desert Island CDs? Is it the same list you had before you wrote the book, or has something changed?

Nicole:Ironically, I never did finish my list. All I know for sure is that Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark and Pearl Jam’s No Code would be on the list. I’d definitely want a Doors disc as well. And probably Sublime’s 40oz to Freedom, but I wouldn’t have chosen an Alanis disc.

It’s just too hard to pick.

Jen:All the little pieces of this story, from the clues and hints to the eccentricities of the individual characters, to the details about specific places and time periods fit together so well! How did you keep track of it all while you were writing it?

Nicole:Editing.

It bothers me greatly when there are gaps in stories or continuity errors, so I was very cautious about this. I took a lot of notes for myself and tried to make sure that in the end, everything got explained.

Not surprisingly, there were a number of lists. Activities per day, songs per clue, that type of thing. But I didn’t create an outline until a literary agent asked me for one, which was long after the fact.

Jen: I can’t help but notice that your main character is named Nikki, and your name is Nicole. Are any parts of this book autobiographical? Did any of Nikki’s memories of her childhood happen in your actual childhood? I loved how vivid those memories were, especially the part about the french fries. Was Nikki and Kassen’s relationship based on real life events? Did you ever own any of the cars Nikki and Amber drive? Are any of the characters based on real people?

Nicole:This is a great question. And the answers to most of those questions are yes. The character of Amber is based on a real person. She was one of the main reasons I wanted to write the story to begin with, and in fact I had planned on the book being more about her character.

I found her to be a conundrum and inspiring simultaneously. I used the fiction to both unravel her mystery and hopefully pass along some of her magic. I do have to say though that we knew each other only briefly and our friendship was nothing like that of my characters. I named my character Nikki because “Amber” calls me “Nik” and I needed be able to hear her in my head in order to be able to write her. Not sure that makes sense, but that’s why I used the name Nikki.

Two weeks before the book came out “Amber” was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. It’s heartbreaking, but she is a fighter and I know she can overcome this.

As far as the rest of the characters, the only truly based on real people are Amber, Nikki and Kassen and they are all fictionalized (and exaggerated) versions. Some of the others are from dreams (Luke, Howard and Biy-Em) some are purely made up (i.e. Lefty, Chuckie, Demi.)

The whole Fullerton thing is based on childhood memories or impressions, really, and sadly, the relationship with “Kassen” was much as described.

Shortly after our 10-year-anniversary, he went on to marry somebody else. In case you were dying to know how that all turned out.

That Datsun was, in fact, mine. I have no idea how it cruised into the story.

Jen: Let’s discuss for a minute your characters The Twins, (also known as Art and Lance). These two guys are what I would call “Star Wars Geeks”. There seems to be two camps in this world: “Star Wars Geeks” and “Star Trek Geeks”, and the two don’t tend to like each other very much. I have witnessed some rather heated debates on this subject! What made you decide that Art and Lance would prefer Star Wars to Star Trek?

Nicole: Personal geekiness? I’m in the Star Wars camp, and have a pretty extensive action figure collection. Though I tend to be more a fan and collector of McFarlane action figures, I have a fair number of Star Wars figures. Cataloged on a spreadsheet, in alphabetical order, in numbered boxes, cross-referenced on the spreadsheet with their approximate values. (The only Star Trek figure I have is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dressed as Spock.)

Jen: The places in your book that Amber and Nikki go to are so well described. You definitely got the parts describing the spontaneous delays at O’Hare Airport in Chicago correct. Have you been there? What about LAX? Disney Land?

Nicole:I have been to all the places. But Google is a dear friend when details are required, and I did research as well. Bottom line: an airport is an airport. One is much like another. All are annoying.

Jen: What do you think Oprah would have to say about all this if she reads your book? Have you sent Oprah a copy? Have you ever been in the audience for one of Oprah’s shows?

Nicole:Hmmm Faulker, McCarthy, Morrison, Angelou . Del Sesto? I don’t see it happening. Oprah’s book selections don’t seem to have much of a sense of humor. She’s literary high brow, I’ve got fart jokes. You know? Plus 41 f-bombs, and I make a lot of fun of people. So, I don’t see Oprah reading it.

I haven’t sent her a copy and I have not been in her audience. I think if I were that close to Oprah I’d piss myself.

Jen:I love that in your book all Nikki and Amber can watch on television is “Reality TV” (and, of course, Oprah). Survivor, Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Average Joe, I have watched them all. I even know who “Rob and Amber” are. What is your favorite “Reality TV” show, and which season of it did you enjoy the most?

Nicole:I am honestly not sure if I could pick a favorite. I love reality TV. I talk about Lauren Conrad of MTV’s the Hills as if we were friends. Amazing Race is a favorite, though this season is kind of boring. I hated that Rob and Amber were bumped so early. Survivor is a favorite, but again, boring this year. I love Rock Star. The first season of that is definitely memorable. And Big Brother All Stars was great. (I have a crush on Dr. Will.) (Oh , and I really did get hit in the head with a golf ball by Bill Rancic, but I don’t watch The Apprentice.)

Jen: What other projects have you got going on? Is there another book with some or all of the characters from this one? Something completely different, perhaps?

Nicole:Besides stalking my Amazon sales rankings? Yes, I have two projects in the works. And by in the works I mean sitting on my hard drive untouched. The first is about a blonde girl named Alex, who is nothing like me. The moon has a crush on her and she’s in therapy for a calendar addiction. That’s shaping up to be “Trip-like” in terms of tone, and general weirdness.

The second project is a collaboration with another author. Definitely mainstream. Tons of fun characters, and something we’d both like to see completed.

I left Trip open for a sequel, I’m not sure it’ll happen. If it does, it will focus on Amber. These books and ideas, they just tend to manifest. For me, writing is like a seed planted in my head. The ideas need time to germinate. When it no longer fits in my brain, it spills out onto the paper. It’s not writer’s block which has stalled these two projects, but rather that my seedlings are a little stunted right now.

I’m feeling growth though, especially on the Alex book, so I’m hoping that will poke through soon.

THANK YOU for such thought provoking questions.

Thank you for such a great interview.

You know that feeling you have been having lately? The one that tells you that something is missing, but you don’t know what that something is? It’s this book. Grab a copy and read it right now, and you will feel better. I am in love with this book.

The book is fiction, and not a medical or psychological text, despite what you might first think about when you read the title. It is about Wayne Fencer, a guy who is about to attend a funeral for his ex girlfriend. She committed suicide. Wayne learns later that his ex girlfriend had an abortion, and that the baby was his. He never knew. This sends Wayne into a search, trying to put together what this all means. What is the meaning of life? Wayne goes wandering to try and figure this all out. He goes to some interesting places, including Cuba, and The Burning Man Festival. The book is deep, and also funny in parts, and wonderfully written in a style that is unique to Listi. I think most people go through some point in their lives where they, like Wayne, are wondering just what the meaning of it all is. I found it comforting to read that I was not the only one who felt lost.

Brad Listi was kind enough to let me interview him. I am impressed by how accessible Listi is to his readers. Few authors take the time to respond to and communicate with their fans, and if they do, it’s sometimes in a form letter, or some kind of mass e-mailing. Listi makes direct communication into a fine art.

Below are my questions and his answers to them:

JEN THORPE: Your book is not called “Attention Deficit Disorder”,(referring to the actual psychatric term), but “Attention. Deficit. Disorder.” (which refers to something else entirely.) I bet you get a lot of people who think your book describes how to cope if you have Attention Deficit Disorder, or is about a main character who has Attention Deficit Disorder, or that maybe you are a writer who suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder. But, it’s not about that at all. What were you really getting at when you chose that title?

BRAD LISTI:The title of the novel is meant to be considered word by word. Each word has direct thematic relevance to what happens in the narrative. This is not a book about attention deficit disorder in the literal, medical sense; it’s about attention deficit disorder in a more abstract and euphemistic sense. It’s about the ways in which so many of us often feel as though we have A.D.D., even though we really don’t.

The title, and the periods in particular, refer to the way that “A.D.D.” has become a sort of catchphrase in our culture, a shorthand method of describing how we relate to our overloaded, hyper-mediated environment. And it’s about the irony inherent in how difficult it can often be to try to find meaning in the so-called “Age of Information.”

JEN: I know that this book is fiction, however, as I was reading I found myself wondering how much of it was something that actually happened. How much of this book, if any at all, is autobiographical? Did a particular event happen? Are any of the characters based on real people?

BRAD: The book is based on my life. Places I’ve been. People that I know, or have known. But ultimately it’s fiction. Everything is reconstituted. Everything is made up. The facts are always bent to fit the fiction, and not the other way around.

I lost a friend to suicide when I was in college. It’s reasonable to say that this was the point of genesis for the novel, and certainly it was a guiding parallel that I used when I was navigating the story’s emotional terrain. But again, what I’ve written here is a novel, and not a memoir. I made it up.

The characters in the book are usually amalgams of different people in my life, or exaggerations of people I’ve met before. And sometimes I just conjure them.

A couple of the characters are pretty one-for-one in my basic depiction of their appearance and so on, but the things that they do and the places that they go are pure fiction.

Ultimately, my feeling is that all fiction is autobiographical. Even fantasy fiction has its origins in an individual’s consciousness and is an “autobiographical” expression. In the end, it’s a matter of degrees. And layers. And willful obfuscation.

JT: What music, if any, did you listen to while writing this book?

BL:I listened to a lot of the Mantovani Orchestra. And I listened to Percy Faith. And I listened to ballad compilations by guys like Miles Davis and Stan Getz and Sonny Rollins. And I listened to a lot of the Flaming Lips.

From a tonal perspective, this kind of music really helped me out. It deals with heavy themes in a very honest way. But at the same time, the music somehow manages to leave you feeling buoyant at the end, despite the underlying gravity at the heart of the songs. It does that for me, anyway.

And this, in the end, was the trick that I was trying to pull with Attention. Deficit. Disorder. I wanted the book to walk the line between dark and light, the heavy and the funny. And this kind of writing often ends up being something of a tightrope act. If you venture too far to one side or the other, you can get yourself into trouble, and you can wind up leaving your readers in the breach. You go too far in the direction of darkness, and the book becomes an intolerable bummer. Head too far in the other direction, and you venture into the realm of slapstick, and you undermine the genuine pathos and humanity at the heart of Wayne Fencer’s journey. So you have to watch your step. Listening to music that does a good job of executing this kind of balancing act was a big help, and a big inspiration. It was instructive.

JT: If I ever go check out the Burning Man Festival, what are the best things to bring with me?

BL:Food, shelter, water, condoms, sunscreen, chapstick, sunglasses, laser guns, bullwhips, and a bike.

JT: Did you always just know that you wanted to be a writer, or did something specific occur to inspire you to become one?

BL: I always gravitated to writing, even as a very small boy. It’s something that I had a natural inclination for, but I didn’t really get serious about writing fiction until I was a senior in college, when I was twenty years old.

JT: I read your A. D. D. blog every day, and it’s always a treat. What would you like to tell my readers (few that they are), about your A. D. D. blog and the people who fill it with comments? What made you decide to start a blog on myspace? Is the response what you expected it would be?

BL: I’d like to start by thanking everybody who reads The A.D.D. Blog on a daily basis. I really appreciate the fact that so many people have found it and enjoy it and participate by weighing in on the comment boards, and so on. It’s been one of the most pleasant surprises of my recent existence.

I started the blog about a year and a half ago on the advice of my agent. She called me up one day in the summer of 2005 and suggested that I open an account. The site was relatively new to her, and it was completely new to me. And since then, the thing has absolutely exploded. I don’t think anyone could have predicted the cultural significance of Myspace in the present day. The thing is a beast. It’s an absolute phenomenon.

JT: What is the strangest thing that has happened to you while you were promoting this book?

BL: Oh God. That’s a tough one. So many strange things have happened. I’ve gotten a lot of weird letters. People telling me about their sex lives. Their checkered pasts. Their odd, sadomasochistic fantasies. The insane visions they had after eating three huge hits of blotter acid while naked in the desert. That kind of thing.

I’m sure there’s more, but my brain is kind of soft right now.

JT: I see that The Nervous Breakdown has it’s own myspace page now. What’s that all about?

Just trying to get the word out about thenervousbreakdown.com and the wonderful writers who contribute to the site. Myspace is a great place to do that kind of thing. We’ve got a good thing going on over there. It’s been a lot of fun.

JT: Just what are you going to do with all the letters you received as part of your Letter Writing Experiment now that the experiment has ended?

BL: Right now they’re sitting in my office, in a big plastic bag. I have no idea what I’m going to do with them. Probably just save them. I’m a packrat that way. And I think I might be kind of sentimental.

JT: What’s next? A book about what happens next for Wayne? A book about something completely different? More interesting experiments? A “Dear Listi” column?

BL: The next book is called City of Champions. Another novel. A kind of prequel to Attention. Deficit. Disorder., featuring a younger and more immature and more embittered Wayne Fencer. City of Champions is a broader comedy, a social satire about Middle American Values. And it’s a book about the concept of adolescence, and not just adolescence in a chronological sense. It’s about adolescence at any age. And it’s about the American Dream.

Thank you, again, to Brad Listi for taking time out to do this little interview for Bookwyrm U.S.

If you want to check out the A.D.D. blog for yourself, click here:
The A.D.D. blog

To read the NervousBreakdown.com click here:
NervousBreakdown.com