A sensuous book, from beginning to end, and now, available in paperback! I reviewed this book when it first appeared in hard cover, and was absolutely captivated by the depth of emotion in the story. I also enjoyed the action, and fell in love with the very realistic characters.

The main character is Feliu Delgado, who was “almost born happy”. After a nearly disastrous birth, he is presumed to be born dead. His mom wanted him to be named “Feliz” with means “Happy” in Spanish. She had his brother, who was still a young child, write the name on a paper for the man who writes the birth and death certificates. The man could not read the writing, and instead wrote “Feliu”, the name of a saint. Almost born happy. Poor Feliu spends large parts of his life being “almost happy”.

As a child, Feliu receives a gift of a Spanish bow for a cello. Thus begins his love for music, and the adventures it leads him on. For a more detailed review and description of this book, click here.

Author Andromeda Romano-Lax was kind enough to stop by Book Sandwich, and do an interview with me.

Jen Thorpe:Hello Andromeda, and welcome to Book Sandwich.

Andromeda Romano-Lax: Hi Jen! Thanks for this great opportunity.

JT:When you contacted me, you mentioned you were going on a “virtual book tour”. How does that work, exactly? Do you feel the tour is going well? Are you enjoying it? How does it compare to a regular book tour?

A R-L: Often book tours are set up by a company. I had a publicist arrange some virtual opportunities a year ago, when The Spanish Bow was first released, but this time I decided to do it myself, by poking around online, visiting book blogs and sites, including ones that had already mentioned my book. What I’m finding is that I love this new book blogging world, and I love having the opportunity to “talk” directly with readers. Some of my favorite book reviews have been ones written by book bloggers; in some cases they connected with and understood my novel better than print reviewers, or perhaps it seems that way because they wrote their reviews from the heart.

I also started my own blog this year at 49writers.blogspot.com. The blog focuses on Alaska books and authors, in addition to my own writing and publishing experiences. It’s easier and more enjoyable for me to promote other people’s books than my own.

JT:I adore the cover on the hardcover version of “The Spanish Bow”. When the paperback came out, the cover was so different that I did not immediately recognize that it was the same book! Both the covers are very dramatic, in different ways. Do you prefer the artwork of one over the other? Did you have any input about what the two book covers would look like?

AR-L: I loved the hardcover when it first came out – red and rich and atmospheric. But I think I like the paperback cover even better, because it shows the main character and setting more clearly. It almost looks like a movie poster to me, and boy, would I love this novel to become a movie! The soundtrack would be awesome. (To answer the followup question: no, there isn’t a movie in the works, but I have had some nibbles.) I had little say about either cover but I think the designers did a fabulous job.

JT: Music is such an important part of this story, that it is almost, but not quite, it’s own separate character. What kinds of music were you listening to while you were writing this book? Are you a fan of classical music or do you prefer something else?

AR-L: Trivia you’ll find nowhere else; exclusively to Jen: in truth, I was formerly (in the early 1980s) a fan of punk and the first article I ever wrote was about my own experiences as a garage-band guitarist . (This was published in Seventeen magazine when I was 18 years old. I can scarcely believe it myself.)

But then I turned toward the classical world. My passion for the cello was the motivation for writing The Spanish Bow, and I listened to lots of great cello and piano CDs of composers like Manuel de Falla, Elgar, Debussy, Bach, and Albeniz while I was writing the novel. For a while, I had a theme song that ran through my brain for each character. Aviva, for example, was personified by the piece “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens. You can find some of these music clips at my website www.romanolax.com.

I should add that The Spanish Bow is being translated into 10 languages, and in some countries, an effort has been made to connect music more directly with the book. In Germany, for example, the publisher had a professional cellist perform at public readings of the book. In China, there has been some interest in putting together a related CD. If I were an American reader, I would stick an Albeniz piano or Yo-Yo Ma cello CD into the player, pour myself a glass of red wine, grab a few olives, and then read.

JT:Do you play any musical instruments yourself? Does anyone else in your family?

AR-L:I play cello – not particularly well, mind you. After I sold my novel, I was able to afford to buy a piano, and in the 3 years since that time, my children have learned to play, eclipsing my own minor musical abilities. I get teary listening to my 14-year-old son play Chopin and my 10-year-old daughter playing the blues. I recently bought an electric guitar as well (those old garage-punk roots die hard) but I think I might do better sticking with classical.

JT:I was impressed with how real this book feels, as though it was a remarkably entertaining autobiography of the main character, instead of a work of fiction. Did the main character, Feliu, exist? Was he based on a real person? Was “El Nino” real? Picasso appears for a cameo, and we know he was a real person, but, what about the other characters? What else in this book was taken from “real life”?

AR-L: Feliu was originally inspired by the great Spanish/Catalonian cellist Pablo Casals, but I changed so many details that the end result is a fictional character. The same is true for Al-Cerraz, who was originally inspired by the pianist and composer Isaac Albeniz. I kept his playboy personality and changed practically everything else, including the time period in which he lived and the major events of his life. For minor characters, I stuck much more closely to the facts, especially for Queen Ena and King Alfonso of Spain, Picasso, Hitler, Franco, Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, and the composers Elgar and de Falla. Yet other characters are completely imagined.

JT:What kind of research did you do in preparation for writing this book? How long did it take before you were able to start putting the story together?

AR-L:I traveled to Puerto Rico, Spain, and France; I studied the cello, interviewed musicians, visited archives and opera houses; I ate Iberian ham and drank cheap Rioja wine and sampled lots of Catalonian liqueurs. I know – it’s a terrible job, but someone has to do it. Seriously, though, I tried to absorb and compress a century of Spanish history and music into a novel that is also about love and friendship. It was a pleasure to research and write, and took me about 4 to 5 years.

JT: Often, when authors write from the viewpoint of a main character that is the opposite gender from themselves, they tend to miss the mark. Feliu, however, was completely convincing. Did you find it challenging to write from his viewpoint, or did it just come naturally? I’m always impressed when authors do this well.

AR-L: Feliu came so naturally to me, that I probably should be worried. Why is there an externally-angst-ridden, internally-passionate little Catalonian man living inside my head? Deciding what he would say or do next was no problem at all; I felt I knew him as well as I know myself.

JT: I cannot think of another fiction book with a cellist as a main character. What can you tell my readers about how and why you decided to write a book about a cello player?

AR-L:Because I love the cello, which to me is one of the most sensuous and human instruments there is. There is something about the voice – so human, so humble – that worked perfectly with the story I was trying to tell. The cello is not show-offy; it is sincere and beautiful in a melancholic way, like my main character, Feliu.

JT:What other projects do you have going on right now?

AR-L: I’m working on novels #2 and #3, not quite sure yet which one will see the light of day, but the research for these latest works has taken me to England and the Middle East, and back home to Alaska, where I live. I also dabble in nonfiction.

JT:Where can my readers go to find out more about you and your writing?

AR-L: My blog at 49writers.blogspot, and my website at romanolax.com.

The Spanish Bow is an exciting trip into an imagined past that is also very real. Readers who enjoy classical music, or who are musicians themselves will connect with Feliu in both how passionate he feels about music, as well as his intense connection with his instrument. This book is also something that will appeal to people looking for a love story with somewhat “star crossed” lovers, and those who enjoy historical fiction. Now that the book is in paperback, it will be even easier on your pocketbook when you go grab a copy for yourself.

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.

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.

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