At age 67, I left a good payday in advertising to write a thriller novel. I had written a screenplay in this genre a year earlier in evening classes at the New School in Manhattan. The screenplay’s trial balloon was comparable to Dorothy Parker’s dry remark, “My dears, I’m getting such encouraging rejections,” which on my part included a favorable nod from Marty Scorsese. Rejections they were, however, and certainly a novel had a better opportunity in New York. 
A thriller requires an enormous amount of time, particularly for research and interviews. Days became months and months became years. Some days were heartened by what I recognized as good writing; other days discouraging as banalities littered the page. I went through twenty drafts before obtaining an agent. He enthusiastically staged an auction among five major publishers. “Encouraging” rejections again, this time with suggestions. More drafts. More rejections. That year passed in a blink, and saw the dejected agent depart. 
After five years of writing, I was 72 and had a novel that people liked, but that no one would publish. At this point, my bank account had shrunk, even though supplemented with freelance jobs. I then did the smart thing. I depleted my finances even more by using iUniverse to self-publish. A new process began —- readers, comments, rewriting, proofing, galleys, and more rewriting and reproofing. My three sons, always supportive, stayed on the sidelines as their inheritance dwindled. The day finally arrived when the novel became available from Barnes & Nobles and Amazon among others. Now, the promotional expenses begin. A website is produced. Complimentary copies, for which I pay, are delivered for reviewers and bookstores. Ads are scheduled on the web. Displayers and co-op ads are prepared for bookstores and in-home readings. Ka$ching. 
Last night, I sat with my wife, artist Babs Reingold and discussed the road ahead. Her decision: “Go for it!” I may end up broke at 80 and my kids as well as myself sorry I ever wrote a word. Yet, I have a life lesson learned as an 18-year-old Marine in boot camp. Never give up. John Grisham, who had untold rejections before being published, didn’t. My health is good and I’m looking forward to the stimulating task of getting one book from among the 150,000 published each year into the hands of readers who enjoy a good thriller.

What are you doing now? (Career? Married? Single? Children? Pets?)

Writing a sequel to The Holy Kiss. Marketing The Holy Kiss (book readings, letters and books to reviewers, emails to friends and friends of friends, advertising, and so on.

What is your favourite food?

I like all food except liverwurst. My body shape (some 15 pounds over my running weight) aptly displays this fondness.

What is your favourite colour?

Black, which really is the absence of color. Must be a New York thing, and, of course, black does nicely conceal bulk. It also sets off my white hair, which again, is an absence of color.

What is your favourite sound?

Jazz, most no later than the seventies, big bands of the forties, selected classical and opera, and most pop/rock no later that the early nineties. I like all music, I guess, in its place. My favourite line from a country blues tune: “I never went to bed with a bad looking gal, but I certainly woke up with a few.” Best vocalist overall is Billie Holiday. But, if I was a groupie today, I’d probably be following Joan Osborne around.

Who is your favourite person?

My wife, artist Babs Reingold, is my favourite person. We lived together 25 years before being married last year on our anniversary, April 1. This is my third marriage, and needless to say, my last. Babs still has not figured out why she’s with me. Next are my three grown sons, and several grandchildren but they’re neck in neck with our two dogs, a 14-pound Affenpinscher and 90-pound yellow lab. We also have two cats, and they are nice, and not needy. The pet entourage travels with us, except for short trips when we leave the cats.

What is your favourite place?

My favourite place changes from season to season. We have an apartment outside of New York where we spend about half the year; the remainder of the year is in Florida. I love New York but when the cold winds blow, our paradise in St Petersburg, Florida, is the loveliest place. I’ve traveled extensively in the United States and some in France — Paris, Provenance. I was in Japan in the Marine Corps and would like to return there, but it’s not likely. I’m pretty much the type of person whose favourite place is where I’m at as long as Babs and my dogs are with me.

What is your favourite memory?

My favourite memory is tough. It is said writers live in their heads, and that is true to the extent that memories flood you as you write. Memories are then, for the most part, altered to fit your character or story line. I still remember meeting Babs as she rounded a corner in a graphic arts studio I had. She was a vision. Mostly, as I think about it now, my favourite memories are of my dogs that are now dead. I spent more time with them than with any human — wife, child, parent, friend — and how can one not love a dog.

What is your favourite article of clothing?

Shorts and a t-shirt are my favourite articles of clothing. I had a suit on last night for a reading, and our friends were amazed at the transformation. I wore suits virutally every work day during my advertising career, and although it is nice to suit up for a special occasion, say the opera at the Met, my daily wardrobe is shorts, t-shirt and sandels.

What is your favourite word?

My favourite word is “fuck.” It covers all bases. Anger. Frustration, Shocking. Graphic. Irreverence. Admiration (as an adjective).

What is your favourite writers’ quote and why?

I use author quotes all the time, but I never thought about a favourite quote. Let’s see, I can’t remember the author’s name, the short story writer, Kerouac’s friend out west, who said something like, “To write, you go to your station everyday and write.” As a professional ad guy who had to write everyday to make payroll, I’ve always taken this quote to heart and it has served me well in writing fiction.

What is your most favourite quality about yourself?

My favourite quality about myself? I think I’m funny as hell, but Babs doesn’t agree. I guess it would have to be persistence. I learned as a boot in the Marine Corps that one had to persevere to survive. This quality led me to college, the first in my family to be graduated, the stubborness to drive from Cleveland to Buffalo in blinding snow storms to see my kids when I was divorced, and, at Bab’s urging, to finally leave the ad game and write.

What is the least favourite quality about yourself?

Impatience, hands down, is my least favourite quality — and there’s a long line standing behind me that will second this statement.

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?

I would like to to Italy for the all the cliched reasons. I like the vast majority of Italian men and women I have met. I like the American version of their food. I like their wine — the better Brunellos and Borolos. I like the movies about the Mafia. What’s not to like. Off we go to Italy!

What inspires you to write and why?

Good books inspire me to write, whether it’s literary, thriller, chick lit, poetry, whatever. Good books remove you from yourself and your environment. It is the most pleasureable of escapes, of self-education, and of enjoyment and enrichment. I wanted to join the corps able to that for another human being.

What is your favourite book and why?

I have no favourite book as I have no single favourite author. Each book, even the most trite of them, has something in it. Early on I likes the Russians, then the Americans —- the lost generation, Fitzgerald, Hemmingway, Wolfe, Dos Passos, then the English — Martin Amis among them — and back to the Americans, the early Rabbit series, Roth (his American Pastoral is one of the best novels I’ve ever read) and the rest of the Jewish writers, and now Ford and his gang. Richard Harris and Silence of the Lambs is a favourite and Richard Russo, one of the funniest authors I have read who takes the guts of upstate New York life and displays it for our pleasure.

What is your favourite genre and why?

I have no favourite genre, though I read at least 20-30 thrillers of all types each year. Among this genre is some of the best entertainment available in book form, although I would not consider them uplifting in any sense. I read a good deal of literary books, but of late, not much has been coming out of the publishers. I read a good deal of poetry for the richness of its language and imagery.

List your three favourite authors (any genre) and why?

Cormac McCarthy is one of my favourite authors. His ability to craft actions and scenes is on a sacred plane. Rilke is my favourite poet. His poem, The Panther, touches the soul and is most mindful of Thoreau’s “quiet desperation” and his Letter to a Young Poet is a must read for any writer. Third? Too much of a crowd here.

What do you think makes a writer successful?

Reading and experience with people makes a writer successful, in my opinion. One cannot be a writer without reading. With people, one must be a listener, I believe, and acutely observant, always measuring the actions of people against their beliefs and words.

Whta is it that makes you successful as a writer?

I have written a novel, which is receiving acceptance. I do not know if that makes me successful as a writer, but it is certainly satisfying as a person.

What are your goals as a writer?

My goal as a writer is to write. What comes from this effort is then the byproduct of process, and whether successful or not, is evidence you are writing.

What is the best tip you can give to fellow writers?

The best tip for a writer is to write and read other writers.

What do you hope to provide your readers with through your writing?

I trust my readers will receive the same satisfactions I receive when I am reading.

List your three favourite online writer-resource sites and why (include URLS).

Obviously, this site has to be a favourite as I’m spending a great deal of time responding to these interview questions. Other than that, www. published.com is the only other site that I have, at this time, thought resourceful though I’m sure I’ll run across a slew of them as my search continues.

If you have published a book, tell us about your publishing success (title, publishing date and company, where it is available to purcahse).

I have published The Holy Kiss, a psycho-thriller that Kirkus termed “…a lurid but engrossing thriller.” The novel was published by iUniverse and is available on-line from B&N and Amazon among other sources as well as from my website: www.holykissthriller.com.

How long did it take you to write your book(s)?

It took me too long to write this book, nearly five years on and off. Thrillers demand a ton of research and interviews and I am a rewrite freak as well. After 20 drafts, The Holy Kiss was finally accepted by an agent.

What would you do differently if you could repeat the same publishing experience?

I don’t know what I would do differently to alter my publishing experience. Being in the New York area, I had plenty of advice about how to bring a first book to fruitation. Most of the delays were of my own volition. I needed money, so I free lanced, or new information came up and I rewrote. A significant part of my novel was the Port Authority’s Twin Towers. I rewrote these sections after 9/11.

What have you learned about the publishing world?

The publishing world will not take a chance. One editor remarked to me that a new author publishing a thriller today had about as much chance for acceptance as someone finding a seat on the subway during morning rush.

This is your chance to ‘Talk Back’ to your readers. What would you like to say to them?

I adore readers. I love readers. I have my best conversations with readers. There are not enough of us!

What’s the one thing that you want them to know about your writing?

My novel is realistic. It’s graphic. It’s fast-paced. It has characters with backgrounds. Enjoy.

Now comes the marketing, the hard part, as my friend author Peter Golenbock informs me. I’m formulating a plan which involves a push on-line as well as a test market here in St Petersburg. Already, I have a reading scheduled in February at The Studio@620, a fiesty literary-fine art-performance facility operated by Bob Devon-Jones and David Ellis with much help from volunteers and supporters. More about all of this later.

New back cover copy as well was recommended by iUniverse. They want more of the synoposis and less of my bio and less of the quotes. The quotes included a best selling author (but not in genre), a former NYPD detective and my psychologist friend. I cut my bio and eliminated the psychologist quote. I edited the synoposis as well to a shorter, more crisp look at what’s inside the covers. One part of the bio I kept was my Marine Corps service. Any jarhood that glances over the back cover material will probably buy the book based on our unofficial “Best friend, worst enemy” creed.

Prior to receiving this material, I had forwarded iUniverse digital graphic files of the cover and back cover. The cover design, by my award winning art director wife, as well as the copy, written by a seasoned advertising writer (myself), had been thrashed over for the past year. After looking over all the material noted above, I emailed my PSA (Publishing Services Associate, one Katie E.) that the cover and back cover design and copy were pretty much set.

Katie thought the cover was “cool,” but asked me to complete a cover submission report regardless so my novel could potentially qualify for “Publishers Choice Designation.” I completed the report, answering such questions as why my novel was better than others in my field (dahhhh. I wrote it!) and what were my impressions of good novel covers compared to bad. I must confess, although I didn’t in the report, that I buy my novels by authors and not covers. Obviously, I hope this isn’t true for my novel for who in the hell knows of James Smiley Wightman, the writer of psycho-thrillers? The cover, by the way, will jump off the rack and it is shown in my website.