Q & A

Q. What was the inspiration behind Winner’s Choice?

 

A. “Wow! I’m going to have to take you on a trip around the block to answer that. I’ll try to make it as quick as possible, though. If you’ll remember a couple of Presidential elections ago, a candidate challenged his opponents to ‘Town Hall’ debates. For some reason I kept referring to them as ‘Town Square’ formats and I started telling my friends when they corrected me that public hangings take place in the town square and isn’t television ‘The New Town Square’ where if one said the wrong thing one would essentially be hanging themselves? Luckily, I was vindicated. Remember, ‘Who am I? Why am I here?’ Part two of the inspiration is less complicated. For two years, I bought two lottery tickets every week, one was the same six numbers and one was computer picked. I never got even one number matching. I started saying that the only way I’d ever win the lottery was if I wrote about one. The televised execution was always my plan, it just happens to be that reality-television-mania has swept the nation over the past several years.”

 

Q. Are you a fan of reality television?

 

A. “No. Not really. Of course, I succumbed to a few. I liked Trading Spaces and What Not to Wear and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, but I liked them more before they changed their formats. Also, I’ve watched an episode or two of various others, how can anyone not, but none have really hooked me.”

 

Q. It took you four years to write Winner’s Choice. Why so long?

 

A. “Well, as you can probably tell, the idea had been in my head for many years and I did try to write it back in the ‘90’s, but I couldn’t get past my ‘i’ dotting and ‘t’ crossing. A ‘now’ good friend of mine came to work with me and he was writing a book and I was very envious and I never said anything until he finished writing his and then I said something and we got to talking and he inspired me to go for it and I did. Why did it take me four years to write Winner’s Choice? I guess, mainly, because I only had the very basic idea when I started it. I really only had two characters in mind, Peter James and his brother, Anthony. As I started writing it, it really took on a life of its own and became much more involved than I ever imagined. Plus, I had several personal circumstances to deal with.”

 

Q. What do we have to look forward to next?

 

A. “First, because of the numerous requests I’ve gotten from the people who’ve bought and read my first novel Interrations, I’ve begun writing the follow-up which is currently titled Cornelia’s Place. After that, I have a few other ideas in the works and I just have to decide which one to devote myself to.”