Interview With Author Lois Requist

  

 

1.      What inspired you to write this book? I’d already written much of my memoir when I began to hear news reports about White Supremist rallies with marchers chanting “Jews will not replace us” and the Christian Identity movement. I grew up in a church that was part of those beliefs. Though I’d left those teachings behind, I was appalled to learn how many people have
bought into these ideas. As a child I didn’t know; as an adult I learned how racist the movement was. The influence on our federal government is alarming, just one of many actions that have severely divided the country and caused many to fear for the survival of democracy. Americans need to understand what the white supremacists and the Christian Identity Movement are and their influence upon our government.

 

2.      What exactly is it about and who is it written for? It is about my life—growing up, first in a hell-bent religion and then in a Christian Identity group—and where I went from there. How I questioned these beliefs. How writing enabled me to understand and express my feelings. I chose to leave the church, but I didn’t want to leave my family, so it is also about maintaining
relationships with people I love but don’t agree with. It’s for anyone interested in the impact of religious views on current politics and how to maneuver in this divided world.

 

3.      What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? That faith is a choice, one that everyone should be free to make for themselves. Everyone should learn what my mother taught me: basic goodness, kindness, and respect for oneself and others.

 

4.      How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? That was easy. I asked a local artist to draw a picture of a young woman walking away from a church.

 

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Whether you are writing for money or fulfillment or both, keep on keeping on. Join writing groups. Other writers are often excellent editors and supporters.

 

6.      What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? It’s easier than ever to get published but harder to get people to read what you’ve written. I expect that situation to persist. Still, book clubs proliferate around the country. That’s a good sign.

 

7.      Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? My book is about my life, so all the experiences I wrote about made me what I am today. I’m 87 and I have many friends and family with whom I have good relationships. I enjoy life! I’m heathy, active, and want to share that, leaving my faith expanded my horizons.

 

8.      How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? My writing style is direct, down-to-earth, and easily accessible. I don’t write about faith from as theology, but simply, what happened in my life.

 

9.      What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? My sister is a preacher in a Christian Identity group. I worried about her reading it and being upset, but when I gave her the manuscript, she read it, she didn’t argue. She just said it reflected my viewpoint. Getting published is always challenging, unless you are one of those selected by the few top publishers. I had a publisher but eventually broke the contract and chose to publish it myself. 

 

10.  If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? It’s relevant to what is happening in the United States right now! The book speaks of challenges with beliefs, with family relationships, with my own understanding of the world. It is hopeful and not judgmental. As I mentioned before, people need to understand the goals of the White Supremicists and the Christian Identity Movement. They would like a Christian nation without any place for anyone who isn’t Christian. The separation of church and state is extremely important! Wikipedia has quite a
good, historical account of the Christian Identity Movement. Leaving the Faith of our Fathers doesn’t dodge reality! It provides hope in a divided world. 

 

About The Author: Requist received her BA and MA in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her four published books are Where Lilacs Bloom, RVing Solo Across America, without a cat, dog, man, or gun, Late Harvest Green, and Leaving the Faith of our Fathers. She is a founder of Benicia Literary Arts, a nonprofit which promotes writing and publishing in the community. She’s published many articles for magazines and regional newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Benicia Herald. She was poet laureate of Benicia, California
from 2012-2014. For more info, please see: www.loisrequist.com.         

 

Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 11 million page views. With over 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

 

Interview With Author E. Aspen

 

1. What inspired you to write this book?

One word: "dysregulated." It showed up everywhere at once, in captions, in coaching ads, in the way people described a perfectly ordinary bad day. I wanted to know when a normal stress response turned into a malfunction, and who was selling the repair. That question led me to the websites of neck gadgets and ear clips. The moment it became a book was the bottom of one of those pages. Up top, in big letters: "Clinically Proven." Down below, in small gray type, the study turned out to be forty people with no placebo group. I laughed, and then I started reading what the research actually says.

2. What exactly is it about and who is it written for?

It's a funny, sourced tour of the nervous system industry: the gadgets, the subscription apps, the six-week resets that end with a certificate, and the one theory most of them lean on. It doesn't claim stress is imaginary, and it doesn't call the vagus nerve a myth. A long, slow exhale genuinely settles people down, sleep does a lot of the heavy lifting, and doctors use vagus nerve stimulation as a legitimate treatment for specific conditions. What the book pulls apart is everything layered on top of that real science. Then it hands over the free version: the things that calm a body down and cost nothing. Greg, the hustle guru from book two, buys every gadget along the way so the reader can keep their wallet closed.

It's written for anyone whose heart has raced before a deadline and who then got told by an ad that their body is broken. It's also for the skeptic in every group chat, the one who replies to a wellness post with a single word: "source?"

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your series of books?

A habit, more than any single fact. Each book takes advice the internet treats as settled (set SMART goals, grind now and rest later, memorize the red flags, regulate your nervous system) and checks how much of it survives. Some of it usually does, and I keep that part. What I hope sticks is the reflex: when something promises to fix you, find the source, scroll to the fine print, and ask what the free version looks like. If a reader closes one of my books and skips the next shiny fix, or simply feels a little less broken, the book did its job.

4. How did you decide on your book's title and cover design?

The title follows the series formula: F#ck, then the thing everyone is selling, then what to do instead. "Calm Down for Free" is the whole argument in four words, and probably the cheapest promise in the self-help aisle. The hash sign where a vowel should be lets the title make its point and still get printed, and on the cover it's red, so nobody misses the joke.

The cover is built like a case file. A label at the top reads FILE No. 04, the background is plain mint, and in the middle sits a red rubber stamp that says NOT BROKEN. That stamp is the thesis. A lot of people who reach for this book have been told their nervous system is damaged, and the cover disagrees with that before page one.

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers, other than run!?

Run toward the fine print, maybe. For nonfiction in particular, keep your source list while you write, not afterward. If a claim can't be traced back to where it started, it doesn't go in, no matter how good the joke on top of it is. Cutting a great line hurts. Being caught out by a reader hurts a lot more.

Second, write the shortest book that does the job. I have never met anyone who finished a self-help book wishing it had ten more chapters of anecdotes. And third, treat your cover as a thumbnail from day one, because that's how almost everybody will meet it: a tiny square on a phone screen.

6. What trends in the book world do you see, and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?

The obvious one is the flood. Online stores are filling up with AI-written books produced faster than anyone could fact-check them. Some are fine. Plenty read like a confident summary of a summary. The side effect, though, is a healthy one: readers are getting suspicious in the best possible way. They want to know where a claim came from, and "source?" has become a fair question to ask a book, not only a person at dinner. That pushes nonfiction toward writing you can check, with specific claims, named studies, and a list at the back a curious reader can actually follow.

The second trend I notice is a taste for short, focused, evidence-based nonfiction. A slim book that does one job well feels respectful of people's evenings in a way a padded 300-page version of the same idea doesn't.

Where it's heading, I think, is that trust turns into the thing readers shop for. Words are cheap now. A book that shows its work is the one people will keep passing to a friend.

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?

My life story stays behind the pen name, and I'd rather leave that line blank than decorate it. What I can show you is the process, which probably says enough about whoever is behind it. Each book starts as a pile of claims and a running list of where every one of them came from. For this book I visited the product pages myself and copied the marketing and the fine print word for word, with the date I saw it. I searched the FDA's warning letters and the FTC's cases from 2023 through September 2026 for this whole category of gadgets and found nothing, which turned out to be a finding of its own. So the experience that came in handy most is a stubborn reflex: I always read the bottom of the page.

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?

Short sentences, specific numbers, and a joke every few lines that has to survive a fact check. I write the way I'd explain something to a smart friend who has about ten minutes: jargon gets translated or cut, and no chapter runs longer than it needs to. One rule never bends. The joke lands on the claim or the sales pitch, never on the person who believed it.

People who enjoy Mary Roach's curiosity, Ben Goldacre's Bad Science, or Calling Bullshit by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West will probably feel at home. I'm not putting myself in their league. Those are just the shelves I'd love to sit near.

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book?

Two, mainly. The first was staying fair to a theory I ended up criticizing. Polyvagal theory gave many therapists and their clients a gentle vocabulary for feeling unsafe, and that comfort was real. So in the chapter about the February 2026 paper where thirty-nine scientists called the theory untenable, I also quoted its author's reply and wrote a section on what the theory got right. Pure mockery would have been easier and worse.

The second was tone. This is a humor book about stress, and some people will open it during a genuinely hard stretch. Near the end there's one chapter with no jokes at all: how to tell a rough week from something that needs real help, and where to go for it. Knowing when to stop being funny was harder than being funny.

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours?

Because it might save you $269, and it will cost you roughly two evenings. You'll get a three-question test for telling a broken nervous system from a bad Wednesday, a breathing trick that's free and that you already know how to do, and a much sharper eye for small gray print. Every claim has a receipt at the back, so you can check me instead of trusting me. And if it turns out you really do need help, the book says so plainly and points you somewhere real. It's on Kindle now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HLLTKYP8

 

About The Author: E. Aspen, a pen name, writes The F*ck It Files: compact nonfiction books with masked swear words in the titles and long source lists at the back. Each book picks one piece of advice that everybody repeats and checks it against the research, keeping what holds up and laughing at what doesn't. So far, the series covers goal setting, hustle culture and rest, dating red flags, and now the nervous system industry. Every book ends with a chapter-by-chapter Receipts section, and everyone is meant to be finished in an evening or two. A standalone book on overthinking, with a title you can say out loud, is on the way. For more info, please see: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HLLTKYP8

 

Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 11 million page views. With over 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

What's Your Book Marketing Plan?

There are many pieces to the book marketing puzzle that are available to authors. The question is: What will work best for a specific book and author?  

Most authors execute sone type of a grass roots campaign, to build interest locally and within their network of connections. Too many stop there.  

Others may outsource every aspect of marketing, which is becoming financially untenable and just is not practical.  

Some combine the best of both — the hiring of an expert to complement, support, or expand upon your efforts.  

Some things are universal, regardless of a book’s genre or an author’s status. What is up for grabs is how well each author does in each of these areas— and to what percentage of their marketing mix is generated by each area.  

Authors should ask themselves why they are marketing their books. They must know what their goals are so that they can judge whether an activity can potentially serve what they seek to accomplish.  

Will the things that you plan to do serve the following needs — and are these your needs?  

* Help you brand yourself

* Gain third-party validation

* Get your message out there

* Build a media or speaking resume

* Generate additional readers

* Lead to more customer book reviews

* Yield more sales

* Land you a literary agent or publishing deal

* Sell foreign language or film rights

 

Figure out, to what degree, that you will:  

* Establish or revise a web site

* Launch or expand your own blog, podcast, or newsletter

* Craft a press kit and various pitch letters

* Develop an elevator pitch

* Submit to book awards

* Buy professional book reviews

* Seek out news media coverage/interviews

* Be active on social media

* Speak publicly about your book at conferences, fairs, events, bookstores, etc.

* Pay for advertising

* Network 

* Secure testimonials and endorsements

 

Design your marketing approach based on your:  

* Prioritized goals or needs

* Skills to execute marketing

* PR budget

* Time available to marketing

* Likelihood of success

 

Then identify:

* Who can help you, for free or a fee

* A marketing plan

* The timeline to execute the plan

* What resources will be needed

 

Are you pursuing to market:

* Locally

* Regionally

* Statewide

* Nationally

* Internationally  

Book marketing is not easy but it becomes more productive and rewarding when you have a clear road map to get to a predetermined destination.   

Do you know where you are going or how to get there? 

 

 

Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 11 million page views. With over 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

 

 

Interview With Novelist Keith McWalter

 

 

1.      What inspired you to write this book?

The book started as an open-ended sequel to my first novel, WHEN WE WERE ALL STILL ALIVE, in which the protagonist loses his wife to an accident. TELL ME AGAIN was going to be about the further process of his recovering from grief, until I witnessed what became the opening scene in the book: an old woman needs help pumping gas, and Conrad helps her, which leads to a conversation he never expected about his late wife, and a strong through-line that propelled the narrative.

 

I was almost finished with the first draft when my son-in-law, who is himself adopted and as an adult began an ultimately successful effort to identify and connect with his biological parents, directed me to Ann Fessler's "The Girls Who Went Away," a wrenching personal history of women who, through shame or coercion, gave up their babies to adoption in the years before Roe v. Wade. This amazing book sharpened my empathy for the teenage pregnancy plight of the young Sarah, who would become Conrad's wife but whose teenage trauma she never revealed to him.

 

2.      What exactly is it about and who is it written for?

It’s about a man’s recovery from grief with the help of friends, lovers, family, and the daughter-in-law he never knew existed. It’s for anyone who ever lost a loved one, either through death, divorce, distance, or the simple passage of time.

 

3.      What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book?

Four things: 

-A shared sense of resentment at the subtle forms of ageism that pervade society and constrain the lives of otherwise smart and able people.

-That the paths out of grief are many, often unexpected, but never traveled alone.

-That the things we think we know about those closest to us may be wrong, or woefully incomplete. So never assume you know the whole story.

-A desire to visit Paris.

 

4.      How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design?

The title went through many changes. Originally, it was “Reason to Believe,” which I thought perfectly captured the main character’s quest to find out if a shocking story about his late wife was true. But it’s just too common a phrase, both in song and in too many book titles, and implied a religious element that’s not part of the story, so I came up with a dozen or so alternatives, including “Past Believing,” “Useful Life,” and my other favorite, “Proof of Life” – but then the Guthrie abduction happened and rendered that one unusable. An editor at the publisher suggested “Tell Me Again,” and it grew on me. The cover, designed by Abbey Gregory, was one of several that were proposed by the publisher, and I liked it both for its abstraction, and the suggestion of a sky at dusk in the desert, which is where one of the crucial scenes in the book takes place. 

 

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!?

Well, yes, run! But also, work hard not only at writing itself, but at being a better self-editor. I mean that as regards the process of writing, but also the overall goal of your writing. Stop and ask yourself why you’re writing what you’re writing. If it’s mainly a commercial venture in the hopes of making money, then the odds of that outcome are so long that any rational person would stop and go open a stationery store instead. If you’re doing it for the sheer love of writing, or because you have a personal stake in a story that you think needs or deserves to be told, or simply to entertain yourself and some friends and relatives and network pleasurably with like-minded people, then that’s a different (and better) scenario, though still daunting. The one thing you must never, never do is assume you’ll be the one-in-a-million exception and actually make money by publishing a book.

 

All of this presumes that you’re a solid, competent, well-read writer and self-editor; many people are not, but have been led to believe by what I call the wannabe author exploitation industry that they are or easily could be. Read heavily in the genre you’re writing for and try to objectively observe how your writing compares. If you don’t passionately believe in the quality of your writing and the interest of your subject matter, it’s almost certain no one else will. 

 

The hard truth is that most of us are far more competent at something other than writing, and most of us can’t put our lives on hold for a couple of decades to better hone our writing craft. If you think you might need it, don’t hesitate to hire a reputable editor or “book doctor” to evaluate your manuscript and suggest revisions. Don’t rely on friends for this, as they too easily compromise their objectivity, their frankness, or both.

 

6.      What trends in the book world do you see – and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?

I see three broad trends affecting the “book world” in its broadest sense: (1) the proliferation of publishing platforms; (2) the explosion of what I call the wannabe author exploitation industry; and (3) the onslaught of A.I. slop.   

 

The last ten to 15 years have seen the slow erosion of mainstream/legacy publishing and the rise of a wide array of alternatives, with self-publishing and hybrid publishing in the forefront. The astonishing success of a book like Theo of Golden, originally self-published and only later picked up by a New York legacy publisher, attests to this. But the hard truth is that we need fewer books of higher quality, not avenues of publishing for everyone, all the time, because the latter has allowed a really serious narrowing of “marketable” subject matters in fiction (dystopias, diasporas, time travel, romanstasy), and the constriction of the populations of authors, agents, editors and readers to – let’s face it – women.

 

Then there’s the growing market in wannabe author exploitation, which is basically a genetically modified bastard child of the legacy publishing industry that perceives that there is far more money to be made in offering various kinds of coaching, editing, networking, and publicity services to aspiring writers who are still laboring under the delusion, perpetuated by this industry, that there is a viable path to traditional publishing for the unknown writer if only they purchase the expertise or inside knowledge of a third party. The latest evidence of this is that the Association of American Literary Agents recently revised its ethics rules to allow agents (of which there are too many with too little commission revenue) to take money from clients in exchange for coaching, editing, etc. (inevitably giving rise to the conflict of interest that writers may hire them in the hope of representation). 

 

Finally, there’s the quagmire of A.I., which has already trapped several high-profile debut authors revealed to have used it to do their work for them, and which is giving rise to a horrifying tide of computer-generated slop that threatens to further degrade already degraded retail platforms and crowd out actual human authorship and creativity. So not a happy prospect all around. Like you said, run!

 

7.      Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?

My mother’s sudden death from an E. coli outbreak over a decade ago was my wake-up call to an awareness of my own mortality, and eventually became the emotional foundation of my first novel, When We Were All Still Alive, to which Tell Me Again is a standalone sequel. I’d already written a short memoir, Befriending Ending, which related my experience of her last days and what it taught me about death and dying. But that was an exercise in facts and philosophy, and in this novel I wanted to get at the emotional reality of familial connection, loss, redemption, and solace, and how they interplay throughout life, in a way that my memoir hadn’t.

 

I had also reached a point in life where the subject of aging – its many unfairnesses and its great consolations – became a focus, and I wanted to try to depict how one man’s loves and friendships endure and change over the span of a lifetime and are there to save him in his late middle age. 

 

Tell Me Again elaborates all those themes, but with a strong, linear plot that’s propulsive and page-turning rather than merely “literary.” 

 

8.      How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?

My style is a mix of lyrical and sardonic. I aspire to write with wry humor, arresting metaphor, believable conversations, and attention to social nuance. I prefer the first person POV. Authors whose style I aspire to include Catherine Newman (Wreck, Sandwich), Ann Patchett (Whistler, Tom Lake), Richard Ford (the Bascombe trilogy), Elizabeth Strout (The
Things We Never Say), Eric Puchner (Dream State), and James Salter (Light Years, All That Is).

9.      What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book?

By far the biggest challenge in writing the book was how to end it – or, put differently, how to answer the two main burning questions of the narrative: who is Sarah’s child? And who was the father? In various drafts I had three different answers for the first question, and two different answers for the second, with at least five different endings combining different permutations of those answers. The ending I settled on was one that I felt best balanced emotional payoff with believability.  The other challenge was keeping track of timelines, since the plot involves events that happened 50 years ago and various events and people’s ages needed to be synched with that premise.

 

10.  If people can buy or read only one book this week or month, why should it be yours?

I think Tell Me Again provides the reader with a unique combination of emotion, mystery, and surprise, all in a believable narrative package that takes an international, transcontinental journey ‘way out of the ordinary and back again several times, and lands readers in a more open, caring and inquiring place than where they began. What more could you ask of a book?

 

About The Author: Keith McWalter is the award-winning author of WHEN WE WERE ALL STILL ALIVE, a literary family saga reviewed by Kirkus as “precise and fluid, weaving characters, settings, and timelines together in a complex tapestry.” His speculative novel, LIFERS, was described by Harvard’s Avi Loeb as “a fascinating read," and by Kirkus Reviews as "sharp and perceptive SF". TELL ME AGAIN, coming this December, is his third novel. Keith’s essays and opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. He’s the author of the essay blog MORTAL COIL and the travel blog SPOILED GUEST. A collection of his essays, THE PLASTIC BAG WILL NOT INFLATE: Letters from a Bi-Coastal Father, won the Writer's Digest Award for Nonfiction, and his family memoir, BEFRIENDING ENDING, was anthologized in the literary magazine Feathered Flounder. Keith grew up in Mexico and Pennsylvania, is a graduate of Denison University and Columbia Law School, and spent his nonwriting career as a lawyer in New York and San Francisco. He and his wife Courtney live in Granville, Ohio, and Sanibel, Florida. For more info, please see: https://keithmcwalterwrites.com

 

Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 11 million page views. With over 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum