Interview With Award-Winning Short Story Writer Michael Thomas Perone

 

 

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? I’ve always wanted to put together a collection of the best short stories I’ve written over the years, but I was afraid readers would be ping-ponging back and forth between different themes, as theme is very important to me. But I chose my six favorites anyway and then read them back, and either out of sheer coincidence or dumb luck, almost all the stories had the exact same themes: a sane person trying to survive an insane world, and the rise of technology and madness—and the connection between the two. It worked out nicely, and I was very happy with the result.

 

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? The Electric God and Other Shorts is a collection of six twisted short stories with twists. (Think Twilight Zone.) The stories range from sci-fi to thriller to horror. Fans of Ray Bradbury and Stephen King will love it.

 

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? First and foremost, I hope they’re entertained. Books are a source of entertainment, after all. I also hope they’re surprised—especially from the twists! Finally, I want them to think about the societal implications I make in the book—where we all seem to be headed and how it’s not necessarily a good place.

 

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? I wrote the title story back in the ‘90s when it seemed like television was taking over society. Almost every month, it seemed like there was a new cable channel being launched. I remember thinking there wasn’t enough people in the country to watch this much T.V., but I was proven wrong. A few things I did correctly predict were binge watching, remote learning via the T.V. and T.V.s being installed in the dashboards of cars. (We call them “screens,” but they’re basically

the same thing.) The title came to me because it felt like we were becoming a society that

literally worshipped the television set, and the cover developed from that idea. Originally, I

wanted a creepy smiley face instead of a sun on the cover’s T.V. screen, but it looked too goofy and cartoony, and I felt it would give potential readers the wrong impression. This isn’t a book for little kids!

 

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

I get this question a lot, and I never know how to answer it, because it implies I’m an expert. I’m here to tell you that I’m definitely not an expert; I’m making it up as I go, which is the very definition of writing. All I can offer are the standard cliches about writing what you know and never giving up. Publishing, as you know, is a brutal business, and if I wasn’t more motivated, I would’ve given up a long time ago.

 

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?  It seems AI is taking over everything these days, including and maybe even especially publishing. I feel that’s a shame, because if you’re using AI to write your books, you’re not a writer. Part of the reason why I write is because I’m trying to explain what the experience of being a human is like for me to others, and AI can’t do that because it’s obviously not human. The only AI I use is Spell Check. But I’m going to keep writing until the robot apocalypse enslaves us.

 

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Most of my work is autobiographical, particularly my coming-of-age/sci-fi novel Déjà View. For The Electric God and Other Shorts, part of the story Paper Language is based on my difficulty with writing and getting published. With some of my stories, I try to imagine what I would do in a certain situation, especially if it’s an outlandish scenario—and then I sometimes imagine someone going too far or doing the exact opposite of what I’d do, like in my story The Shovel. Let me be the first to warn readers that the main character in that story is not a role model!

 

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I’d say my writing is entertaining, funny, and smart—in that order. (At least I hope it is!) I don’t want to compare myself to the masters, but my literary heroes are J. D. Salinger, George Orwell, Roald Dahl, and Stephen King.

 

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Fear of having people think I’m a nut! Seriously, I know there are some people at work who are probably looking at me differently now. 

 

Abut The Author:  Michael Thomas Perone is an award-winning author who has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Long Island Voice (a spinoff of The Village Voice), and The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), among others. Online, he has written for Fatherly, Yahoo!, WhatCulture!, and other websites that don’t end with an exclamation mark. His debut novel, the action-adventure Danger Peak, was the recipient of multiple awards, including The Fall 2022 BookFest Award in the category of Young Adult — Action and Adventure. His follow-up, the coming-of-age/sci-fi mindbender Déjà View, won First Place at the Spring 2024 BookFest Awards in the category of Young Adult — Literary and Coming of Age. It was also a finalist of The 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award. His short story collection, The Electric God and Other Shorts, was the recipient of The Spring 2025 BookFest Award in the category of Short Stories and The 2024 Firebird Book Award in the same category, where it received First Place. It was also a Distinguished Favorite at The 2025 NYC Big Book Awards in the category of Short Stories and a Best Book Winner at The Fall 2025 PenCraft Awards in the category of Short Stories/Anthologies. He works as a Senior Editor for a nonprofit in Manhattan and lives on Long Island with his wife and two daughters.

A link to a website or social media page: www.michaelthomasperone.com  

 

Do You Need Book 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 6,400,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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 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 Rhodes Scholar & Author Jonathan Tepper

 

“Powerfully moving…. An extraordinary memoir.”
—George Stephanopoulos, Good Morning America and ABC Sunday News

"A remarkable, true-life story about an American family offering salvation in Spain’s slums."

—Kirkus  Reviews

"Riveting memoir exploring missionary work, addiction, and human kindness."
—Booklife/Publishers Weekly (Editor’s Pick)

1.      What inspired you to write this book?

I wrote Shooting Up because I realized that the people who shaped my childhood were disappearing, and many of their stories had never really been told. I grew up in San Blas during the heroin and AIDS crisis in Spain, surrounded by addicts, recovering addicts, missionaries, and people living on the absolute margins of society. Some of them became like older brothers to me. Many died very young. For years I carried these memories around without knowing what to do with them. Eventually I understood that this wasn’t just my family’s story. It was a story about love, grief, addiction, compassion, and what happens when people society has written off are treated with dignity. Writing the book became a way of remembering people who deserved not to be forgotten.

 

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

At its heart, Shooting Up is a memoir about growing up in Madrid’s heroin slums during the AIDS epidemic. My parents started a drug rehabilitation ministry called Betel, and as a child I spent my days handing out pamphlets to addicts, sitting in rehab meetings, and watching people struggle with addiction, recovery, illness, and death. But the book is really about much more than drugs or religion. It’s about family, loss, childhood, resilience, and the strange ways people create meaning in difficult circumstances. I wrote it for anyone interested in memoir, social history, addiction, coming-of-age stories, or simply trying to understand how people survive suffering without losing their humanity.

 

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

I hope readers come away with more empathy. Addiction is often discussed in abstract political terms, but the people I knew were not abstractions. They were funny, intelligent, difficult, generous, self-destructive, loving, and deeply human. I also hope readers see that even in terrible circumstances, there can still be humor, friendship, beauty, and grace. The book deals with death and grief, but it is not hopeless. If anything, it convinced me that love and human connection matter far more than success, status, or comfort.

 

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

The title Shooting Up obviously refers to heroin use, which shaped the world I grew up in. But it also carries a double meaning. It hints at growing up, rising, transforming, and trying to escape gravity in one form or another. The addicts were trying to escape pain. My parents were trying to save people. I was trying to understand the world around me. The cover image came from an actual childhood photograph of my brothers and me in San Blas. I love that it looks almost ordinary at first glance. Three blond kids standing in a barren field. But once you know the story behind it, the image changes completely. That tension felt right for the book.

 

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

Write honestly, even when it makes you uncomfortable. Especially then. Readers can sense when something is emotionally true. I also think writers spend too much time worrying about style before they’ve figured out what they actually want to say. The real challenge is not sounding clever. It’s seeing clearly. If you can describe people truthfully and compassionately, the prose usually takes care of itself.

 

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

I think readers are hungry for authenticity. There’s so much noise, so much performance, and so much content engineered for algorithms that people increasingly respond to books that feel personal and real. Memoir continues to resonate because readers want lived experience, not just opinion. At the same time, publishing is becoming more fragmented. Communities form around podcasts, Substack newsletters, BookTok, niche reading groups, and independent media rather than a handful of traditional gatekeepers. That creates challenges, but it also gives unusual books a better chance to find the readers who will truly connect with them.

 

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

Absolutely. The book is deeply autobiographical, so I drew constantly on memory, journals, family stories, photographs, and conversations. Growing up between cultures also shaped the way I observe people. I was always slightly outside of things, which probably made me pay closer attention. Professionally, my background in history and economics trained me to think about systems and human behavior, but memoir requires something very different. It requires emotional honesty. That was harder than any research project I’ve ever done.

 

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

I’d describe the style as direct, literary, and emotionally grounded. I wanted the writing to feel intimate without becoming sentimental. The world I grew up in was already dramatic enough. I didn’t need to exaggerate it. Writers who influenced me include George Orwell and Joan Didion. Orwell especially mattered to me because he combined moral seriousness with clarity and restraint. I admire writers who can describe extraordinary situations in plain, human terms.

 

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

The hardest part was revisiting painful memories I had spent years trying not to think about. Writing about addiction and AIDS was difficult enough, but writing about the death of my younger brother Timothy was something else entirely. Some chapters took a tremendous emotional toll. Another challenge was balance. I wanted to write honestly about faith, addiction, and suffering without turning the book into a sermon or reducing people to symbols. The addicts in the book were not props in someone else’s redemption story. They were individuals with their own dignity and complexity.

 

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

Because I think Shooting Up offers readers a world they have probably never seen before, but one that speaks to universal human experiences. Almost everyone has encountered grief, addiction, loneliness, family conflict, or the search for meaning in some form. The book is ultimately about how people care for one another in impossible situations. It asks what it means to love people who are broken, and whether compassion can survive suffering. Those questions feel just as urgent today as they did when I was growing up in San Blas. 

 

About The Author: Jonathan Tepper is the chief investment officer at Prevatt Capital. Jonathan was the founder of Variant Perception, which provides research to asset managers. Formerly, he was an analyst at SAC Capital and a vice president on the proprietary trading desk at Bank of America. Along the way, with his friend Turi Munthe, they founded Demotix, a citizen-journalism website and photo agency. They sold Demotix in 2012 to Corbis, a company owned then by Bill Gates. Jonathan is the author of financial books, the latest of which is The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition. He is a Rhodes Scholar and graduated with highest honors in history and honors in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has an MLitt from the University of Oxford. Website - https://jonathan-tepper.com/

Do You Need Book 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 6,500,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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 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

Does Social Media Math Add Up?

 

Does social media pay off for authors? Let’s explore.

The number of followers one has does not always translate onto actual viewings of a post.

The number of viewings of a post does not exactly mean the number of people who viewed it.

All social media numbers are suspect.

People pay unscrupulous marketers to buy followers or give people incentives to sign up as a follower and then they disappear.

The number of likes and loves for posts are also suspicious and not necessarily an indicator of anything.

The only number an author or publisher cares about is the number of books sold. No one cares about social media clicks if they don’t translate into readers and book sales. Clicks get commoditized by influencers and media outlets who charge for advertising.

The facts on social media are brutal:

* Not all of your connections and followers receive your post.
* Not all who receive it scroll deep into their feeds to discover it.
* Not all those who get your post and see it pop up bother to open and view it.
* Not all those who view your post enjoy it, act on it, bother to share it, or respond with a comment or a like — let alone buy something.

There are just way too many apps, memberships, and services that provide content, along with emails, texts, and voice messages.

And mix in hoaxes, scams, and frauds with communications seeking to trick you and separate you from your money, identity, or valuable information. It is a brutal digital landscape out there.

Too many passwords, security alerts, and sign-ups or sign-ins. Too many auto pays. Too much addictive garbage,  input, and time wasted on line.

Of course there are many positives that we overlook about social media, including:

* It is free, instantaneous, and always available
* It can be used for good, for fun, and for book sales
* It is something that allows us access to the globe from our pajamas

Social media, like anything, is a tool for good or bad, depending on who uses it and how. Is there a net benefit to social media? It seems like there should be one but given the number of scams, how it leads to addictions, spreads lies, and manipulates us, you have to wonder if that is the case. The social media math may actually not add up favorably.

Do You Need Book 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 6,200,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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 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