Saturday, November 12, 2016

Interview with author Don Wilson


Hypocrites In His Midst: A Story About Flawed Human Beings        

1. What inspired you to write your book?  I always loved to read - and while reading many of the historic great books and authors of our times, I studied their writing styles.  By the time I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to write - but that process did not start until I was in my mid-to-late twenties.  I knew I wanted to write about my interesting and crazy life.  The neighborhood I was raised in actually was called The Melting Pot.  It was filled with a lot of very diverse people, some of whom were very good, solid citizens, but many others who were extremely bad, usually social misfits and lawbreakers.  And I was one of them.

2. What is it about? Hypocrites In His Midst: A Story About Flawed Human Beings is a fictionalized memoir about my life and describes my personal journey of overcoming a great deal of personal adversity.  Many of these adversities were self-inflicted by the mistakes I made as a rebellious teenager and young adult.   The book probes my life events and how I gradually came to understand why I carried out so many negative and self-destructive behaviors until much later in life.  

Raymond Mathiesen Book Reviews described my book in these terms: “The long road from street gangs to success...Hypocrites In His Midst: A Story About Flawed Human Beings is a fictionalized autobiography spanning seven decades.  In this 1950’s era of street gangs Wilton Latso is soon introduced into a world of violence, ego, and selfishness...“Willy Lost Soul”...lost...in the criminal underworld, is also a soul seeking personal ‘redemption.’

The themes of hypocrisy, ethics, success, and personal maturation reflect the more individual natures of the characters, certainly giving us something to think about... what captures us most is that they are quite different from the “normal” ...likeable, but not exactly “good” people. These are people from the ‘wild’ side of life.”

Kirkus Reviews said about Hypocrites In His Midst:  “Wilson’s memoir chronicles the life and times of an ordinary man… A substantial life-and-times novel.” - Kirkus Reviews

3.  What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book?  First of all, that it was a good read and that they enjoy themselves while reading about my antics.  But my real intention and hope is that my readers will learn, and realize, that no matter where you are in life, you can turn yourself and your life around, by taking as many negatives as possible and turning each into a positive to advance your life into a set of better circumstances.  And it is also my hope that my readers will realize that it’s possible to laugh at your own mistakes - but also take seriously the personal steps needed to make your everyday existence a positive, life-affirming one.  One last thought, but likely the most important, is to appreciate the influence of the positive people in your life and show your gratitude - and love - as soon as you can.

4.  What advice do you have for writers? If you want to write, do it!  And never give up your dream of writing.  Think about what you want to write about but first, study your own life and the lives of those around you.  Constantly watch others and figure out why people are the way they are and why they behave as they do.  After that, write about what you know from personal experience - OR, write about a subject that interests you greatly, but be sure from the get-go that you are willing to do the research (sometimes extensive) on that subject to write an interesting and believable story.  Once you are firm on your idea, start your project by writing an initial outline of your book.  You can - and will - change it many times, but you need to start by putting all the basics of your story down in print, in order to have a solid starting point as a reference.  New ideas for what I want to write about next are always swirling around in my head, waiting for me to put them into writing.  For me, the process of writing about the human condition is a constant one which sometimes makes for very few hours of sleep!

5.  Where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? I think brick-and-mortar bookstores will always be with us.  I do think that bookstores would benefit themselves - and writers - if they hired staff to exclusively read and review the products of independent authors and choose those authors and works that they want to promote in their stores.  People like me love to hold a hard-copy book in their hands and read it.  I hope the day never comes, at least not in my lifetime, that I would not be able to go to my local bookstore and leisurely spend as much time as I wanted to browse and peruse titles new and old.  I think the day is coming when eBooks will become even more mainstream than they are now and that they will always be around for people who want to read but prefer the downloadable convenience and lower cost of an eBook. 

6.  What challenges did you have in writing your book?  I was a poor student in school.  Not because I wasn’t smart enough, but because I was so wild when I was younger.  I believe that part of this was due to my Attention Deficit Disorder which I really did suffer from, but about which I and my parents were not even aware, because it had not even been developed as an actual diagnosis yet in those days.  And so I had to go to writers’ workshops and take evening classes.  It would have been a whole lot easier if I had stayed in school - yet another mistake from earlier in my life that I had to overcome.

7. If people can only buy one book this month, why should it be yours? Simply this:  It’s not boring!  It will be a “walk on the wild” side for many readers - and it’s extremely colorful and very interesting.  I utilize a lot of dialogue, making the book move quickly.  I have been told by a good number of my readers that it is a page-turner, and they’ve also told me that they didn’t want to put the book down because they wanted to keep reading to see what happened in the next chapter.  These readers have told me they think Hypocrites In His Midst would make a good action movie.  I just need someone who is in the right position to read my book and work with me to give Hypocrites the recognition it deserves.  I have the ability to promote myself well, given the right venue.   

Please Click On The Best Out Of 2,100 Posts
11 best author, literary agent, media interviews of the year – with an opportunity for you to be interviewed

2016 Book Marketing & Book Publicity Toolkit

2015 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit

2014 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit

Book Marketing & Book PR Toolkit: 2013

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.
Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby 


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.