Rarity from the Hollow: A
Tragic, Comedic, and Satiric Science Fiction Adventure that Supports the
Prevention of Child Maltreatment
1. What really inspired you to write your book, to force you
from taking an idea or experience and conveying it into a book?
Thanks, Brian, for inviting me to
tell your readers a little about myself and my debut novel, Rarity from the Hollow. I’m a retired
children’s psychotherapist with over forty years in the field of children’s
advocacy. Most of my writing has been nonfiction: nationally distributed social
service models for serving youth in the community as opposed to sending them
off to giant institutions; research on foster care drift with children bouncing
from one home to the next without ever establishing permanency; dozens of
investigative reports published by the West Virginia Supreme Court on systemic
issues affecting child welfare; statistical reports on the occurrence and
correlates of child abuse and delinquency…. These documents are now archived by
the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.
Over the years, I’ve been exposed
to or directly involved in hundreds of situations involving traumatized kids – experiences
that tugged at my heart strings, hard. In 2002, I went to work at our local
mental health center. It was a day program for kids with serious mental health
concerns, many having been maltreated, some sexually abused. Part of my job was
to facilitate group therapy sessions. It was the type of job that I brought
home after work, and the first job that I’d held since college that production
of written work was not part of my job description. The need to write started
churning inside me. I’d dabbled in fiction and poetry as a young man, having
won the eighth grade short story competition and a few poems had been
published, including one in our state’s Annual College Student Anthology, so I
started writing fiction again. Initially, my reemergence into fiction writing
was in pursuit of psychological relief from work stress rather than to produce
anything meaningful for others to read.
One day in 2006, I met a skinny
little girl during a group therapy session. Instead of merely disclosing the
horrors of her maltreatment by one of the meanest daddies on Earth, she also
spoke of her hopes and dreams for the future. My protagonist was born that day,
Lacy Dawn: an empowered victim who confronts the evils of the universe. I
started writing fiction after work, sometimes late into the evenings. It was
exhausting, but when I felt so discouraged with the condition of the book
marketplace that I was about to give up, I found another source of inspiration.
I decided to donate half of author proceeds to the prevention of child
maltreatment. After identifying a worthwhile recipient, http://www.childhswv.org/,
this inspiration continues to sustain my drive to write fiction.
2. What is it about and whom do you believe is your
targeted reader?
In a nutshell, Rarity from the Hollow is a story of
victimization to empowerment filled with tragedy, comedy, and satire. A most
unlikely savior of the universe organizes a team of zany characters to address
an imminent threat to the universe. Due to its social commentary and political
allegory, not because of sexual or violent content, the target audience is
adults who are not prudish, faint-of-heart, or easily offended.
3. What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for
readers who finish your book? What should remain with them long after putting
it down?
My hope is that readers of Rarity from the Hollow will be
sensitized to the huge social problem of increasing child maltreatment in the
world and its potential impact on civilization. There is nothing preachy in the
story. It was written for enjoyment as a strategy to provide food for thought
to last a long time, as opposed to a tragedy that one wants to push out-of-mind
as quickly as possible. Its political allegory does not advocate for one
position or any other, pure parody of both extreme capitalism and democratic
socialism based on my understanding of positions held by Donald Trump back when
he was on The Apprentice, and those
held by Bernie Sanders. Some readers of my novel may question the logic of
President Trump’s proposed budgets cuts of domestic spending, as will affect
child welfare services, while others may not. But, I hope that all readers of
my novel will at least give serious consideration to the impact regardless of
their politics. Further, I hope that readers of my novel will consider making
charitable contributions to programs that prevent child maltreatment among
other worthwhile causes when they are in a position to make personal
donations.
4. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow
writers?
As a novice to the fiction
marketplace with only a debut novel and a few published stories, I’m no expert.
I have noticed that a lot of debut novelists seem to put everything, perhaps to
a fault, into their creations, and soon seem to fade into the sunset. My best
advice to fellow writers would be to look at the long haul. It is not likely
that one will be discovered like Elvis singing on the porch stoop of an
apartment in a low-income neighborhood. Do not bet the family farm that you will
be discovered as an author just because you are a great writer who has produced
a remarkable piece. Be patient with ongoing persistence. Keep writing and
submitting with conservative expectations and investments.
5. What trends in the book world do you see and where do
you think the book publishing industry is heading?
Again as a novice, I see the book world and industry heading
toward increasing standardization. Despite the advent of self-publishing which
was expected to open-wide the doors of free speech and creativity, our culture
seems to repeating the same themes over and over again. Beat Poet Ferlinghetti
warned about the impact of the conglomeration of publishers. In my opinion, his
warning was prophetic. I hope that I’m wrong. I don’t know if it’s true, but
I’ve read that Big Five publishers spend tens of thousands of dollars promoting
a single title. I’m not highly well-read in the most popular Young Adult and
Romance genres, but of the several that I have read, they feel cookie-cutter.
Like everybody else, I receive email spam. The other day, I received an advert
for a software program that, essentially, writes your book for you after you
plug in details, like character names, etc. Indie authors who strive to produce
avant-garde works, even though publication is more possible at a lower cost
today than ever before, face stiff competition. Due to their proliferation,
books are now the cheapest form of entertainment available – many for free or
99¢. Competition by other forms of entertainment, enhanced by technology, such
as special effects in movies and video games, seems to have reduced
readerships. Perhaps related, action-based plots in genre fiction seem to be
dominating more literary techniques. In the field of science fiction, which I
love, for the last couple of years an organization named the Sad Puppies have
protested in favor of pulp fiction at the Hugo Award ceremonies. Again, these
are my observations as a novice author, mostly a reader and lover of books.
6. What great challenges did you have in writing your book?
The only major challenge that I experienced with the actual
writing of Rarity from the Hollow was
when cutting great scenes that just didn’t fit the story. I struggled with
debate over either cutting them or revising the story to make the scenes fit
because they were so good. My challenge has been with promotions after the book
was finished. It is a traditional small press publication. This was great
because I’ve never had to spend any money on anything to get it published, but
small presses have next to no advertising budget. I’ve spent much more time
promoting my debut novel than it took to write it.
7. If people can only buy one book this month, why should
it be yours?
As the author, I recommend that
prospective readers buy Rarity from the
Hollow because it is a fun read with meaningful content that is enough food
for thought to last a long time. Early tragedy in the story feeds and amplifies
subsequent comedy and satire. This means that readers will get a bigger bang
for their time spent reading than if they had selected a book quickly forgotten
after the last page.
About the author:
Robert
Eggleton has served as a children's advocate in an impoverished state for over
forty years. Locally, he is best known for his nonfiction about children’s
programs and issues, much of which was published by the West Virginia Supreme
Court where he worked from1982 through 1997. Today, he is a retired children's
psychotherapist from the mental health center in Charleston, West Virginia,
where he specialized in helping victims cope with and overcome maltreatment and
other mental health concerns. Rarity from
the Hollow is his debut novel. Its release followed publication of three
short Lacy Dawn Adventures in magazines. Rarity from the
Hollow
https://twitter.com/roberteggleton1
Purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/Rarity-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton-ebook/dp/B017REIA44
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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 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in
Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs
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