Jason Morris, Ph.D., Professor and
Chair, Department of Natural Sciences at Fordham University recently debuted as a novelist with the
publication of Thicker Than Mud. Below is an interview with Jason, who by the
way is a friend:
1.
Jason, what inspired you to
pen your debut novel, Thicker Than Mud?
I didn’t quite realize it until later, but this book had its
beginning at my grandfather’s burial. In Jewish tradition, the mourners
help bury the dead. It’s the last thing in this world that we can do for
the person we loved. It’s an expression of chesed, caritas, love—because
a kindness to the dead can never be repaid.
I was very close to my grandfather. I remember very clearly
how reluctant I was to hand the shovel to the next mourner. I’m not a
greedy person, but that was something I found very difficult to share. I
was surprised by that, because it did mean a lot to me that so many other people
loved my grandfather, too. I thought about my first emotional response
afterwards— for years.
I felt that I wanted to try to tell the story of someone who
couldn’t take that next step of sharing that shovel, so to speak—someone we
could sympathize with and understand but who couldn’t mourn in
community. Adam's conflict with Danny, who also had such strong ties
to the grandfather in the book, flowed from my thinking about that. All the
other events and relationships in the novel, in fact: Adam’s relationships with
his mentor and his student and his department chair, his friendships with
Steven and Todd, his eventual involvement with the police, the romance in the
book—all flowed from the building of a world in which Adam’s character, the
character of a man who needs to retain exclusive claim to his grandfather,
makes sense and could develop.
2.
What is it about?
The book’s protagonist is Adam Drascher, a Jewish
archaeology professor at a small Jesuit college in the Bronx. When the
book begins, Adam is at a standstill. He is in love with his former
mentor, though he knows that relationship has no future. Though Adam’s tenure
decision is approaching, he has little to show for his efforts studying the
cult of the dead in ancient Israel. Everything changes for Adam when he
discovers a tablet that sheds light on the Healers, shadowy underworld figures
in Canaanite myth and in the Bible, on the same day that he loses his
grandfather, the man who raised him. As Adam mourns for his grandfather and
labors to interpret the text of the tablet, he unearths family secrets that
test his loyalties and entangle him in the police investigation of Danny, an
old family friend.
3. Is it more about loss and healing or Biblical history and archaeology?
At its core, the novel is a family story, though it’s also a romance with a bit of a detective story in the mix. But Jewish learning and archaeology and religion and music academic politics are central, too. They help form the prism through which Adam experiences and understands his world.
4. Kirkus Reviews said your book “blends intriguing civilization history and personal drama.” What do you hope your book will leave readers feeling or thinking?
I hope the characters stay with people. I've been very gratified to hear from many readers that these characters felt real: that people think about them for a long time after reading the book and want to know what happens to them after the book concludes. I was really touched to hear from a number of people that reading the book made them feel that they wanted to draw closer to people in their own lives--that after reading the book, they wanted to reach out to a parent or a sibling or an old friend and talk about it.
5. Does your book have movie potential?
I
sure think so! The book picks up pace pretty steadily, and I think some of the
characters would play very well on screen. And music plays such a
prominent role that I already have a pretty good idea of what the soundtrack
would be.
6. Which authors do you emulate? Why?
6. Which authors do you emulate? Why?
I
love Laurence Sterne (Tristram Shandy and Sentimental Journey)
and John Steinbeck (especially Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday)
because they have such great affection even for their deeply flawed characters.
I felt that for my characters, and I hope it comes through in the
writing. I also loved their humor. I thought Umberto Eco (Name
of the Rose) did a great job of writing suspensefully about pretty arcane
subjects and keeping the reader engaged while teaching them something
new. I hope I achieved that.
7. What has the process of writing, researching, publishing, and marketing your book been like?
7. What has the process of writing, researching, publishing, and marketing your book been like?
The
writing was the hardest, longest, and possibly the most educational project
I've ever undertaken. I'm glad I didn't know how difficult it was going to be
before I started, or I might never have begun, and it was a wonderful
experience. I'm an academic (genetics professor), so doing research is like
breathing to me, and that was just a joy. Finding a publisher was very
difficult, and I got very lucky-- a colleague pointed out that Wipf and Stock
publishes a lot of biblical archaeology, and since my protagonist is a biblical
archaeologist, they would have a built in audience. As for marketing, I
haven't done enough. I do have a radio interview (https://www.wfuv.org/content/thicker-mud).
And I've done several book events, though I'd like to do more. But I have no
training or experience in marketing, and with a full time job, it's been hard
even to figure out what I need to learn.
8. What advice do you have for struggling writers?
8. What advice do you have for struggling writers?
When
I was writing this, I thought about what I would need to achieve to feel like
this was a worthwhile experience. I determined that if the world at large spent
as many hours reading it as I spent writing it, then it wouldn't feel like a
vanity project. I've certainly achieved that, but in the interim I
realized that as gratifying as if has been to see people appreciating the book,
bringing it to the point where it was the best book I could write was really
rewarding in itself. It was well worth all those drafts and all those
years of work. But having said that: please read the book!
If
you want to learn more, please consult: https://cjamorris.wixsite.com/thickerthanmud
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