Interview With Author B Thomas Bigelow

 

1. What inspired you to write this book?

        To be completely candid, I didn't intentionally write the bulk of the poems in this volume of poetry. I write poetry like the gastroenterological requirements of someone whose entire diet consists solely of cheese. Eventually, it just needs to come out. Subsequently, most of the poems were already written before a friend suggested I publish them, though a few more showed up when the book started taking shape.

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

        It's about what it's all about (42). It's written for polymaths, autodidactic and otherwise and people with an infinite curiosity and a love of puzzles. It's far more than it seems. Like how the infinite can fit within a finite space, depending on the direction one goes. Often homonyms and multiple definitions allow for various interpretations of the text.

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

        Wonderment. 

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

        Well as for Science & Mysticism, it is for the most part what it says on the tin. The Veil's Cipher was a line of dialogue from a show I was watching while distracted that intrigued me. Then I rewound and figured out that wasn't at all what had been said; I wrote it down anyway. About three years later, it made perfect sense as the title to the eponymous collection of poems. 

I worked with the wonderful Sebastian Cudicio to create the cover. I initially had two requests: that green be the predominant color, as it was my grandmother's favorite and that the ampersand be prominent. He introduced the concept of an obscured image and I then wanted it to be something astronomical. The cosmos contained in a letter.

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

        Keep running

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

        They really are musings and ruminations. A partial lifetime of curiosity and contemplation was helpful. When I was a child, I played what I called "The Dictionary Game". I'd either look up a word or flip to a random page and read until I found a word I didn't know; then I'd look that up. Rinse and Repeat

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

        I think the poems' style is often informed by the subject matter. It's typically lyrical. I'd like to say it's similar to Emily Dickinson and Jorge Louis Borge, though that seems presumptuous. Often it might be closer to a combination of Theodore Geisel and Richard Feynman. Some aspects share conceptual similarities to Flatland by Edwin A Abbott and Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman.

8. How do you feel your book compares to others in your genre?

        To poetry as a genre? Likely esoteric and erudite. More analytical than the romantics and more romantic than the brutalists.
 

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

        I wrote the book unencumbered by expectation. The challenges all came along with publishing.  They included self-doubt, Amazon (KDP) refusing to publish a book in tête-bêche format, the two star review (my first review for my first book) because the reviewer thought the language too advanced and readers might need to look something up in a dictionary and then more self-doubt.
 

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

        I'd say most people shouldn't. Perhaps it's just not your cup of tea. Why would you want to think so much? Maybe you simply want to be spoon fed? To the few that do; because if you look closely, something new can be discovered each time you read it

About The Author: Born in Paterson, NJ. Raised on the Gulf coast of FL and lives there currently. Worked in IT since the beginning of this Millennia. Enjoys cycling and hiking or just about anything outdoors in the wilderness. Greatest passion is learning and makes for a valuable addition to any pub trivia team, barring sports and pop culture. A car wreck left a previously kinetic existence far more limited and sedentary for a while, though things have improved considerably year over year. A Hummer at 80 has a real possibility of being fatal, so all things considered quite lucky. The severe blow to the head seems to have resulted in poems leaking out at a higher rate. Maybe cartoons were right? Sometimes a swift knock to the noggin' has wonderfully unexpected results (or silver linings, at least) For more info, please see: https://bthomasbigelow.com

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.25 million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen 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 2025.

 

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).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, 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