Interview With Author Micah Carlsen

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? Since my teens, I wanted to write a novel.  I grew on the Beat Writers and Poets and admired the freedom they expressed.  My tastes changed and having read authors like Tim Winton, Sam Selvon, George Pelicans and John Steinbeck, I found a style that I think is universally accessible. This galvanised me.  Also, I promised my children that I would write a novel and you have to honour a promise to a child! Not that they gave a monkey's butt in the end. 

2. What exactly is it about - and who is it written for? Billy Collins grew up on Portland Isle an isolated, insular community, East of Chesel Beach, Dorset.  Billy is something of a loner, happy in his own company.  He is shunned by his fellows being seen as being bad luck, his father having been killed in a quarry fall.  He also has something of a 6th sense which doesn't play well for him on parochial Portland.  He leaves to become a bomb disposal officer with the Royal Engineers.  After a lucky and distinguished 30 year career, he decides that when the phone next rings he will make it his last job.  He didn't count on it being on Portland.  Billy hasn't returned in decades and the thought makes him quake and shudder.  Will this definitively be his last job? The book was written for teens.  My hope was that it might become a school text (there is a long explanation for this better told on the phone!). Despite my intentions, it has been enjoyed by teens and adults alike, some in their 90's! 

3. What do you hope readers will get out of it? My hope is that people enjoy the story/ narrative and language as well as the detail about Portland and the life of a bomb disposal officer which I hoped would provide excitement as well as learning.  

4. How did you decide on your book's title and cover design? Dead Man Walking: this is the nickname in forces for bomb disposal officers and is also relevant to the 'thriller - does he get blown to smithereens'.'  The cover design with the WWII barrage balloons sets the back drop to Billy's childhood on Portland and I hope conveys a sort Billy's solitude.  

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers? It's a very lonely experience. You spend all your time on your own, in your own head.  Having spent all those hours, the effort of submitting your first novel to 100 publishers, you can't help feeling that it might all have been a complete waste of time.  If you're lucky enough to have a positive reply of your 101 submission, don't expect red carpet and bunting.  Having been published, I still haven't had a single phone call with a person at Austen Macauley and they prefer to communicate via email and discourage speaking. Lonely, lonely, lonely!  

6.      What trends and where do you see the book world industry going? I don't really understand the industry, but crime thrillers seem to be the Zeit Geist in the UK and I don't see this changing.  

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing the book? When I worked in HMP Exeter a fellow officer/ pal had been a bomb disposal officer for 15 years.  This was a long and lucky run, he said and didn't want to chance his arm any longer!  Straight from the horse’s mouth, Steve was able to give me huge amounts of detail about the profession and a BDO's hope and fears! 

About The Author: After University at Exeter, I trained as an English teacher.  I worked in Pupil Referral Units for young people permanently excluded from main stream education.  This led to working at the Exeter Youth Offending Team.  I then worked for the Probation Service in HMPS Exeter, Channings Wood and Dartmoor.  Recently, I moved from the West Country back to my home town, Swansea.  5 years ago, while on a walk at The Knave in Gower, I slipped off a cliff ledge and fell 40 feet, fracturing my skull, spine and both arms. It has significantly affected my life, but I am up and about and walk my Jack Russel twice a day, though not so close to the edge!  The funny part about it was when I told the consultant the story, he said "You shouldn't have broken bones my friend, you should have little wings!"  I did laugh, like some kind of fool!

 

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.4 million pageviews. With 5,300+ posts over the past 14 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