Book: The First Robot President
Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
I was born in Vermont but grew up primarily in Massachusetts. My parents were both teachers, and I developed an interest in literature at an early age. Although I aspired to be a writer, I put that ambition aside for a stable job, first in retailing, then in banking, and finally in the Federal government. I retired from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2018 after a forty-year career that included nineteen years in SBA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and ten years as SBA’s Area Director for Government Contracting in Fort Worth, Texas. I began writing The First Robot President soon after I retired and published it in 2020. It is my first published novel.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘The First Robot President’ book?
I had a good outline before I started writing the novel and knew what the key events would be and how the story would end. However, since I had not done any creative writing in more than 50 years (I am turning 77 next month), I had to figure out how to connect the dots, so to speak, and move the story forward from one high point to the next. Fortunately, I read so many novels when I was young that storytelling is second nature to me now. I believed that the technique would come back to me quickly, and it did.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
Since The First Robot President is science fiction (science fiction and political satire), you may be surprised to learn that I didn’t read much science fiction prior to writing my own novel, other than a couple of novels by Jules Verne in my early teens: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth. During this period, I read many historical novels, including several by Thomas Costain (The Black Rose and The Silver Chalice), A.B. Guthrie, Jr. (The Way West and The Big Sky), and Kenneth Roberts (Northwest Passage, Arundel, and Rabble in Arms). In my late teens and early 20s, I read books by other famous American writers, including Mark Twain, Henry James, Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner. I also read novels by some of the great European and Russian writers, including Charles Dickens, George Eliott, Thomas Hardy, D.H. Lawrence, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Thomas Mann, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Therefore, I would conclude that my writing has been influenced by dozens of writers, primarily American but some European and Russian writers as well.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
I love to visit Massachusetts, which is where I grew up from the age of 12. Along with Virginia, Massachusetts was one of the first places in North America that Europeans settled in the early 1600s, and some of the original buildings in Boston and Salem have been preserved to this day. I love to drive the highway known as Route 1A through the historic towns of Salem, Beverly, Wenham, Hamilton, Ipswich, Rowley, and Newburyport. Also, just a few miles off Route 1A are the famous fishing villages of Rockport, Gloucester, and Manchester-by-the Sea. Gloucester still serves a major seaport, and all of these towns have wonderful beaches on the Atlantic Ocean.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive dive in and start writing a book?
As I mentioned above, I prepared an outline of the entire book before I started writing the first chapter. I had finished the outline before I retired, so I was ready to start writing soon after I retired.
Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘The First Robot President’ book?
I started the novel in April 2018 and finished it in March 2020, so it was about two years; but I didn’t work on it continuously because of an operation and other interruptions during this period. I figure that I actually spent about 18 months writing, revising, and editing it.
Q7. On what all platforms readers can which platforms can readers find ‘The First Robot President’ book to buy?
Up until now, it was primarily available on Amazon, although the print editions could (and still can) be ordered from any bookstore in the United States. At this moment, I am in the process of “going wide,” which means that the eBook will soon be available through Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Rakuten Kobo, and the Google Play Bookstore in addition to Amazon’s Kindle. I encourage readers who prefer a print edition to order it through a traditional brick-and-mortar bookstore rather than Amazon.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The First Robot President’?
The title was a no-brainer based on the story, and it came to me soon after I came up with the idea. I hired a professional artist to do the cover.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
I make extensive use of dialog. For example, in Chapter 8, “The Debate,” where the robot is debating the other candidates for the office of Vice President, I include comments from the robot’s husband, daughter, and mother-in-law, who are sitting in the audience, in addition to the dialog between the moderator, the panelists, and the three candidates. This breaks up the political discussion and allows me to interject an element of humor into the story.
Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?
I don’t want to spoil the plot by revealing too much, but I can mention one or two things that don’t touch on the plot. Although the story is set 500 years in the future, I was very careful to be accurate in my description of the White House and the U.S. Capitol, as well as restaurants, streets, and avenues in Washington, D.C., and Virginia, where the novel takes place. I even called the U.S. Congress to verify the name of the building and the room number where the Small Business Committee meets. This attention to detail may be the result of all the historical novels I read when I was young. Also, I originally named the robot Lucy, but I changed the name to Esmeralda before I finished the book because I think Esmeralda is a beautiful name—my favorite female name, actually.
Book Is Available On Amazon
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