Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
I’ve always been a writer of sorts but mostly in the field of journalism. Having spent 40 years as a network radio news writer in New York, radio has played an important part of my life. It started as a job as an announcer and DJ at a small radio station in Kentucky when I was 16. I later became a news director in a larger market, then a staff writer at ABC News in New York City. In my late teens I was a musician and worked my way through college as a drummer. In my early 20s I decided to take up competitive running and competed in distances from the mile to the marathon. I’ve since retired as a runner but am still an avid cyclist and hiker.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “The Dyer Island Boys”?
One of the challenges I faced while writing The Dyer Island Boys was creating believable fictional characters and basing others on the real people I had done extensive interviews for a documentary on a teen boys camp. I later put those transcripts to good use. Another challenge was writing about the construction of buildings at a permanent island camp. It seemed simple at first but turned out to be much more complicated.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
I love reading Hemingway and the way he describes things in simple sentences. I favor biographies but among other books I have enjoyed lately are The Tender Bar and Where the Crawdads Sing.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
One of my favorite spots to visit in the eastern United States is Acadia National Park in Maine. It has challenging trails and some of the most beautiful views anywhere in the world.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?
Preparing for writing this book, as in writing a world news review of weekly events, involves a lot of research. For The Dyer Island Boys I had to delve into what life was like in the 1940s in New York City, dealing with tuberculosis at the time, and difficulties of adolescence. Of course, I was a teen myself at one time and some of my young experiences became part of the book.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘The Dyer Island Boys’?
The seed for The Dyer Island Boys was planted in the late 1990s when my soon-to-be wife and I visited a teen boys camp where my soon-to-be mother in law was a camp nurse. So the inspiration had been residing in my head for more than 25 years. The first project was a screenplay which is now undergoing a sixth draft. The screenplay was interrupted by the untimely death of my son. When I picked it up again I decided that writing the novel should come before the completion of the screenplay.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your book?
The Dyer Island Boys is available in softcover and eBook on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other major platforms and can also be ordered from the website link at dyerislandboys.com. It is now being developed into an audio book which I am narrating. That will bring me back to my radio roots, so stay tuned for that!
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The Dyer Island Boys’?
The Dyer Island Boys was first named The Island Boys. I then decided to include the real name of the real Island that inspired the story. The book’s cover was designed by Vincent Corbo of Volossal Publishing who took a video screen grab from my documentary footage and made it into a silhouette of boys on a partially submerged barge in Narraguagus Bay. It’s a fascinating image.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
I have a great imagination and memory for imagery. I keep research on hand for consistency and always question the realism of an action. Also in writing the book I drew from my personal roots including activities I took part in as a Boy Scout growing up in Kentucky.
Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?
Buy The Dyer Island Boys on Amazon
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