Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. Hello, my name is Michael Caprio and I’m from Hopatcong, New Jersey! When I was 18 years old, shortly after graduating high school, I was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that runs in my family called Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. What that means is I have a gene in my body that doesn’t stop the growth of polyps, instead, they multiply. Polyps are precancerous growths that can grow anywhere in your digestive system and if left untreated can turn into cancer. With my condition, this occurs within the Large Intestine primarily but could occur elsewhere though it is less likely. With that being said the treatment plan for my condition is to have the entirety of my large intestine removed before the polyps turn cancerous.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “A Bump in the Road”?
A2. Some challenges I faced when writing my book was deciding whether to include or omit moments that would be considered vulnerable or embarrassing. Considering the nature of my surgeries and my condition I was faced with a lot of those moments and not including them felt like a disservice to others out there going through the same thing behind closed doors. This is why in my book I decided to keep all of those moments in, no matter how shocking the subject matter might seem to show the real struggle of what happened behind closed doors. Another challenge I was faced with was the handling of my family’s medical history and sensitive medical information in general. I didn’t want to publish anything misleading or flat wrong, so I put a lot of effort into researching my family history with the disease as well as my family’s doctors who saved our lives. For some things that I wasn’t 100% sure about I had my surgeon double check to make sure it was accurate, just to give an idea of the lengths I went to make sure everything was accurate.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. I read a wide variety of books ranging from memoirs to science fiction so it is difficult for me to say one author or book in particular has influenced me but I can list a few of my favorite books for what it’s worth! Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Dune Series by Frank Herbert, Outlive by Peter Attia, and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. As a person who was raised in the New York Metropolitan area, I love to visit places that are more south of me. One of my favorite places is Washington D.C., our nation’s capital. It’s a special place for many reasons but for me in particular it’s a place me and my family always vacationed to since it wasn’t that far and we could travel by car. It always brings back fond memories of going to Nationals baseball games and visiting all the historical sites with my family, which there is an endless supply of. We have been visiting for twenty years and we always find something new to do. Another special place to visit is Virginia/Virginia Beach for similar reasons, it was a place my family always vacationed to for most of my childhood and we still occasionally visit. The New York Metro area will always be home to me but it’s nice to go down south where the pace of life is a bit slower every once and a while.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘A Bump in the Road’?
A5. It was a gradual process and many factors contributed to me writing the book but I think the biggest reason was to leave a legacy for my grandparents. That’s not to discount all the other reasons, including documenting my journey in great detail so that the other people with FAP or similar conditions out there can not feel alone and have a reference to look to since no one talks about these conditions in particular. However, I can’t deny that the biggest influence was my grandparents and my grandma in particular. She had devoted most of her life to being a guinea pig essentially so that my life could be easier and my journey was certainly much easier than hers. Her persistence and strength inspired me and still inspires me to this day and I wanted to share that with the world.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘A Bump in the Road’?
A6. Officially it took me about a year working with editors and my publisher but I had been writing my story many years prior on my laptop unofficially. Before I had the help of my publisher I had the idea that maybe one day this could become a reality and I didn’t want my memories to fade of how things transpired before, during, and after my surgeries. So I started to document my memories on Google documents hoping that one day I would meet someone who would be able to trim it up for me and give me the guidance I needed.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. My book can be found on all platforms including Amazon & Barnes & Noble!
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘A Bump in the Road’?
A8. For the book cover, I must give all credit to the lovely editing team at New Degree Press which is now called Manuscripts. They drafted up four or five versions of the cover and I chose which one I liked the most and we would keep doing revisions until we got it perfect. All I did was say “I like this” or “I don’t like that”. They did all the creative work on that and should get all the credit, it came out perfect in my opinion! As for the title, it came from a saying my dad used to repeat all the time during my surgeries and recoveries as a means to keep us all calm. He kept saying “It’s just a bump in the road, we’re going to get through this.” And it was just a bump in the road as life is all good now and so the name stuck.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. Considering the subject matter of my book can get a bit dark without humor or moments of levity I decided to incorporate a fair amount of self-deprecating humor to keep things light. I also tried to include a lot of active metaphors to keep readers engaged and paint a more detailed picture of the events I was going through and the pain I was feeling. Also, I chose to incorporate some pop culture references from entertainment that I like to give the reader a better insight into me as a person.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A10. To be fully transparent and leave it all out there, for better or worse. Writing at the end of the day boils down to having an opinion or a story to share about something. You can’t do that if you are afraid to be fully transparent and speak your mind or your truth. It won’t be authentic if you do otherwise and the reader will be able to tell. Don’t betray yourself and be authentic.
Buy A Bump in the Road on Amazon
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