Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. I began a career as an advertising copywriter in my early 20s then eventually became a creative director and now small ad agency owner. CITY ZOO is my first novel.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “CITY ZOO: an unfairy story”?
A2. I wanted the City Zoo in CITY ZOO to represent the United States of America in terms of our country’s foundational history and character, as well as its recent history as filtered through the U.S. news media. However, I did not want to simply retell that history with animals in place of historical figures. Instead, I made the zoo more of a funhouse mirror version of the U.S. — which I thought was really hard.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. George Orwell’s politcal writing is the obvious inspiration. For CITY ZOO, I borrowed the “beast fable” technique Orwell used to write his famous allegory, ANIMAL FARM. Originally, I thought CITY ZOO could serve as a sequel to that book, but then I thought it best to let it stand alone. It’s much more of a farce than ANIMAL FARM is—with far more humor. As for other influences, I find it hard to get into fiction that doesn’t do anything interesting with the prose. I like the prose in Alan Moore’s comics and fiction work a lot. I love Chuck Palahniuk’s whacko plots and writing style. Richard Adams’s WATERSHIP DOWN has always been a favorite. Perhaps another reason I gravitated toward writing a novel about (sort of) “real” animals.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. Washington DC is a place that everyone should visit to understand what it means to be an American. It may also help one understand the symbolic or allegorical value of CITY ZOO.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘CITY ZOO: an unfairy story’?
A5. Orwell’s ANIMAL FARM was one of my favorite books from high school. I remember thinking that someone should write a sequel to it — but that it should be set in a zoo (seemed like the obvious “level up”). Of course I had no intention or inkling of writing whatever-the-story-would-be myself. Then fast-forward to the Trump era. I was not a Trump supporter; I did not watch his Apprentice show or any “reality” shows. All I knew of him came from the skits on SNL and all the cameos he made in those movies set in New York. That said, it was really disconcerting to witness virtually the entire news media so blatantly misrepresent him after he announced his candidacy for President. I would watch a speech—unfiltered, straight from his mouth—and then I would watch the news act like the speech was completely different from what I had heard, and altogether offensive, racist, and objectively terrible, evil and all of the synonyms for those words. Moreover, according to the news — I was a bad racist terrible stupid idiot for even giving Trump a fair hearing. It was—and continues to be—absolutely bizarre. Perfect fodder for an allegorical fable.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘CITY ZOO: an unfairy story’?
A6. I’d say I thought about it and made notes for about a year, and then took about six months of fairly regular writing.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. I recommend getting the hardcover of CITY ZOO on BookBaby, but it’s also available on Amazon and anywhere else books are sold. Alas, the paperback and ebook are available exclusively on Amazon. We are now working on the ebook, which will likely be for sale everywhere. After that, I would love to translate CITY ZOO into a graphic novel.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘CITY ZOO: an unfairy story’?
A8. The title was just kind of an obvious thing from the beginning—including the “unfairy story” subtitle. That bit came from Orwell’s original title for ANIMAL FARM which was ANIMAL FARM: A Fairy Story. I briefly considered calling the book ANIMAL KINGDOM, but decided it was too similar to Orwell’s title to successfully stand alone. The cover of the hardcover is a typewriter that’s supposed to be evocative of a monkey’s face—but I’m afraid it’s just too subtle. Of course now that I’ve clued you in, you can see the eyes, the flat nose, a big grin, but…yeah, too subtle. I love the softcover where we leaned into the classic elephant and donkey political silhouettes with the addition of a monkey (obviously this time) to represent the news media.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. For better or worse, I like to have fun with the prose, both as a reader and a writer. I like puns—bad puns and good puns and allusions and non-sequitors and everything in between. When you write ads and commercials like I have for so many years, you learn to come up with clever, often humorous, headlines with light, punchy copy to get attention and encourage memorability. That’s what I leaned into to write CITY ZOO.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A10. Finish writing it. Complete it, THEN revise it. No, don’t go back and change it over and over again—write the next part, and then keep going and FINISH IT. You can revise the parts when you have the whole.
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