“A Year in the Life of Peter Short”
Question: This is your first novel. You’re obviously not a budding young author. Why did you write this book?
Answer: I think many people have a secret desire to write a novel. When I retired, I created a short “bucket list” and writing a novel was on the list. It took me four years to write the book, but it was a labor of love. My first attempts were not good. I wrote and rewrote virtually every paragraph in the book multiple times. I spent thousands of hours refining the text.
Question: Well, your book reflects that level of refinement. The story moves briskly and flows smoothly. It is tightly written – not many wasted words. The story is set in the mid-1960s. Why did you choose that timeframe?
Answer: The decade of the 60s was an interesting time in American culture. The controversial Viet Nam War impacted the country in multiple ways. Hippies came on the scene with their recreational drugs and rebellious spirit. Racial tensions ran high spawning both peaceful and violent protests. The gay rights movement emerged. The economy was booming; most middle-class families improved their standard of living. It was a time of transition. I tried to touch on all those elements of the culture in the 60s.
Question: You wrote this book in the first person. It sounds very autobiographical. Is it?
Answer: I recall reading somewhere that every author’s first novel contains a heavy dose of his or her reality. I will confess that I am partially guilty. The story is about a young man in his first year of graduate school at Northwestern. He meets a woman in a bar in Chicago who happens to be a performer in the Ice Follies. They strike up a relationship and the protagonist, Peter Short, experiences a roller coaster ride of emotions and adventures as he pursues his Follie Dollie across the country. That context is true. Those experiences provide a framework for the story. The places and times are real. However, the story is not – the book is a truly a work of fiction.
Question: One of the things readers like about your book is the interesting array of characters Peter meets along the way. How did you come up with these fascinating characters?
Answer: I would say about half of the characters are loosely based on people I have known over my lifetime. The other half were created from whole cloth. They were created to fit the storyline.
Question: Most people who read your book say they read it in two or three days. Why do you think that is?
Answer: Yes, I have been pleasantly surprised as many readers have told me it is a real “page turner”. They can’t wait to see what happens next.
Question: Yes, the story captivates the reader. One of the reasons for this interesting, fast pace is that the book is almost totally written in dialogue.
Answer: It just seemed natural to me that this is a story about a young man interacting with other people. He is having conversations with them. One of my favorite authors is Hemmingway. He is often referred to as the “master of dialogue”. Also, his novels are based on places, people, and times he experienced; like writing in Paris, living the revolution in Spain, fishing in the Caribbean, and so on. I’m certainly no Hemmingway, but his approach seemed natural for me.
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