Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Bruce Deitrick Price:
Counting everything I’ve had seven or eight books published, from Createspace to Simon & Schuster, and I’ve got another half-dozen on the flight deck. I’ve been a writer for 40 years, and for everything I published there is probably another book or movie script that is not yet out there. The age of the e-book is a very exciting catalyst for me. I’m going to write more books, knowing that I can put them out in the world one way or another.
I had an experimental novel published 30 years ago called American Dreams, which is still in print. For argument’s sake, I claim that it is the most successful experimental novel in American literature.
I have a poem on the Internet called Theoryland, which I’ve nominated as the best long poem in American literature. Not much competition in that department.
I had a novel called Too Easy published by Simon & Schuster, which Kinky Friedman hailed as “the unwed mother of all page turners.” And that book is going to be brought back as an e-book by Simon & Schuster itself.
So things are jumping at many levels.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“The man who falls in love with his wife” is a comi-tragic love story I’ve been playing with for many years. I had an agent once who took me on because of this book but she could never sell it.
The basic idea is that the guy thinks he has a perfect marriage until he looks more closely at it. He realizes that everything has been organized by his wife the way she wants it. She’s very good at taking care of all the details. Her mother’s marriage was a wreck, and the wife does not want the same thing to happen to her. Bottom line, she never really gives her heart away 100% to her husband or to anybody else because she’s afraid to. She feels safer that way. As she puts it, “I need my boys.” But her husband starts asking for everything, and what a scary thought that is..
By the way, this book is on Kobo and it’s not clear to me whether this is part of your world. (If not tell me, and I’ll come back and write about the Kindle book I’ve got next month. It will be a crime drama.)
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-man-who-falls-in-love-with-his-wife
Note: I wanted to submit my book to your site but the first thing you asked for is the Amazon link. So I wasn’t sure if Kobo is acceptable. If it is then I will happily pay $10 for your listing service as described on that other page. If Kobo is not, then we will work it out for another book. I think by the end of September I will have an e-book in Kindle, a second that was acquired by web-e-books, and a third on Simon & Schuster. I’m trying to learn as much if I can about the e-book business by putting them in different places.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a night person, never a morning person, but other than that, nothing unusual. When I lived in New York, I would take care of business and social stuff in the day and sort of back myself into a corner so that at 6 o’clock or 8 o’clock or 10 o’clock, I finally tell myself that nothing else is going to happen and I better start writing. The goal is to put in as many hours as possible. I am working more hours now than ever before. Being older, I’m not so restless. And not having much money, I can’t afford silly pastimes. Might as well work.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was a teenager, I was enthralled by James Joyce. I went to Princeton and got honors in English literature. But my literary mentality is a bit more middle-class than that resume suggests. Years ago, somebody recommended The Big Sleep to me; and that resulted in my trying to write some books in that spirit, one of which is coming out in September. I like huge thrillers if I’m going to the movies; and several years back I set myself the task of writing such a script. And then, because it would be too expensive to produce, I turned it into a novel. In general I like to write original (some say quirky) but mainstream things that lots of people can enjoy. See next answer.
What are you working on now?
Four days ago I wrote the last line of “The boy who saves the world,” which is I think a wonderful example of what might be called sci-fi with a human face. I started this book in 2000, got sidetracked, picked it up in 2008, lost certain files, and started again two months ago and brought it home. I just pitched it to Kensington who is so far ignoring me but I think this could be a commercial book.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have several websites of my own, mainly my education site which is Improve-Education.org. I also have an art site and a literary site.
As for the other sites, I’m just starting out, which is why I’m here.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
It’s basically a life of doom and destruction. But if you don’t mind that, go for it. Sometimes you see people asking whether they should be a writer. My main advice is that if you have to ask, then you should not do it. I’m a very typical sort of writer in that somewhere around the age of 16, I knew I’m going to the big city to write novels. I did, in fact, live in Manhattan for 30 years.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
All I know is to keep trying, keep pushing, keep editing, keep collecting feedback, keep asking the question, what would a genius writer do to make this damn project work? It’s a strange balancing act between being really humble (listening to what others have to say) and being really confident (screw it, I know how to make this great).
Okay, here is the best advice. You have to be in love with your ideas. I guess some neurotic writers create out of neurotic compulsions. And maybe some writers can turn it on to make money. But probably you need to have some aspect of love, some aspect where the writing is for fun. A novel can take six or 12 months. If you are not in love with the thing, you might as well get a regular job.
What are you reading now?
I’m writing 6+ days a week, my fiction and also I’m probably the most prolific writer on education in the country. The truth is I hardly read at all for pleasure. But two summers ago I went through a Jack Reacher period. I read a half-dozen of those books, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have two more past projects that I want to bring to completion. And I have already drawn up notes for the three books after that.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Maybe the poems of Catullus. Maybe some really long history of the world.
Author Websites and Profiles
Bruce Deitrick Price Website
Bruce Deitrick Price Amazon Profile
Bruce Deitrick Price’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile