Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
LA Freak is my first book. I have been writing essays and stories since high
school. I have been telling stories at storytelling shows over the past ten
years. My art form has been conceptual art since the 1980s.
Elisha Shapiro created the 1984 Nihilist Olympics
He was a Nihilist Party candidate for president, sheriff, and governor.
He hosted the Nihilists’ Corner tv show for 14 years.
He performed in performance art, comedy and storytelling show many
times.
He did several solo shows.
He has put on the Nihilist Film Festival for 20 years.
His photography has been shown at several galleries.
And he taught English at Santa Monica College over this whole time.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
LA Freak is my memoir. It explores how I grew from an odd introvert to a
challenging artist who enjoyed rebelling against the glamorous Hollywood
where I grew up. It is a collection of my experiences that I thought were
funny.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
For this project, it was going over decades of previously written stories.
Some of which were published or performed. I selected stories that fit
together, wrote to connect them, and put aside fun stories that did not fit.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Twain, Kafka, Oliver Sachs, Malcolm Gladwell, Hunter Thompson, Voltaire
What are you working on now?
Every fall, I make a Nihilist Calendar and produce the Nihilist Film Festival.
So that is keeping me busy. But when I put together LA Freak, there were
many stories I did not include. And a lot of them are pretty fun, so I am
thinking about another book with those stories.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
You can check out my website.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Maybe, don’t take yourself so seriously.
Art is about finding a way to communicate your worldview to people who
do not see things the way you do. So you should think about your readers,
and who they are, and how they see things. Engage them, entertain them,
challenge them. It worked for me.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just get it on paper. Later, you can fix it or mess with it. But don’t worry
when you’re getting the ideas from your head to the paper. Or computer.
What are you reading now?
A collection of poetry that includes Shirley Windward poems. She was my
junior high school homeroom teacher, and the first person to mentor me to be
a writer.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I just keep writing down stories from my life that I think are interesting. I
am sure that will develop into something.
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?
How to build a boat?
Author Websites and Profiles
Elisha Shapiro Website
Elisha Shapiro Amazon Profile
Elisha Shapiro Author Profile on Smashwords
Elisha Shapiro’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Pinterest Account