Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was an English major at Yale during the Crazy Seventies. After graduating, I had to get a job, so I thought that it would be a practical thing to do to get a PhD in Economics. Actually, I was planning to revolutionize Economics by making it more realistic psychologically. I was about twenty years too early for that. Today it’s a popular research area. Still, I do think of Economics as the “dominant mythology of our age.” The Epilogue of Freedom’s Sunset gives some hints of where I think the mythology has been most damaging.
I’ve adapted two Shakespeare plays in two bookscurrently on Amazon, My Night with the President, and the screenplay, Dean. The first is based on The Taming of the Shrew and the second on Hamlet. It was really fun digging down into Shakespeare’s construction of those plays. I could almost hear the actors’ voices.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My readers tell me that Freedom’s Sunset, my latest book, captures the yearning for freedom of young people everywhere. The first draft was written in a few weeks in June 1990 after Gorbachev’s historic visit to Minnesota, which I witnessed. It was an incredible time–the people of Minnesota cheered for Gorbachev’s dream of freedom and democracy for the Soviet Union. When I revised the manuscript in 2013 I was able to add an epilogue that brings the historical narrative to its chilling conclusion.
People the world around yearn for freedom. It is within their reach if they will only reach for it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing itself is a pretty unusual habit.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I wrote my senior thesis at Yale on Thomas Pynchon, who had just published Gravity’s Rainbow. I got a reviewer’s copy from the publisher. I was an “intensive English major” so I had very high literary standards at that time. Even though Gravity’s Rainbow was technically brilliant I concluded that it did not fulfill the standards of the great literary classics for character development. I’ve been unable to read a Pynchon book since then.
In high school I was heavily influenced by Hemingway. In college reading Joyce’s Ulysses was an epiphanal moment.
I’ve been reading a lot of Walt Whitman recently.I’ve enjoyed a couple of Ian McEwan’s novels. I admire Stephen King’s novellas, can’t get through his long books. I’m also reading a biography of Andrew Jackson, as the country desperately needs someone like him to lead reform of our banking system.
What are you working on now?
I’m in marketing mode right now.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m trying the freebie method for now.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Carpe diem!
What are you reading now?
Leaves of Grass, biography of Andrew Jackson.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Maybe a novella.
What is your favorite book of all time?
The Bible is the greatest literature that I know of.
Author Websites and Profiles
Elliott Middleton Amazon Profile