Interview With Author Frank J. Plateroti
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My career started out in television production and public relations and marketing. I worked in NYC for about ten years for at that time the biggest international PR and Advertising companies: Hill and Knowlton and J. Walter Thomson. That experience gave me not only rare opportunities, such as working in Washington D.C. and broadcasting, but it also gave me an important understanding of corporate business and finance. This came in handy when I opened my own international production company years later. There were also opportunities that I was able to parlay when working directly in international broadcasting and news, for example, developing video news releases in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.
I retired my business in 1997 and decided to take advantage of an opportunity to teach at the university I earned my master’s degree in communication and broadcasting; William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. I taught at WPU for about twenty years, and while there I earned a doctorate degree in education research, with a concentration in psychology. It is at William Paterson where I developed the communication strategies that my book, Speak No Evil: In Search of Our Self-Esteem, Self-Empowerment, and Self-Worth, is based.
My first book published in 2020 is East Clifton Avenue. This is the first book of a fiction/non-fiction trilogy based primarily on my mother’s family from the time they left Sicily and came to America at the beginning of the 1900’s. The trilogy will end with book three in the later part of the 1960’s. The book consists of the times, stories and history that might otherwise be lost, and will also serve as a legacy of my entire family’s history that I am sharing with my children and grandchildren. The second book of the trilogy is almost complete and will be ready for publication in the spring of 2023. I have also started the third book as well, which will be ready for publication sometime in 2024.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my latest book is, Speak No Evil: In Search of Our Self-Esteem, Self-Empowerment, and Self-Worth. The book is based on the intra/intercommunication course I developed, which included many communication strategies and concepts that I developed, as well as some concepts that are based on well-known communication research. I would have to say my inspiration for writing the book was primarily on the feedback I received my students. A few of the events that served as my inspiration are highlighted in the book. Although simple, the mantra of my course was, “Communication is Life and Life is Communication.” A simple term but on a day-to-day basis how many people are communicating on their cell phones. And if there is any doubt in the necessity for the need to communicate, how many of us have panic when we either misplace or forget our cell phones?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it would be considered unusual, but I find myself constantly writing in my head. There have been times that I write an entire paragraph, or re-write a chapter, or further develop a character. There have been times when I thought I wrote down the chapter, or changed something and then I remember I never wrote it down. Before I fall asleep, I may find some inspiration and either follow it up in the morning, make a note on my phone, or just get up and start writing. I consider myself first a story teller and a writer or author second.
For example, the evening I wrote this piece I went to bed and hundreds of thoughts went through my head and I made the additions and changes when I woke up. I am sure this is not unusual among authors and writers.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Since my undergraduate degree minor was in English Literature, I would have to say the classics. One reason is I don’t only focus on only the book but the author and the time the book was written and published. For example, when I took a course in Shakespeare, I became immersed in the Elizabethan era and plays like Macbeth and Hamlet. I won a class debate stating that Hamlet is really about the relationship of fathers and sons and I won because to supported my argument not only about the content, but how relationships were at that time that Hamlet was written in 1602.
I also was very interested in F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda Fitzgerald who both are representatives of the “Roaring Twenties”, a transitional period in America. They both represent the post WWI prosperity, Prohibition era, and some would say the global moral decline. To fully appreciate his work it is vital to study the period it was written in.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I am working on the second and third book of my trilogy: East Clifton Avenue. I am also developing a play based on the relationship of a father and a son. There are also other communication concepts that I want to include in a follow-up book to Speak No Evil.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Developing a really good website, participating in social media, and doing local advertising and visiting book stores to see if they will market your book. Also, try to guest lecture, even if its gratis.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you are familiar with. Don’t be intimidated by thinking you have to be another Ernest Hemingway. Everyone has a story. As every person and family is unique, so is every story. Also, although it would be nice to have a best seller and earn a lot of money, that should not be the motivation. As I used to tell my children and my students, don’t make a career choice based on money; make it on the passion you feel for doing something you like and doing it really well, the money will follow. Even if you don’t become a millionaire, I know a lot of rich people who aren’t doing what they like and they found out too late that money should not have been their career goal.
I would also recommend reading biographies of authors; past and present. The reason is that writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. To fully appreciate a book we should study the author and the times and place the book was written. For example, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was written during the Roaring Twenty and Prohibition era. We can experience so much more from Fitzgerald’s work if we know the man, the times and his rise and premature downfall. I believe a good analogy is seeing a painting in a museum or a book. A good example is Caravagio’s work. If we study the time he painted, his style, his life and his influence on Baroque Painting we have a total different experience than just looking at his paintings. When we “study” the painter and his times we can have a fuller, more appreciative art experience. The same goes for authors who can then have an influence on our work. We see their struggles, self-doubts and a feeling, “if they can do it I can too.”
One of the important lessons I learned in studying past authors are the lessons from their “pitfalls.” For example, there is a destructive commonality of both Fitzgerald and Capote; part ego, part genius. Although from very different times and personalities, the commonality is their alcohol abuse and their genius and ego that destroyed them. The alcohol didn’t make them more creative and their lack of humility, combined with their individual substance abuse, destroyed them and any future work they could have shared with the world.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Something my father always told me: “We go around once, so make every day count and don’t take anything or anyone for granted.” Simple, but for me profound.
What are you reading now?
Many books. I love biographies. I did a study on Truman Capote. A brilliant man who was “burnt out” and ended up wasting his talent. A good inspirational lesson of what “not to do”, especially when it comes to relationships. I dedicated a chapter in Speak No Evil entitled, Unanswered Prayers.
There are some books that I just don’t only read but I also study. I like to see how the author constructed his work, the plot mechanisms and for me, most of all, how he develops the characters. I also spend a lot of attention (depending on the book) on dialogue, which forms the books characters and story.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I am focusing on finishing the books I am currently writing – the second and third book of East Clifton Avenue — and I probably won’t stop there.
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?
In all honesty, I hope I would be able to bring a lot of paper and pens. I would also bring some Shakespeare, which takes a long time to read and study. Since I also love early cinema, I probably would re-read all the biographies of the great directors and writers.
The transition from book to the screen and the stage is an art that fascinates me. I laugh when people say, “the book was so much better.” Two different mediums and two different experiences. Sometimes they cannot be transitioned either way.