M. Ocampo McIvor

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Well, I got my 23andme DNA results, and turns out I have a 100% Sub-Saharan African ancestor from about 7 or 8 generations ago. I also have Asian and European ancestry, from more recent admixtures. I’m partially lactose intolerant, but gifted with genes that keep me fairly slim, so I’ve never worried about my weight. I also apparently have impeccable muscle composition, common in elite power athletes. Not bad, genes!

True to my geekiness, I also got my microbiome analyzed, and results show my bacterial diversity is on the high end of average. Probably from traveling and living in different countries growing up, as well as having five siblings, playing in sewers, swimming in disease-ridden flood waters, and playing in mountains of garbage as a child — fun times!

I like order and symmetry, but I also love delightful surprises. I like classically and aesthetically pleasing things, but I’m a bit of a rebel, so sometimes I might scoff at and smear perfection. I have many embarrassing guilty pleasures, but I’ll only name one here: kung fu and martial arts movies. Fires me up!

As for books, Ugly Things We Hide is my first novel. I hope to live long enough to write many more.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Ugly Things We Hide was inspired by a news article about a boy and his mother. I was taken aback by my reaction to it, and more so because I had read a similar news story immediately afterward and didn’t react as strongly. I’ve always acknowledged that we judge people differently based on arbitrary criteria, say, race, religion, gender, appearance, or socio-economic status, but I was taken aback at how quickly I fell into that trap even though I was aware of this propensity of ours as human beings. We are so quick to judge without knowing the whole story, without the full context of how an incident occurred, or how and why a person turned out a certain way later in life. I wanted to explore this, and to incite emotions and reactions from readers, but give them the whole story as well. I wondered: would we judge differently?

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Define “unusual.” Honestly, I’m not that inventive. I make my espresso, I make my breakfast-of-champions, and then I sit down and start the day with my awesome breakfast while reading the news (mostly science/tech & some politics). Then I look at the notes I emailed myself from the night before, check my to-do list, and I write. (I purposely left out the whole make-my-kids-breakfast-and-get-them-ready-for-school scenario. But, see what I did there?) I like to research a whole range of subjects, but mainly in the science arena. But I also love art, music, travel, nature, history, design, and pop culture–my unending well of inspiration.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am sure I will leave out some very important ones, but I’ll try my best. So, for more than a decade, while I was focused on a career track in the tech industry, I only read non-fiction books. Around the same time, I was grappling with questions about religion (I was born into Catholicism), and was interested in the Ground Zero history or founding of a religion, religion’s usefulness in our society, as well as its darker influence. I turned to science and logic. My eyes reopened to a universe with brighter colors, with wonderful things that were based on fact rather than fantasy or hearsay. And those books and authors have taught me a great deal, and I have learned so much from them. Here are some of my non-fiction heroes: Carl Sagan (influenced me in high school), Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, E.O. Wilson, Martin A. Nowak, Bill Bryson, Nassim Taleb, Dan Ariely, Daniel Kahneman, and Joseph Campbell.

As for fiction, I only picked it up again more recently. I used to scoff at fiction: I really didn’t like the term “chick lit” and other similar terms. I didn’t like how men and women interacted in many novels, or what some authors focused on, physically and behaviorally, based on the character’s gender. It was disheartening that tropes like the billionaire playboy who goes for the bookish, mousy, librarian type were so popular. Every protagonist seemed to be a writer. The only jobs depicted were doctor, lawyer, or… writer. (Go figure!) It was all so uninspired. I didn’t think I could learn anything from fiction, and thought it was just pure entertainment of a lesser kind.

But then, I picked up and read Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth.” My god. Superb writing and description of life during medieval times. And yes, I learned something! Then I discovered Isabel Allende. The first book I read of hers was “Ines of My Soul.” I thought, huh, fiction Can teach you something. I picked up Mary Renault’s books, and was on an Alexander the Great kick because of her, picking up textbooks and lectures about this much-studied ancient warrior-king after reading her novels. Then I picked up “Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown. Another beautifully written gem in which I learned something, though this was more a biography rather than actual fiction. But I started writing after reading Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner.” After three years of reading fiction again, I decided: I want to write.

Oh, and, always and forever: “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently outlining the plot and sketching out the characters of my second novel, as yet untitled.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
You will like it!
www.uglythingswehide.com

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do your research. Have a process and stick to it. The creative process is only 1/3 (if that) of what it means to be a writer. Writing is a lot harder than most people perceive, and with often no compensation. Writing takes discipline, commitment, Logic (yes!), and loads of patience. As for the compensation, you will be required to do a Lot of hustling if you want your baby to be seen and heard and appreciated. Harsh truths, but I want you all to break through and succeed.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Hmm. Maybe from Dory: Just keep swimming.

What are you reading now?
I am currently reading a book of poetry to review. But I’m excited to pick out a new book afterwards. Now that you know a bit about me, got any suggestions? 🙂

What’s next for you as a writer?
I will make like Dory, and just keep writing.

But since I’m not yet super famous, I must be practical and use my other skills and talents to support my creative endeavor. (I hear many writers lead a “double life” for this very reason.)

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?
1. “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read this book as a little kid. This book is my moral compass.

The other books must be ones I haven’t yet read. I like to experience new things.

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