Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a retired US Coast Guard captain and former assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. I have written two books. Graduating from the Coast Guard Academy in 1957, I embarked on a twenty-eight-year career that gave me a lot of fodder for stories. I like stories. I like to hear them––and I like to tell them.
My daughter, who had heard them for years, now married with children, kept after me, “Dad, you have to start writing those stories down for your grandchildren.” Following a college memoir-writing course, I embarked on a six-year learning curve of self-study. I published my memoirs in 2016, “The View from the Rigging: Memoirs of a Coast Guard Career.” I’m very pleased that it received a 2017 silver medal award in memoir category from the Military Writers Society of America.
My daughter publicly touted my accomplishment, “I’m so proud of my dad who just published his first book at age 81.” First book? That did it! Now I was committed to a second.
Intrigued by the creative non-fiction style I learned writing my memoirs and encouraged by people who told me that it read like a novel––I had to give novel writing a try. I published “It’s My Turn,” in 2019. My second book, first novel, at age eighty-five.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“It’s My Turn,” is my latest book. I had a good story based on the experiences of a friend who was surprised to discover she had the strength to bounce back from a difficult marriage. I made her the star and her changes and emotional development the subject. That theme put it in the women’s fiction genre.
To help my book stand out, I avoided a cliched marriage conflict like husband runs around, wife has an affair with the pool boy, husband commits a crime, etc. I made the primary conflict, but not the only one, the husband’s cross-dressing. It is not a book about cross-dressing except as a source of conflict in her marriage.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. My creative juices seem to flow best in late afternoon so that’s when I try to actually write. I do outline, scene plotting, research, etc. in the morning. I run a quick review/edit of the previous day’s work as a warm-up that also helps me keep continuity before I start the new writing.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My early favorites were A.J. Cronin, and Somerset Maughan who I felt were great story tellers. I admire the writing style of Pat Conroy, who I’d have to say is my favorite. Some of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories. Beryl Markham’s “West with the Night” is a classic. Anything by Ken Follett, particularly his Century Trilogy. For writing craft, I like Jane Friedman and K.M. Weiland
What are you working on now?
I’m trying my hand with historical fiction. Probably a short story or novella at the most. I had two great-uncles who worked on building the Panama Canal, and I have visited cousins who lived there, so I’ve always had an interest in the canal history. I plan to fictionalize their experience but in the historically accurate setting, building experience, and atmosphere of the major building period from 1910 to 1914. I’m still researching. David McCullough’s book “Path Between the Seas” has been a big help in that regard.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think my experience is different than what I read is the norm. All e-book versions, of course, happen, for me through Amazon KDP, where the paperback is also available. But launch party, personal appearance, readings, guest speaker at service clubs, concessions at small bookstores, and what I call out-of-car sales, by far, account for most of my sales.
I need marketing help, particularly for my novel. Unknown author, first novel, eighty-five years old. I need to strengthen my on-line presence. Hopefully, my re-designed author website and sites like Awesome Gang can kick the exposure and sales into high gear. I have high hopes for Goodread’s authors & readers group, and of course the Awesome Gang.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I think my experience is different than what I read is the norm. All e-book versions, of course, happen, for me through Amazon KDP, where the paperback is also available. But launch party, personal appearance, readings, guest speaker at service clubs, concessions at small bookstores, and what I call out-of-car sales, by far, account for most of my sales.
I need marketing help, particularly for my novel. Unknown author, first novel, eighty-five years old. I need to strengthen my on-line presence. Hopefully, my re-designed author website and sites like Awesome Gang can kick the exposure and sales into high gear. I have high hopes for Goodread’s authors & readers group, and of course the Awesome Gang.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Maybe it’s because of my age and appetite for new experiences, but Mark Twain said it best for me.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things you did not do, than by the things you did do.
So, throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor,
catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore, Dream, Discourse.”
––Mark Twain
What are you reading now?
Most of my reading now involves research for my Panama Canal piece, but I always have a book to turn to when I just want to relax and read for myself. I just finished “Where the Crawdads Sing.” Lately I’ve been revisiting old favorites. Right now, I’m reading Pat Conroy’s “Beach Music.”
What’s next for you as a writer?
My top priority is to get more exposure, and more of my books into the hands of readers. After the Panama piece, want to work on short stories, memoirs of early childhood experiences of growing up in the war years in a small town. One at a time, with the potential for bundling them into an anthology, mine, or as part of a theme anthology.
Author Websites and Profiles
Richard Marcott Website