Today I am to do a radio interview on an internet radio station with author John Byk. The subject will be my novel No Dice. Find John Byk’s radio blog interviews at http://2012writersalive.blogspot.com/
A work of fiction has to be about something, doesn’t it? I’m watching The Old Curiosity Shop on PBS and it’s about debtor’s prisons. Jane Eyre is the basic plot that underlies all romance novels. Raymond Chandler’s novels are about crime and corruption in a place he called Bay City.
No Dice is about crime and corruption and the attempt by a casino consortium to build in Santa Monica 80 years or so later, the place called Bay City by Raymond Chandler.
I did the research, actual years of it, to write No Dice, ending about three years ago. I read the newspapers, kept track of certain stories as they developed in California, and set up a Google Alert for casino development issues. I knew what I was talking about when I wrote the book.
Today I’m trying to catch up what’s happened in the last three years. I know John Byk is going to ask my opinion. Byk lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where new casinos are a big land use issue.
I am no expert on casinos. But I am an expert on social issues in Santa Monica. My nervousness comes from my unfortunate habit of blurting out the truth when someone asks me a question. This is a trait that doesn’t always serve you well.
I did a previous interview and listened to it later, slapping my hand on my forehead, shouting at myself, “I can’t believe you said that! You idiot!”
More interview experience will surely cure me of this.
And I know John, whom I’ve come to know a little from an exchange of emails, isn’t out to get me. John Byk writes under the pen name of Conrad Johnson, and I’ve just read one of his novels, Crying Bullets. The book is about the prevention of school shootings in Detroit. And it’s a good book.
His show features authors who write about serious social issues, either fiction or nonfiction. That would include most scribblers, wouldn’t it? I’m sure even James Paterson or Dan Brown thinks he writes about “serious” issues.
Oh, that was terrible. I shouldn’t have said that. See what I mean about telling the truth?
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By the way, here’s a link to the podcast: http://2012writersalive.blogspot.com/
It went well.
I enjoyed interviewing you, Mar, and I’m still enjoying No Dice although it’s taking me longer to get through than I expected. My appetite for books is larger than my eyes. Best of luck with promoting your new book! You’re welcome back for round two whenever you’re up to it!
Making a foray into radio is nerve-wracking, I can imagine! But you did a great job and lived to tell the tale. Bravo, Mar.
Elaine Ash
Many thanks, Elaine. I was startled when he told me I write like a man.