Wallaçonia by David Pratt | Spotlight, Author Interview & #giveaway

Author David Pratt stops by today to share his new release, Wallaconia, along with a quick Interview...

High school senior Jim Wallace faces the approaching Christmas holidays with a mixture of hope and dread.  To escape the pressure, he imagines the woods and marshes around his home to be an independent country, Wallaçonia, where he is accepted and recognized as the "upright and sterling" young man people expect him to be.  And he may make it yet: this could be the week he and his girlfriend Liz finally have sex, putting to rest any lingering doubts Jim has about what kind of guy he really is. But then Pat Baxter, a neighbor, asks him to help out in his bookstore during the holiday rush, and Jim starts making new connections - and rediscovering an old one. Will Jim leave the sanctuary of his imaginary Wallaçonia for the real world?  And which real world will it be, the one with Liz or the one that beckons from the bookstore?

Buy links: Amazon | Publisher

Where are you from, and where do you call home?

I was born in Connecticut, and I now live in Michigan. But New York City is forever home. I spent 35 years there.

What inspired you to start writing?

I don’t know; I just did it, at age three or four. Being read to was probably a big influence, including some fairly complex and exotic things fairly young. Movies, TV and Broadway cast albums were also influences. I felt like an outcast as a child, and that pushed me toward creativity. Making up other worlds made me feel safe. I can barely imagine what it’s like to feel basically safe in the world with no crutch.

How long have you been writing?

See above. Though the writing has not been continuous since childhood. I did some theater in there, too.

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?

Focus on finishing something. Then hire an independent editor to go over it. If you possibly can, budget for the editor to go over it again after you rewrite. And note: your friends are not editors and editors are not your friends.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

Never.

What Author’s in the genre do you read?

I read so much in so many genres, nothing stands out. I have four books going now with absolutely no overlap in genre, style, or period: The Divine Comedy by Dante; Close to the Knives by David Wojnarowicz; All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw by Theodore Rosengarten; and Virginia Woolf: A Biography by Quentin Bell.

What comes first, the plot or characters?

The situation. The engine.

Describe the perfect writing space.

Relatively large and quiet, with not too much natural light. Easy access to a kitchen, and not too far from civilization.

Do you do research for your books? If so, what does that entail?

For Wallaçonia, the book I just published, I had to research the flora and fauna of a New England salt marsh, as the main character lives next to one and goes walking there often. I remembered some things from my childhood on the Eastern seaboard, but I needed more day-to-day seasonal details. I also had to update myself on Cape Cod geography, customs, history and landmarks, and I had to research a certain 2013 news event that I can’t reveal because it would be a bit of a spoiler. I have a piece of advice here: Don’t convince yourself that you have so much research to do that it takes you away from writing.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I have written five—four under my own name and one under a pseudonym. Two of the five were not so successful, so they are of course my favorites.

Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?

I hear directly from readers who are friends and neighbors, and of course they are very positive. Except for a few who are mysteriously silent, but fellow writers tell me that this just happens with some people. I also hear from Facebook friends, and I know what people are saying in online reviews. So far I haven’t been devastated!

Are you working on anything at the present you would like to tell us about?

I am working on something, but I am not telling anyone much about it.

Thanks for having me on the blog, Tammy, and happy reading to you all!

DAVID PRATT... is the author of three published novels: Bob the Book (Chelsea Station Editions), which won a 2011 Lambda Literary Award; Looking After Joey, soon to be re-released by Lethe Press; and Wallaçonia, a young adult novel released March 25, 2017 by Beautiful Dreamer Press. Several of his short stories are collected in the volume My Movie (Chelsea Station); three of these stories are being adapted as a film by San Francisco-based director Joseph Graham. 

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