A writer for over three
decades, Rocco Lo Bosco has published poetry, short stories and two novels. His
first novel, Buddha Wept (Greycore
Press, 2003), about a spiritually gifted matriarch’s experience of the
Cambodian genocide, received good reviews (e.g., Publishers Weekly) and much praise from readers, many of whom
called it “life changing.” His current
novel, Ninety Nine, is published by
LettersAt3amPress. Lo Bosco also has a nonfiction book in press with Routledge
(2016), co-authored with Dr. Danielle Knafo, a practicing
psychoanalyst, entitled Love Machines: A
Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Age of Techno-perversion. He is currently
working on his third novel, Midnight
at the Red Flamingo. Additionally, he has edited papers in the fields
of psychoanalysis and the philosophy of science and has also worked
as a ghost writer.
Questionnaire:
Thanks for letting us
interrogate you! Can you give us a
go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?
I didn’t want to be an author. I felt compelled to write. Soon I could
not stop. My addiction to writing led to becoming an author.
Tell us (we won’t tell
promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?
I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?
For me the best part is the white hot feeling when the words and the
story pour out through me and onto the blank page. At first nothing, then the words,
and finally a world. That still amazes me after all these years––fountains of
story and meaning surging up from the underground.
As to it being “cracked up to be” whatever it’s supposed to be, it
depends on who you talk to. I write because I have to. There’s no choice. It’s
either write or become mad and possibly very dangerous. It’s slavery, but I
love it.
Which route did you take –
traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down
on what’s that like?
I took the traditional route, publishing poems, stories, novel excerpts
in various literary mags and the like. Finding an agent, and then finding
another. That’s the tedious part, the search for representation and
publication. So many books and articles tell you how to do it, but, in the end,
the better you write, the better your story, the more chance you have of
succeeding in any number of ways. For me writing is the main point. Everything
that follows is secondary. I won’t go crazy if something I write is not published,
but I will if I do not write.
Tell us for real what your
family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written,
polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?
My sister has helped me immensely as advisor and editor throughout my
writing career. My brother avidly reads my work. Everyone I love is happy I
write because it keeps me out of their hair. The truth is I’m a huge pain in
the ass.
This is for pet lovers. Do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until
you type just one more word?
I have a fish. I feed Pierre first thing in the morning. My plants are all dead though.
This is for plant
lovers. Are they actually still alive?
Umm.
In writing your book, how
did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss
calling you saying you’re late?
I have no boss. When I’m writing I don’t pick up. Family and friends
know this. If there’s an emergency they can text me.
What was the craziest or
insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?
I can’t tell you this. It would compromise my relationship with people
who trust me.
How about the social
networks? Which ones do you believe help
and which ones do you wish you could avoid?
I don’t feel experienced enough in this area yet to answer this
question intelligently.
Book sales. Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)? How are you making the sales happen for you?
I’m now getting much help with social media, web marketing, virtual
book tours and the like. Will also do readings and talks.
What is one thing you’d like
to jump on the rooftop and scream about?
I want to shout about how brutally beautiful is my new novel Ninety
Nine.
Okay, too much sugar for you
today! Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile
tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in. Now…can you tell us what you love about being
a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s
all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?
It’s very simple. I have to write. It’s great to be published, but I
have no choice about writing.
Title:
Ninety Nine
Genre:
Literary Novel
Author:
Rocco Lo Bosco
Website:
roclobosco.com
Publisher:
Letters at 3am Press
Purchase on Amazon
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