I always hear that you should "write something that you would want to read". I'm feeling that, as I get further into this novel, this is gradually becoming more true of what I'm writing. I would totally sit down and read this thing. The tricky part is making sure that what interests me will also interest others. Time will certainly tell.
I am also really psyched to already be able to bring you my next interview. I really hope that others are finding these conversations as helpful as I am. Today, I spoke with K.M. Zahrt, author of the newly released Odd Man Outlaw.
-Hi Kenneth!
Thanks for chatting with us today. You just released your first novel, Odd Man
Outlaw. This past fall, you put out Thanksgiving with Pop-Pop, a book of short
stories. How does it feel to be out there and having people reading your words.
K.M.: It’s
a crazy bag of mixed emotions. As a young writer, you work so hard to produce
something of quality – really just to see if you can produce something worth
reading – but when it comes time to publish it and make it public, and many of
your friends and family members and acquaintances are going to read it and
think of you by it, you hesitate. You worry. It’s crazy, but it’s good. It is
rewarding.
-Has it
always been a plan of yours to try and become a published author or is this
something new?
K.M.: Yes,
mostly. I’ve known I’m a writer for about ten years now. It’s something I
discovered in college, but I wasn’t cut out for it at first. I started college
in developmental writing courses, and I struggled. I took a storytelling class
my sophomore year and barely passed. It wasn’t until my junior year that I
learned what writing meant. Somehow I got inspired to write a satirical play
about the Christmas story. I labored over it, and a professor encouraged me to
submit it to a writing contest in the English Department. I took first prize
and received a medal and $50. That’s when I learned why I struggled with
writing early on: good writing is hard work. I wasn’t willing to put in the
effort when I was a freshman and a sophomore, but after I got that award, I had
a taste of the fruits of writing labor, and I’ve been pursuing it ever since.
-Specifically
considering your novel, can you describe the path you took to getting
published? From the time that you typed the first words of the book, how long
did it take before you saw Odd Man Outlaw in print?
K.M.: I
didn’t come to fiction right away. I was a communications major focusing on
film production, but after I wrote that play, I shifted my focus to
screenwriting. I begged an advisor to allow me write a screenplay for my thesis
project. She was hesitant because students who tried that before never finished
an entire script. I told her I would write two full scripts to prove her wrong,
and I did - a comedy and a novel adaptation. But I was frustrated with the
screenwriting-to-screen process. Too many people change your writing before a
film is finished. That’s why I turned to the novel form. I typed the first word
of Odd Man Outlaw on August 30, 2007
- about four months after I graduated from college. I handwrote the entire first
draft in two composition notebooks because I was in China and didn’t have a
computer. I dated my progress. The first sentence I wrote was: “Eddie turned
the nob to high and felt the cool air breeze between his fingers.” There’s a version
of that sentence on p.59 in the print edition. At the time, I never would have
fathomed that little sentence would be published.I completed the first draft
while I was in China teaching ESL for a year for my first job. Then I went to
graduate school to study literature, and I didn’t even look at the manuscript
for two years. I picked it up again in 2011, and I thought I finished it for
the first time in February of 2012. But initial reader feedback said it wasn’t
finished. That feedback was hard to digest, so I took another six months off
from it. At last, I finished the book in its current form in October of 2013.
It was quite a journey. Took me just shy of six years.
-Do you have
any other books on the way and would you do anything differently in publishing
a second novel?
K.M.: I’m
in the middle of drafting another novel and adapting a short story into a
novella. The novel is the first in a planned series of four books. I’m about
50% through the story arc on the first book, and it’s already almost as long as
Odd Man Outlaw, so it’s going to be a
larger work.
-Ok. I'm
writing my first book. I am a young Luke to your Obi Wan. Can you give me some
pointers so that I can get this thing published and avoid the dark side of the
force?
K.M.: Truly
finish the book first. I thought this book was finished twice before it was
truly finished. Each time, I saved copies of it everywhere before I started
hacking it apart, just in case I wanted to go back to the previous version. In
both instances, I never looked back. So finish it - all the way to the end. If
you write works that are fully finished, fully refined, and works that you’re
proud of, many readers – including a publisher - will appreciate what you’ve
done. Then it’s simply a matter of knocking on enough doors until you find that
publisher.
-Are we what
we eat? Do you read what you write, and vice versa?
K.M.: Yes,
I think so. I’m a chronic reader. I try to write works that I would want to
read. So, yes, I read my writing. Every time I peek into Odd Man Outlaw, just to take a quick glance, I find myself reading
entire sections. It’s a book I enjoy reading.
-If you
could have a sit down lunch with any author (living or dead) who would it be,
what one question would you ask, and
what would you both be eating? Better yet, would you be cool if he/she
double-dipped off of your plate?
K.M.: I’d
like to say Mark Twain, because he’s one of my favorite writers, and I’d like
to think we’d get along great. But the truth is, he’d probably have little
interest in talking to me, and I’d get nervous, and it’d be awkward and
terrible. And no, I wouldn’t let that tobacco-mouthed scoundrel double dip from
my plate.
-Have you
ever been to Funky Town? Be honest.
K.M.: Yes,
I have, and my wife knows about it. She was there too.
-Favorite
80's hair band?
K.M.:Solo Ozzy Osbourne, especially the Randy Rhoads
albums.
-Choose
wisely, here. Tom Brady or Peyton Manning?
K.M.: Peyton
Manning. I’m from Michigan, but I have no allegiances to Brady. I wrote about
Manning leading up to this past Super Bowl on Michiganders Post, here: http://michiganderspost.com/2014/01/21/why-you-should-root-for-peyton-manning-on-super-bowl-sunday-not-against-richard-sherman/. For better or
worse, I stand by my choice.
-Incorrect. An acceptable response might have been "Tom Brady" or "Durrr, Tom Brady" or "Come on man, that's too easy... Tom Brady, of course." or "Not the Papa John's Guy". Anything
else you want us to know about your book?
Why should we go out and buy it?
K.M.: I
think Odd Man Outlaw is a reader’s
book; it rewards the reader for continuing to read. It asks the reader to
participate in the narrative, to respond to it. So I think most readers will be
satisfied with their reading experience.
When
security guard Edward Waters is arrested for aiding and abetting a known
fugitive, former college roommate, Citizen "Cid" Goodman, is shocked.
The ‘Eddie’ he knew was ambitious, studious and straight-laced - the kind of
guy you could depend on with your life, your money or your girlfriend. But what
really pricks Cid’s conscience is how quick the local media and the public are
to label Eddie as a criminal, trying him in the court of public opinion where
he is guilty until proven innocent. Cid sets about the task of reconstructing
Eddie’s story, from his time as a dedicated college student to the moment he is
arrested, in an attempt to alter public perception. But as the case unfolds,
and fantasy intersects with reality, the line between guilt and innocence
blurs.
Where Can I Buy It?:
Odd Man Outlaw is readily
available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and hopefully an independent
bookstore near you (if not, tell them to order it in).
Thanks K.M!!!
Keep checking back, much more to come!!!
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