Once again, I will refer to the question I was asked some time ago, and I still have trouble answering it clear-cut, to the point. That question was, "How do you find your authors?" Still, there is no clear-cut answer. Probably, the question should be, "How do authors find you?" Most of my authors find Copperhill Media through the Internet after the exhausting process of writing to agents and publishers and being rejected ("If she hasn't answered you within six months you may assume she is not interested.") numerous times.
Other authors just skip agents and traditional publishers and look for small publishers (like Copperhill Media) with a reasonable approach that fits their needs. No, Copperhill Media is not a vanity publisher. We don't charge authors to publish their work. What separates us from the industry is the ability to overlook "mistakes" made by authors, like using the wrong font, wrong indentation, or wrong line spacing in the manuscript. We don't need a fancy query letter that was drafted by a professional service and thus does not represent the author's thoughts and abilities. We merely look for the potential in a manuscript, which does, of course, include a sufficient writing style, but we don't crinch at an occasional spelling error. Such things can be corrected easily.
That being said, let me make a statement: I don't have the foggiest idea why an author like John Patrick Doyle and his novel Boiled Peanuts would be rejected by agents and publishers alike. And yet, it happened. Well, there was one exception, namely Copperhill Media, and I am extremely pleased to introduce John Patrick Doyle as our newest author.
And even better, I don't have to convince anybody of John's extraordinary writing skills. Just read the interview below, and you will know what I mean.
Boiled Peanuts
Paul Kirk is a librarian and one of his town’s quirkier residents. In a childhood home lacking parents (his mother dying of MS and his father an alcoholic) Paul had imagined himself a member of the neighboring family. Now in his late twenties, Paul vicariously participates in the households of his community. His peeping-Tom proclivities express his awkward need for social bonding.
Then Paul meets Bronwyn, a counselor who is lovely, independent and blind. She has inherited her Aunt Phyllis’ house and is newly arrived in town. When Paul first sees Bronwyn at church, he knows he wants to be part of her life.
As the mystery of Aunt Phyllis unfolds, Bronwyn and Paul become more deeply involved as they learn about Phyllis’ secrets and how they relate to Bronwyn and her past, but Paul’s peeping ways may ruin it all.
Boiled Peanuts is available through Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.
About John Patrick Doyle
Born of Irish parents, John Patrick Doyle grew up in London. At the age of 14, entranced by brochures picturing bikini-clad women jogging on Australian dunes, he encouraged his family to emigrate to a sunnier land. He left school at 15 and worked for a telephone company in Sydney, then a warehouseand a bookstore. Having scraped together an education, at 30 he moved to the U.S. and worked as a law librarian in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Lexington, Virginia. In 2011, he discontinued paid employment, attracted by the lonely, grinding life of a full-time writer. He and his wife, Mary, have 6 children (3 each), 5 grandchildren and 2 cats.
Interview With John Patrick Doyle
The obvious question: What triggered the idea to write Boiled Peanuts?
JPD: Some authors visualize the final scene and rewind; others, more like a deity creating an orderly universe, imagine the first chapter and roll on from there; my thought began in the middle, at the scene where the night-time intruder enters Bronwyn’s garden. I wondered what I’d do. Would I give chase or call the police? And what if I was on a shed roof, spying on her. And what if she was blind? That quickly ran off into a guy day-dream where I rescue the girl, and she’s naked, tied to the bed. Phew!
The next obvious question: Is there anything of yourself in the main character, Paul Kirk? (Townfolks asking yet again)
JPD: Had Paul offered me his overcoat it would have been an exact fit, we’re that close (there’s no record that Paul owns an overcoat, but the author always knows more of his character than appears in the novel). Paul is an introverted librarian living in Lexington (check, check, check) who is a peeping Tom (Hmm!). With two daughters and two stepdaughters to embarrass, it seems best to decline that match. Yet I’m a man, and men, I assume, are voyeuristic. It’s true that extrapolating from a case of one (myself) is statistically deficient, but if I see an attractive woman in a yellow sun-dress then I’m surely right to believe that other men also see the sun-dress to be yellow.
Why did you make the decision to write and how is writing life treating you?
JPD: I’ve always been a writer, just not one that wrote. And, I’m always twenty-five (as long as I avoid mirrors), so delusionitis is strong in me. Like 96.3% of the population (it’s so freeing, not having to cite sources), I knew I could write a novel, but I was afraid. Is it better to write and prove you can’t, than never to have written at all? Best keep your delusions the inner-self whispers, but imagining the flavor of an ice-cream isn't as satisfying as eating the ice-cream. If it was, I’d want to live in that world. At some point, the never-bust-your-delusion line crosses the never-will-do-it line and fear of deathbed regret grows dominant. So, I took up writing out of fear, and how am I doing now? Now my fear is I won’t be able to write another that’s as good. However, I had a Catholic upbringing and I’m hoping that guilt will impel me to work harder.
How long did it take to write Boiled Peanuts?
JPD: It took seven months for the draft, then roughly another year of editing. I grew up in England in the years that English schools must have stopped teaching grammar. I discovered I didn’t consciously know any grammar, and my punctuation was from Terra Incognita. My wife, Mary, happily, is a good editor and I read books on editing, which infinitely expanded my knowledge to the point where I could understand maybe five percent of a grammar book. In writing the novel, I learned that I didn’t speak American, which surprised me, as I’ve lived in the U.S. for about thirty years. “JA” kept appearing in the margin (Mary’s “Jane Austin” warning), and, with regret, I’d stamp out my Nineteenth-Century Englishisms.
How did your search for a publisher go? (a.k.a. how the heck did you find us?)
JPD: Almost the entire publishing industry spurned me. I think that sums it up. I’m too humble to conceive myself remarkable, and yet, by some miracle, into Boiled Peanuts was breathed an element of genius (okay, so I’m a typical author). I queried over 600 literary agents and publishers, and they all (but one) rejected or ignored me! With that much rejection, it’s not easy maintaining one’s delusions or even unfurling from the fetal position.
How do you write, i.e. do you have a special place? Do you write at certain times? What motivates you to write?
JPD: I wrote Boiled Peanuts conjoined with my armchair and my laptop. Usually I worked from around 6:00am until I went into work around 10:30am and then all day on weekends. Now that I’ve quit my librarian job to write full-time, I’ve discovered the “honey do” list. I hadn’t heard of “honey do” and didn’t remember it used during my years in England and Australia, further evidence that American phrases continue to surprise me. Spending much of my time painting the house, and dealing with other deferred chores, leaves me with little time for writing. Honestly though, it’s an excuse to push off being disciplined. Had Dickens never had to paint his house he would have finished The Mystery of Edwin Drood and even have started Pickwick II. Though I’m guessing with Dickens, he was more productive the less time he had to spare.
What's up next?
JPD: In Lexington, ghost tours are popular from Halloween to Christmas. I was thinking about starting peeping Tom tours. Not sure what season though. Warm weather’s better for standing around in, but you need an early sunset or the business hours are too short.
Totally out of context: What's your view on gummy bears?
JPD: Sticking their paws into tree cavities would naturally make bears gummy. I’ve always thought that a writer could take any topic and make something of it, and A.A. Milne shows I’m right on that one. In addition, no dental plan and a diet rich in honey can only lead to a gummy condition.
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Boiled Peanuts
A Novel by John Patrick Doyle
A Peeping Tom Goes Nuts Over A Blind Girl
Paul Kirk is a librarian and one of his town's quirkier residents. In a childhood home lacking parents (his mother dying of MS and his father an alcoholic) Paul had imagined himself a member of the neighboring family. Now in his late twenties, Paul vicariously participates in the households of his community. His peeping-Tom proclivities express his awkward need for social bonding.
Then Paul meets Bronwyn, a counselor who is lovely, independent and blind. She has inherited her Aunt Phyllis’ house and is newly arrived in town. When Paul first sees Bronwyn at church, he knows he wants to be part of her life. As the mystery of Aunt Phyllis unfolds, Bronwyn and Paul become more deeply involved as they learn about Phyllis’ secrets and how they relate to Bronwyn and her past, but Paul’s peeping ways may ruin it all. [Read more...]
Boiled Peanuts is available through Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.
