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Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is excited to have as our guest John Neufeld who has twice been included in The Sunday New York Times’ Best Books of the Year. John is here today to discuss his most recent novel, April Fool as well as writing in general.

Good day John and thanks for participating in our interview. 

Norm:

How did you get started in writing? What keeps you going?

John: 

I started writing at age 12 thinking it was an easy way to make money.  I made none for eighteen years thereafter.  I keep going now because when an idea strikes my fancy, I immediately cast it into a form --- short story, novel, vignette, and joke.  I can't stop myself and wouldn't know what else to do.

Norm:

What is your typical workday like? Do you stick to a writing schedule?

John:

I don't have a typical workday.  I live by choice in a small town (3500) and it's deeply important to me to be part of that town's activities.  Civic clubs, sports, church, teaching, and music.  Having lived in NYC and LA for so long, to get back to a workable landscape is wonderful and rewarding. When I am working, however, I work in fits and starts.  Some days I'll just not feel up to it, or even ready. Other days can last 12 hours.  As they say, when you're hot.... 

Norm:

As I mentioned in my introduction, you have twice been included in The Sunday New York Times’ Best Books of the Year. What is this all about and how did it feel when you were included? 

John:

"Best Books of the Year" citations are wonderful for one's ego.  They impress one's friends and they make your publishers very happy indeed.  But if you've already started something else, you don't take much time out to celebrate.  (I've never been agog at the idea that somewhere, someone I don't know, perhaps some thousands, are reading a book of mine.  Once a book is published, although I'm interested in how it does in the marketplace, I don't think much about it.) 

Norm:

When you wrote April Fool, did you have a particular audience in mind?

John:

Yes, readers over 45 who were approaching some of the conditions George worries about, and who have perhaps had marriages like his.  And who remembered how a good book read --- as opposed to chick lit, espionage, mysteries, romances, memoirs real or imagined --- all honorable forms, and I wish them well. 

Norm:

What do you want April Fool to do? Amuse people? Provoke thinking?

John:

Certainly amuse.  And provoke comparison between reader and character. Not to mention provoking a little political thought.  We live in dangerous times, and even though George doesn't feel the urgency of this as I might, it's there.

Norm:

How did you go about creating your protagonist George Willett and is there much of you in George?

John:

Well, I'm guilty of that, but not overly.  I believe as George does in the goodness of immigration.  I'm awed by the strength of women.  And every little wince and twinge sends my imagination to the emergency room.  I started with George in extremis because that was how I felt.

Norm:

What would you say is George’s biggest strength? His greatest weakness?

John:

George's biggest strength is his imagination.  George's biggest weakness is his imagination.  George can be infuriating; something of which I was unaware until after the book was completed.  Until then, I just thought he was terrific. Now I realize he's shortsighted, selfish, self-absorbed, certainly, but not altogether a bad man.

Norm:

It is said that if you want to write a good story or novel you need to create struggles of powerful descriptive individuals and not just issues. Through their accomplishments and travail, we very much comprehend the issues? Do you agree and how is this applicable to April Fool?

John:

I'm not sure I understand this question.  In a novel, it is no longer necessary to set up protagonist versus antagonist in a scholarly inverted V where tension increased as each character neared his/her goal.  In April Fool, George is his own hero and his own villain.  And the issues, such as they are, are subordinate to the entertainment value of George's tale.

Norm:

What was your secret in keeping the intensity of the plot throughout April Fool?

John:

No secret.  I had a mental blueprint.  I switched (cut and pasted) sections around until I was happy.  I added characters when I needed them and hoped my own hand wouldn't show.  One event by which your readers might be amused: in an early draft, Frank the barman actually did have cancer and died.  George tended him with gentleness and affection. But this threw the book out of balance, weighed it down, and deflected its focus.  Therefore, OUT.

Norm:

What's the most difficult thing for you about being a writer?

John:

Learning when enough is enough.  Generally I know instinctively where a story must end.  But sometimes I'm having such fun I just keep writing past that point.  That's where a good editor is invaluable. 

Another feature of writing I find slightly uncomfortable is being my own best company for each and every day.  I'm a social animal and I long for telephone interruptions, or appointments or lunches or a round of golf.  At five o'clock, should someone call, that person is going to get SUCH a tirade (of any sort) just because I've had to be silent for so long.

Norm:

Do you feel that writers, regardless of genre owe something to readers, if not, why not, if so, why and what would that be?

John:

Absolutely I do.  Readers must be given a story they want to read, a story they will continue to read, and a story they will remember, even if it is "just" an entertainment. It's my responsibility to write well and accurately about landscapes and heartscapes.

Norm:

What do you think makes a good story? As a follow up, what, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

John:

A good story comes in many guises, and I begrudge none of them except perhaps those that emerge from a standard kitchen over and over again.  I certainly begrudge success if it's not earned, i.e., well written and observed.  Good writing is clear, clean, uses occasional color and comparison, keeps it eyes (and the readers') on its target, and satisfies at its conclusion.

Norm:

Has a review or profile ever changed your perspective on your work? As a follow up, do you have a favourite story to tell about being interviewed about any of your books? What question are you never asked in interviews but wish you were?

John:

I was once was startled by a review that pointed out that the book under the glass was wonderful but for one chapter where unaccountably I had changed the p.o.v.  She was totally correct.  Neither my editor nor I had spotted it. It made the career of that story a great deal more understandable than beforehand.

I'd love to be asked what I think of So-and-So's book. But then again, there would be nothing I could say.

Norm:

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

John:

The supreme moment in life for me was learning that what moved me moved other people also.  That I was not such a paragon as my parents had insisted for so many years.  That I was just a guy among guys. I cannot tell you the relief I felt and then the total release knowing how true this was.  It helped my writing more than I can say.

Norm:

What is next for John Neufeld and how can our readers find out more about your and your books?

John:

I'm not exactly sure.  I have two novels waiting in the wings, but I don't know which I prefer.  They're very different.  April Fool is for fun.  Comfort is not.  And Necessary Memories is a little side-bar of history of which I'm very fond.  I think the solution lies in how well April Fool does

 As for finding out what's up, I may well put some of these chapters on my web page (johnneufeld.com) which, I know, needs constant redesign. 

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

John:

Not really, except to say how pleased I was you yourself liked April Fool and have afforded me this opportunity to talk about it.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

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