Click Here To Purchase Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can't Live Without

Today, Chris Phillips, one of bookpleasures' reviewers, interviews Nick Belardes author of Random Obsessions

CP

Why another trivia book? There are many already out there, but why did he write this one?

NB

Great question. Brenda Knight at Viva Editions is a big fan of books of oddities. She knew trivia was in a hot trend and also knows I'm sort of a quirky historian/writer. So when she approached me to write the book I thought it sounded really fun. Who can resist writing a book of weirdness? But I also approached the book a little differently. In some sections of the book I told stories pulled from interviews. For instance, I interviewed people who said they saw Mothman, or were touched by the mothy monster phenomenon. I interviewed people with strange diseases, a woman who stumbled upon a strange story out of Fiji on cannibalism and even a pre-viz animator with Star Wars and Avatar...

CP

Did you do the research from your office or did you do it in the field so to speak?

NB

I researched at the CSU Bakersfield library, the Internet, phone interviews, email interviews, and some from my own personal collection of books, and even some of my own personal stories.

CP

What was it like interviewing that many people (28 is my count) for one book? Did you glean enough information to do another?

NB

I love interviews! Their often unpredictable nature can be really awesome.  I've done lots of interviews in my life. Now I'm curious how many I have done. No clue. 
Interviews are easy for me, and you know what? People are more accessible than non-journalists realize. I really was just focusing on content for Random Obsessions. But since you asked, a really bizarre interview I did with the Mothman photographer Andy Colvin that I cut from the book is on FresnoFamous.com. It's titled "The Mothman Cometh." It's a great read and Colvin takes really cool and really bizarre photos.
I will say that for the sake of the book I do have other leftover material that will probably appear on Face News (http://www.facenews.org/), my Web site (http://www.nickbelardes.com/), or other media sites.

CP

What inspires you to write?

NB

I'm driven to write and that inspiration is often unexplainable. It's some kind of passionate force from within me that I think many artists share. I think writers are always asking themselves why they want to create and what the lasting legacy of writing might be. There's definitely something exciting about having a book in print, or stories on TheNervousBreakdown.com or articles on important news topics available for people to read. So I do draw inspiration from that.
On another level, good books, films and great conversations with fellow writers can help that inspiration along. We live in a world of discouragement. So, it's often great to find positive energy when I can, because for me, I can't create unless in a good mood. That's encouragement!!

CP

What are your next projects?

NB

I've been working on a book of social criticisms of the Southern Central Valley. Not enough has been written about the area in which I live. So I'm tackling topics that I think are diverse, interesting, moving, and illuminating. I’m also working on a few novels, including a young adult novel with some fantastical happenings, and another book of oddities.

CP

Are you making any book related public appearances within the next 6 months?

NB

Lots and I'm always looking for more. You can read through a list of what's coming up on www.nickbelardes.com. I will be at a Honky Tonk telling ghost stories, a Dia De Los Muertos celebration, in-store book events and more...

 Interviewer’s Notes:

More can be found out about Nick, this book and many other things, particularly trivia at his WEBSITE

He has written a twitter novel (“Small Places” twitter.com/smallplaces) recently which according to his website is the first literary Twitter novel of its kind.

Click Here To Purchase Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can't Live Without