Ask the Author: Michael Clark
Answered Questions (4)
Michael Clark
Joint '72 is fiction, but inspired in part by a real murder committed at a boarding school I attended, back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. In the book, the mystery is WHO did it; in the real-life mystery, it was not who, but WHY the crime was committed, and that remains a mystery to this day, probably to everyone except the person who did it.
If you're now thinking, "Yeah, but besides that..." I'd have to say the greatest mystery in my life is the same one that anyone who engages in any sort of self-examination often worries about: Just what do other people really think of me? Do they trust me? Feel the same toward me that I do toward them? Love me? Think I'm funny, brave, wise, strong, stoic?
You'll see that happening in some of Dub Wiggins' introspections in Joint '72, but the phenomenon is an integral part of the human condition and deserves tons of examination in fiction and elsewhere. I've been through a few formal exercises that demonstrated huge gaps between how I perceive myself v. how others perceive me. My gaps could give the Grand Canyon some competition.
So there's a great mystery for me, and for everyone. Personally, I never believe someone who says they don't care what others think of them. They are usually the first to seek validation from others when they are feeling insecure -- but they do so with great craft and stealth.
Thanks for your question!
If you're now thinking, "Yeah, but besides that..." I'd have to say the greatest mystery in my life is the same one that anyone who engages in any sort of self-examination often worries about: Just what do other people really think of me? Do they trust me? Feel the same toward me that I do toward them? Love me? Think I'm funny, brave, wise, strong, stoic?
You'll see that happening in some of Dub Wiggins' introspections in Joint '72, but the phenomenon is an integral part of the human condition and deserves tons of examination in fiction and elsewhere. I've been through a few formal exercises that demonstrated huge gaps between how I perceive myself v. how others perceive me. My gaps could give the Grand Canyon some competition.
So there's a great mystery for me, and for everyone. Personally, I never believe someone who says they don't care what others think of them. They are usually the first to seek validation from others when they are feeling insecure -- but they do so with great craft and stealth.
Thanks for your question!
Michael Clark
Like many first novels, a significant portion of mine (but still less than half) is autobiographical, inspired to one degree or another by actual experiences. I find it odd that some corners of the publishing industry frown on that -- like the literary agent who says in her bio that she does want to read any "ME - moirs." That seems like a pre-judgment to me, particularly if the experiences themselves, and/or the style in which you present them, bring new voice or new thinking to literature.
Michael Clark
Since I am my own publisher, phase two of the work has only just begun. I am engaged in trying to get my book in the hands of as many readers as I can. (Meanwhile in my head, I'm churning plot outlines and character sketches for my next three books.)
Michael Clark
Looking at my first novel in hardcover on our coffee table and being able to say with a fair amount of pride, "I made that."
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