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B.K. Mayo

Goodreads Author

Born

Fairfield, CA, The United States

Website

https://www.bkmayo.com/

Genre

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Member Since

August 2012

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On his way to becoming a writer, B K Mayo worked as a fire alarm salesman, a college bookstore manager, a steelworker, an IRS auditor, a park caretaker, a school bus driver, a library aide, a special education teacher, and a high school detention room supervisor.

His short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies, including "The Wordstock 10." His first novel, "Tamara's Child," inspired by his experiences working with at-risk youth, won the 2011 Eric Hoffer Award in the Young Adult book category and was named a Finalist in the Popular Fiction category of the 2010 National Indie Excellence Book Awards. His latest novel, "The Water Tower Club," was awarded a Bronze Medal in the Popular Fiction category of the 2019 Independent ...more

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

B.K. Mayo I avoid writer’s block by always having two stories in progress at the same time. That way if the one I’m working on at the moment stalls, I set it as…moreI avoid writer’s block by always having two stories in progress at the same time. That way if the one I’m working on at the moment stalls, I set it aside for a while and work on the other one. Eventually, my subconscious mind resolves whatever it is that hung me up on the first storyline, and I am good to go again on it.(less)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

B.K. Mayo Have you ever had an experience so awful that you wanted to bury the memory of it forever? Most of us have, I think. The problem is keeping the memory…moreHave you ever had an experience so awful that you wanted to bury the memory of it forever? Most of us have, I think. The problem is keeping the memory banished from thought. Something always seems to happen to trigger our remembrance of an unpleasant event. Then suddenly we are reliving the angst, the sorrow, or the horror of something that happened long ago.

My idea for “The Water Tower Club” grew out of my desire to write a story about a character forced by circumstances to relive the awful things that happened to him growing up. But I didn’t want the story to be just about his unfortunate past. Fiction, like life, has context. Who a character is in the present inevitably collides with his or her past in the unfolding of any drama—real or fiction. So I wanted to give my character a worthy goal to achieve in the present, thus setting up my job as a writer to work out, as the story progressed, the conflict (inner and outer) between the character’s confrontation with his past and his struggle to achieve his present goal.

This shell of an idea was enough to get me started writing, since all I needed to do at that point was to answer some basic questions in order to set the action of the novel in motion: (1) Who is my main character and what is his current circumstance? (2) What bad things happened to him growing up? (3) What event forces him to confront his past? (4) What is his story goal? (5) How does he change as a result of his struggle to achieve his goal?

Of course, there’s one other question that should always be asked and answered before a writer proceeds from story idea to storyline, and that is, “In terms of universal human needs, what is my story really about?” Is it about family? friendship? loyalty? love? redemption? Or is it about something more existential—i.e., survival? “The Water Tower Club” touches on a wide range of topics—sexual abuse, gun safety, bullying, traumatic brain injury, family relationships, and more—but at its core it is a story about the universal human need for self-respect. Which just happens to be inherent in my “idea” for the story.
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B.K. Mayo’s books

Average rating: 3.94 · 216 ratings · 53 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Tamara's Child 3.87 avg rating — 136 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Water Tower Club 3.95 avg rating — 63 ratings — published 2019 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Curious Case of Seaman Garber 4.56 avg rating — 16 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Joe and the Presidents really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goodboy, Come Home 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars