Michael’s Comments (group member since Jun 04, 2009)

Michael’s comments from the Q&A with Michael Zadoorian group.

Thanks, all!

You're more than welcome, Vicki. It was my pleasure.
Michael

Hey All-
Since I was out of commission for a couple of days, I'd be happy to extend this Q&A a few days if anyone has any additional questions or comments. If so, please send them in. If not, this has really been fun and interesting and I'd like to thank you all for joining in the discussion.
Cheers,
Michael

Dawn wrote: "Definitely not hijacking! LS reminded me, too, of all our trips as kids in the camper across the country. Good idea about sharing it (the book!) with siblings, but mine aren't readers. I think I might try, though...because they'd really like this book. As a kid I used to read aloud to them long books...if I could just get them all in one spot (they live scattered all over the country) I could read LS to them!


Hey Dawn-
If I had only known, I could have had you and your siblings tune into NPR's Radio Reader with Dick Estell. He just read THE LEISURE SEEKER over about a three week period a month ago. As far as I know they won't be re-running it, but it's a cool show, easily accessible over the internet and worth checking out.
http://radioreader.net/

Cindy wrote: "This book so reminded me of my family - my mom has MS and dad has Parkinson's but they really haven't let it get them down too much. And as a family of five kids, we took many cross-country trips (Dad was in the Air Force) back and forth from our new base to Michigan (the St. Johns area - north of Lansing). Delightful tales of family traveling - the good and the bad! I passed the book on to my mom and sisters.

Hey Cindy-
So glad you enjoyed the book. Sounds like you grew up in a family that traveled as much as mine. It's only as an adult that I realize how much that traveling affected me in a positive way. Hope your mom and sisters enjoy the book too. Thanks for spreading the word.

Vicki wrote: Thanks, Michael. That does answer my questions. I appreciate the response! And not to hijack this thread, but I do have one more question. Well, actually, two:

1) I've already mentioned that I think your characters in The Leisure Seeker are superb. Now I'm wondering about plot, too. Seemingly simple things happen to Ella and John on the road, yet each thing is significant in its own way and pushes the story forward to its conclusion. What is more important to you in your writing: the characters or the plot? Any tips on how to write interesting characters, while also making sure, in regard to plot, that there is some "there" there?

And 2) Will you be doing any sort of book tour for The Leisure Seeker? Namely, showing up on the East Coast anywhere? (I'm in a book club and some of the gang asked me to ask! :-)

Hey Vicki-
First off, sorry to everyone for the lag time between your questions and my answers. I was out of town and things were getting kind of quiet with this Q&A, so I wasn't as attentive as I should have been.

As for your questions, here goes.
1) I suppose that I often do start with a character or characters and then see where they take me. Although one or two critics have found the action in TLS a bit on the "slow" side (USA Today, I'm talking to you), I agree with you that it's just a simple story. What happens to John and Ella is ordinary (for the most part). I don't think that everything that happens in a book or film or story needs to be spectacular. Most of our lives are spent doing rather unspectacular things, and in the case of John and Ella, all they want is to do those things one last time. When I realized that was the idea, the "plot" and narrative and the writing itself tended to work around that. So it was in the rewriting that I think the plot came into its own. For the record though, I do tend to like something to happen plot-wise, it just doesn't have to be gigantic. For a (surprisingly) simple and (not surprisingly) brilliant take on the whole idea of plot, check out Aristotle's Poetics. Charlie Baxter's BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE is well worth reading as well.

2) No sign that I'll be doing any appearances on the east coast at the moment. Publishers are not so big on the book tour these days. They'd rather have me do things like, well, Q&A's on Goodreads. (Speaking of which, I'm also on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. Stop by if you feel like it.) But it's possible that I might travel a bit when the paperback of TLS comes out next spring. And I'm doing a book tour for the Italian translation in September. My wife is very excited about that, as am I. As for your book club, I'd be happy to do a call in. Just drop me a line through my website or Goodreads.

Hey Vicki-
Thanks for having some questions (and good ones at that). I was wondering if this Q&A was going to die on the vine.

Yes, I do have a few "first readers," who are basically people whom I trust to have good comments, who will mention possible problems or confusions or inaccuracies or just plain bad writing to me without crushing my delicate little ego.

Generally, I don't show anyone anything until I feel that it is completed (or very, very near done). I think it's a little dangerous to show people stuff before it's finished, but maybe that's just me. I don't want to be influenced until I have done what I feel needs to be done with the work. Keep in mind that you're talking to someone who had nine years pass between his first and second books (and three months between his second and third), so it's entirely possible that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Anyway, that's what works for me.

Yes, I'm considerably more confident in my abilities as a writer than I was when I first started writing fiction twenty years ago. It was years before I showed anybody any of my work. As for how I feel about my writing now at this moment, I'd love to say that I'm bursting with confidence and absolutely sure that my editor will love my next book. I'd love to say that, but I would be lying. I certainly do feel slightly more confident after the publication of my second and third books, but I do feel as though I have to be prepared for anything. (See comment about nine years between books.) Again, maybe that's just me.

Thanks so much for your questions, Vicki. Hope that answers them.

Does anyone have any other questions about the writing process, or publishing or anything like that?

Hey Melissa-
Yes, the story collection will probably be more difficult to get ahold of since it's been published by a university press. I'm sure you could order it through your nearest independent bookstore (find your nearest with this link: http://www.indiebound.org/indie-store...
And of course, it's available directly through the university press:
http://wsupress.wayne.edu/books/1019/...
Or at Amazon.com or Powells.com.

I can't think of anything you should keep in mind while reading SECOND HAND. It's a fairly different book from THE LEISURE SEEKER. If you have a fondness for old objects, language, music, culture, that will certainly help. Also, It's definitely an adult read in much the same way that LS is. (Just not sure how old your kids are, Melissa.)

Can't say that I have a favorite book. For quite some time, I really thought that SH was going to be my only book, then suddenly I got LS and LTPOD accepted within 24 hours of each other. It's nice to actually have three books out. As for a favorite part of each book, this is also difficult for me to say. But the fact that both novels required me to travel for research makes both special to me. I traveled Route 66 for LS which was wonderful. SH also took me somewhere, but I'm hesitant to say because you haven't read the book yet. You'll find out...

Hope this at least kind of answers your questions. Thanks for the interest and effort to find Tiki Palaces.
Best, Michael

Patty wrote: "For some reason, at least a year ago, I picked up Second Hand at the Library (good librarian!) and loved it. It was something about the way your characters seem so familiar. Not just their manner and language but their values and priorities..."

Hey Patty-
Well, I'm hoping that the characters feel "familiar" because we both come from the same state and much the same region of the same state. (SE Michigan) I think I'm a Midwestern guy who tends to write about Midwesterners. All my favorite fiction has a strong sense of place and I hope mine does as well. I think those manners and language and values that you write of are fairly representative of our part of the world. Hopefully, my fiction reflects that.

As for Richard's store from SECOND HAND, I had more than a few folks ask me where "Satori Junk" was located. I always say it was in the Ferndale of about 12 years ago, with a touch of the same era of Royal Oak. (For anyone who's not from the area who may read this, those are two older small cities on the outer edge of Detroit.) So it's not really West Side. (Metro Detroiters are often adamantly East Side or West Side. It's one of our little quirks.) To this day, I'm not exactly sure if Ferndale is East or West side. It's kind of in the middle. Maybe that's why I like it still.

Thanks for your kind words about my work. For the record, I'm pro-librarian myself. Aside from the fact that librarians have been incredibly behind THE LEISURE SEEKER, I'm also married to one.

Patty wrote: "Anyhow, I posed in my review of the" Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit" that a side trip made by Ella and John is told here that was left out of "The Leisure Seeker". I went back and find that you say you actually wrote this story about 10 years ago. This short story, "Mystery Spot", seems to explain Ella's reasoning best to me although many similiar incidents happen in "LS". What do you think? It would be interesting to see how others feel about it."

Hey Patty- Yes, I did write that story "Mystery Spot" at least ten years ago. And it was indeed my starting point for THE LEISURE SEEKER. I suppose in some ways it does explain things in a different manner than in the novel. But I would also say that once I started writing the book, I did need to let go of most of what I did in the story and take an approach that would lend itself better to a longer form. Still, I love that story and felt that it totally stood on its own. I also thought it would interesting to include it in the collection for people who may have also read the novel. Like you.

Actually, it's kind of exciting that you would ask this question. Even though I've mentioned here and there that "Mystery Spot" was the seed for the novel, no one has ever asked me any questions about the relationship between the two.

Here's another one: the character of Theresa in my first novel SECOND HAND is rather closely based on the animal shelter worker character in "To Sleep," the first full story of LOST TIKI PALACES. Some of the action in the story parallels the book as well. Obviously, I tend to borrow from my stories for my novels. I think it's my way of working out an idea to see if it will lend itself to a longer work.

Jacqueline wrote: Non-"Leisure Seeker" question. After keeping a friend company on a jaunt to a panel discussion on "getting yourself in print", I was wondering what was YOUR trajectory to your first book? Published stories/articles/ built up writing credits? Self-publishing/POD?

Personally have ZERO aspirations to Be An Author, since I edit books and truly enjoy that. But I was fascinated with the complex choices available to today's authors. Previously, it was self-publish or find an agent!

Memory Lane, please? Thanks!"

Hey Jacqueline-
Thanks for your question. My particular journey started with locking myself up and quietly writing stories, not telling anyone what I was doing. After a couple of years of that, I decided to finally get out there and show some other folks my work. I took a workshop at Wayne State University, then another... After some encouragement from instructors while I worked on my Masters, I started sending stories out to small literary journals and quarterlies. I kept doing that and over the next few years, I started to get some stories accepted.

I started to think about an agent then, but unless you get stories published in The New Yorker or somewhere like that, agents don't pay much attention to you. Finally, I decided to write a novel, which took me about two years. After I finished it, I was at a Writers Conference in New Orleans, where I had a meeting with an agent. I pitched my novel to her. I do think she took me more seriously because I had published in all those journals. As it turned out, she wasn't interested in the book that I had written, but she told me that if I wrote another one, she'd like to see it. Four years later, I sent her SECOND HAND and they took me on. After about six months of shopping it around, W.W. Norton accepted it.

It's strange to compress the events of about twelve years into two paragraphs, but there it is. Hope this answers your question.

John wrote: "But how accurate is the description of the current state of Route 66?

PS--loved the hot rod hipsters cameo "

hey John-
When I traveled Route 66 to research the book, things were actually starting to look up. I think some the people and merchants who still live along the various alignments of 66 (it was often re-routed and realigned over the years) are now starting to truly realize that the road may once again be a viable tourist attraction and thus a potential source of income.

So some of them are attempting to restore historic buildings or to at least clean up some of the surrounding areas. There are also many Route 66 societies and museums and clubs that love and respect this historic piece of America. If you want to find out more I suggest you check out Ron Warnick's Route 66 News. It's kind of a clearing house of news and information about The Mother Road. http://rwarn17588.wordpress.com/

mz

Melissa wrote: "Michael,

First I have to say I loved the Leisure Seeker. My son won a copy and I read it outloud to the family. My question is, My kids and I were talking about how this would be a great movie. Is that in the works? I would definately have to get it if it went out on dvd. That would of course be after a few viewings at the theater.

Melissa- So glad you enjoyed the book and that the ending made sense to you. (BTW: I guess there's going to be some major spoilers in this Q&A by all of us, so if anyone hasn't read the book yet, you may want to tread warily through these questions.

Since both Alicia and Cody's asked film-related questions along with yours, Melissa, I'm going to answer them all at the same time. Hope no one minds.

So here goes: Right now there are indeed plans for the book to be made into a film. A Swedish director named Jens Jonsson is working on a script for it right now. Jens won Best Foreign Film last year at the Sundance Film Festival for a lovely film called THE KING OF PING PONG.

I haven't gotten a report lately, but I know they're hoping to start shooting this year. It's really hard for any of them to know what's absolutely going to happen since so much depends on financing and other matters that are very hard to control. We're all keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that it happens. It would certainly be a boost for the book, as well for my home state of Michigan, which is where they plan to film some of it.

For a little more information on it, including a nice video of Jens Jonsson talking about THE LEISURE SEEKER, go to Sharp Independent's website. (They're the producers who also made BOYS DON'T CRY and YOU CAN COUNT ON ME.)
http://www.harpercollins.com/sharpind...

Patti wrote: "Michael-I thought the ending worked well; the ground was well laid for it--just like in THELMA AND LOUISE.
I was also most impressed with how well you captured a woman's voice and an elderly woman at that. Most men don't try it. Obviously it could not be John's voice unless you reversed the maladies. That could have made an interesting book too. Did you consider it?

Patti-
Actually, no. I really didn't even consider it. But I have been very surprised at how many people have told me that writing in an older woman's voice was a chancey proposition for a man. I'm glad no one told me this while I was writing the book! I don't think I would have chickened out, but you never know. The idea of the woman telling the story just seemed right to me. I try to listen to myself when I write and just go with my instincts and that's what they told me.

Vicki wrote: "Hi Michael...I enjoyed The Leisure Seeker immensely, and, like others who have already asked questions, was very taken with the characters of Ella and John.

How do you develop such realistic chara..."

Hey Vicki-
I'm afraid that it all needs to happen in a pretty organic manner with me. I usually just start writing and see where it leads me. Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't lead me anywhere. But with both SECOND HAND and THE LEISURE SEEKER, I just started writing in the voices of the characters. With SH, it took me a long time and many pages to see that there was something there that I wanted to explore. With LS, it didn't take as long because I had a pretty good idea of where I was going with it. (I had written a short story about ten years before about an older couple who steal off to Disneyland so I knew that was going to be the basic plot.) I suppose experience helped as well. I think I know what I'm doing now more than then. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it though.

Jacqueline wrote: "I see others are also impressed with your ability to get inside the head of an elderly person. Thanks for explaining...I figured you must be a good listener.

So...what's the wisest thing you learned from those listenings..and the least useful?

Well, that's an interesting question. I'm not so sure I have a great answer for either part. Rest assured that although I may have always "listened" to my mother, I certainly didn't do everything she told me to do. But I have noticed that now that both my parents have passed away, I have a stronger sense of just how much wisdom and creativity they gave me. (Of course, there's a few other things that they left me with that I could do without.)

Another question is from Patti Abbott. Hey Patti! (We know each other. Patti's daughter is the fantastic noir writer Megan Abbott.) Here's her question: This is a novel told from the voice of an elderly woman. Did you find it difficult to find her voice, and articulate her concerns.

Hmm. Actually, the voice of Ella came sort of naturally to me. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but it really just felt comfortable. I'm sure that it has something to do with my mother and the long talks we used to have about all kinds of things: her childhood, my childhood, our family before I was born, old music, objects, Detroit back in the day, etc. As a little boy and as an adult, I always listened to my mother.

Hey all-
Thanks so much for participating. Though I'm still figuring out how to do this, I'll do the best I can to answer everyone's questions in a timely manner. A reminder: this is an open group, so if you think of anyone that may be interested, please feel free to invite them to join.

Some people have already asked questions, so I'll start there. Doris Mahony asked if I caught any flack about the ending. Frankly, before the book came out, I was prepared for some people to hate it. Though a few critics subtly made note of it and stated the same thing, I haven't really heard much of anything negative. Response has been overwhelmingly positive about the ending. Older people even seemed to like it the best. It's been interesting.

She also asked if the characters of John and Ella were based on people I've known. While it's true that my late mother and father most certainly influenced the characters, as I was writing the book, John and Ella definitely took on their own personalities and histories and characteristics. That said, a co-worker and I used to compare our mothers' slang expressions from when we were growing up. It turned out to be a kind of unconscious research. Those phrases started popping up in the book.