Ask Roberto Scarlato discussion

You can ask about where I grew up, what books influenced me, etc.

1, How much from life do you write about? Whether it be characters or scenarios.

2, Do you like Jack London?

3, Do you like Neil Gaiman?

4, Do you like Cormac McCarthy

5, Do you like Oscar Wilde?

6, What do you think of Pop literature like Stephen King?

7, Who is your favorite author?

8, What authors do you dislike?

9, Do you have a dream book?

10, Can you finish this thought?

As we left the party and were walking over the South Street Bridge the night was going fantastic for Stephen and I until _______________

Hey Shane,

Thanks for joining.

1. I base a lot of characters on real life people. Sometime ago I discovered that you have to be an observer in your daily life. So I listened, eavesdropped on a few people and started there. Some characters are actually based on my friends.


2. I haven't read Jack London yet. I heard his writing his close with Gary Paulsen. I've read him. But I've read somewhere that he doesn't like Jack London. Can't imagine why. Still, would like to read him someday. I hear Call of The Wild is good.

3. I love Neil Gaiman. I have 5 of the Sandman series but I also loved American Gods. The Graveyard book is also my favorite but I haven't finished it yet.

4 Love Cormac McCarthy. The only thing I read of his was The Road, which is a beautifully written book. I remember reading 40 pages of it in Borders before I finally purchased it.

5. Haven't read his entire works but I love his snappy quotes.

6. I think Pop Literature is vital to an author's survival. It's always good to stay current. Stephen King does a spectacular job. I've read many of his books and am always surprised when he tries something new.

7. My favorite author is Joseph Heller. He has a very absurd brand of humor. My Intro To Fiction teacher introduced me to his work when he assigned us Catch-22. But I also love his book Portrait of an Artist as An Old Man.

8. Sometimes, and I hate to say it, Dean Koontz bugs me. I read once that he does 50 drafts of each page and he doesn't move on until each page is perfect. I love Life Expectancy but it seems like his prose is, like candy, too sweet at times. But I think he is a good author despite that.

9. I once, for a while, did write out a few of my dreams recently. I had planned to collect them over the course of one year and maybe put it on kindle. But the whole thing kind of fell apart. What was once a good yarn in the dream turns out to be a garbled mess in real life.

10. As we left the party and were walking over the South Street Bridge the night was going fantastic for Stephen and I until we looked across the street and saw a demonic clown with a handful of balloons. He was ushering us to him with one finger. He had misshapen teeth and was shouting, "They all float!" I looked over at Stephen and said, "Y'know Stephen King, I feel sorry for him. No one wants to buy his balloons."

Roberto...I know at one time you were interested in directing/film ...when you decided to follow your passion of writing what made you choose not to stay along those lines and become a screenwriter? I know
sometimes a book is adapted, and sometimes it comes directly from a script...is it every writer's dream that their books end up on the big screen?

Roberto, why do I think you are an opera fan? Am I mixing you up with another digital friend? Did you write about this somewhere? Is it just because you have an Italian name? Please set me straight on this.

Thank you for replying Roberto.

Ha, ha, ha! No I'd never buy Pennywise's baloons. By the way 11/22/63 references IT and is related to The Dark Tower series. But very loosely. I think it was one of King's best work, it's an amazing book. I loved it.

My favorite author was/is Jack London. And if you want to read a brilliant work of fiction read Sea Wolf. Wolf Larson's character is both majestic and formidable. His shorter novels like The Fighter and The Jacket were amazing. Put Sea Wolf at the top of your list.

Dean Koontz bothers me at times too. However I'd have to say his crowning literary achievements is the Odd Thomas series. Like everything that he has ever written lead to these books. They're really, really, good.

Roberto wrote: "Hey Shane,

Thanks for joining.

1. I base a lot of characters on real life people. Sometime ago I discovered that you have to be an observer in your daily life. So I listened, eavesdropped on a fe..."

Roberto wrote: "Hey Shane,

Thanks for joining.

1. I base a lot of characters on real life people. Sometime ago I discovered that you have to be an observer in your daily life. So I listened, eavesdropped on a fe..."

Michelle wrote: "Roberto...I know at one time you were interested in directing/film ...when you decided to follow your passion of writing what made you choose not to stay along those lines and become a screenwriter..."

Hey Michelle,

Good question. I did have a dream of being a filmmaker. Believe it or not I was accepted to Columbia college but didn't have enough in funds to actually go there. When it came time to help as a Production Assistant on a local low budget film, I jumped at the chance. I read the script, was a line supervisor and everything. But when the movie debuted it was really terrible. I think that's when I became disenchanted to the whole film-making thing.

I could've written screenplays but I didn't like writing in that form. It just feels very wooden at times. I love writing stories with description, foreshadowing, dialogue and prose. It just has a better flavor that way.

It's not my main dream that my works end up on the big screen but I wouldn't be against it if they ever approached me. Even if they changed the story and made it something completely different I'd say, "Oh that's fine, now where's the check?" I'd sell out big time. Because there would always be a chance where someone goes, "Ah, the book was better."

Marion wrote: "Roberto, why do I think you are an opera fan? Am I mixing you up with another digital friend? Did you write about this somewhere? Is it just because you have an Italian name? Please set me straight..."

Hey Marion,

Thanks for the question. It could be that I have such an operatic name. I think you may have me mixed up with another friend, but that's not to say that I don't like opera.

My wife got me into Phantom of The Opera when we were dating and I liked it a lot.


Hmmmmm, maybe I should go into opera?