Author's Corner

Listed below are questions from interested readers:
(Send your question to sperone@juno.com, using "Author's Corner" in the Subject Line.)

What is the single most important thing you would like readers to know about your work?
That nine of my eleven published books to date have won awards in TEN different categories. The categories are: Romance, Holiday, Autobiography (3), Memoir (2), Thriller, Political Thriller, Juvenile Fiction, Young Adult Fiction (3), Religious Fiction, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller. BOTH of my memoirs (1940s-'50s; and 1960s) have WON Best of the Year Awards!

What kind of novels do you write?
My earliest books were futuristic mystery/thrillers. But I've also written a children's book and a holiday romance. My first three novels, (The StarSight Trilogy), introduced Tony Shane, a young science professor whose consulting for the CIA draws him into bizarre futuristic missions. The next novel was a Vatican thriller, Murder Almighty. The next, a political thriller, Judgment Day. I followed these with a dystopian young adult political thriller. Youthanasia (2009) and then an illustrated children's book, Star of the Future (2010. Shoot the Moon, (2016) re-connects with Professor Tony Shane, as he takes on a Vegas-based political conspiracy. Mrs. C: A Holiday Fantasy, (2017) is a Romance-Comedy-Fantasy about a contemporary feminist selected as the new Mrs. Santa Claus.

Do you consider yourself a successful author?
That depends on the measure of “success.” Literary success? Yes.
All of my books have received strong, positive reviews, and most of them have competed well for annual book awards. My two memoirs have WON Book of the Year Awards in the autobiography or memoir categories.

Regarding “financial success,” the answer is “not yet.”
I publish independently and sell my books online but haven't yet cracked into a big market. My goal has been to sharpen my writing skills until I produce a knock-your-socks-off book that gets national attention. I’m still working on it.

One good indicator of success is that my recent Romance novella, Mrs. C: A Holiday Fantasy has been optioned out as a potential motion picture. Stay tuned….

Which novel(s) would you recommend to a SciFi lover?
The last two books of the StarSight Trilogy -- Crisis on Flight 101 (2003) and Einstein's Tunnel (2004) -- deal with time travel and alternate history. Crisis on Flight 101 got the Editor's Choice designation from iUniverse Publishers. Einstein's Tunnel was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category for the 2005 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

What do critics have to say about your novels?
I’m happy to say that my novels have received consistently favorable reviews. Nearly all have been honored in Book-of-the-Year-Award competitions.

What do critics have to say about your memoir/autobiography, Turned On!?
I wrote the book for a niche audience -- the '60s generation of academics -- and their response has been overwhelming (see: reviewer comments. But the enthusiasm of a younger generation of readers has been very gratifying. It has been given a Recommended review from U.S. Review of Books and has won the 2016 Book Excellence Award for best autobiography and three different BOTY Finalist Awards.

What advice do you have for authors dealing with negative reviews?
No matter how good your work is, negative reviews will happen. No one book will please all readers. An author can not have a thin skin. Value the negative review for whatever constructive guidance you might get.

Do you consider Youthanasia in the dystopian genre of Hunger Games - Divergent - Never Let Me Go?
Youthanasia (2009) is a "Young Adult" novel. It fits the dystopian genre and has a lot in common with Divergent, Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and others where the protagonists are typically teens in a futuristic, unsettling environment.

Where do you get your inspiration for novels?
Everywhere! Newspapers, conversations, TV, life.... Any topic on which I can ask "What if...." and an interesting story comes to mind. The key is to jot thoughts down when the idea is fresh. Deciding to write about it later depends on how passionate I feel about the topic. Things that really inspire me are politics, religious controversies, and futuristic technology.

Do you have the plot and characters fully developed before you begin writing a novel?
Simple answer is No. I conceive a theme, a rough story line, the main characters, and major conflicts. I give much thought to how the book begins. But I will modify the plot as I write, particularly to accommodate evolving attributes of the characters. And the ending is never clearly in mind until…well…the end.

Can you give an example of a major plot change made after the writing began?
Thought you’d never ask. There are many, but one stands out. In my first novel, The StarSight Project, the Senator’s wife, Ellen Moorhouse, was a very minor character. But she grew so formidable that I was compelled to give her a major role in the outcome of the novel…and a major part in the sequel, Crisis on Flight 101. Also…SPOILER ALERT…elevating her future role required elimination of one earlier main character.

Do you ever wish you could re-write a previously published novel?
I submit a manuscript to the publisher only after dozens of revisions and critiques by a small army of fussy reviewers. The publisher’s review will suggest further revisions. I don’t release the final version until I’m convinced it’s right in all respects. That being said, I will inevitably find things I wish I had done differently. I suspect that most writers have this same experience.

What are your current writing projects?
I've just published a memoir, Growing Up Catholic in the Twentieth Century, (iUniverse, 2021). The book depicts life in the 1940s and 50s for a youngster navigating the sometimes-perilous, often-confusing, and hysterically-amusing pathway of a second-generation Italian-American in a blue-collar town, delightfully twisted by a mid-twentieth century Catholic school education. I'm eager to work on a sequel to my earlier children's book, Star of the Future, (iUniverse, 2010).
If you would like to be on the early distribution list for this book, please e-mail your contact address to sperone@juno.com, using "Perone Books" in the Subject Line.

How do you get motivated to write?
I write novels because I love a good story, and I'm delighted when readers enjoy mine. I wrote the 1960s memoir, Turned On!, because it was an era of unprecedented change, and I was right in the middle of an important part of it -- the lab computer revolution. The fact that all of my books have gotten good reviews, and most have peformed well in award competitions, is very gratifying and motivational.

Which book is your best seller?
To date the best selling novel has been the Vatican thriller, Murder Almighty. Overall, my 1960s memoir, Turned On!, is the best seller.

Your experience as professor and government scientist gave credibility to your first "techno-thriller," The StarSight Project. But what about others ... like Crisis on Flight 101?
In Crisis on Flight 101 the central feature is a transatlantic overnight flight in 1939 on a Pan American flying boat, one of the Boeing B-314 Clippers. These were awesome aircraft, providing in-flight luxury like a sea-going passenger ship--sleeping cabins, dining lounge, and an upper-level flight deck. Only 12 B-314 aircraft were built, and none remain, so I researched archival information. Few who actually flew these aircraft are still with us, but many recorded their experiences. I was fortunate to have one of these chroniclers, a former 1940s Pan Am flight crew member, Ed Dover, review the Clipper flight I detailed in my book. I was delighted to get confirmation that I had practically everything right!

Do you write every day? How much?
No, not every day. Not even every week. I have a writing "season" that begins right after the first of the year through about May. That's enough time to complete a novel once I've done the initial outline, research, character definitions, etc. I like to get up early and do all my writing before noon. Typically, I'll work about 5 days a week and produce an average of 6 typed pages a day. I don't write chapters sequentially, often writing first the crucial chapters in the middle or end.

Do you ever get "writer's block"?
I don't sit down to write until I've already worked out the scene I'm going to portray and the dialogue in my mind or outlined it on paper. If I don't follow this procedure, I will experience "writer's block"---sitting and staring at the keyboard.

What made you think you could write novels?
Did I have writing credentials? I certainly thought so. Writing two textbooks, well over a hundred technical articles, numerous book chapters, and countless research proposals at least taught me how to organize thoughts and construct readable prose. In fact, I compare writing novels to writing research proposals. In both cases one conceives a new idea, does the fact-finding to give it some credibility, writes it up in the most compelling manner, and tries to convince someone to buy it.

What advice do you give to aspiring novelists?
Take a good course in creative writing. Such a course won’t teach creativity. But it might teach a creative writer the proper approach to generating well-crafted works of fiction. Full disclosure, I never took a creative writing course; but I’ve benefited from competent and constructive advice from reviewers and editors. It’s been slow and painful, but effective.

Were the political characters in Judgment Day based on Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld? And the dedication, "For George," that was directed to ex-President George W. Bush, right?
The G. W. Bush administration provided a wealth of inspiration for the characters and incidents in this novel. But the lead characters are composites inspired by many public figures, not specifically those you mentioned. The dedication? That was for a dear friend, definitely not the ex-President ... although he might benefit from reading the book.

Your novel, Murder Almighty, is a religious thriller like some of Dan Brown's works (The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons). How do you compare your book to his?
Murder Almighty is similar in topic to Brown's Angels and Demons. That is, they are both religious mystery-thrillers set in Rome and both involve violent events affecting papal elections. The story lines are quite different, however. Brown's book blends futuristic science and academic symbology to combat an ancient secret organization attacking the Church. My story is about a contemporary Vatican conspiracy, where conflicted secular characters are drawn into the middle of deadly skirmishes between strong religious figures.

Which is your favorite novel?
Mrs. C: A Holiday Fantasy! Without a doubt this was the most fun to write and the most enjoyable read of all my books. It is a short, Christmas story that combines elements of mystery, adventure, romance and fantasy built around a strong female character. It is thought-provoking, sometimes disturbing, but ultimately uplifting. Readers love it and so do i.

I understand the first three Tony Shane novels form a connected trilogy. Can a reader enjoy one without reading the others?
Absolutely! These novels are intricately connected--but each is written to stand alone. Anyone reading all three will enjoy following the characters and threads that tie the stories together, and will appreciate that the third novel folds back on the first in unexpected ways. Nevertheless, each novel stands alone with a satisfying and complete story line.

Was the fictional terrorist plot in The StarSight Project patterned after the 9/11 attack on the United States?
The original version of The StarSight Project was completed in January 2001, but had not yet been published by September 11. The origins and nature of the 9/11 attack were strikingly similar to the terrorist plot of my book -- disturbing a number of reviewers that had seen advance copies. Of course, the book was revised after 9/11. The revised book now opens with the 9/11 attack. It was published in November 2002.

Why are your books independently published?
Independent publication best suits my needs. My publisher, iUniverse, provides efficient, professional service with a business plan ideal for on-line marketing of traditional or electronic books. I can get my work published promptly without sacrificing content, production finish, or literary quality. The publisher provides very thorough editorial reviews, and I edit my novels to meet demanding literary standards. The proof of the pudding is that most have been recognized in award competitions with a growing number of appreciative readers.

How many books have you sold?
More than I ever expected, and the sales rate continues to increase, particularly with e-books. Marketing is limited however. Most readers learn about my novels through my website or by word of mouth. My entire focus has been on creating a body of work that I might consider worthy someday of broader marketing.

Are your books available in bookstores?
Any bookstore can order the books for you. Bookstores that have the books in stock include: The Book Seller, Grass Valley, CA; The Avid Reader, Davis, CA; Towne Center Books, Pleasanton, CA; Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Rockford, IL.