Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?
Ripped straight from my Amazon page:
Growth
and Change Are Highly Overrated is a classic coming-of-age story that takes a
unique and comic look at what we all fear— having to grow up and abandon our
dreams.
For a charismatic man like Lucas James, life is a breeze because everyone else provides the wind. This man-child front man for a mediocre cover band has been mooching off of his fiancée Jackie for years until she finally decides she's had enough. Faced with the reality of having no income to support his carefree lifestyle, Lucas James abandons his principles and gets a job working in the stockroom at “That Store.” How does he cope with this newfound sense of responsibility?
He casually steals...
In a life spent bucking authority, how will Lucas James deal with his manager, 'Victor the Dictator'? How long can he survive Ralph, a starry-eyed coworker who desires nothing more than to be best friends? Will Lori, a twenty-something cashier, be like everyone else and fall for his charms? Will he ever find a place to live? And is “growing up” just another way of saying “selling out?”
With this hilarious and engaging novel, author Tom Starita perfectly captures a character we have all met and perhaps some of us know all too well.
For a charismatic man like Lucas James, life is a breeze because everyone else provides the wind. This man-child front man for a mediocre cover band has been mooching off of his fiancée Jackie for years until she finally decides she's had enough. Faced with the reality of having no income to support his carefree lifestyle, Lucas James abandons his principles and gets a job working in the stockroom at “That Store.” How does he cope with this newfound sense of responsibility?
He casually steals...
In a life spent bucking authority, how will Lucas James deal with his manager, 'Victor the Dictator'? How long can he survive Ralph, a starry-eyed coworker who desires nothing more than to be best friends? Will Lori, a twenty-something cashier, be like everyone else and fall for his charms? Will he ever find a place to live? And is “growing up” just another way of saying “selling out?”
With this hilarious and engaging novel, author Tom Starita perfectly captures a character we have all met and perhaps some of us know all too well.
--
My book was published on December 19th, 2016 and
is exclusive to the Amazon Kindle. Of course, if you don’t own a Kindle, you
can always download the app for free and then read my book on your phone,
tablet or any other device.
Great!
So, is there anything which prompted Growth and Change Are Highly Overrated? Something that inspired you?
We’re
going way back to the weekend before Valentine’s Day in 2013. It was the
lowest point of my entire life. I was alone and I had the flu. Not just the
flu, like the worst flu in the history of modern medicine. Because I was alone
I had no one to take care of me, or go food shopping. When I finally awoke from
a three-day coma late Friday night I was starving. I looked outside my bedroom
window and saw eight inches of snow. No big deal. I was in no condition to
drive or dig my car out. I’d order takeout. Except every restaurant blamed the
snow or the late time for their inability to deliver.
Okay,
okay, it’s not the end of the world. I’m not the best of cooks and I’m not in
the mood to cook but I was starving so I shuffled off to my kitchen. That’s
where I remember I hadn’t gone food shopping in over a week and thus had nothing
to eat.
At
that moment I realized I had hit rock bottom. I also realized that this would
be a great way to start a book so I ran to my computer and started typing, and
immediately I met my main character, Lucas James.
Wow! Isn't it fun when the ideas just flow like that?
So...when did you know you wanted to write? Or has it always been a pastime of yours?
I’ve
been writing all my life. Journals (never to be opened for fear of death by
embarrassment), blogs, MySpace posts, LiveJournal entries, Facebook notes,
guest appearances on New York Mets blogs, I’ve done it all. Back in 2007, I was
ignorant enough to think I could actually write a book and somehow birthed Two Ways to Sunday. To me writing is as normal as eating.
Do you have any favorite authors yourself, Tom?
Stephen
King, Chuck Klosterman, Charles Bukowski, Isaac Asmiov, Michael Crichton, C.S.
Lewis, George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, and I
love reading biographies or behind the scenes stories about comedians/creative
times. How they do it, what inspired them, anything I can use to help me with
my own creative process.
That does sound fascinating!
Do you write in a specific place? Time of day?
It’s all about free time. If I’m
writing a book, I’m on my laptop and not home. If I’m home, I’m distracted. If
I’m in a coffee house or something like that, it forces me to be productive. My
rule is I can’t go home unless either a page is done or at the very least a
rudimentary idea is kind of fleshed out. If I’m writing a Twitter Tale, that can
happen anywhere. In bed, in the bathroom, on the return line at Target, at your uncle’s house, at my uncle’s house, wherever and whenever the idea hits.
Are there any words you'd like to impart to fellow writers? Any advice?
If you’re doing this right, you’re
going to be alone for long stretches of time. So first rule, make sure you like
yourself. Or if you don’t, use that to your advantage.
The majority of your life will be in
a boat full of despair sailing on a sea of loneliness while you search for a
mythical land called Success. The odds that your boat will sink are
tremendously high. In fact, if we’re going to extend this tenuous analogy out
even further, odds are your boat sinks and a shark devours you. It’s a horrible
death and you're alive for every second of it.
I know you’re waiting for a but…but
there is no 'but'. Your boat sank and a shark ate you while you screamed. Still,
I’m a guest at this blog so I should try and end this with some optimism.
How
about…
The general public is both dumb and
finicky. What’s fantastic today is forgotten about tomorrow. Herman Melville
died thinking he was a horrible failure and fifty years after he died, Moby Dick
became a best seller. Fast forward another fifty years and high school kids
hate him. It’s the circle of life. My point is, write what you want to read and
then do it. Don’t get talked out of it. Don’t let someone tell you it’s lousy.
Don’t listen to that annoying person who says you should add a vampire or set
your story in post-World War II France. If that person were any good he would
be a best seller and would probably not waste his time talking to you.
Therefore, write what you like and
hope that someone figures out you’re good at some point before the Earth gets
absorbed by the Sun.
My last piece of advice is one
hundred percent genuine. I want you to look at the photo I sent to Marie. Next
I want you to picture me sitting on a couch of your choosing. You can imagine
me sitting formally in dress pants and a button-down shirt. Or you can picture
me in a hoodie and a comfortable pair of sweatpants. Your choice. Finally, I
want you to try and imagine what I sound like.
Do you have all that?
Hold that image in your head.
Picture me, dressed however you like, on a couch of your choosing sounding
anyway you want, and I want you to imagine that we’re looking deep into each
other’s eyes. Before it gets weird, I whisper…
Buy my book.
And then you buy my book.
Buy my book.
Now.
#BUYMYBOOK
LOL. Thanks for offering those words of wisdom to our readers, Tom.
And thank you so much for stopping
by to visit us here today at Writing in the Modern Age. It was wonderful
having you! :)
Growth and Change Are Highly Overrated is a classic coming-of-age story that takes a unique and comic look at what we all fear— having to grow up and abandon our dreams.
For a charismatic man like Lucas James, life is a breeze because everyone else provides the wind. This man-child front man for a mediocre cover band has been mooching off his fiancée Jackie for years until she finally decides she's had enough. Faced with the reality of having no income to support his carefree lifestyle, Lucas James abandons his principles and gets a job working in the stockroom at “That Store.” How does he cope with this new found sense of responsibility?
He casually steals...
In a life spent bucking authority, how will Lucas James deal with his manager, 'Victor the Dictator'? How long can he survive Ralph, a starry-eyed coworker who desires nothing more than to be best friends? Will Lori, a twenty-something cashier, be like everyone else and fall for his charms? Will he ever find a place to live? And is “growing up” just another way of saying “selling out?”
With this hilarious and engaging novel, author Tom Starita perfectly captures a character we have all met and perhaps some of us know all too well.
Here is an excerpt.
Purchase Links:
Universal Amazon: https://bookgoodies.com/a/B01N2SW2K8
It certainly sounds intriguing!
We'll be sure to check out this humorous fiction novel!
Author Bio
Like Brooklyn, Starita’s resumé is diverse, ranging
from teaching religion, Sales, working for the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund, and
now helping foreign exchange students find homes in America. “The common thread
among all my jobs is having personal experiences with a large cross section of
America. The rationale behind people’s decisions has always fascinated me, and
writing allows me to carry that to the most extreme level.”
Starita has made an impact on everyone he encounters. When asked for her
thoughts about him, Oprah Winfrey said, "Who?" Tom Hanks refused to
respond to an email asking for a quote, and former Mets great Mookie Wilson once
waved to him from a passing taxi.
Originally from Staten Island, NY, Starita has now found a home in the beautiful
beach community of Stratford, Connecticut where he remains a loyal fan of the
New York Mets.
Starita has made an impact on everyone he encounters. When asked for her thoughts about him, Oprah Winfrey said, "Who?" Tom Hanks refused to respond to an email asking for a quote, and former Mets great Mookie Wilson once waved to him from a passing taxi.
Originally from Staten Island, NY, Starita has now found a home in the beautiful beach community of Stratford, Connecticut where he remains a loyal fan of the New York Mets.
Author Links:
Website: https://goppygots.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomStarita
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Starita/e/B00AONTVIK/
Tom's Books:
Tom's Books:
Would it be biased if I said this was the greatest interview of all time? Thanks Marie for the opportunity and I love your blog!
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks! Lovely to have you!
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