Official Interview: Peter S. Rush, author of the August 2022 Book of the Month
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Official Interview: Peter S. Rush, author of the August 2022 Book of the Month
Today's Chat with Sarah features Peter S. Rush author of Wild World. This will be book of the month in August, so get your copies now!
Official Review
Purchase on Amazon
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1. When and why did you start writing?
The book was a story I thought about for many years. I wrote a few scenes with the main characters. I realized the entire context of how and where these characters met, fell in love, and went through the turmoil and transition while the world around them was changing as well. It took me two years to write it and many revisions. The most difficult part was how to begin the books. The title – Wild World - comes from the Cat Stevens song from those years. The song captures a feeling from the main character. Music was the social media of the generation which is why so much of the music is still played today. Each chapter is a song contemporary with the time of the story.
2. What's your biggest writing challenge?
The biggest challenge to writing this book was writing time because I had a demanding full-time job. I tried to say on a schedule of rising a 4:30 to get two hours in before work. I traveled a great deal during those days and spent many days in hotel rooms writing or rewriting scenes. As I went through drafts, I hired an editor who was very helpful with criticism as well as encouragement.
3. How do you handle criticism, good and bad?
To paraphrase an old quote – I don’t care what they say about the book as long as they talk about it. Like all authors, we want praise. In the case of Wild World, I was gratified how it was received and how it won a number of prizes: Independent Press Award for New Fiction; National Indie Award for New Adult Fiction and two Beverly Hills Book Awards. I had some critical reviews as well which I looked to for constructive direction if there was any in the review.
4. Let's discuss your book Wild World. Can you give us a synopsis?
Wild World begins with the killing of unarmed students at Kent State University. Steve Logan is a senior planning to go to law school. His girlfriend Roxy Fisher is an undergraduate. The events cause them to wonder about their future, the future of the country, and what they can do about it. They meet a charismatic police officer from New York who challenges Steve to get involved. Not wanting to leave Providence and Roxy, Steve becomes a police officer. Steve finds that making a difference is making him different. His relationships with Roxy and his friends change. He is an outsider to the police officers. And he discovers the corruption in the system. Motivated by idealism and love, he takes many chances that might make him a hero or get him killed.
5. The book centers around the Vietnam War. Why did you choose this period?
In the years 1970-71, the country was deeply divided. The opposition to the war in Vietnam caused huge demonstrations nationwide. President Nixon was either loved or hated. The Civil Rights movement was strong, Women’s Rights (women’s lib) was blossoming, radical groups (Weather Underground, Black Panthers) were active and the sexual revolution was underway. The two major characters – Steve and Roxy - are coming of age amid this turmoil. The social, political, and cultural upheaval are pivotal influences that color all the characters' perspectives of society and events.
6. The reviewer discusses the realism of the book's characters due to their flaws. How were you able to make them come to life? Are they based on people you know?
Real characters are not superheroes. They have flaws that often they do not recognize but become evident to the reader. Like many writers, I try to write what I know so my characters are based on people I have known or encountered. Some are composites; some I can amplify certain characteristics. The great thing about fiction is that you can do whatever you want with your characters as long as the reader finds it believable.
7. What character do you most identify with and why?
Steve is the prime protagonist of the novel. I told the story from his point of view so I identified with him throughout the novel.
8. The reviewer mentions that the book presents both sides of the debate equally. Why did you feel it was important not to take a side?
The era of 1970-71 saw a deeply divided country with passionate points of view. With such animosity, it is difficult to find the truth. It is often obscured by the noise and the rhetoric. It was very pronounced in those years – America – Love it or Leave it vs. Hell no, we won’t go. There is a great deal of ambivalence about what is the right course that Steve has to navigate being a police officer and coming home to an anti-establishment girlfriend. For the reader, I felt it was important for them to understand how difficult some of the decisions were.
9. What's next for you?
I finished a second novel Young Americans. It is a crime novel set in the mid-1970s about a young pot dealer to his college friends that gets in over his head with a slick con man. Set in Tampa, Atlanta, and Bogota Colombia, the novel follows the young man and his girlfriend as they catapult through the fast pace world with many dangers and challenges. I’m now working on a third novel that actually brings Steve and Roxy back together 10 years later when her husband is murdered by the Klan.
I like to end with fun questions.
10. What's your favorite vacation spot?
I’m a beach person – so anywhere along the shore is fine. I love the beaches of Florida – the west coast along the gulf from St. Pete to Dunedin and along the panhandle.
11. What's one thing on your "bucket list"?
To visit all seven continents. I’ve spent time on five of them. Australia is scheduled. Antarctica will be the challenge.
12. What's your favorite car?
A vintage Aston Martin. I always loved the look of the English sports car.
—Neil Gaiman
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