Debut Author Interviews

Eric Luper is the author of Big Slick, a gritty, quirky, and humorous young adult novel (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Fall 2007)

• Eric Luper on...First Novels
• Eric Luper on...Critique Groups
• Eric Luper on...Writing Schedule
• Eric Luper on...After-Sale Revisions
• Eric Luper on...Ideas
• Eric Luper on...Training
• Eric Luper on...Outlines
• Eric Luper on...Why Write?
• Eric Luper on...Book Memory
• Eric Luper on...Self-Help Books
• Eric Luper on...Website
• Eric Luper on...Why Kids?
• Eric Luper on...Character's Conflict
• Eric Luper on...Taste in Books
• Eric Luper on...Actor for Character
• Eric Luper on...Family Appreciation
• Eric Luper on...Completion
• Eric Luper on...Favorite Bookstore

Was this the first full-length novel you wrote, or rather the first that you sold?

My first full-length novel is still collecting dust on my hard drive (can data collect dust?). In fact, I wrote several pieces for different age groups and genres before I found my voice with BIG SLICK. I think a good writer can be even better in a genre that is attuned to what’s going on in his or her head.

Sure, I could write a romance novel or a gothic horror or a serial killer book, but I don’t think it would ring as true as a humorous YA for me.

Do you belong to a writing group?

I was broken in to the concept of writing groups when I was in college. It was uncomfortable the first time our professor took our short stories, made copies for everyone, and then handed them out for public criticism among my classmates. Thankfully, the authors’ names had been crossed out, but there is something about having your story read in a group that makes a writer feel exposed. In fact, some of the more insecure writers were reduced to tears from the discussions (we were not seasoned enough to know how to use kid’s gloves or couch criticism in constructive comments) as the veil of anonymity lent itself to less tactful comments.

Nevertheless, this “toughening” during my college experience taught me how important critique groups are. No longer are the days when an editor will take an author under his or her wing and cultivate ability. Agents want authors who have already been published and many only serve on the business side of the fence. These days, manuscripts are accepted only if they are polished and close to being ready for publication. That being said, I think critique groups are an essential part of being an author.

I think a good critique group is a constellation or network of individuals who can help you bring your piece from being good to being publishable. Fortunately, technology helps with this.

I have two critique groups (one live and one online) as well as several spot readers who have different areas of expertise. I take my work to any or all of the above depending upon what weaknesses I perceive in the piece. If I sense an issue with dialogue, I show it to a person who is very good with dialogue. If I am having a problem with POV, I take it to my POV commando. If I need a layperson’s opinion, I have readers for that as well.

What is your writing schedule?

I own a business, work full-time, own a house that need maintenance, and have two kids under 5. Needless to say my writing schedule is not ordinary. Yeah, I’ve read the articles by those full time writers who get up at 6 in the morning and write 5 pages a day after working out and meditating. These are the same folks who have an office with cork boards and outlines and maps all over the place.

That is not me.

I try to my best to write three or four times a week and I try my best to be productive. As it turns out, I end up writing during my lunch hour or after the kids have gone to sleep into the wee hours. I don’t have an office devoted to my writing so anything pertinent gets jammed into a folder labeled with the title of whatever I’m working on. I open my laptop wherever my family isn’t and keep many of my files on a flash drive so I can use almost any computer when my muse decides to mug me.

Often, I’ll print out a few chapters and carry them around on a clipboard so I can sit down and edit whenever I am struck with inspiration. And I always carry around a pad to jot down any ideas. Of course, when ideas strike I usually can’t locate the pad so I just jot on any slip of paper I can find—a receipt, a corner torn out of a magazine, etc. Once I called my own cell phone to leave myself a voice message about an idea that struck me. I tried to text myself once, but I can’t seem to get the hang of that keypad!

How much revision did you do AFTER you sold your book to your publisher?

This is an interesting story:

I submitted my completed manuscript to my editor and he liked it. I did not get that famous phone call everyone loves to talk about, but I did get a very cool e-mail. The e-mail had some editorial suggestions that my editor wanted me to address before he took it to acquisitions committee. So, of course, I did those. They weren’t particularly far reaching and they were certainly within my comfort zone as far as the content of the changes go.

Those changes deleted certain subplots and changed certain characters somewhat, but I was okay with it. Heck, that contract was so close, I could taste it!

Within weeks, FSG offered me a contract and the e-mail, which I have tacked to my wall, says “no revisions necessary.” What I soon learned was that “no revisions necessary” means “a heck of a lot of revisions are going to be necessary.” I am on my second go-through and we are still changing things around. Whole chunks are being added and whole chunks are being deleted.

I will say that the novel is far better, far tighter, as a result, but when I thought that ship had sailed, I had no idea that it would return to dry dock several times!

Where did you get the idea for your book?

I was channel surfing one night and I happened upon a televised Texas Hold’em tournament. I had never seen the game played before, but after quickly picking up the rules, I was hooked. Each hand was its very own mini-drama with lying, deceit, and deception. Risk and reward. And lots of money. Right then, I realized something that writers of Westerns have known for decades…poker mirrors a perfect drama.

I sat down at my laptop and cranked out a little 10-page story about a kid who blows all his money at a poker game. I loved the story, but did not see the novel potential until it fermented on my hard drive for a few months. When it percolated long enough, I realized the whole story was right there in the deepest recesses of my brain waiting for me to let it out.

And out it came. The first draft took only a few months to complete (in the evenings). Revisions took much longer!

What writing training have you had?

When I was in high school, I wanted to be anything that had nothing to do with writing. I despised English class and just about every one of my high-school English teachers. If you post a question about high-school horror stories, I’ll tell you about Ms. Kendall and the PSAT debacle.

Anyhow, in college I took a few English courses as they were prerequisites and I discovered I liked creative writing. So, I took on a creative writing concentration.

But, I also wanted to make money in life so I became a chiropractor.

The funny thing is that I found it impossible to escape my passion and ended up typing little stories in between patients. As I started taking my writing more and more seriously, I sought out critique groups (both live and online), mentors, and attended writing seminars to hone my craft.

I still go to seminars and I always take something useful home with me.

But, the truth is that the thing that’s helped me the most is just writing and revising and writing and revising. Reading has also improved my writing immeasurably.

Someone said to me today that they could never write a book, and I disagreed with her. I told her that the majority of writing a book is just honing your craft and learning how to tell a story that people want to read!

Do you outline before writing?

I always try to outline, but it never seems to work. If I outline more than a few chapters ahead of where I am, my story will invariably take an unexpected turn that even I didn’t see.

When I’m writing, I know something good is happening when my characters surprise me. I start with a main character, a setting and a challenge/problem. If I know my protagonist and supporting characters well enough, they will do what needs to be done to make for an interesting story. My job is simply to throw other characters or more problems in their way and see what happens.

My other job is to type it all and hope that my fingers can keep up with my brain!

Why do you write?

As a kid, I wasn’t the most outgoing person. People who know me now might have trouble believing that, but it’s true. I warn you to watch out for the quiet ones. They have a lot to say and a lot of it rattles around in their heads. I spent the earlier part of my life fantasizing about what I wanted to say and crafting responses to things I was afraid to react to. As a result, I have this odd ability to work out entire scenes in my head to the smallest detail. One of my writing strengths is my dialogue and I am certain this is where it comes from.

As an adult, I’ve learned to use this skill to craft scenes in my stories. I develop a few characters, put them in an interesting situation, and see where they lead me. And now, if I don’t write these scenes into a coherent story, they keep niggling at me and keep me up at night.

I suppose in short, writing for me is a release of all that creative energy that builds up. As I grow as a writer, writing becomes more and more necessary.

What is your earliest book memory?

My earliest book memory is of a scratch and sniff book that I called “Max the Smell.” I’m not certain what the actual title of the book was, but I remember a bear and a lot of textured patches that didn’t really smell like anything.

Aside from that, my earliest book memory has to do with two picture books. They were “Artie the Smartie” and “Mr. Pine’s Mixed-Up Signs.” Artie was about a big fish in a small pond who goes out into the ocean so he can make a huge splash. He gets knocked around in the open waters and runs home. Great message, huh? Mr. Pine was about a sign maker who loses his glasses and screws up all the signs in town. Being that I wore glasses at an early age, my mother thought it important that I had this book.

Our kindergarten teacher told us we could each bring in a book or two and we would display them on the radiator for everyone in the class to share. Over a particularly rainy weekend, the roof of the school leaked and my two books got soaked. Only mine. Being that they were on the radiator, the heat proceeded to cook the books into two warped messes. I was offered profuse apologies by my teacher, but no replacements. She said the school didn’t have the money.

I kept the pathetic books because I liked them and it’s probably why I’m very meticulous about my books.

What are some of your current favorite writing or author-help books?

From my experience there are two kinds of books about writing. The first is about craft. The other is motivational.

The craft books I like include On Writing by Stephen King and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. If you want to learn to write in a way that will get people to perk up and take notice, both of these books are essential reads. In fact, consider buying them. On Writing has a great CD version read by the author and I love to listen to it in the car. Another good one is Write Away by Elizabeth George. Another one I like is Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas.

I will admit that I have a tendency to glaze over when I read motivational writing books. As I read them, I hear a little voice in my head that tells me to stop reading a book about how to get motivated to write a book and just go and write one. However, books that have been of use to me over the years have been Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner.

Do you have a website for your book? How did you handle setting it up?

I have an author website at www.ericluper.com. Being that this is my first novel, the website is overwhelmingly about BIG SLICK. The website has excerpts from the book, information about the novel, recent blog entries from my blog, and links to some great sites about writing.

Web design has been a major undertaking. It’s almost a full-time job on its own! But it’s also fun.

Why write for children and teens?

Teen fiction is among the fastest-paced, highest emotion writing out there. Teen fiction is raw passion. I love to just dive right in and make the story happen. It’s just plain exciting.

I find that much adult fiction is bogged down with backstory, flashback and other literary devices that, to me, make for a “draggy” sort of read. I think back to my 4 years in high school and quite frankly I cringed whenever we had to read the likes of Moby Dick or one of those other heavy reads.

Sometimes people look at me funny when I tell them I write teen fiction. I make it a point to get those people a list of great teen reads and challenge them to read any one of them. Modern teen fiction jumps off the page, grabs the reader by both ears, and whisks him or her through the story. It’s just plain exciting.

What drew you to the conflict you created for your main character?

My first chapter was birthed well before I had envisioned anything resembling a poker novel. In fact, my first chapter was more of a writing exercise intended to challenge myself to convey character to a reader with little to no interaction with others. I wanted readers to understand and like Andrew in as short a time as possible.

When I finished the pages and read it to my critique group, it sat on my hard drive for over a year!

Then, upon rereading it, the conflict started a-brewin’—or percolating as I like to call it. I asked myself, “What happens when a kid thinks he’s really good at poker but starts to lose badly?” It spiraled downward from there.

Do you have different taste in kids’ books as an adult writer than as a kid?

Actually, I was a reluctant reader when I was in high school. I did everything I could to avoid reading. That included television, Dungeons and Dragons, movies, and Cliff’s Notes. Yes, I’m ashamed to admit it…Cliff’s Notes played an important role in my school experience.

Strangely, these days I have an unquenchable desire to write books. I think that’s why my books are structured the way they are. They have a tendency to grab hold right on the first page and not let go. Having been a reluctant reader as a child and a writer today, I am keenly aware of how important it is to hang on to your reader and not give him or her any reason to put that book down.

Am I digressing here?

Today, I read far more than ever before. In fact, I regret missing all those years of reading opportunity. I think I’m making up for it now.

Who would play your book character in a movie?

You know, even though it sounds like a game I’d love to play, I’ve never cast my novel with actors. I suppose Andrew could be played by a really young Johnny Depp or Christian Slater. Jasmine could be played by Kirsten Dunst or a teenage Drew Barrymore…as long as they were “Gothed out” a little.

Right now, I’m working on my soundtrack, because that’s a project that sounded interesting to me!

Now that you’re under contract, does your family better appreciate your writing?

I actually made the mistake of letting my parents read an early version of the manuscript. My mother began to cry because she saw similarities in my stories to things that happened to me when I was younger. These were things my father swore I’d never remember when I got older. It’s nothing too bad and actually most of it has since been edited out. Nevertheless, I learned a lesson that day.

My parents, though, have been very supportive through the process. And now that I have a contract, the comments such as “An English Major?!? What the hell are you going to do with an English degree?” echo less loudly in my head.

My wife is also more supportive. She understands that sitting home writing on my day off is a “job” as opposed to a casual hobby. Now she gives me more slack when I write for an afternoon in lieu of mowing the lawn or getting her window treatments made. She also looks forward to all the red-carpet treatment and paparazzi stalkings we’re going to get once my book hits the shelves (shhhh, don’t tell her the grim reality!)

How did you know you were “done” with your book and ready to submit it?

I was at a conference once and I heard Avi speak. He said he never rereads a novel he’s already had published because it’s too painful. He said he can’t read his own work without wanting to edit the heck out of it.

Back then, I thought he was a loon. I love Avi’s stuff and I couldn’t imagine making some of his work better.

Now that I have a novel of my own, I can identify completely. I’m in the process of reviewing my first page proofs and the pen is always in my hand. After I got over the fear of marring the beautiful copy (I mean its the first time I’m seeing what the pages are going to look like!), I’ve gotten chest deep in edits. I can’t imagine ever reading this book without wanting to change something.

So, Avi, I feel your pain!

Do you have a favorite bookstore?

I like different bookstores for different reasons.

As a young adult author, it means a lot when I see that a certain degree of thought has gone into the YA section. This is a niche that has very specific tastes and needs and it really irks me when the YA section is some half-bookcase in a corner next to the bathrooms. I like to see a couch and some cool graphic novels and lots of titles from the people I know and love. I also like a book seller that understands YA literature.

With that being said, there are plenty of bookstores that I love.