The first chapter was the hardest part. Everybody tells you that you have to grab the reader’s attention right off the bat and keep it. That’s just a fact of today’s society because people are so easily distracted and overloaded with so much social media to explore.

Thomas Lopinski – 17 September 2015

The Back Flap

“There are some people that walk around on two feet and others like me that run on all four.” Newbie Johnson tries to understand the meaning of this statement while learning about friendship, loss, and love as a small town teenager. 

The Art Of Raising Hell is a coming of age story set in the 1970s that centers around four teenagers and their involvement with a larger-than-life character named Lonny Nack.

Newbie had recently moved to Bunsen Creek, when his mother is killed in a devastating car crash. Nursing a broken soul, he soon hooks up with the three best friends a guy could ever ask for and meets the love of his life, Sally Nack.

Sally’s brother, Lonny, fears no one, including The Law, and soon takes his peculiar sense of justice, along with his love of practical jokes, to new heights while entertaining the colorful characters of Kickapoo County. 

When Officer Hightower and Lonny collide with deadly results, Newbie becomes the only one who can make things right. Somewhere along the way, he learns an important lesson about how to chase after life instead being chased by it.

About the book

What is the book about?

It’s a coming of age story about a teenager who tries to answer questions like: Why do some people walk on two feet while others run on all four? What is it that motivates a person to risk his life just for the thrill of adventure? When does a relationship or friendship become unconditional and something you’d protect at all costs? How do we deal with the loss of a dear loved one? In between philosophical questions like those, I touch upon some lighter topics like streaking through the middle of town, being chased by the cops, first kisses, dumpster diving, how to get back at a bully, underage drinking, and why Mary Makowski won’t put out. You know, all the fun stuff that we experience as teenagers.

When did you start writing the book?

In the summer of 2013, the opening line came to me in the middle of the night. I started writing from there and didn’t stop until the story was finished.

How long did it take you to write it?

The first draft just poured out and was done in six weeks.

Where did you get the idea from?

I’d always wanted to write a novel about some of the colorful characters who roamed around my hometown growing up and some of the unusual events that happened during that period. While the rest of the country was dealing with Watergate and the Vietnam War, rural America was still very innocent and insular at the time. The problem was that I just didn’t have the right theme to connect all of these ideas together and make a compelling story. Then when that first line came to me about a guy who ran on all four instead of walking on two feet, I had what I needed.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

The first chapter was the hardest part. Everybody tells you that you have to grab the reader’s attention right off the bat and keep it. That’s just a fact of today’s society because people are so easily distracted and overloaded with so much social media to explore. It’s not like it was 50 years ago where you could begin your novel with a long-winded narration about the subtle bliss of a picturesque countryside and expect your reader to pay attention. I must have rewritten it a dozen times before finding something I was satisfied with.

What came easily?

Once I’d established the kinds of personalities and quirks my characters were going to have, the writing came easily. The characters literally wrote themselves into the story.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

I borrowed traits and characteristics off people I knew and knew of. Of course, I embellished here and there, molded personalities of one person into another and created others out of thin air. There was a Lonny Nack character from my childhood but I didn’t know him very well. To this day, people bring up stories about the shenanigans he pulled off and I couldn’t resist using him as inspiration for the storyline. He died at an early age in a mysterious car wreck involving the police.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

It wasn’t a matter of how they influenced me as much as how they inspired me. I didn’t want to write like Kurt Vonnegut, but was inspired by him to be as original as possible with my style. I wasn’t looking to create these other worlds like Stephen King, but was inspired by him to search for the perfect metaphor.

Do you have a target reader?

I’m still searching. I’d say it’s eluded me because I haven’t really found my niche as a writer. My first novel was an adventure story about a female teenage Indiana Jones character set in the ancient ruins of South America. This latest book is told in first person by an 18-year old boy growing up in Middle America. Even though the protagonists in both are teenagers, I don’t consider either book to be your typical Young Adult novel.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

Nothing set into stone but I do like to write in my back yard. Living in Southern California, you can almost write outside year around. There is something about being connected to nature that gets my creative juices flowing.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I’ve tried outlines but they really don’t work for me. It’s kind of like trying to keep the clear plastic on your cellphone when you first get it. You think it’s protecting the screen but it’s just making you push harder.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I follow Stephen King’s philosophy and keep on writing until I have nothing left to say. Then I go back and clean it up.

Did you hire a professional editor?

My publisher was the editor.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No, I don’t because I listen to music non-stop at my day job. I prefer the ambient noises that I hear in my back yard of squirrels fighting, motorcycles racing by, birds chirping, babies crying, lawnmowers, you name it.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

Unfortunately, I went through the torturous process of sending out dozens of query letters. It was such a waste of time.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

Well, it wasn’t really a choice. In the beginning, the only letters book companies were sending me were coming from Publisher’s Clearing House. It was either do it myself or leave the manuscript in the drawer. With my first novel, I self-published it and entered a few writing contests. After winning recognition and awards in several of them, I had something to boast about and that helped land a publishing deal with my second novel.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

The publisher’s staff came up with it. Visualizing the concept of “raising hell” is not an easy image to convey on a book cover. I think they did a wonderful job considering.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I sit up in the laboratory at night and mix a few potions together but haven’t found the perfect formula yet. Unless you have tens of thousands of dollars to spend, it’s a lot of trial and error when it comes to advertising and working social media. Trends come and go so quickly these days and every company says they can get you the exposure you need but finding those that can really deliver is a daunting challenge.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Find a person who will read everything you write and be brutally honest with you about whether it is good or bad. That is the quickest way to become a better writer, but make sure they are smarter than you are. You’ll want to bounce your crazy ideas off them and get back a response that’s even more bizarre.

My person happens to be one of my best friends from school. He is an architect that is now legally blind. Yes, you heard me, a blind architect. There has to be a joke in there somewhere. As you can imagine, losing his eyesight was a very traumatic experience. I just happened to come along with a draft of my first novel about the same time he was going through this transition. Since he had all of this free time on his hands, he offered to listen to my manuscript. The next thing you know, my storylines were sharper, my writing was bolder and my phone bills were higher.

About You

Where did you grow up?

In a small Midwestern town, very similar to Bunsen Creek from the novel, called Georgetown.

Where do you live now?

Southern California.

What would you like readers to know about you?

We just finished the audiobook version of the novel. I was fortunate enough to find L.J. Ganser, who is a three time Audiofile Earphone Award Winner, to narrate the novel. I must have gone through two-dozen narrators looking for the right one. All of them just didn’t quite have the right voice or tempo to fit the main character. I was ready to give up completely when L.J. came along. He was spot on with the intonation and really brought the characters of Bunsen Creek to life in a way that adds a whole other dimension to the storyline.

What are you working on now?

I’ve started a follow up novel to both Document 512 and Raising Hell. I’m not sure which one to finish first, if either. I may just take another idea and write something completely different, who knows. I just had a thought about a cowboy outlaw western set in a nudist colony. I’d call it “Hang ‘em Low.” Maybe not…

End of Interview:

For more from Thomas, visit his website or blog, follow him on Twitter, or like his Facebook page.

Get your copy of The Art of Raising Hell, winner as the Best Young Adult Novel from Best Indie Book Awards at Amazon US (paper or ebook), Amazon UK (paper or ebook), or Barnes & Noble.