My target reader is anyone who is curious and wants to step into a different world, who wants to learn about books, who is intrigued by trivia, and who enjoys a good meal while listening to music.

David L. Faucheux – 17 August 2017

The Back Flap

Friends and family. Restaurants and recipes. Hobbies and history. TV programs the author loved when he could still see and music he enjoys. The schools and training centers he attended and the two degrees he attained. The career that eluded him and the physical problems that challenge him. And books, books, books: over 200 of them quoted from or reviewed. And even more: trivia bits, blog bits, and even Louisiana factoids. All In all, an astonishing work of erudition and remembrance.

About the book

What is the book about?

The book is basically a journal that covers one year in my life.  To expand further, it is a journal wrapped around a framework of books.  I take the reader into my world, one that many readers might not be aware of.

When did you start writing the book?

I started the book on November 16, 2013.

How long did it take you to write it?

I finished the rough draft on November 15, 2014, but the editing was not completed until spring of 2017.

Where did you get the idea from?

Part of my introduction explains this best.  “I have long wanted to write and publish something, be it an historic novel, a young adult novel, or nonfiction. When, in November 2013, Dr. Katherine Schneider asked me to read and review her just–published Occupying Aging, I conquered my usual reservations: Would I be a good reviewer? Would I be able to write something interesting and help her book sales? I dove in and managed to post a usable review at Goodreads.com. While reading her book and formulating my review, I thought, Oh! I just might be able to write something in this journal–type format. So I jumped in right then, not waiting to begin on the more traditional January 1. I thought that to wait was to postpone indefinitely and fail; to start could mean a chance at a successful resolution. Who says a journal has to run from January 1 to December 31 to be of interest?

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I found writing hard work.  I become easily tired as a result of Fibromyalgia Syndrome. The accompanying brain fog made the editing process particularly difficult. I could only write a bit, then read over my work, and try to make it interesting, snappy, fresh. I’d write, then think, ‘No one could possibly care if I went eat out, read a book, took a Jeopardy audition online test via telephone, attended a convention of a blindness consumer group, or visited family and neighbors.’ I am not sure that studding my book with Did-You-Know trivia nuggets or incorporating bits from an audio blog that I kept was a great idea, but I wanted the book to have depth and to show that one can still have a rich existence, a life of the mind, even if one cannot physically climb mountains or tandem bicycle around the world.  (I’d like to do these things — in moderation — if I recover my energy and regularize my sleep pattern.)  Just getting the tone right was challenging.  Should I be amusing, a bit profane, didactic, or some mixture of all of these?

What came easily?

It was fun deciding what books to mention and what book reviews to include.

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

The book is nonfiction, but the names of several characters were changed and some details adapted to preserve privacy.  The book is a glimpse into my world, but it’s not meant to be an open house.

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?

I enjoy many authors.  Nonfiction writers that I admire either for their style or their ability to explain a complex facet of the modern world would include Frederick Morton, A Nervous Splendor and Michael Lewis, Liar’s Poker.  Nonfiction that takes me into a world that I’d otherwise not get to experience fascinates me especially if the author reads the work and reads it well as Tony Danza did with his I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had.  Sweeping historic fiction of the kind written by Gary Jennings, James Clavell, and James Michener kept me spellbound during most of the 1980s and early 1990s.  I hope we see it’s return in the coming decades.

Do you have a target reader?

My target reader is anyone who is curious and wants to step into a different world, who wants to learn about books, who is intrigued by trivia, and who enjoys a good meal while listening to music.

About Writing

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

I have tried to write fiction using several methods I read about.  I found this journal method, because of its granularity, to work best for me.

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

No.

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

I try to edit as I go – cleaning up after myself — rather like I cook.  I can’t help but wonder if I am stifling what creativity I have.

Did you hire a professional editor?

Yes, and my book needed work.  My editor said my grasp of punctuation and grammar was rather good, but she had to check lots of formatting and facts to insure accuracy.

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

Music would distract me.  I couldn’t listen to music as a kid in school while doing homework.  I’d be distracted and get into the groove too much.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

No

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

I felt no mainstream publisher would have the interest in my book or the patience to work with me.  I had heard horror stories of big houses letting writers figure out their own publicity methods and not offering them much in the way of support, even financial support.  I further heard that I’d lose control of my book for years and might not make any money.  It frightened me.

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

My editor’s husband assisted me with the cover.  It was a collaboration.

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

Yes, I have a marketing plan.  I have combed through the profiles of more than 600 Amazon reviewers and sent out 82 book review queries.  I am attempting to reach out to book blog tour companies as I have read about them in several eBooks that help one promote.  I have submitted my book to Booklife, part of Publishers Weekly, hoping for a review.  I have entered a writing contest for nonfiction authors.  I have sent print copies of my book to various journalists with whom I have had email contact for several years.  I have also had book cards printed to pass out.

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

Do your research.  Learn what editors can and will do for you.  Learn what they charge per hour and if they help with the actual uploading of the finished book to vendors such as Amazon or SmashWords.  Talk to your local writers groups.  And just do it.  Have fun, but realize it’s a process that you learn as you go.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in South Louisiana and attended a residential school for the blind located in Baton Rouge.

Where do you live now?

Lafayette, Louisiana

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’d want them to know I am a curious person, ready for a change, and hoping for this book to act as a catalyst of that change.

What are you working on now?

I have been toying with the idea of writing the story of an ancestor of mine who came to Louisiana in 1779 from the Canary Islands.  She was not even a teen yet.  She matters because her genes carried the chromosomal dynamite that caused the blindness that appears in some of her descendants.

End of Interview:

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