Pump Up Your Book Chats with George Bishop: ‘Letter to My Daughter’

George Bishop, Jr., worked as an actor in Los Angeles before moving overseas to teach.  Over two decades he’s lived and taught in Slovakia, Turkey, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, India, and most recently, Japan.  He holds a BA from Loyola University of New Orleans, an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and an MA from the School for International Training in Vermont.  His stories and essays have appeared in publications such as The Oxford American, The Third Coast, Press, American Writing, The Turkish Daily News, The Caspian Business News and Vorm (in Dutch).  Letter to My Daughter (Ballantine Books, Spring 2010) is his first published novel.

Thank you for this interview, George.  Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later?  Do you remember your first published piece?

You’re welcome.  I’m happy to be here.

I got a late start as a writer.  After I finished college, I worked as an actor for eight years.  I wrote plays and songs during that time, but it was only when I moved overseas in 1992 that I began to seriously devote myself to writing stories.

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

It’s taken me a long time to get this far.  This is my first published novel, but it’s actually the fifth one that I’ve written.  I’ve written dozens of short stories over the years, too; some of those have been published, but most haven’t.  So the most frustrating thing about becoming an author obviously is all the rejection and uncertainty you have to endure.

As far as rewards go, when mine finally came with this novel, it surpassed all my expectations.  I count myself very lucky to have this book with Random House.

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life?  Do you have support?

Single.  So no problems with home life here.  And right now I’m enjoying the luxury of being able to write full time for a while.

I don’t know how people with family and careers manage to write.  Really—I’m in awe of them.

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?  Where do you like to vacation?  Can you tell us briefly about this?

My life is pretty dull, to tell you the truth.  I probably don’t live up to the romantic image of the hard-living, hard-drinking writer.  For fun I read or go to the movies.  (zzzz . . . )

I do like to travel, though, and whenever I’ve lived overseas, I’ve taken advantage of my holidays to travel.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one hour right now, where would that place be and why?

What a nice thought.  I’d probably be someplace in Indonesia.  Bali, maybe.  Or Thailand.  Or back in Japan.

Who is your biggest fan?

I count my professors from UNCW as some of my biggest fans.  They really did encourage me when I was studying there, and their friendship continues to inspire me.

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

At my desk in front of the window, right here.

What’s your favorite library and why?

I like the Latter Library in New Orleans.  It’s in a wonderful, old, and sort of decrepit mansion on nice grounds.  While living overseas, I always enjoyed visiting libraries at US embassies or cultural centers—the USIA library in Bratislava, for example, or the library at the US consulate in Istanbul.  Besides the romanticism of just reading in cities like that, the books themselves in the American libraries seemed somehow better, more precious.  (“Wow, look, Fitzgerald’s short stories!  In English!  In Istanbul!”)

What’s your favorite bookstore and why?

The independent bookstores in New Orleans are terrific—Octavia, Garden District, Faulkner House, the Maple Leaf.

I really love the used bookstores here, too, especially the ones in the French Quarter.  I bring home bagfuls of books whenever I visit them.

Do you have any pets?

No.  Used to have birds.

What are you reading right now?

My reading’s pretty eclectic.  I’m reading Arthur Phillip’s The Song is You right now.  I’m also reading a history of the New Orleans French Quarter by Herbert Asbury, the man who wrote The Gangs of New York, and I just finished an amazing graphic novel by Charles Burns, Black Hole.

Tell us a secret no one else knows.

I sometimes talk aloud to myself when I write.  How’s that?

What’s the first thing you notice when you meet someone?

Their nose?

Have you ever won anything?

A talent contest prize in the third grade at Jackson Elementary School for my “Mr. Magic” act.

What’s on your to do list today?

This interview.  And it’s Sunday, so I’ll do laundry, vacuuming, and ironing.  My god, my life is boring.

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in March via a virtual book tour.  Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

My publicist at Random House did a really good job of getting advance copies of Letter to My Daughter to bloggers who write about books.  I think this is a brilliant idea, since people who discuss books online are really a writer’s dream audience.  And a virtual book tour is a great way to for an author to get to meet this audience.  Virtually.

Thank you for this interview, George.  Good luck on your virtual book tour!

Thanks very much.  Let me know what you think of the book.