Pump Up Your Book Chats with Frank J. Edwards

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Frank J. Edwards was born in Rochester New York. In 1968 he entered the US Army and served a tour in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. He received a BA with honors in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill then attended medical school at the University of Rochester, graduating with an MD in 1979. In 1989 he received an MFA in writing from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. After practicing for a decade in North Carolina, he returned to the Rochester, area in 1990 where he remains in active practice.

He has published a number of poems and short stories in literary magazines including Carolina Quarterly and The Virginia Quarterly Review, along with numerous medical articles. In 1988, Henry Holt published his first non-fiction book, Medical Malpractice: Solving the Crisis. His second non-fiction book, The M & M Files: Morbidity and Mortality Rounds in Emergency Medicine was published by Hanley & Belfus in 2002 and has become a standard text in emergency medicine.

For the past thirteen years he has taught creative writing seminars to medical students at the U of R. In 2004, the University of Rochester Press published his collection of poems and short stories, It’ll Ease the Pain.

Final Mercy is his first novel. He is married to a former emergency nurse from Canada and lives with his family on Lake Ontario near Rochester.

You can visit his website at www.frankjedwards.com.

Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

I’d been trying for ages to write a literary novel but found myself veering toward the plotting of suspense stories and mysteries and I would stop in frustration. Finally, however, I gave into the urge and the end result was Final Mercy. With me being a doctor, it was only natural to give the novel a medical setting. I’d done too much research to pass up.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

The first rough draft Final Mercy was the most difficult part to write. Not only did I have to develop the characters and the setting, but also I needed to create a plot that that would keep my own interest from flagging. I knew that if the plot kept me intrigued, it would also bring the reader along. But the shape of the story kept shifting on me as new ideas and revelations arose. I didn’t really nail a story line that stuck together satisfactorily until about the third draft, and even then I kept tinkering with it through the final edit.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

I wasn’t thinking about underlying messages at all when writing Final Mercy. I simply wanted to tell a story. I wanted to take readers on a compelling ride in the company of a hero and heroine they could identify with. I wanted those characters to be real enough so that their emotions and struggles would lead to a truly satisfying dénouement.

Q: What was one of your favorite books as a child?

My parents didn’t have many books in the house, but they did buy a set of storybooks for us kids. This set contained all the old fables, tales, and nursery rhymes. My mother enjoyed reading to us, and I loved every one of those stories and couldn’t get enough. When I was cleaning out my parent’s house after they died a few years ago, I came across another book I’d completely loved when I was little. It was Skipper John’s Cook, by Marcia Brown, and it’s sitting this moment on a shelf not far from my desk. I love to look at the line drawings still. It’s about a boy named Si and his dog George. Si signed on as Captain John’s fishing boat cook and he became very poplar after switching the diet from beans and beans, to fish and fish, and by the time the sailors got tired of fish and fish, they were home again. The date written on the first page in my mother’s hand, tells me she’d bought it when I was three.

Q: What is your favorite book as an adult?

My taste in books is very eclectic, and I love fiction, non-fiction and poetry, so this is an extremely tough question. If pressed I’d have to say that my favorite book would probably be A Confederacy of Dunces. The character of Ignatius J. Reilly is so beautifully realized, so human, so vital and his quest for self-expression and self-justification is so funny and improbable—I don’t know. I still can really explain why this book works so well for me. There’s just something about the language flowing out and circling up. It’s the cosmos in a teacup.

Q: What are you reading now?

I’m working through a biography of Keats by the English poet Andrew Motion, and am re-reading the fourth novel in Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series. Mark Twain’s recently published autobiography, which my wife gave me for Christmas this year, is next up.

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

I had my first poem published in the school literary magazine when I was fifteen, and about that time I tried writing my first short story too.

Q: Besides books, what else do you write? Do you write for publications?

Aside from working on a new novel, I keep a store of poem drafts and ideas for another poetry book I’d like to publish in a year or so. I used to write occasional medical articles, but I don’t have the time or inclination anymore. I’m trying also to get into the habit of writing regular blog entries.

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

I used to be a military helicopter pilot and I was also a civilian flight instructor while going to college. When you first start flight training, it seems like an overwhelmingly difficult task to learn because there are so many crucial things to coordinate at once. It’s far trickier than learning to ride a bicycle. But, gradually with time and lots of practice the balancing act becomes second nature. You get to the point where you no longer think; you just point yourself and fly there. Writing is very much like this.

Q: Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?

My wife and I are happy empty nesters now. The last child is out and in college. We recently downsized from a farm with animals to a smaller house right on Lake Ontario. We love having that huge, temperamental body of water in our backyard. It’s a different drama every day, and the storms put the awe back in awesome. We have a Golden Retriever named Chase who probably loves the lake more than we do, especially when her fetch-ball is involved. Mary Ann is every bit as involved with her work as a nurse and her horse as I am with my writing projects and my own day job in medicine, so we accommodate each other.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

I’ve got an office over the garage that’s snug and well lit. When I’m doing correspondence and medical work, I use the desk. When I’m writing fiction or poetry, I like to sit in a recliner up there with a laptop. But I love writing in coffee shops too. When I’m working hard on a project, I’ll happily write anywhere.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

A good walk does the trick. If it’s around a golf course with a set of clubs and a couple of friends, that’s even better.

Q: Were you the kind of child who always had a book in her/his hand?

I loved books from as far back as I can remember. I read more than any of my friends, except for a guy who devoured science fiction books like candy and met a tragic end, which is a different story.

Q: Can you remember your favorite book?

One novel from childhood sticks vividly in my mind. It was The Blue Ghost Mystery, by John Blaine. I must have been about eleven when I read it, and I can still recall the major points of the plot—a boy building his own radio and solving the puzzle of a civil war ghost appearing in a cave (dry ice and a projector). I must have really loved it.

Q: Do you remember writing stories when you were a child?

My very first piece of literary self-expression happened when I was seven years old. My little brother had just had a major accident in his pants. I remember taking a scrap of paper, writing “P U” on it and handing it to my father. He rewarded me with immediate criticism of a harsh nature. (I know how John Keats must have felt when the Scottish reviewers lambasted him). By the time I was fifteen, though, I was seriously trying to make poems and stories.

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

Like a lot of first novelists, I assumed that writing a good book was pretty much all I had to do. I was innocent with regards to the need for a writer to become involved in promotion, especially since my publisher happens to be small and lacks any in-house publicity staff. I began reading up on the subject, panicked when I learned how much things had changed in the past few years, and began searching for a dedicated book promoter. Dorothy Thompson’s “Pump up your Book” has been wonderful. I also found a local publicist—David Pascal—who’s set me up a wonderful website and much, much more.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

Just Facebook. I’m sadly behind the times when it comes to things like Twitter.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

It has changed dramatically. Internet venues, blogs, websites and virtual tours have made newspaper reviews and actual tours more and more a thing of the past. I’m not sure I like this.

Q: What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

I think hands down, getting a first novel published ranks way up there on the frustration scale. It’s a ton of work and you are pretty much on your own. To interest an agent or a publisher in reading the manuscript, it has to be rather far down the road towards perfection. It doesn’t have to be perfect, of course, but it must be of a professional quality, and that means many, many drafts. You must keep the faith though thick and thin, because you know that years and years of work may still not result in publication. But persistence will see you through.

Q: What is the most rewarding?

The stock answer here, of course, is that writing is its own reward, and there’s truth to that (though it’s not very reassuring to new writers). The most enjoyable part of writing Final Mercy was the final editing, when my editor Liz Burton and I would schedule a time to “meet” in real-time on Google Documents (she in Texas, me in New York) for several weeks, going over the book together line by line, fine-tuning and polishing it. It was a tremendous learning experience and so gratifying to see the story rise up and walk on its own two feet.

Q: How do you think book publishing has changed over the years?

The ground is changing every day thanks to the personal computer and the Internet. I do not think that real books you can hold in your hand will disappear for many generations, but more and more books are being published in electronic form, and that’s a trend that will only accelerate. And more books are being self-published as well, without the benefit of agents or publishing houses—and good books too, some of them. I’m not sure where all this is headed. We’re clearly in a time of great transition, as big a change is happening, if not bigger, than when books were first mass-produced by printing presses.

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?

That wish would be for the continued progress of our species and the spread of life into the universe. II would also like to take my family to live in the South of France for a year, all of us together in that warm, historic, peaceful place.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

Paris.

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer. Who would you thank?

If my mother were still alive, it would be wonderful to express my gratitude to her. She was a wonderful storyteller and reader, and I know where my proclivities in that direction come from. And I would thank my wife for her patience and support. I would also thank a number of teachers too, and I wouldn’t forget to thank Liz Burton, the editor and owner of Zumaya Publications, you bet. She is a wonderful mentor and wordsmith.

And I thank you for the opportunity to respond to these questions.

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Maria Andrade, DEFIANCE AND REDEMPTION

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Kathleen Shaputis, HIS KILT DROPPED HERE

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Aiken Brown, SON OF A SOLDIER

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Laura Preble, ANNA INCOGNITO

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Jennifer Chase, FLOWERS ON HER GRAVE

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Miri Leshem-Pelly, SCRIBBLE & AUTHOR

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Shami Stovall, KNIGHTMARE ARCANIST

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Sharon House, BRIMSTONE AND WATER

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Bacon Press Books

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T.M. Wallace, WINTERGARDEN

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Deborah Serani, DEPRESSION AND YOUR CHILD

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Lee Papa, TEMPLE OF ALL KNOWING

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Madeline Wynn, DAUGHTER OF THE FALLEN

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Mary Lawlor, FIGHTER PILOT'S DAUGHTER

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Karen-Anne Stewart, ASH TO STEELE

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Lauren Carr, Best-Selling Mystery Author of Mac Faraday, and Lovers in Crime, Mysteries

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The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts

Question of the Day

How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

-- Sheila Roberts, Author of Winter at the Beach