August in D Minor looks like a thrilling suspense
book. Can you tell us a little about August Paciorko? He's a romantic, who likes to thinks he
is driven by three great loves: jazz, his wife, and his daughter. If he keeps
his life simple and without a lot of excitement he's as close to happy as any
curmudgeon can be. And he'll protect his simple life against anyone that he
perceives as a threat to his lifestyle.
How did you come up with the story in August in D
Minor? I wanted to write a unconventional love story using the themes
from neo-noir in an isolated setting that wasn't traditionally associated with
the genre.
Any plan to turn the book into a series? Negative.
When did you decide to become a writer? When I joined
the United States Army. The person I was before the Army didn't commit.
When writing August in D Minor did anything stand
out as particularly challenging? I wrote my book in the span of six years
on and off. The challenging thing was getting it to a point where I was happy
with my voice.
What do you like to do when not writing? I'm a gym
rat that listens to BiggerPockets podcasts and feeds on a broad genre of
literature when I'm not plotting to take over the world.
What was an early experience where you learned that
language had power? In eighth grade after 9/11 my teacher gave the class a
writing assignment. The story could either be made up or based on fact. I wrote
a story about losing a loved one during the attack in first person.
Fortunately, I didn't lose anyone to that tragedy. In fact, I hadn't lost
anyone to a tragedy or even natural causes up to that point in my life. I did
read books and viewed movies and felt confidant that I could write a decent
story about loss. I wrote the story, I received an A and a heartfelt condolence
from my teacher. I was glad for the A and too embarrassed to admit that I made
everything up.