Interview with Indie Author Kevin Singer
Back in January the book club at 9th & Coles Tavern in downtown Jersey City read THE GIRL and invited me to attend their discussion session. It was loads of fun hanging with Greg and the gang and was where I met fellow author and neighbor, Kevin Singer.
He’s very cool and it was fun talking about my book with another writer so when I had the chance this past March, I returned the favor and picked up his book “Always Mine”. It’s a little gem of a story and if you have a chance, I highly recommend snagging a copy and getting lost in its pages. You won’t regret it.
After reading “Always Mine”, I thought it would be fun to interview Kevin and see what goes on in his writer’s mind. Here’s what I discovered about Mister Singer:
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’ve been in love with words as long as I can remember. I read voraciously as a kid – my favorite children’s books were the Choose Your Own Adventure series and the Hardy Boys. I graduated to Stephen King as a teenager, and I blame him for my pull toward all things supernatural.
I love writing stories about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations. To me they’re the ones who are interesting. I can’t relate to superheroes.
How long have you been writing? Are you a full-time writer or do you have a day job?
I wrote my first story when I was 12. It was about a boy with ESP. It wasn’t very good – there was a lot of vomiting in it. Hopefully I’ve improved since then.
I studied creative writing in college, and after a few years in the army, then graduate school, then working as a newspaper reporter, I came back to writing seriously. I’ve worked hard to develop my craft and find my style. And, as with most writers, I have a day job. I’m a medical/scientific editor.
Do you have a favorite character from any of your works? If so, who? And why do you love them?
My favorite character is Randy Velasquez, the hero in my book The Last Conquistador. He was a minor character in the first (unpublished) novel I wrote. But he stayed with me. He had an energy and vitality that leaped off the page. He is feisty and funny and a fighter. I had to come back and tell his story.
I’m also partial to Danny in Always Mine. He is so earnest and well meaning, and the odds are piled up against him. Danny to me is a certain type of character — the overlooked. If you were to see him from the outside, you’d think – he’s a nice looking kid, with a good middle class, stable family. People like that don’t have stories worth telling — or do they? The reality of Danny’s world is much different than what it appears to be from the outside.
I loved playing with Ouija Boards when I was a kid, so that aspect of “Always Mine” intrigued me right away. Can you tell us about the inspiration for the story and the writing process?
This story came from a dream. There was no Ouija board in the dream, but there was a teenage boy, a girl, an angry mother, a dog and a vicious stepfather. I tried to write the dream as a story but it didn’t work. I let it brew a while and then came the Ouija board, and Gustav. The structure of the dream remained, though it took several years to get it all to come together.
“Always Mine” is about the summer Danny meets Tina, but it’s also very much about Danny’s relationship with his mom and his dog. These relationships captured my attention much more than his goings-on with Tina. Was this purposeful?
Yes. I’m drawn to supernatural/sci-fi/strange because these elements allow me to highlight–in a fun way–very dark issues. For instance, in Left Among the Mutants, Katrina’s mother has abandoned the family, but the focus is on the wild mutations occurring on the family farm. In Always Mine, Danny is 15, his father is deployed to Iraq during the hot part of that war, and his mother is falling apart. There’s a history of abuse, and that coupled with his mother’s mental state, are heavy topics to talk about. But the supernatural element shifts the focus, and in a way, helps keep it lighter — if Danny’s interaction with Tina and her spirit guide Gustav can be considered light.
There’s another important theme to this story: sexuality. Adolescence is a minefield when it comes to sex. As teenagers we’re trying to figure out what these feelings mean, and we’ve already been given tons of mixed messages to somehow then navigate. A lot of YA fiction glosses over this and heads straight for the hearts-and-flowers romance angle, without addressing the confusing mess that it can be. For Danny, it’s “what are these scary, overpowering, wild feelings?” It is nearly unmanageable for him. The hand on the cover is not just Gustav, it’s also Danny.
I felt you captured Danny’s stress in dealing with his mom so perfectly without being in the reader’s face about issues pertaining to child abuse and neglect. Every time she entered the picture, my heart raced with Danny’s. Can you talk a little more about this?
People who grow up in abusive homes – that’s all they know. That is their normal. It doesn’t ease the fear, but it lets you cope. Danny is on survival mode, which means constantly being on alert. That’s why he’s so drawn to Tina — he sees her as a safe haven.
As a writer, some readers think that I’m writing about myself, that the main character is me. That’s not the case. I love writing other people’s stories. However, Always Mine is the most personal story I’ve released. I am not Danny. I’ve never even used a Ouija board. I grew up too Catholic for that. But I have dealt with issues similar to Danny. If you want to know anything about me, read this story.
Adolescence is rough. Few of us get out unscathed. Danny is no exception. The ending of this story was hard for me — not only as a writer but as a reader.
Are you working on anything now? If so, can you tell us about it?
I’ve written three stories so far about what I call “Teens in Trouble.” (No, that won’t be an official title.) I have three more in various stages of development — all involving some fantastical or supernatural element. Two of them will be released on their own, and with the final one I’ll compile them all into a print book. Then onto a novel-length piece. I want to have fun, as a reader as well as a writer. That’s my mission.
In case you’re curious, here’s a little more about Kevin:
Kevin Singer is an army veteran and former journalist who has covered stories ranging from murder trials to cancer breakthroughs. His suspense fiction combines his interests in the supernatural, psychology, and the generally offbeat. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
And here are some of his important links:
Kevin’s Goodreads Author’s Page
Amazon link for Left Among Mutants
Amazon link for The Last Conquistador
Amazon link for Road to Magdelena
Check out some of Kevin’s books when you have a chance. I promise you will not regret getting lost in one of his many amazing worlds.
And a huge thank you to the man himself for taking the time to indulge my curiosity. This was super fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime soon.
Catch you at the next 9th & Coles Tavern book club (if not sooner).
HOLLA!
