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Reverb
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Interview with J. Cafesin
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Thanks, Amaya for having me on Insomnia Book Club!
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Sis did go an awesome job. And thanks for sharing so much great info with us J. :)
Amaya asked some great questions, sparked my answers. Thanks for reading me!!
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At first glance of the description for Reverb many of you might or might not be interested in the plot line. I highly encourage readers to give Reverb a chance, especially after hearing what J. Cafesin has to say about it. Not only does Reverb have a beautiful cover, something that's hard to find these days, but there's a bit more than meets the eye to it.
Keep reading as we are welcomed into the mind of J. Cafesin.
IBC: What gave you the idea for your book Reverb?
Cafesin: Since my tween years I dreamed of a brilliantly talented musician, who was also gorgeous and rich, falling in love with me. His passion for me would be on par with the words and music he created, his love songs written about me, for me. The problem was, as I grew older, and started to hang out with a lot of musicians (I grew up at the base of the Hollywood Hills with writers, directors, musicians, working in the Industry), I found them to be aloof, self-absorbed as******, not the loving, gentle, insightful men I'd imagined. In fact, most of their passion was directed towards creating music, not people. Their girlfriends were always complaining that they were never around, and even when they were, they weren't present, with them emotionally.
As I started dating, I found this to be true of most men, musician or not. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, even L.A. was fairly provincial, where men ruled, and women...didn't. On most dates I interviewed the guys, who blatted on about their careers, ideas, philosophies, and rarely turned my questions around. Even when they did, they basically checked out, eyes glazed and wandered halfway into my answers.
How do women get a man's attention, I began wondering. Not halfway, almost, or just in bed, but all the way, like the focused attention I was giving—listening carefully to what is said, questioning, interested, being sensitive to what isn't said but implied. I wanted to find a man who was looking for a partnership, not looking to be the patriarch in the relationship.
I wrote James as he was, like most men I knew, and in fact, most men still are. The fiction came in when he changed to become who I want men to be, more emotionally aware, and much more intimately connected outside of themselves.
IBC: Some authors create some fictional characters based on their own personal experiences. Have you ever created a fictional character like that or do you plan on creating one in the future?
Cafesin: Reverb is based on my personal experiences with oh, so many men. I'm rewriting Disconnected now, about a 33 yr old single woman in L.A. looking for love, a partner for life, to become a wife, have kids, create a family, based on personal experience. Ever fall for someone you knew you shouldn't?
IBC: What do you think makes a good story?
Cafesin: Characters we can relate to, who possess the same frailties we do. Humans are complex beings, our motivations and actions also complex, and good writing illuminates our complexity. Sex in the City had a group of rather blank women who were more into show and shopping than actually thinking. The writer in the story was rather... surface, as was her columns. The characterization of women in film and books is dreadful!! Fluff, for the most part, and plays back to where I started this interview, with our society still hell bent on keeping women silly and marginal. I realize there are books with women who are the hero, but most I've read she'll be successful in a progressive career, but her inner dialog is all to often nonsense—sparkly but not too bright.
IBC: Have you ever began writing a novel and then trashed it, regretting your choice later on?
Cafesin: Disconnected was first written 20 years ago. After I finished Reverb, I put the first few chapters of Disconnected online. And something weird happened...It opens with a suicide attempt. I got an email from a reader who said she totally related to the suicidal character, Rachel, that she'd thought about suicide herself, and after reading the opening of Disconnected felt justified in doing it. Really freaked me out. So I spent the next four years rewriting Disconnected to be...lighter. Figured most people want to be entertained, not drawn into the darkness of depressives. But after finishing the novel with a happy ending, it didn't feel right to me, ring true. So I'm rewriting it again. I've given myself to the end of the year to finish it. If I do, it'll be out by Spring 2014. If I can't finish it by then, I'm trashing it and moving on.
IBC: How do you handle a bad review on a book you've written?
Cafesin: I cave in on myself and question if I should continue writing. No sh**. It's weird, good reviews are hard to believe, but I take the bad ones to heart. Screwed up, I know, but most writers I've encountered (myself included) aren't exactly the most stable people on the planet.
IBC: Do you have a job outside of being an author?
Cafesin: I'm a creative director, and write copy for website content, as well as create marketing for startups and companies looking to increase sales.
IBC: Of course, what would be an interview without this last question. When did you come to know that you wanted to write?
Cafesin: Like most writers, I've been writing all my life. Writing fiction professionally, though, takes an inheritance, a benefactor (partner, spouse, public donor), or great sales on previous books. Every day I pray for the later!