April 23, 2012

Larry talks about ... gaining inspiration from his own life story

The Priest & The Peaches is a fictionalized account of the travails of five newly orphaned kids who are just beginning their quest to stay together as a family. The truth is this---my brothers , sister and I did, in fact, lose our parents when we were very young. I can honestly though, I never planned to write a book about us or based on us. What happened was our brother , Bobby, passed away suddenly in 2007. The four of us, while hanging out after the funeral, began to reminisce about the "old days" and one memory triggered another and an explosion of "remembers" turned into an avalanche that swept us away in back-slapping laughter and tears.We must have been quite the sight because we were at a bar and restaurant in Monroe, NY and the place was filed with both friends and strangers. We had a great time and this was right after the funeral. It was a beautiful thing and that was when I began to think about writing the book.

I said that the book is a work of fiction and it is. The antagonist in the book and the priest, two main characters, are complete fiction. Many of the incidents are fictionalized but based on reality. Being 'orphaned" and on our own was true. So, I ran with that and the actual research involved consisted of some translation from German to English and from Latin to English. There was also a bit mentioned about the dreaded illness called "pancreatitis". This was only mentioned in dialogue and since I knew quite a bit about it (three family members had it) I just confirmed what I had written by checking various medical sites on-line. I am no expert.

The sequel I am working on will actually require a bit of research. This book is fiction also but there will be places I go and things that happen while writing it that will require definite research. Maybe next year I can come back and tell you where I have been.

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