And then I met Elvis… received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Douglas Bari.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
“And then I met Elvis…” Paperback published May 2018, Kindle June 2018.
What’s the book’s first line?
“My mother had fucked me over again.” I struggled with an opening sentence to launch the tone of the book. The night I made the decision to commit and really try to put the reader in the driver’s seat, that sentence fell onto the page and I had to stop and take a breath. I knew it was right the moment I finished typing it.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
13-year-old Tim is an angry kid who has nothing going for him. His family is severely dysfunctional. He’s poor, lives in a trailer park. He’s tormented by a trio of bullies. And then he meets Elvis, an oddly large teenager who befriends Tim and acts as his bodyguard. Tim and Elvis bond in the summer of 1969 amidst a swirl of characters and situations that help mold Tim into a young man.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I originally wrote the story as a screenplay and the coverage that came back with my rejection said the judge found the bullying episodes too unbelievable. Except I’d lived them. I was seeing waves of stories in the news about bullied kids killing themselves. That’s when I decided to double down and novelize it. I felt like the story could speak to affected readers in a positive way. I wanted abused people to know there’s a way out.
What’s the main reason someone should really read the book?
Because I think I take you there. Because I bring you full circle. And I do that balancing love, humor, and darkness. I happen to believe it’s good story-telling and I think in many cases, it’s healing.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who – real or fictional – would you say the character reminds you of?
Young Tim is resilient, able to adapt. He’s an angry kid, but he’s so hopeful. He knows there is good in him to be harvested. And of course he reminds me of me.