Selected Stories received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Michael Glenn.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Selected Stories… September 28, 2023
What’s the book’s first line?
From the first story, “Rondacq”: “Why anyone should dislike me, I cannot imagine, and yet I am sure that Rondacq does.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
My book is a selection of nineteen stories, chosen from the close to one hundred I’ve written between 1958 and the present. A few have been published in literary journals. They vary from being told in the first person to second and third… from experimental style to close, psychological insight… and from characters who are younger and middle-aged to people who are “looking back” over their lives… Though they are all different, taken together the stories show my development as a writer over an entire lifetime. And they’re interesting stories.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I’ve been writing all my life… stories… plays… novels… as well as non-fiction books around central issues in medicine and/or psychotherapy… Early this year, a close friend suggested that I “look in my attic and see what’s there”… I did, and found close to one hundred stories I’d written… After reading them all, I realized many were really good, worth preserving and showing to others… and so I edited them, found a publisher, and offered them as “selected stories” in this book.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
I think these stories are well-written, engaging, and a pleasure to read… But what’s especially interesting, I think, is that reading my book gives the reader a chance to follow a writer over the years… My styles and perspectives develop and shift, and yet, throughout the collection, you can see certain themes and insights persevere and deepen.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
My stories have many characters. A good number are internal, obsessional, tormented souls, trying to find meaning in a confusing, troubling world. Other stories are about couples trying to make a go of their relationship. And still others feature a character who is remembering, looking back. A number of stories are in medical settings. Some of the characters might remind the reader of work by Samuel Beckett.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I started writing in the fourth grade!
Is this the first book you’ve written?
No. I previously published a book of stories called Trouble on the Hill (Liberator Press, Chicago, 1979). And I’ve published the following books of non-fiction:
Repression or Revolution? Therapy in the United States Today (with Richard Kunnes)
Voices from the Asylum (editor)
The Radical Therapist (with Jerome Agel and The Radical Therapist Collective)
Rough Times (with Jerome Agel and The Rough Times Staff)
On Diagnosis: A Systemic Approach
Collaborative Health Care: A Family-Oriented Model
Couples: Exploring and Understanding the Cycles of Intimate Relationships (with
Barry Dym)
and two books of translated poetry:
Renovation of the Moon (Renovación de la Luna, by Emma Romeu)
Now That Life’s Given Me a Minute (Ahora Que Me Deja un Minuto la Vida, by
Emma Romeu)
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
Currently, I’m retired. But I am a physician, trained as a psychiatrist. I practiced both as a psychiatrist (doing mainly therapy) and as a family doctor (1979-1989). I also spent a decade as a political activist.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
Wow! That totally varies from week to week.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The hardest thing, as you might expect, is getting reviews, getting readers, finding an audience.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
The only thing I can say is work hard, pursue all opportunities.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
If that means, would I like my work published by a mainstream or avant-garde press: Of course! I’d like my work to be read by as many people as possible.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
When I was young, I thought a lot about fame… These days, I want to write what moves me, and I’d love people to be able to read it.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Hard to say… Chekhov? Beckett?
Which book do you wish you could have written?
I couldn’t answer that question.