Scar Songs: Stories received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author W. Royce Adams.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Scar Songs: Stories published March 1, 2023
What’s the book’s first line?
This is a collection of nine short stories, but the opening line in the story “Scar Song” is “I should have known.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
To quote from SP Review, “Exploring the complex and commonly overlooked emotional experiences of men, Scar Songs is a bold and unabashed collection of stories that looks at fraternal friendship, along with grief, growth, love and purpose….Using an impressive economy of language, Adams captures the psyche and struggles of each story’s protagonist with a compelling rawness.”
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I have been writing short stories since my retirement from teaching for several years now and managed to published some stories in small literary journals. I decided to put together a collection with a common theme: male protagonists at various stages in life who experience events that leave either a physical or psychological memory scar. The stories cover a range of struggles, such as family loyalties, guilt, loss of a loved one, finding forgiveness and mental burnout.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
I think some people, men in particular, often don’t know how to handle emotions that don’t fit a mold. The stories in Scar Songs speak to emotions we all or perhaps many readers will have to deal with. Not that the stories provide answers, but perhaps a type of comfort sharing.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
There is no main character since there are nine stories, but some characters remind me of myself and others of men I know.
When did you first decide to become an author?
When I was in college, I won first prize for a one-act play I wrote and staged. It gave me the bug to write more so I continued taking creative writing classes. While teaching, I published over twenty college textbooks, taking away time from creative writing. When I retired I started writing stories again and it has led to publishing juvenile novels as well as an adult novel and two short story collections.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
No. As mentioned, I’ve written nine juvenile or young adult novels, two collections of short stories and my latest novel novel, As Time Goes By.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
Writing is work, so that’s pretty much what I do as a retiree. However, when I first self-published my middle-grade, young adult novels, I took part in many book fairs and school visits. It was the only way to reach my audience and it was exhausting work. Now I work trying to promote my work.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
I’m not a religious sit-down-and-write everyday person. I spend time thinking about a story and creating characters and scenes in my head. When I feel I’m ready to write, I begin and stick with it steadily.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Finding an agent, publisher or distribution is the hardest part. But I’m finding more fun in doing it all myself. There is so much available help for indie writers at the present. I enjoy building my books with Ingram and they offer so much support. Yes, it costs to get reviews from Kirkus, PW, BookTrib, Self-Publishing, IndieReader and so on. But they are needed to make the public aware of your work. And if you don’t have the finances, you can easily get published for free on Amazon.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
If you can afford to put some money into your project, do it. If not, publish on Amazon. I did with one of my books just to see how it all works. The problem with Amazon is that they aren’t distributors and bookstores don’t order from them. You are limited to selling only through Amazon or yourself. Not that it can’t be successful, but again, even with Amazon you need money to get seen on Amazon’s site.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
That’s a good question. I’m not sure at this point. Right now I can set my own royalty rate. For me, it would come down to how much the publisher is willing to put their money into advertising promotion and distribution. I spend time doing it now and I enjoy it. I published textbooks with five major textbook publishers when I was teaching. In the end, all five were purchased by Cengage. Cengage soon after filed for bankruptcy and ruined the good run and distribution I had going with the other publishers. So beware the publisher and their offer. I’d listen to what they had to offer.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
I just have to write. I’m addicted.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
That’s too tough for me to answer. So many writers I have read or studied have influenced me in one way or another.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Stoner by John Williams