Derek McFadden interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

When did your love of books begin?

Probably from the second I could read. Probably before that, honestly, when I was having books read to me. My mom has always been the reader in our family. Before me, my dad was the writer, so in a way I got the best of both worlds through the two of them.

The thing is, a really important part of my story is the cerebral palsy with which I came into the world when I was born. I was not born with it. There is a distinction. My life was forever changed on its first day by a doctor’s mistake.

Therefore, I entered the world­–and have lived my whole life in it–believing in the idea of #ownvoices really even before it was an idea widely spoken. I am of the mind that authors–to write well–must be chroniclers of life. And, as such, they must exhibit empathy. Life is hard, and if the writer is going to attempt to hold a mirror up to the human condition, they must also know who’s looking back at them through that mirror.

They must know their audience, their readers.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

When I was six years old, I had a dream–dramatized in my book, What Death Taught Terrence. It Is a dream I can still recall today, almost word for word. In it, I was told I’d be an author. I woke up knowing this was my destiny, and it’s been one of my core hopes and wants and dreams ever since. Even though I can’t write free-hand because of my palsy, I was lucky in that, just as I was entering school, so were computers. My thoughts and my stories would not be trapped in my head forever, as they might well have been for previous generations with my same condition.

I am also forever grateful to the pioneers of disability rights who­–years before I was me—fought hard to make a true public education possible for me. Without that, there is no What Death Taught Terrence, no career in editing, none of what I love doing most.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

Becoming an author is, in truth, very different from the way it was sold to me as a child. I read all the great YA authors of my YA era, and I thought authors lived glamorous, high-brow, no-worries lives of opulence, which would be punctuated by fits of I-must-write-this-now inspiration. Stories ticketed for the bestseller list even before they were fully formed.

The truth of the profession is grittier, harder. And yet, it’s also more rewarding than I’d ever thought possible. Not always monetarily, mind you. But if you’re getting into authordom for the cash and you’re not King or Grisham or Koontz, I hate to tell you this but you’ve bellied up to the Bard Breakfast Bar for the wrong reasons. Non-creatives won’t often understand how the biggest reward an author receives is in the work itself. The time spent mulling it. The introspection (at least in my case). The exciting thrills an author gets to put down on the page before anyone outside the beta-reader circle ever gives them a read.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

You gotta really want it because the profession will humble you, but if you’re reading this and you’re thinking, I really want it, then go for it, by all means! Just know there will be people who question the wisdom of such a decision, to devote your life to words in the way we authors do. They will think themselves right and practical in this question. (These are also the people least likely to actually read your book when it finally comes out.)

What you must do, dear future author colleague, is surround yourself with a support system of folks who won’t give up on you. Also, know this: Your family can act as fine first readers, but don’t give your book to your family thinking they’ll be objective alpha or beta readers.

They won’t.

If they’re family whose in your support system, they want you to succeed. They might feel compelled, for that reason, to tell you what you want to hear, as opposed to what you need to hear. Alphas and betas will constructively criticize you.

If you can’t handle criticism from your writer-friends, then an agent’s criticism will be taken the wrong way, too. Watch out for that.

Tell us about your book/books:

My book is called What Death Taught Terrence. Think a Mitch Albom book with a handicapped character at its center. But Terrence McDonald is unlike any other handicapped character you’ve ever read. Besides his palsy, he is an everyman. He’s the kind of guy whose motivations you’ll understand and empathize with. When he passes away on page one, it’ll hit you hard, even though his passing is all but in the title.

From that point forward, the book unfolds and allows the reader to not just read about a life they don’t often see in literature but also to consider their own lives and their own decisions and their own hopes and dreams, both looking back and moving forward. When readers close What Death Taught Terrence, I really, truly want them to think, That’s a great book! I think I’ll read that again!

What Death Taught Terrence is available in hardcover, paperback, on kindle, and on audible. The kindle is only $2.99 right now!
https://smile.amazon.com/Death-Taught-Terrence-Derek-McFadden-ebook/dp/B07XXVLF9Y

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

What I love about both communities is how accepting they are. As someone who was bullied often as a kid, when I’m in the reading/writing community, I truly know I’ve found my people and that this is where I belong!

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

Thank you for reading! Truly! Without readers, authors would just be lonely bloggers, and we’d be blogging for one. Also, if you read a story of mine, please, please review it! I know reviews take time, but they really do help authors. Especially independent authors, like me!

Where can people connect with you?

Come find me on twitter. I’m @Dwrites98053. Terrence has a Facebook page @ www.facebook.com/whatdeathtaught. You can also connect with me on Goodreads. I have an author profile there! And I’ll soon be starting a podcast entitled Writing While Handicapped for the Authors On The Air Global Radio Network!