Book interview - All Of My Friends Died In Plane Crashes

Please tell us a little about the book

ALL OF MY FRIENDS DIED IN PLANE CRASHES is a book of urban Australian stories. Approximately half of the 17 stories are autobiographical fiction, set during my childhood and youth in the tough western suburbs of Sydney, with the rest being fiction. All but one of the stories is set in Sydney in the period between the mid 1960s and the early 1990s. The exception is a historical piece – a fictional account of legendary bushranger Ned Kelly’s final 24 hours before his hanging. The stories are a mix of first person and third person, and a variety of voices, situations, and moods. Dark humor, tragedy, violence, light humor, farce, and subtle social commentary all weave through the tapestry of the book. In some of the stories a working-class Australian dialect is employed, achieved by writing phonetically. There is copious slang throughout PLANE CRASHES that is made easy to navigate by the inclusion of a Glossary of Aussie Slang in the back of the book.

Where did the inspiration come from for your book?

The whole thing was initially triggered when I was earning a master’s in creative writing at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1995. In our first writing class we were assigned the task of writing a short story. A particular character (a real person from my high school years) popped into my head for some unknown reason and the story just grew naturally and easily from that. I also believe this marked the final stage of developing my writing voice. I wrote fast, virtually “first thought, best thought,” and have written that way ever since. From there the ideas for Aussie short stories just came one after another – it was more or less a classic case of writing about what you know.

How did you find the experience of writing this book?

As I said, I write very fast. The book is 317 pages and I guesstimated I did the whole thing in approximately 55 hours. That said, it took 27 years – from 1995 to 2022 – to get the finished product out into the world. Put simply, “life got in the way.” Many of the major events of my life, good and bad, happened during those almost three decades, much of which took my mind completely away from writing. The actual writing experience was great. It was like looking through a photo album. In fact, I was surprised that I have an almost photographic memory for much of what happened in my childhood and youth. So it just pours out. The fiction follows suit: I know the environment and the types of people featured, and I release it all when inspiration strikes and the urge to write hits.

Did you draw any inspiration from any real life people with any of your characters?

Very much so. To a greater or lesser degree everything was based on firsthand experience and/or cultural knowledge. Some of the characters are people I actually knew, others are composites, and the totally fictionalized ones are “types” that I was surrounded by for the first 36 years or so of my life. I’d also add that I am very much a dialogue writer and that gives the book it’s real flavor.

If you could say anything to readers of this  book then what would it be?

A few things. Don’t let the extreme coarseness of language in some of the stories get in the way of your experiencing them. One of my highest priorities was to be authentic and all of the stories reflect the Australia I knew, down to the last cuss word, article of clothing, and sexual proclivity. The violence, when it occurs, is never gratuitous. I would also say that there is great variety between most of the stories (some, however, do relate to each other) and the only sameness to be experienced is in the cultural aspects. I would urge readers to enjoy the book on their own level. The stories can be read as superficial snapshots/episodes or, at a deeper level, social observations. But, personally, apart from the dialect aspect that I mentioned above, this is easy reading. Never vacuous, but it isn’t dense prose that requires deep reflection and interpretation to be enjoyed. Essentially, I would hope that people would give the book a chance. If it feels foreign at first, that’s because it is. Just hang in there for a little bit and see how you feel then. Even skim the stories to see the range they represent. But, of course, like anything, the book isn’t for everyone. In fact, I would be fine with it getting into the hands of a smattering of readers who get something from it – be it a laugh, something to contemplate, or a cultural “education” – as opposed to some calorie-deficient, production-line-crap bestseller that fits neatly into a standard genre.

Are there plans for more from these characters, or is it a stand alone piece?

Certainly, the autobiographical vein will continue to be mined. Beyond that, there will definitely be many more colorful characters introduced to readers in the future.

Where can we purchase your book?

Amazon, worldwide. I’m managing to get it into some indie bookstores around Massachusetts as well.

Please tell us where readers can connect with you and find out about any new book releases too.

Just email me at zuppadrian@gmail.com. The book also has its own website that was professionally designed and built, and is very visual and impressionistic (and has a good deal of biographical content as well): adrianzupp.com/all-of-my-friends-died-in-plane-crashes/ I will have another book (already written) coming out in 2023, and it will be added as a separate section of the website. So the website, social media, and all the other usual means will be used to announce the release of the book. Including Feed My Reads!