Pete Morin Gives an Interview

Greetings and thanks for stopping in to Self-Publishing Central.

Today I am pleased to welcome author, Pete Morin, who has just released his new book, Diary of a Small Fish, in multiple ebook formats.

I've known Pete in a virtual sense for a couple years now. And I had the rare privilege of reading a beta version of Small Fish last year. It was a terrific read back then. And I hear it's even better now.

Pete's got an agent who has been working diligently on his behalf to place this book with a major publisher. But as we have learned, even having a great agent doesn't guarantee you will find a home for your book in these turbulent publishing waters.

Pete's going to share with us today parts of his road to publication. I hope you enjoy it. I know I did.

John: How about a brief introduction, Pete?

Pete: Okay. My name’s Pete Morin. I live in a money pit on the south coast of Boston with my lovely wife, a young adult son and a flock of overbearing, diarrheic wild turkeys.

John: How old were you when you wrote your first story?

Pete: The first time I tried, I was about 10. I’d just finished reading Goldfinger. I proceeded to write my own spy novel, titled Silverthumb. I quit after the first page.

John: When were you first published?

Pete: A short story was published in the Vermont Cynic, the University of Vermont newspaper, in 1976, as the winner of its first short story contest. Soon after, I became its copy editor and arts/entertainment editor, which got me front row seats and backstage passes to concerts.

John: Why are you passionate about writing?

Pete: I really have no idea. A few years back, I visited an energy healer who read my energy and told me I should be writing. Sounded good to me. (That’s a true story.) I think it’s Karma.

John: Tell us about your ‘writing life’ to date?

Pete: Since I re-started fiction writing in February of 2008, I’ve finished one novel, started 12 short stories and finished 8, and completed most of a second novel. I spent too much time on Authonomy years back, but earned what little acclaim it offers and received a positive review from a Harper Collins assistant editor (I assume). The experience convinced me to continue. That manuscript garnered representation from the first agent who read it, the fabulous Christine Witthohn. Most of the shorts have been published in one place or another, and one is due for a rather auspicious honorable mention that I cannot disclose.

I spend anywhere from ten minutes to ten hours a day staring at work in progress.

John: What are your goals for the next five years?

Pete: Besides seeing my current two novels in print, I just want to be involved when writers come out on top of the publishing revolution. I want to learn how to write a whole novel in nine months. I want to: watch my wife stay as lovely as she is, my son become a successful fantasy writer, and my daughter become a successful New York food writer (and marry a rich man); preserve my health and sanity; and keep my handicap below 10 and my weight below 220.

John: All admirable goals. Tell us about the books you have out?

Pete: At this time, I have self-published one short story, Giving It Away, and a collection of six short stories, Uneasy Living. These are stories that are best described as literary fiction that deal with man’s reaction to good fortune, bad luck, sorrow, abandonment, alienation, loss and betrayal. They were written at a time when I was grieving the loss of my father and the imminent loss of my mother, so they are uncharacteristically somber and maudlin for a man of my usual exuberance and good cheer. Still, I know that they get inside the people who read them and make them laugh and cry, so I think they’re pretty successful.

John: What do you say to new writers?

Pete: Be yourself, keep your day job, read everything you can get your hands on, and pay attention to craft!

John: Anything else you'd like to offer? Maybe a plug for your brand new book?

Pete: First of all, thanks for hosting me on your blog, John. Decent of you. Then, of course, I'd appreciate it very much if everyone ran right over to Amazon, BN, or Smashwords and grabbed a copy of Diary of a Small Fish.

John: Thanks for stopping in, Pete. Best of luck to you in your continued writing endeavors.

Here's a cover pic of "Small Fish" and some further background you'll want to know about Pete.

Bio:

Pete Morin has been a trial lawyer, a politician, a big government general counsel, a lobbyist, and a grand jury witness. He is now a trial lawyer, a writer and a blues guitarist. He is represented by Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency. His short stories have appeared in 100 Stories for Haiti, Words to Music, Words With Jam, and NEEDLE, A Magazine of Noir.

You can find Pete, if you want, here:

www.petemorin.wordpress.com

http://www.facebook.com/pete.morin2

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/smallfish

@petermorin on Twitter