Interview With Author - Jerry Apps
Name: Jerry Apps
Website: www.jerryapps.com
Contact: jwapps@wisc.edu
Questions:
Q: Where are you originally from?
A: Central Wisconsin
Q: Can you tell us your latest book news?
A: My latest novel is THE TRAVELS OF INCREASE JOSEPH:A HISTORICAL NOVEL ABOUT A PIONEER PREACHER. Preacher Increase Joseph and his small band of followers come to Wisconsin from New York state in 1852. This is the story of their adventures, nunanced with philosophy and history, and told with humor.
Q: How old were you when you first started writing?
A: Twelve
Q: When did you first realize you had the potential to be a writer?
A: When I was in high school and was editor of the school newspaper.
Q: What was your inspiration to write your first novel?
A: I just thought I could do it, after many years of writing nonfiction books.
Q: Is there anyone or anything that inspired you to write?
A: Pioneer history and the stories of those who first settled the land.
Q: How has your environment and / or upbringing colored your writing?
A: I was born and raised on a farm before electricity, indoor plumbing, tractors, etc.. I lived considerable pioneer history.
Q: Do you have a specific writing style?
A: Only that I try to write everyday, six days a week. Sometimes it is only an hour or two. Other days I may write six hours or more; it depends on the project I’m working on, and how things are going.
Q: What genre are you most comfortable writing?
A: I write historical fiction, historical nonfiction, and historical books for children.
Q: How do you come up with the title(s) for your book(s)?
A: Deciding on a title usually involves my editor, the publisher’s marketing department, and me. I often start with as many as fifty or more titles, and then we go from there.
Q: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
A: Yes, reading history can be fun.
Q: How much of the novel is realistic?
A: All of it. I work hard to make the history accurate, although the characters and many of the situations are fiction.
Q: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life?
A: I often combine the experiences of several people I read about and know, along with some of the events in my own life.
Q: What books have most influenced your life?
A: Henry David Thoreau’s work. Writings by Aldo Leopold, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Steinbeck, Sigurd Olson, Loren Eiseley, Russell Banks, Barbara Kingsolver, Larry McMurty, and many others have also contributed.
Q: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
A: I don’t have one, but look to many. Robert Gard, a regional writer from Wisconsin, was my mentor when I first began writing for publication in the 1960s.
Q: What are you reading now?
A: The Essential Aldo Leopold: Quotations and Commentaries, edited by Curt Meine and Richard L. Knight.
Q: What new author has grasped your interest?
A: Sorry, don’t have one to mention.
Q: Is there anything additional you would like to share with your readers?
A: I have taught creative writing for more than thirty years. I tell my students to write for themselves–and often they will be surprised that others will be interested in what they have to say as well.