David A. Ross is a writer, editor
and publisher. From 1984-1985 he was a columnist and contributing editor for
Southwest Art Magazine. His novels include The Virtual Life of Fizzy Oceans,
Sacrifice and the Sweet Life, A Winter Garden, Stones, Xenos,
How High The Wall, Good Morning Corfu, and his award-winning
first novel The Trouble with Paradise (republished by Open Books under
the title Calico Pennants).
In addition to his career as a
novelist, he established Escape Media Publishers in 1992. Today, he works with
Escape Media imprint Open Books as Acquisitions Editor and marketing
strategist. He is also the publisher and editor of the online literary
magazine, Moronic Ox Literary & Cultural Journal.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, he
currently lives on the Island of Corfu, Greece.
Living in Greece has surely affected your writing.
While I was born in the United States, and lived there for
forty-eight years, I always wanted to live in Europe. In 2001, I moved to the
Island of Corfu in Greece. The experience of being an immigrant has had
far-reaching effects, both personally and professionally. The process of
immigrating to a foreign country is not a simple one, and it has posed many
challenges, yet, after 13 years on this wonderful island, I consider that
process to be one of my life’s most valuable experiences. Has living on a
Grecian isle had an effect on my writing? Of course! How could it not? In fact,
three of my books – two novels and one memoir – are either set in Greece or are
directly about Greek culture. But I am not one of those writers that depend on
locale for my inspiration. My other novels are, respectively, set in France, in
an unnamed American suburb, in the South Pacific and, yes, one is set in
cyberspace.
How many books have you written?
Six novels, one short story collection, and one memoir.
Give a short synop of your most recently published book.
Meet Fizzy Oceans—archivist, researcher,
environ- mentalist and adventurer. On her travels she witnesses The Exodus, the
Battle of Gettysburg and Hurricane Katrina, as well as many other historical
and real time events. She meets notable individuals including Gandhi, Mark
Twain, Jacques Cousteau, The Dalai Lama and Saddam Hussein.
Such unique experiences and encounters spanning
the world and time as we know them would not be possible for a single
individual—especially not for a woman named Amy Birkenstock who works as a
medical clerk in Seattle, Washington—but Fizzy Oceans, Amy’s digital alter ego,
is not in Physical Life. She lives, works and travels in the virtual world
where the dead are very much alive, places like ancient Babylon and Pompeii
have been reconstructed, and with the click of a button—WHOOSH!—one is
transported throughout the Ages to events and destinations that make up our
human history.
Even as Amy’s physical life existence is
challenged by encroaching environmental disaster, economic instability, and
societal breakdown, Fizzy’s virtual world offers instant realization of vision
and inspiration. The Virtual Life of Fizzy Oceans imagines the bridging
of two worlds—the literal and the metaphorical—and questions what it is we have
created, what has been lost, and what might be possible for us as individuals
and for the Human Race.
How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the
book?
I actually love this question because I make no pretense
about the fact that Fizzy Oceans is indeed my alter-ego.
Do your characters take on lives of their own? If so, which
is your favorite?
I think any character that does not take on a life of his
own should probably be scrapped in favor of one that does. That is one of the
real joys of writing fiction – when the character begins to behave differently
than you first envisioned him. Where do such things come from? Only the muse
knows…
What challenges did you face while writing this book?
I suppose the biggest challenge was that it takes place in
several dimensions (or worlds) simultaneously: NL, or Natural Life; PL, or
Physical Life; VL, or Virtual Life; NL, or Next Life; and ML, or Meta Life.
Since all the characters are interacting in all five dimensions simultaneously,
it took some author orientation to write lucidly about not only who each
character was, but, more importantly, where he/she was in any given
scene. But since simultaneous multidimensional reality is the book’s dominant
theme (and there are several, from global warming to macro-economics, religion,
literature, history, and even the nature of life and death, I also had great
license to invent. Just as it is in VL, whatever I imagined, I could create.
So, it was fun. The book took three and a half years to write, but considering
it spans several millennia (seen through the eyes of a single protagonist),
that is not too bad, I think.
Do you travel to do research or for inspiration? Can you
share some special places with us?
I used to travel extensively, and I always told myself it
was for research. In fact, I think a trip to the grocery store might be as
revealing, say, as a trip to Rome. Or maybe not… During a period of ten years,
while I was in my thirties and forties, I crossed the ocean no less than thirty
times. I visited more than 20 countries. So I have a traveling background. But for
the past decade – even a bit more – I have not traveled. At least not in terms
of geography. The Virtual Life of Fizzy Oceans required travels of a
different kind, and my many voyages into virtual worlds such as Second Life and
others were, to me, ever bit as fascinating as traveling in the physical world.
The very fact that I was, and am able to immerse myself in VW’s made the book
real and believable. And I think it says something about not only my mind and
personality, but about all of us, about what constitutes our
world-taken-for-granted, about what we label as real and imaginary. Surely
those lines blur in our switched-on, instant communication world society.
What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned
about writing so far? What advice can you give new writers?
KISS – we all know that one. And passion – gotta have
passion for your subject.
Where do you store ideas for later use: in your head, in a
notebook, or on a spreadsheet?
Heavens, not on a spreadsheet!
I know, right? We all know how important promoting our work has become. How
do you get the word out both off and online?
Online I use all appropriate social media; off line I shout
from this highest mountain in Greece (Mount Olympus, I think – you know, where
the gods lived).
Can you tell us your future writing goals/projects?
I think I may not write any more novels; then again, one
should never say never. A few readers out there are begging for more from
Fizzy.
Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
Anyone who wants to know more about my work, and about me,
can begin here:
http://www.open-bks.com/library/moderns/the-virtual-life-of-fizzy-oceans/author.html
Once there, just follow the links. OR… You can just google
David A. Ross. There is plenty there to keep any (insane or bored) person busy
for a while. But be advised: there is more than one David A. Ross; I’m not the
‘Bill Viola’ guy, or the one who writes about fish.
Are your books available in print and ebook formats?
My books are available in both print and in all eBook
formats.
For TheVirtual Life of Fizzy Oceans the following
link will give a full description as well as multiple buy sources:
http://www.open-bks.com/library/moderns/the-virtual-life-of-fizzy-oceans/fizzy-cover.html
For a list (with links) of my other books, start here:
http://www.open-bks.com/library/moderns/the-virtual-life-of-fizzy-oceans/author.html
and, as they say, follow the bouncing…cursor.
Somehow, you’ll get where you want to go… We all will!
