It is with a heavy heart that I write that my friend, Bo, passed away yesterday. I met him at a Cape Fear Crime Festival and he was adorable. I will surely miss hearing from him.
Born and raised in the rural hills of East Tennessee,
Bronson L. “Bo” Parker began cobbling words together for money at the age of
sixteen. The ensuing years included an internship with the Wall Street Journal,
work as both a news reporter and sports writer for several newspapers, and
along the way, work was mixed with study to earn a degree in journalism from
UT-Knoxville,
After thirteen years in the newspaper
world, Parker moved to a management position with Newport News Shipbuilding in
Newport News, Virginia where he spent four and a half years before accepting an
appointed position as a public official with his adopted City of Hampton,
Virginia.
When he left the newspaper business, he did not
abandon word cobbling. Historical non-fiction articles and books on events in
his adopted city and state satisfied his word-cobbling addiction until he turned
to fiction after his retirement. THE WEIGHT OF EMPTINESS is the second
installment in the life of Joe McKibben. The first one, THE PROVIDENCE OF DEATH
was published in 2010.
I met Bronson a few years back at Cape Fear Crime Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina and instantly loved his dry wit and cuteness.
It's nice to have you on the blog at last, Bronson.
Good to be here, Susan.
How has your environment
affected your writing?
A childhood curiosity as to the why of things has never been outgrown.
An early introduction to journalism with its five “Ws”¾who, what, when, where, and why¾heightened that curiosity. However, in the
rush of daily publication, there was seldom time to dig deeply into the why
behind many of the stories.
Turning to historical non-fiction did little to satisfy the hunger. Historical records can be long on facts. But beyond scholarly works that most often rely on supposition and speculation, the whys that led to decisions and events are an elusive element.
When turning to fiction—where everything is created from scratch— the
freedom existed to create the whys behind Joe McKibben’s decisions and the actions
he takes.
Give a short synop of your
most recently published book.
Joe McKibben, retired chief of detectives in
Hampton, Virginia, is wrestling with the emptiness of widowhood when, against
his better judgment, he agrees to a friend’s request to look for a woman who
has left town without telling anyone where she has gone, or why. Joe’s search
becomes an odyssey that leads him to several small towns about the Virginia countryside.
He ultimately meets the woman and learns why she left town without telling
anyone. In the end, Joe realizes what he observed and heard during his odyssey has
given him the resolve to get past his feeling of emptiness and move to the next
stage in his life.
How much of yourself is
hidden in the characters in the book?
Since making the choice, for the most part, to write in the first
person POV, a lot of personal viewpoints are reflected in how Joe McKibben sees
the world.
This ought to be interesting.
What challenges did you face
while writing this book?
It
was the continuing struggle to hone the skills of a different trade. Years of
writing news/sports and historical non-fiction was the work of a mason,
building walls out of stones of fact, held together with mortar. Fiction
demands the skills of a carpenter, building wood-frame walls. Both types of
walls have to be straight, plumb, and level. But there are far more different materials
and methods of assembly in a wood-frame wall with which one has to become
proficient. I am still serving my apprenticeship.
That's the best darn answer I've ever heard!
Do you travel to do research
or for inspiration? Can you share some special places with us?
Since my traveling days are over, I rely on my fifty plus years of living
in historic Virginia and the many unique individuals I met during my working
days. There’s always seems to be a place or individual that crawls out of a memory
cell when needed for a setting or character in a scene.
What do you think is the
greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give
new writers?
It is exactly what the late Bill Tapply said to me when I
started writing fiction. “It is the hardest thing a person can attempt.” The
first draft may be the result of inspiration. But rewriting, “getting the words
right,” is the result of perseverance and perspiration. No better advice can be
passed on than to emphasize the need to accept the truth of Bill’s comment and
decide if the resolve to make the commitment is within.
Wow! Another great answer and super advice to all of us.
Where do you store ideas for
later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?
Ideas are stored in my head where things are allowed to germinate and
sprout like growth in the cracks of a sidewalk. As things progress, there’s a
lot of weeding done to find the right ingredients to mix up an acceptable
salad.
Great analogy, Bo.
We all know how important
promoting our work has become. How do you get the word out both off and online?
That is the big question. Since hitting the road is no longer possible,
the Internet will be my only connection with the world. How that tool will be
used is still to be determined. The best I can say at the moment is that if a
reader likes the book, recommend it to a friend, or write a brief review on
Amazon where the book is currently available for the Kindle http://www.amazon.com/WEIGHT-EMPTINESS
Can you tell us your future writing goals/projects?
Can you tell us your future writing goals/projects?
The idea in the beginning was that Joe
McKibben’s story would be a three-book series. That is still the plan, but
there is no time frame involved. Beyond that, something else will sprout up to
grab my attention. I do know this. I’ll be writing something. “When something
takes hold of your soul, it’s a part of you forever.”
All writers understand that response. Thanks for letting me interview you. I wish you lots of success with both books. Hugs!
Enjoyed the questions, Susan. Take care.
