DSH Indie Author Spotlight: Samuel Kaye

Howdy howdy,

Today’s indie spotlight is on Samuel Kaye, author of Cinema. 

Full disclosure, SK and I are with the same publisher Whisk(e)y Tit Books.

That being said, I absolutely LOVED this book. I received a copy last year, I think, and it was hands down one of my top three reads that year. It was unexpected, surprising, hilarious and smart, while still delivering a romp of a story.

Such a great blend of philosophy, entertainment, humor, and whip smart characterizations of people you think you know.  And not to talk it up, but I felt he stuck the landing: the last line (don’t skip ahead) was not only satisfying, but elevated the story as a whole.

LOVED. IT.

So what the f is it about?

Here’s a brief synopsis with, of course, minor spoilers.

For anyone interested in movie, the process, or has done time in a cubicle. This one is for you.

XOXOX

DSH

Samuel Kaye

www.samuelkaye.com.au

IG: Samk175

Book: Cinema
CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Personal Questions for Authors

• Has writing and publishing a book changed the way you see yourself? I don’t think it’s changed the way I see myself, although, as a writer, it is of course a great, perhaps self-affirming experience to have a publisher pick up your book and tell you they want to publish it.
• Is there a particular genre you would love to write but only under a pseudonym? Nope – perhaps we could skip this question.
• Do you see writing as a kind of spiritual or therapeutic practice? Writing, for me, is an essential part of my life. At different times writing confuses me, makes me hate myself, makes me think I’m the best writer in the world, while reminding me there’s a lot of us out there. But therapy? No way.
• What’s the trickiest thing about writing characters of the opposite gender? I’ve honestly never thought about this before. I don’t find it hard to write from an ‘other gender’ perspective, but someone out there might correct me. Gender doesn’t really come into the sorts of stories I write.
• Would anyone in your family disapprove of anything you’ve written? So far, so good! I don’t go in for outrageous sex scenes or anything like that, and I steer away from any political material.
• Does a big ego help or hurt writers? Well you need some sort of ego to write and send it out to people you don’t know. In general, a big ego doesn’t tend to help with any sort of artistic endeavour – or at least the end product. Ego can help when you are approaching people to publish or promote your work, but I am terrible at both of those things.
• Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want? I try to produce work that is original in some way, while not forgetting that there are thousands who have come before me. Hopefully, finding some sort of newish literary voice will engage readers. The notion of originality in literature, or art in general, is very problematic.
• Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? That’s an interesting question. My most recent book, Cinema, is a kind of sequel to a book that was published in Australia a few years ago – The Circus. However, I hope to move on with my next book and do something that stands on its own.
• What did you do with your first advance? Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to me.
• How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? I have written three novels (one of which I am yet to find a publisher for), one novel that is about half done, and about a million short stories that I’d like to put out as a collection.
• Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find? My books are full of secrets but I’ll let the readers find them.
• What one thing would you give up to become a better writer? I don’t think I’d give up anything, but I need plenty of time to practice, which is the only way of getting better, I think.
• What could you have done as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult? I’ve been writing a long time. It would have been good to have more confidence in myself to send my work out for appraisal much earlier in life.
• What’s your favorite line from any movie? The one that springs to mind is “do you feel lucky, punk”. I think that’s how it goes.
• If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you? Without a doubt, Daniel Day Lewis.
• If you could choose one superpower, what would it be? What would you do with it? I’d like the superpower of being able to concentrate on one thing for eight hours at a time. I’d write the whole time.
• Is being a writer a gift or a curse? Writing is important, but not so important it should be characterised in those terms. I mean at times it feels like a curse because I find I can’t make progress with an idea, but writing, and telling stories, is as old as human civilization. It’s just something people do.

Author Interview Questions about Their Book

• What did you edit out of this book? Nothing of substance, but just those ideas that were repeated too many times. It’s a common mistake writers make, when they labor an idea when it’s already been explained. I’m as guilty as anyone of this.
• How many books have you written and which is your favorite? I’ve written three books, and my favourite is probably the first full-length novel I completed. It’s called Half Lands and I’ll keep searching for a publisher.
• What part of the book was the most fun to write? The whole thing! I was on a mission, probably because I was in a real rhythm and I couldn’t stop writing for about three months. But my favourite part is that of Daniel Day Lewis building a replica Irish boat to sail solo across the Atlantic.
• Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why? I suppose I relate to the narrator. He is not I, but he is certainly the character that shares my ideas about the ridiculousness of office culture. Also, I like the idea of someone moving between worlds as easily as breathing out.
• If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it? There will be no sequel unless I get a ridiculous advance.
• What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft? The book didn’t change that much but it was certainly tightened up with the assistance of a very good editor.
• What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged with this work? That acting is an art form. That humans are defined by their ego, psyche or whatever you want to call it. We are about our performance.
• What inspired the idea for your book? I honestly don’t know. But I suppose it grew from a performance review I received at work, and from a conversation I had with my brother in law about Daniel Day Lewis.
• What was your hardest scene to write, and why? There is a scene in Cinema where Eric and Anthony, the two circus strongmen, are playing badminton. They are very competitive and have long rallies. I really enjoyed writing it but it was challenging to get the mood right for that scene.
• What characters in your book are most similar to you or to people you know? Only the narrator, and he’s not even like me, really. The other principal characters are actors who most people would be familiar with.
• How did you come up with the title for your book? Well I was going to call the book The Secret Writer, which is the name of the novel on which the movie, which is the key motif in the book, is made. But I thought Cinema was grander, somehow, and more in line with the way the world works and how we see ourselves in it.
• Would you and your main character get along? Absolutely. We’d have lots of insider information to share.
• If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them? The main thing I’d say is please make a movie out of this novel and play yourselves. That would be hilarious and in a way would complete the novel.
  
• When you develop characters do you already know who they are before you begin writing or do you let them develop as you go? I most definitely let them develop. However, character development, as you may have noticed, is not my strong point. Most of them stay pretty much the same throughout the book with some minor growth.

Fun Author Questions

• What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser? I write episodically. By that I mean I don’t know what’s going to happen until I write it. So, I’m pantser, I think.
• What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused? Quiet and time. Neither of which are in good supply.
• If you were to write a spin-off about a side character, which would you pick? I don’t think I would. However, while I’ve said I want to write a standalone book, the narrator, Nick Clement would be the most like candidate for another adventure.
• How do you celebrate when you finish your book? Well the most fun thing is actually getting a proof copy of your book – something you can hold and remind yourself that you are a novelist. Drinking is something I do too much of and a good excuse for a bottle of champagne is completing a novel.
• What risks have you taken with your writing that have paid off? The biggest risk in Cinema is using real-like actors as the main characters. I was worried about it (that I’d be sued) but it seems to have gone down well with readers. It adds to the ridiculousness of the novel.
• Do you play music while you write — and, if so, what’s your favorite? I can’t listen to music when I write. I find it distracting.
• Have pets ever gotten in the way of your writing? I might skip this question – but the answer is nope.
• If your book were made into a movie, which actors would play your characters? Daniel Day Lewis, Kate Winslet, Tilda Swinton and Alan Rickman, but sadly Alan passed away in 2016. I’d need someone to play the narrator. I’d like a young Alain Delon type person to play him. Perhaps Timothee Chalamet could take it on.
• Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved? I can’t answer this question I’m afraid.
• What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? I’m not sure, but I was an avid reader from an early age and I think I just became quite passionate about writing and story telling.
• Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction? That’s quite a question. There are so many authors I admire for what they’ve achieved. Juan Jose Saer, Roberto Bolano, Roberto Arlt for example. But I think the writer that really gives me that sense of wonder about fiction is Cesar Aira. His books are impossible and beautiful, and mercifully short.
• If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it? I would never write a book about myself. It would bore people to tears.

Samuel Kaye was born in Adelaide and grew up in Melbourne, London and Sydney. He now lives in Newtown, an inner western suburb of Australia’s largest city. Kaye’s first novella, The Circus, was published in 2014 by Inken Publisch (Click here to order)

His short stories Jindabyne Holiday and The Turkish-German Girl have appeared in Sneaky Magazine. He has an Arts degree in English literature and languages from the University of Sydney, and a Communications degree in creative writing and philosophy from the University of Technology.