Interview with Robert I. Katz

Author of The Well of Time: Chronicles of the Second Empire

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

My father was a partner in an importing firm. Between 1948 and 1951, my parents lived, first in Hong Kong and then in Brazil. I was supposed to be born in Rio de Janeiro, but at the last minute, my mother decided that she would rather be home, with her mother around, so my parents returned to Brooklyn, where I was born.
A pity. There’s nothing wrong with Brooklyn, but it would have been much more exotic to be able to say that I came from Rio.

After I was born, my parents bought a house on Long Island, where I grew up. My wife and I now live in beautiful Hilton Head, South Carolina.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

We first discovered Hilton Head back around 2005, on vacation. We loved the place. Beautiful beaches, great climate, excellent restaurants, year round golf and fishing. We decided right then that we retire here someday.

Before retiring, I lived on Long Island for most of my life, aside from brief stints in New York City and Chicago for schooling, and I spent the last 5 years of my professional career at the University of Florida, in Gainesville.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

I was one of those kids who was always reading. I loved books, and when I was a kid, I had this very egotistical, and very unrealistic idea, that I could write better books than those I was reading. I was wrong about that, but from a very young age, I wanted to try. Finally, back around the mid-1980’s, I did try, and after fifteen years or so of trying, I finally produced something that was good enough to be published. My first four novels were published by Willowgate Press, between 2001 and 2009. I got a new job at the end of 2010 that gave me very little time to write, but when I retired at the beginning of 2016, it’s been full steam ahead.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

I write what I most like to read, which is science fiction and mysteries. I try to keep what is referred to as a “transparent” style, which means simply that the words are supposed to transmit the sights, sounds and action into the readers’ brains without themselves getting in the way.

It’s important to keep in mind that regardless of genre, the basics of good writing never change. It’s plot, characterization, theme and style. It can be science fiction, fantasy, a thriller or a so-called “literary novel,” but every book worth reading uses the same techniques.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

Hopefully, anybody who likes good stories.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

How utterly dysfunctional the business of writing and publishing is. A lot of people tend to assume that published writers have glamorous, successful lives. The truth is that the average published novelist makes only a few thousand dollars a year from writing. Nine out of ten books that are written, never get published. Nine out of ten books that do get published, lose money for the publisher. For every book that gets published, there is at least one (probably more than one) that’s just as good that never gets chosen. You need talent, but you also need luck. When you consider that Steven King and J. K. Rowling and J. R. R. Tolkien’s first books all suffered numerous rejections, you realize pretty quickly that publishers do not have a magical way of identifying fiction that will sell. It’s a tough, tough business, maybe that’s one of the reasons that so many writers suffer from alcoholism and depression.

If you could, what advice would you give to past self yourself before embarking on this journey?

I was an English major at Columbia, but I never took a creative writing course. That might have helped me.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

Ideally, I would like everyone to read my books. Realistically, I would hope to sell a lot of mysteries to mystery fans and a lot of science fiction to the science fiction fans.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Since it took me 15 years of trying, getting published was by far the biggest challenge and frustration.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

My greatest strength when it comes to writing is my focus. I think it was Mark Twain who said that “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug.” I want my writing to be clearly understood, to the point where there is no possible ambiguity, that it says just what I want it to say. I’m not sure I’ve achieved that, but I think I come close. As for publishing, or self-publishing rather, it’s a series of tasks. Anybody can master them. It’s not like the old days where you had to depend on the whims of others. Today, you write the book, you get it edited, you purchase a good cover and you upload it to Amazon. Anybody can do it. Marketing, unfortunately, is something that I’ve struggled with, but my greatest strength is my perseverance. I’m not going to give up.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Inertia. It’s hard to push myself into doing what I have to do when there are so many distractions around. It’s a lot easier now, though, since I no longer have another job.

When do you think you will you write your next book?

I’m always writing. My thirteenth novel was published only a month ago. The fourteenth is almost completed and should be published by the end of October. I’m about a fifth of the way through the fifteenth. The sixteenth will be a sequel to the fourteenth, and I already know where it’s going to go. I’m nowhere near as prolific as some, but I’m good for two to three books a year.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

I’m not sure what a hybrid publisher is. My first four novels were published by Willowgate Press. I had two short stories published by Prime. My most recent book was published by Genius Media and the fifteenth will be published on or about May, 2020 by Uviart Press. The rest were self- published.