Wednesday 24 October 2012

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - ETHAN INDIGO SMITH

BLURB from Amazon
Who is Sean Enstitue? Sean lives on the last street in Manhattan, in the last apartment building, on the last corner in Manhattan, on 218th Street.  He has lived in Inwood, by Washington Heights, for his whole life.  Sean believes that nuclear experimentation is destroying the atmosphere, causing global warming, negatively impacting the health of life on the entire planet and because of what he knows, because of who he is, and who he knows, he thinks he may by the Earth's last chance.  
    The Terraist Letters is the funniest and most provocative political satire of 2012 on the most serious subject matter; that of nuclear experimentation.  The Terraist Letters might be considered blasphemous by some, delusional by others, a hilarious metaphor by those with a finer sensibility of rhetorical humor, call to action among those who are against genetic mutation and might make those with poor spelling feel threatened. 
    Sean Enstitue starts off by explaining the difference between the street angle and the straight Anglo and ends up exploring inner consciousness, politics and the universe at large.  Allow Sean to introduce you to his world, where graffiti is the only appreciable art, where every holiday is a plot to subdue questioning the global military industrial complex, where Santa Claus is the lead indoctrinator of lies for war, and where marijuana is the only thing that could possibly save the planet.  
    Cop the book for a laugh and more importantly provocation of thought.  Sean explains the validity of the philosophy and sentiment of F@#! the police and how he derived it from the likes of Gandhi, OG George Washington and Jesus -whatever his real name was, all in the first few pages.  Sean has an intense hatred of cop-outs in the global military industrial complex promoting nuclear experimentation, all holidays, especially Christmas and New Years, but only because he despises Santa Claus more than anything.
  You will laugh, you will shiver in fear, you might cry, you might learn a thing or two about nuclear experimentation and you will never, ever go near cat shit again.


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What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?
 My name is Ethan.  I go by Ethan Indigo Smith frequently when writing articles.  I like using an alias in the tradition of great writers, specifically George Orwell, my favorite author.  Using my first name only was originally a way for me to snub the status quo that told me I had to be a politician or veteran to write about politics.  I am proudly, neither.  It has become a way to express my individuality.  In researching statistics and surnames I found that using my first name only went against tradition, a tradition made up for statistics.  I think way too much, great for writing, not so great for sleeping!

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
The Terraist Letters is a scary satire about a young man in the nuclear era, who hates Santa Claus and thinks everyone is infected by a behavior modifying parasite the likes of toxoplasmosis gondii.  

Who is your publisher? or do you self publish?
I managed to find a publisher for my first book, The Complete Patriot's Guide to Oligarchical Collectivism, Progressive Press published it.  However because of a declining worldwide economy and a rapidly changing publishing and art industry I have published the last three books as ebooks and as momentum builds I plan to create hardcopies.

Which of your books were easier/harder to write than the others?
 All writing requires some research.  Even when writing a metaphor, I find sometimes I want to know a specific that I can't remember so I do some internet diving to find the answer.  Writing nonfiction is ten times more difficult.  Not only does one have to look up random points, but there is a lot of reading and fact checking that must be done.  Writing nonfiction is much more difficult beginning with the research involved.

What was the toughest/best review you have ever had?
The best review I ever had was very recently.  My new book, The Terraist Letters, is a conspiratorial riot.  Sean Enstitue is the main character the story follows.  I asked Jim Marrs, a successful nonfiction author to review it and he compared me to J D Salinger and Sean Enstitue to a 21st century Holden Caulfield.  To get a nod from Jim Marrs was huge validation for the Terraist Letters.  The story has some elements in it that are too hot for nonfiction and too speculative.  Acceptance from Jim Marrs made me feel the ideas were valid as well as being off the wall hilarious.

Are character names and place names decided after there creation? or do you pick a character/place name and then invent them?
 I think writing fiction is a process where you start out with an idea and sometimes you end up where you planned on being, but often you end up in a totally different place.  I like to have the names of my character subtly reflect their personalities.  In the case of the Terraist Letters, the main character is Sean Enstitue.  Sean is totally anti-establishment and rebellious.  The name came to me in considering that Sean was totally individual and he is the very opposite of institutions.  He is Sean Enstitue, known to institutions by his last name first, Enstitue, Sean.

How do you market/promote your books?
  I'm still working on how to promote myself.  I often write articles in attempts to spur interest in my writing.  Otherwise I have no idea how to promote my work.  It is very difficult to get the word out there about one's creativity when there is so much going on in the world.  I write about what I think is important and hope that others will think it's important also.

Which format of book do you prefer, ebook,hardback, or paperback?
  My favorite book is 1984, by Orwell.  Not only did I write a book paying homage to Orwell and 1984 and the book within the book, I beleive it represents one of the most influential works ever, let alone in the last hundred years.  The book makes people think, it created new language used in reality for very real political occurrences, like Big Brother and Orwellian, but most importantly, 1984 makes people think.  The best thing a book can do, besides make the reader laugh, is make the reader think.

What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
Some of the best advice I ever heard about writing or producing any art for that matter: "Great writing is never finished, it is merely abandoned."  "Writing is rewriting."  Both sentiments are so true and I find they're motivating too! 



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