The Accidental Writer: Interview with Critically Acclaimed Author David Litwack
David Litwack has written three fantasy novels and is just about to release the first in a serious of young adult dystopian novels titled, “The Children of Darkness.” His novels have won multiple awards including two Pinnacle Achievement Awards and The Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence. I had the great fortune to grab a little of his time the other day to conduct an interview.
Why did you give up a successful career in the software industry to become a writer? How scared were you?
The question should probably be asked in reverse—why did I put off my passion for writing to pursue a career in the software industry? The obvious answer—I became immersed in family and work. But if I’m honest with myself, I’d have to say I became discouraged. I was in my twenties and still trying to find my place in life. Writing can be a frustrating pursuit, with little positive reinforcement for many years. In short, I was done with the frustration.
I have no regrets. My years dedicated to my family and work in the software industry were both satisfying and fulfilling, but they were also not wasted in terms of my writing aspirations. I met many wonderful and fascinating people, lived through happy and sad times, and went through the full gamut of life’s emotions.
Despite all that, I believed I would never write again. Then the kids grew up, my career wound down, and I discovered that the urge to tell stories remained part of who I am. As I found more time to daydream, I began writing again. My newly released novel, The Children of Darkness, is my fourth to be published in this new phase of my life. I don’t view the intervening years as lost, but rather as providing a much needed foundation to become the writer I am today.
If you had to pick one book to have written, which one would it be and why?
I always struggle with the “one book” questions. There are so many I love that have influenced my writing. I have always read cross genre. When I became an avid reader in my teens, I devoured fantasy and science fiction, but also literary fiction. I loved the works of Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, but also of Hemingway and Steinbeck. If you forced me to name a book I wish I wrote, I think it would be a composite of Clarke’s The City and the Stars and Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls—a story beautifully written, with a fantastic alternate world, lofty themes, and intense characters who believe passionately in their cause.
Do you ever wish that one of the elaborate worlds you create is real?
The characters in my imagined worlds all face some extreme moral dilemma, exacerbated by the society they live in. Their stories are about trying to change a world gone awry. I’d be hard pressed to wish that such worlds were real. Some days, I listen to the news and think the real world is worse than anything I could imagine. The problems of today are so complex, that sometimes I fear they’re unsolvable. Who would want to write stories about that kind of world?
Then I remember why dystopian fiction is so popular. It’s not that we like to dwell on burnt out worlds or oppressed people scrabbling to live, but rather that these worlds possess heroes who find the courage under seemingly impossible odds to strive to make a better world. And that’s where the real world trumps fiction. Despite all our problems, you can find such heroes everywhere, day in and day out, trying to make our real world a better place.
Who’s your favorite character and why?
I used to answer that question with Kailani, the mysterious little girl in The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky. She’s this beautiful child who has a profound impact on everyone she meets, healing their pain, but she hides a pain of her own that she cannot heal.
Now that I’ve embarked on The Seekers dystopian trilogy, I think I’d pick Orah. She’s a natural leader, who constantly doubts herself, a courageous young woman who takes risks as a last resort and even then, only when driven by a fierce moral imperative.
In an earlier version of The Children of Darkness, she shared the stage with Nathaniel as a co-protagonist. But when I started the second book, she insisted on telling the story in her own first person voice. So I went back and rewrote the first book to give her a bigger role.
If you had one super power for a day, which one would you choose?
As a writer, here’s the super power I’d want, but not just for one day: to be able to find the perfect word or phrase whenever I needed it. Oh well. I guess I’ll have to settle for Google, Thesaurus.com and lots of long walks.
David’s Children of Darkness dystopian novel is set to be released this Monday, June 22nd and will be available on Amazon. I’m hoping he’ll send me an autographed copy. If you want to learn more about him, you can visit his website – http://davidlitwack.com/wordpress1/
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