Interview with William West, Author of Kissproof World

What’s the story behind the story? What impressed you to jot down Kissproof World?

I’ve all the time been fascinated about human habits and the way habits displays an individual’s early years when the mind is hard-wired by dad and mom or different caregivers, and typically by tragic occasions. Just after graduating from school, I labored as a baby protecting social employee in an space of the Texas Gulf Coast close to Houston. I used to be drawn to the setting and the experiences of the shoppers I served. I’ve all the time wished to seize my observations and experiences in a novel.

The story got here collectively for me after I learn the poem When Like a Running Grave by Dylan Thomas. Kissproof is or was the title of a lipstick, and The Kissproof world is the final line of the poem which encapsulates the picture of adolescent frustration and angst, but additionally one of gaiety. What I envisioned was a world the place troubled youngsters use protection mechanisms to guard themselves from the harshness of their world.

If you needed to decide theme songs for the primary characters of Kissproof World, what would they be?

Teenage Dream by Katie Perry.

What’s your favourite style to learn? Is it the identical as your favourite style to jot down?

Literary fiction is my favourite style to learn and write. Character growth is what drives the plot.

What books are in your TBR pile proper now?

I get pleasure from studying and re-reading my favourite authors: James Joyce, William Faulkner, Joan Didion, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Ernest Hemingway, Kurt Vonnegut, Mary Oliver, Louise Glück, and different related authors. When in the precise temper, I am going to my bookmark in Finnegan’s Wake, alongside facet my “Skeleton Key” for unlocking the that means.

Occasionally I try present authors who curiosity me, comparable to George Saunders, Colson Whitehead, Jesmyn Ward, and Louise Erdrich. The checklist goes on.

What scene in your e book was your favourite to jot down?

One setting within the e book is a drawbridge within the fishing village of Kemah. The drawbridge, is a logo for the non-public fears the characters face. Alec Gogarty is obsessed with leaping the drawbridge on his motorbike to beat his fears and make a reputation for himself. I loved writing the scene when Alec Gogarty is being chased by the police and tips them to open the drawbridge simply as he makes an attempt a bounce over the bridge.

Do you’ve got any quirky writing habits? (fortunate mugs, cats on laps, and so forth.)

I wouldn’t say it’s quirky, however writing within the early morning with a cup of espresso and a pleasant view out the window is the very best for exciting creativity.

Do you’ve got a motto, quote, or philosophy you reside by?

A favourite of mine is, “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” Vincent van Gogh. I add thought to motion and say, “With so much beauty in the world, why do so many people choose hate as the easiest emotion to feel?”

If you might select one factor for readers to recollect after studying your e book, what wouldn’t it be?

At-risk youth are as distinctive as any youth rising up on this nation, possibly much more so, as a result of they arrive from an atmosphere and background which creates a damaging stain on the character and motivation of every individual. Changing that with the intention to create an grownup who’s a optimistic contributor to society, and to his or her personal effectively being, is troublesome as a result of there isn’t any one methodology for serving to all at-risk youth.

The system fails when youngsters in want are pigeon-holed as a result of it’s simpler and cheaper as a substitute of spending the time wanted to grasp the harm a baby is feeling, displaying actual concern, and discovering avenues for the kid to attain success and be ok with the life they’re creating.