1.) How did you manage to come up with such a unique plot line, especially with all the background information needed to formulate such a complex mystery?
I work as an emergency medical technician with a volunteer ambulance corps in New York City. My ambulance was called to help a man who had been blinded in the subway. He was looking at the train map posted on the wall, someone tapped his shoulder, he turned, and the perpetrator hit him in the eyes with what I think was police-grade pepper spray. The traffic was bad that day, and I was in the back of the ambulance with my patient for a while. He kept blaming himself for being attacked. I tried to convince him this was a random act of violence, that he didn’t do anything to provoke the assault, but he wouldn’t be swayed. He felt the perpetrator had targeted him because s/he smelled weakness in him. I found this very sad, though certainly this was not the first time I had seen someone beat himself up in the wake of an attack. I started writing the book to figure out why we blame ourselves when we’re victimized. I don’t know that I got any closer to understanding self-blame, except to say that living with the story and the characters for a while allowed me to focus on a different aspect of the fallout that comes with self-blame. It kills self-esteem, yes, but it also damages relationships, and this is where the romantic piece of the plot grew from: The two protagonists have been victimized, and their self-blame is a significant obstacle they will have to overcome if they are to befriend each other. The technical stuff about the hacking grew out of a class I took at the NYPD Academy, a 14-week session that covered a wide range of topics from traffic operations to homicide. Cybercrime interested me most. So much of it is perpetrated anonymously. Again, the self-blame element comes into play: We live in a culture that emphasizes blame—we put a lot of energy into pointing fingers—and when we don’t know who hacked/attacked us, there’s an opportunity to turn the blame inward. Doing so is largely irrational, but most of us do it anyway. We think of ourselves as weak in some way, say things like, “I’m an idiot. I didn’t take appropriate precautions, despite all the warnings.” In contrast, taking a more clinical look at the situation, leaving self-blame out of it and instead focusing on accountability can be constructive. If I keep making the same mistake and suffering the same negative outcome, I need to figure out what I’m doing or not doing that’s causing the crummy situation, but just because I was targeted doesn’t make me weak. Jay tries to do this throughout the story, i.e., focus on causal relationships, and when he keeps his attention there, he’s most successful in his relationships with others, especially his father and Nicole.
2.) Can you describe the formation of our two main characters, Nicole and Jay?
Generally the characters grow from the formative people and relationships in my life—my family and friends, neighbors, co-workers, my wife and our marriage. Specifically, Nicole is a combination of several people I admire for many reasons, among these their emphasis on inner beauty as opposed to external. They keep the focus on what they’re doing and why they’re doing it as opposed to how they’re being perceived. Jay is a
combination of several cops and EMTs I’ve met, and I guess some of me is in him too, largely when he’s being an idiot.
3.) Did you have to conduct a bit of scientific research to completely comprehend what you were writing about?
That NYPD class was great for the hacking stuff, and a reread of the laws of thermodynamics section of my trusty college chemistry book/doorstop was definitely helpful in understanding what happened to Nicole. I work two shifts a month on the ambulance, so I don’t get a lot of burn calls, i.e., a full time EMT who works for the fire department will see many more burns than I will. Yet, the few times I’ve worked a burn call have been memorable. A chemical burn is particularly insidious, because unless you clear the scene, your patient and yourself of that chemical, it will keep right on burning everything it touches.
4.) In Burning Blue, a lot of modern teen issues are explored. Did you have any trouble with the same issues Nicole and Jay did?
Definitely. I think when we’re in our teenage years, we have a lot of opportunities to seek solace in alienation. I’m 46, and I still like to be alone. I’ve learned that while we need time for ourselves, we put ourselves at risk if we don’t engage with our environment, particularly the people in it, our friends, families, neighbors, co-workers. Finding that balance, enough “me time” coupled with time for friends, is tricky. Willingly alienating yourself is a form of self-injury. I definitely beat myself up when I was 16. I blamed myself when I didn’t live up to standards I had set for myself. When I fell short, I disengaged and retreated into what I think was too much “me time.” Being alone too much, when you’re not feeling great, only makes you feel worse. I found that getting out and about, focusing on seeing if I could be of help to other people in my life, was energizing. Focusing on helping others to solve their problems more often than not helped me solve mine.
5.) What would you say your favorite scene in the novel is? How did you go about writing it?
I’m happiest when I see people finding comfort in each other’s company, lifting (and lighting) each other up. There’s a scene where the two main characters visit a very sick friend in the hospital. The sick person, a 10-year old girl, doesn’t dwell on her physical weakness. She lets herself be happy, and she makes the two main characters laugh. That moment is a turning point for them. They’ve both been through traumatic events that have left them deeply scarred, but they’re beginning to understand that it’s okay to be happy, and that their happiness might very well grow in spending more time with each other.
6.) If there was one book that could describe you in a nutshell, what would it be? Why?
The book I always go back to is The Alchemist. It’s a spiritual story without being religious, and it’s about not being afraid to look into your heart. I try (and fail and try again and again) to live like Paulo Coelho’s shepherd, seeking the great wealth that comes with living a peaceful, purposeful life. (The other one is The Silence of the Lambs. I love Clarice Starling. She’s a fighter. She makes mistakes, owns them fully, and she never gives up.)
7.) Would you ever consider writing a sequel or a spin-off of Burning Blue?
I pitched Burning Blue as the first book in a series featuring Jay Nazzaro, with ideas for four follow-up stories, but Penguin likes me to do one-offs. I’d love to hang out with Jay again, and I hope somehow I get a chance to do that. Jay is a good kid, other-centered, and I like being around that kind of energy. His hacking is fun too, because it’s rooted in deductive reasoning, and that kind of thinking—trying to figure out how things work and why people do what they do—stimulates me.
8.) What do you currently have in the works?
I think the next one might be a crime drama/romance set in Las Vegas. The young woman is the ride attendant at the rollercoaster that’s built on top of one of the hotels, and the young man is on his own after his big brother, a dealer at one of the casinos, is jailed for grand larceny. The girl’s kid brother, who is mentally challenged, is kidnapped, and she and the boy are determined to get the brother back. First they have to figure out who took him and why. I’m working on a couple of middle grade stories too, and an adult mystery/romance.
9.) What would you say to someone who was preparing to read Burning Blue? How would you describe it to them?
I think the short version is: Two broken people realize that while they might not ever be able to put all the pieces back together again, they can be made whole in each other’s company.
10.) What is your advice to aspiring young writers?
Write what you love. Don’t be hard on yourself or other writers. Reading with a critical eye is important, but as a teacher I’ve seen a lot of incredibly talented folks fall into negativity, both about others’ writing and their own, and this makes me really sad. Put your focus on what is working, i.e., what thrills you as you’re reading it. Also, take a break from your story for a bit and dive into someone else’s. Try to get out and do different things, meet different people. Your relationships feed your work, and the stronger they are, the clearer your writing becomes—at least that’s how it feels in my writing. Volunteering can be really helpful, because you’re seeing genuine need for help, and you’re seeing in yourself genuine power to be of help and to make the world a happier, more peaceful place, and that’s a beautiful place to be.
Thank you once again Paul for agreeing to do this interview with me!
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