The Interview - Maury Levine
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What inspired you to start writing?
I wrote Shopping Bagged for two reasons: my favorite author, Donald Westlake, passing away, and Eastwood Mall being torn down.
Can you describe your writing process?
Haphazard! I wrote Shopping Bagged at night after work - it took me around a year to complete it. For my short form humor, it can take a week or two per article.
Who are your biggest influences as a writer?
My favorite author is Donald Westlake. He was the father of comedic mysteries - absolutely love him! He also wrote non-comedic books - all of it brilliant. I also love Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, John Grisham, and Michael Maltese, who was the writer of many of the most famous Looney Tunes.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Just write. I've had many people say to me that they've always wanted to write a book, but never did. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it in the end.
If you could have dinner with any author, living or dead, who would it be?
Donald Westlake, without a doubt. He's my favorite author, and I would have loved to talk writing with him. His death, along with the closure of Eastwood Mall, were the reasons I wrote Shopping Bagged.
What are you currently working on?
I've got a couple of book projects that are very, very, very slowly in progress. I regularly write short form humor articles, and they're at my website and various humor websites.
What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your work?
One reader called Shopping Bagged "an excellent example of absurdist literature." It'll be hard to top that!
What do you want your legacy as an author to be?
That I made people laugh and brightened their days.
If you weren’t an author, what career would you have pursued?
I would be a mall manager! No surprise there!
Do you write by hand or use a computer?
Computer. I'll outline and make notes by hand, though.
How do you name your characters?
I name them mostly for comedic purposes! Beauregard Henry, the mall developer in Shopping Bagged, is a smarmy Southern fellow, and I wanted his name to reflect that. The mall manager is Justin Nix, and his first name is a reference to the justice he wants for his deteriorating mall. Norma Edna Burster is the mall marketing director and she's an odd Southern lady with a bit of a temper. I wanted her name to get worse from beginning to end.
Have you ever based a character on someone you know?
Some of the characters in Shopping Bagged are loosely based on people I knew. Let me emphasize, it's all fiction! No lawsuits, please!
What’s a fun fact about you that most readers wouldn’t know?
They might not know that I write short form humor and satire articles regularly. They're available at several fine humor websites, as well as at my own website!
How do you keep track of your ideas?
I'll either save them in my email on my phone or jot them on sticky notes.
What do you love most about connecting with your readers?
When someone tells me that I made them laugh. That's a great feeling!
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever researched for a book?
John Grisham said that he writes fiction because he doesn't like to do research. Funny statement, but I get it! My research is used to find out realistic details about a particular location or something specific that I feel my story needs.
Which of your characters do you relate to the most?
Because I grew up in malls, I can relate to many of the characters in Shopping Bagged. I've been a customer at many malls, I worked in a mall department store, and my father had an office at the late, great Eastwood Mall in Birmingham, Alabama. I guess I relate to the mall manager character a lot because that's what I used to want to be when I " grew up."
Do you outline your books, or are you more of a ‘pantser’?
I'll outline slightly ahead of where I'm actually writing, so I guess it's a little of both.
How do you find the perfect balance between dialogue and narrative in your books?
Good question. I'll use whatever moves the story along in the funniest way possible. Sometimes the humor comes from dialogue where you're not sure who's speaking at first, or where they are.
What’s the one thing you hope readers remember about your books?
I hope they'll remember a ridiculous scene that made them smile.