James Van Pelt: Summer of the Apocalypse

Title: Summer of the Apocalypse
Author: James Van Pelt (http://www.sff.net/people/James.Van.Pelt/)
Hardcover: 260 pages
Publisher: Fairwood Press, Inc
ISBN: 978-0974657387

1. First off, congratulations on the big novel sale! Give us the elevator pitch. What’s your book about?

That’s funny you should ask the question that way. When I finished the book, I went to WorldCon in San Antonio with the idea I would pitch it to a big-name editor. I kept thinking of ways to word my “elevator pitch.” So, the first day I was there, I got onto the elevator, and David Hartwell (senior editor at Tor) followed me. No one else was in the elevator. We rode a half-dozen floors together, and I never said a word. I had the writer’s equivalent of buck fever. Later I realized that there was no way in the world that I would be able to sell a novel to David Hartwell on an elevator, so I went to work on my query letter instead.

That said, my one-breath pitch for the story was, “Summer of the Apocalypse is a coming of age plague story where nearly everyone dies except a young boy trying to find his father, and, later, an old man coming to terms with his son.”

Although the book is post-apocalyptic, and gives me plenty of room to explore an empty America, I think the story is mostly about the relationship between fathers and sons. I wrote the book right after becoming a father myself, so I was interested in what that relationship might mean. In the book, 15-year old Eric is searching for his father while almost everyone else in Denver is dying. Sixty years later, Eric has become the oldest surviving member of a small community in south Denver. He is their last representative of the “gone times,” and he feels an obligation to teach them about what they’ve lost, particularly to his estranged son. The novel alternates chapters from young to old Eric’s story as they both set on long quests. Along the way, they have strange experiences that bring them closer to understanding what is really important in their lives.

2. Most new novelists have an interesting story to tell about their journey to publication. What’s yours? Did you use an agent? Make sure to tell us about the day you found out you’d sold a book.

I used to run the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer Eligible Author Website, which kept track of all the authors who were eligible for that award. About half of them were first novelists, and I asked them the same question. Almost all of them started their answer with, “You know, that’s a funny story.” I’m convinced now that no two novels are sold the same way.

For me, I finished the novel in 1994 and then started shopping it around to agents and publishers. Along the way, I received plenty of good feedback, but over and over it stalled at the end. A comment I heard several times was, “It’s a good book, but the market is soft for post-apocalyptic tales.” One publisher actually took the book, was very enthusiastic about it, and then a year later bailed on the project. So, after showing the book to every agent and publisher in the English speaking world, I reluctantly decided that this would be my “trunk novel,” and I quit thinking about it. However, the publisher of my short story collections, Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press, was talking to me one day and asked me if I’d ever tried my hand at a novel. I told him about my dusty manuscript, and he asked to see it. A couple of weeks after I sent it to him, he e-mailed his plans to publish it. A year later, the book was a reality.

3. Do you have another book in the pipeline? What are you working on now?

I’m always working on a short story or two, and I do a monthly column for The Fix Online (”The Day Job”), so I keep busy. My third short story collection will be released next year, along with a book on plot for writers.

This year I had a novella deadline that I was a bit behind on, so I put a note up on my whiteboard in the classroom at the high school where I teach. It read, “Mr. Van Pelt has to finish a 20,000 word novella by December 15. Ask him how he is doing.” Everyday a handful of students asked, so they kept the pressure on. I put daily word totals up, and they could see how I was progressing. I’m toying with the idea of using the same technique to write a novel next school year. I’ll put the note on the board and tally my word count for the students. I’ll be a good writing role model, and they’ll keep me honest.

4. What’s your writing process like? Morning writer, night writer, or something in between?

I like being a late night writer, but my teaching schedule (and age) have made it tough for me to pull all-nighters like I used to. I do most of my writing now right after school, between 3:00 and 5:00, or before I go to bed, between 9:00 to 10:30 or so. My goal is to get at least 200 words done a day, which is fine if I never miss a day. I haven’t missed since September 20, 1999.

5. There seems to be an unusually high percentage of writers who own cats. Here at the The First Book, we’re doing a study to find out if there’s a direct relationship between writing success and cat ownership. Do you own a cat? If so, tell us about him or her. If not, tell us what you have against cats.

Nope, no cats in my house. I’m allergic. I’m fond of dragons, though, and I have quite a few pictures and figurines scattered through my house. Do they count?

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