Interview with Barry Horton

WG: Barry, the premise for your novel Gemini Rising is an interesting one – both psychologically and philosophically. Can you describe it and talk a little bit about how you came up with it?

BH: I wanted to tackle the overly overdone traditionally hackneyed topic of imaginary friends from a fresh angle. I'd never seen or heard of it being done in the manner I did. In Gemini Rising, I made Louie, the ostensibly "imaginary" friend, the narrator of the entire story. Louie makes it a point to say his human host Zachary is certainly not experiencing a Jekyll/Hyde syndrome, manifesting two sides of a single personality, although Louie was presumably "created" in 3-4 year-old Zach's childish imagination. After Zach forgets and abandons his imaginary chum at age 8, he is completely incognizant of the fact Louie is still alive as a completely separate being who is inexplicably privy to the thoughts, even subconscious ones of young Zachary Munro.

Unlike most interpretations of this common in real life phenomenon, Louie finds himself trapped and frustrated, involuntarily obligated by a higher power (God?) to accompany Zach throughout his entire life Louie attempts, usually though not always unsuccessfully to be Zach 's moral guide throughout his career as a musician/songwriter. In this unorthodox partnership, Louie becomes profoundly gifted guitarist Zach's lyrical muse, writing all of the lyrics to Zach 's astounding guitar virtuosity.

Eventually Zach along with his unacknowledged partner compose a mega-hit song that fuel a triumphant comeback for 60ish jazz/blues/torch singer Janelle Beaumont. The song "Second Chance Again" is nominated for a Grammy. Virtually everyone in the world expects Zach to win for composing the Song of the Year, but is stunned along with Zachary on the night of the Awards when that honor goes instead to another songwriting team. HOwever, he's showed he's matured in many unexpected ways and takes the surprise loss with class like a man. He goes on to live a productive and lucrative life as a successful songsmith until he is well past 115 years old. Now in a retirement home, he finally goes into senility and regresses to a child-like state, in which he finally reunites with Louie just before he pass away that very night at 117. Yet Louie conitnues to exist without somehow. Louie then speaks directly to the reader, pleading for his own "life" after realizing that he continues to exist only if someone reads the book.

The whole thing was originally inspired when my own nephew had an imaginary friend. I started thinking, what happened to that friend when my nephew forgot about him? Is he living in a limbo or another dimension? Then my imagination kicked in with the help of Luigi Pirandello's 1919 play Six Characters in Search of an Author. The rest is history. My primary aim was to make a reader believe that Louie really is real and to question reality as we know it.

WG: It is often said that a writer's first novel is often largely autobiographical. Did you build the character of either Louie or Zach from your own personal experience? Are there any incidents in the novel that are really rewritings of events that happened to you?

BH: Many if not most of the situations, incidents and/or people - though profoundly edited and dramaticized or, more often, meodramaticized, exaggerated or sometimes significantly toned down as required to further the FICTIONAL story. Most characters are a combination and complication of some of the more memorable attributes or quirks of various real personages, but none is an attempt at a literary caricature of any particular person. Many are for the most part strictly products of my imagination influenced to certain degree by reality.

Because some elements of the story seem to parallel somewhat similar incidents and experiences in my own erratic history, some folks I now have accused me of writing a fantastically enhanced version of my autobiography. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The only ones who really know are the people who were actually there during any segment of my inconsistent life. Some of the few who really know me have called me "a poor man's Forrest Gump." I'm not sure if that's supposed to be an insult or a backhanded compliment of sorts. Like the old joke about ignorance and apathy, I don't know and I don't care.

While there really is a small town called Duncannon directly across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg, it should be obvious that no real Air Force Base was ever located there. I just liked the sound of Miseracordia to use as its name. That's obviously not intended to be related in any way the quite real college of that name. Sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence.

I really was manager of a few record stores in the ‘80s and '90's, having started out as an Assistant Manager, but that's where any similarity to my experiences and Zach Munro's ends. The rest is just writing about a field with which I happen to be familiar. All stores in the book, of course are 100% fictitious.

The same can be said of my descriptions of the fictional band Catalyst's experiences. Those incidents never actually happened to me or any of my several bands, which were all purely local bar bands. Again, I edited, adapted and dramatized anything suggesting I myself might have had an imaginary friend of my own. I grew up surrounded by brothers, sisters in neighborhoods full of kids my age.

The references to sexual matters? Some of those sexual experiences did really happen, but not all with the same girl or in the space of time. Then again, some are completely made up. Which are which? I'll leave that up to you and each reader to decide which were based on experience and which is just fantasy. That's part of the fun both for the reader and for myself.

WG: Gemini Rising has just come out in 2010 and I'm sure that like any first time author you are thrilled to see that it is finally completed. Will you tell what the process of getting published was like for you.

BH: I'd submitted more than a dozen earlier versions I'd written on the concept that is the Basis of Gemini Rising. As a result, the book has survived several title changes along the way in my seemingly endless search for a publisher or an editor who wouldn't arbitrarily dismiss my concept as simply yet another re-redoing of the painfully familiar imaginary friend tale usually targeting the children's book market.

A few of the working titles under which I submitted the manuscript included "Silent Partner," "Co-Autonomy," Forgotten Friend" and "Double Vision." That was the manuscript that in frustration and desperation that I'd submitted to Publish America, a publisher I'd been warned against using by other writers I had met online. They were of the opinion that PA is strictly a POD (print on demand) or "vanity" publisher that prints anything for an up front fee. That's not an entirely accurate assesment.

Months later, I got the phone call directly from Publish America informing me that my book had been reviewed and accepted for publication. At the time, I was still groggy from the morphine they'd given in the nursing home I'd recently been sent to following a 2 ½ week stay in the hospital for a painful spinal injury I incurred when I fell out of my wheelchair while foolishly reaching for something I should've known better than trying to get for myself. I'd already had MS for the previous 21 years that had been severely exacerbated when I fractured my spine. However, I was lucid enough by that time to ascertain and understand I didn't have to pay them a single cent in advance. The editors ostensibly reviewed my manuscript before being accepted. To my surprise, not everything submitted is. I was naively ecstatic, assuming I'd made it at last!

I soon researched the company enough to feel comfortable enough to sign a contract selling all the rights to GR to for six years. I understood the marketing of the book would be up to the author (me.) I realized the best I'd be able to do was to promote it exclusively on the Internet. I was disappointed to learn my book wouldn't be for sale bookstore shelves - most choose not to stock Publish America books - but was heartened to learn Gemini Rising would at least be available for purchase online at publishamerica.com from their online bookstore

WG: Can you summarize for writers who might consider going the same route as you did, what the pluses and minuses of publishing with Publish America are?

BH: To be honest, deciding to publish with Publish America rather than a traditional publisher was in my own case not so much by choice as it was out of frustration and near desperation to see my ms, eventually titled Gemini Rising in print. I'd submitted it under various titles to a seemingly endless succession of publishers only receive another rejection notice. Most unpublished writers are doubtlessly acquainted with that universal refrain: "Thank you for your interest. We regret to inform you that your manuscript does not meet our needs at this time. Etc, etc,… "

This typical sort of response only added to my personal conviction that the majority of unsolicited submissions or even well-written query letters are not even read before the standard reply is sent. I'd seen tons of ads from Publish America saying they were always looking for previously unpublished writers to submit query letters with the option of attaching their manuscripts electronically. I made sure that no payment was expected up front, nor were they a POD (print on demand,) operation. Satisfied that Publish America was not a vanity press, I redid my best query letter, attached my complete ms, then titled Double Vision and sent it off to Publish America.

What are the pluses? I was consulted as to any design I had in mind for the over. I must say that dept. Designed a great cover exactly as I specified.

The final draft, although imperfect was printed and Gemini Rising was released to be available for sale in P.A.'s online bookstore. At least I my friend and family have copies of the book and my promos for Gemini Rising on Face Book and My Space just might have sparked some interest somewhere, you never know. If by some bizarre quirk of fate Gemini Rising does attract a cult following somewhere and it pays off in phantasmagoric sales, I won't even find out till February, 2011 when I receive my first sizable commission check for 8% of the sales price for the first 2,000 copies, 25% for the next 4,000 and 50% after 6,000 copies sold. Hypothetically speaking, I could pocket a minimum of $96,000 if I sell as few as 6,000 copies. Then reality rears its ugly head, when consider the number of copies I've given away thus far vs. the relative handful I can be certain were bought.

As for the minuses, the contract informed me that the bulk of the proofreading and making any necessary corrections was up to the author (me.) Although they did assign a copy editor of sorts to Gemini Rising , I had to be in phone contact almost daily with her. I managed to straighten out most of the oversights and typos I spotted, but regrettably, I admit I didn't do the best job in the world with it. Publish America did offer several opportunities for the author to be able to promote my book and expand my market IF I purchased a certain quantity (usually ranging from a minimum of 4 up to 12 depending on the "offer") of my own book first. As I've noted, that was never a feasible option for me, so I was left to depend solely on word-of-mouth from my widespread coterie of family.

I still feel it was a personally rewarding accomplishment to just be able to conceive, plot out and write such a complex, yet cohesive 110,000 word story. It was an experience I'll always remember and was a lot of fun to do too!. As a matter of fact, I already have a couple of new projects in the works. This time though, I think I'll have more patience and go the traditional publisher route.

WG: Barry, we have been talking about your novel so far, but you have done other kinds of writing as well, such as essays and poetry. Can you talk a little bit about those?

BH: I've been writing poetry in one form or another for most of my life, mostly for myself and friends (predominantly girls.) During my musician (guitarist) days, I wrote a lot of song lyrics and even performed many in the procession of local bar bands I was in, in PA towns like Williamsport, Harrisburg, Reading as well as several burgs in between. Virtually all of the song titles I attributed to Zachary Munro and Louie in Gemini Rising are real songs, as you might have supposed. I've since managed to publish a few in such journals as listed above for comparable fees, but you can't make a living off of that!

I haven't written essays for a few years, but I published a few back in the '90s for some inconsequential magazines and newspapers. My embarrassingly thin folder of clippings has since vanished somewhere along the line in the several transitions that ultimately brought me to Inglis House. Among the periodicals I'm able to recall include such notables as Abilities Magazine, Demos Publications, The Innovator, The Sunbury Press, Naturally Magazine, Burlington County Times, Courier-Post, The Beverly Bee and of course two of my best pieces for Nostalgia Magazine. Only two paid anything close to worthwhile.

At one point, I put all my effort into co-writing the e-book MinX wih my long distance e-friend Tony Sacre. MinX was e-published in 2009 by Club Lighthouse Publishing from Toronto Canada.

WG: Barry, thanks for agreeing to do the interview and to giving such thorough answers to our questions. Is there anything else that you might like to add that you think we may have forgotten?

BH: Most of the highlights of my writing career thus far actually occurred in my college years at Rutgers University in Camden, NJ 1990-1994, soon after I ended up in a wheelchair. As that occurred just before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, I lost my job as manager of Strawberry Records in Edgewater Park, NJ becasue I was no longer able to keep up with the physical aspects of the positiion. I knew I had to make a fresh start.

While getting all sorts of rehabilitative therapies (physical, occupational, speech and emotional) at Lourdes Rehab in Cherry Hill, I went to the NJ Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for help. After extensive testing, they concluded what I'd known in my heart all along- I was meant to write. To make this inherent tendency a viable employment option, I was told would realistically require that I have a college degree. To this end, the DVR agreed they would cover the bulk of the cost of tuition at any NJ college, but applying and gaining acceptance to the school of my choice within the state and securing any additional financing I'd need was completely up to me.

I'd sent applications to well over a dozen NJ schools with no prospects. After all, I was already a dinosaur of 37 by that time. Hope was fading when I finally received good news from Rutgers University- Camden Campus, only about 30 minutes from my old hometown of the past 19 years. After considerable effort and persistence, I'd already secured a Pell Grant on my own, as well as a couple of additional scholarships I'd found on the Web. Rutgers was ""Pleased to inform me that I'd been accepted as a full-time student beginning in the Fall, 1990 semester.

I soon established myself as a staff writer for The Gleaner, the Camden campus newspaper. I wrote primarily for the Features department and built a modest portfolio of. clippings during those years, the high point of which would have to be the assignment I had in early '93. Bill Clinton had recently been inaugurated President and was to deliver honored to be assigned to travel up to N.B. to cover that event. There happened to be several Democratic Party dignitaries including PA Governor Dick Thornburg, Sargeant Shriver and Edward Kennedy present for the address, which focused on higher education in this country. I didn't have the opportunity to actually speak to any of the above, but it was the first time I'd ever seen any President firsthand. Whatever your opinion of President Clinton, you have to admit he is a gifted orator.

The memorable experience of hearing him speak was capped after the speeches and introductions were over when I managed to catch Ted Kennedy's eye as he and the other luminaries filed out of the auditorium just below where I was sitting in the press area. I impulsively held my hand aloft flashing actually noticed, made eye contact with up returning the same traditional hippie greeting! I'm sure no one else in that packed venue even noticed that incidental exchange, but it's a brief, shining moment etched forever in my memory.