INTERVIEW WITH bf oswald

During a recent visit to the campus bf oswald was interviewed by the editor of the North Central Technical College’s Creative Journal.

CJ: When I read Echoes of Ellen I couldn’t decide if it was a collection of short stories
       masquerading as a novel or a novel showcasing your short stories. Which is it?

bfo: Actually Ellen began as a collection of short stories that I had written over
       the last decade, many of which I had submitted to various publications with zero
       success. So I decided to bundle them and sent out query letters to several
       publishers who accepted short story collections. Deb Staples of SynergEbooks
       expressed interest and suggested that I build the stories into a plot. So Bill and
       Ellen’s story, a short story in itself, was written last with the result you noted. I’d say
       that your second suggestion is closer to the mark.

CJ: Is Echoes of Ellen your first published work?

bfo: Yes by a national publisher. As you may remember, you included many of my
       essays, poems, and short fiction in the Journal. Also I have a few local newspaper
       articles to my credit.
 
CJ:  Why short stories and not longer works?

bfo:  Over my adult life everything I wrote had to be short, beginning with the stories
        I had to write for my creative writing courses in college. When I was a
        federal investigator my reports had to be short and concise; sermons are by
        necessity short complete works, as are lectures. Also I have always liked
        short stories especially those by Poe, Singer, London, and O’Henry.

CJ:   SynergEbooks is primarily an electronic press. What is your opinion of that
         form of publishing?

bfo:   Frankly I have had some difficulty accepting that method. During the majority of
         my life a book has been printed pages between two covers. Although I spend a lot
         of time looking at a computer screen, I use a word processing program to write
         and all of my research is done on line, I still like to be comfortable when I
         read for pleasure. Even with a laptop I can’t read in bed very easily.
               Ellen is available on a CD or as a download, and also in print as a trade
         publication. The primary reason for the print edition was my publisher entered
         Ellen in the National Book Awards and had to submit six print copies. She also
         entered an e-copy in the EPPIE Awards. Unfortunately Ellen did not place
         in either.
                I am amazed at how large e-publishing has become. To date, as far as I
         know, there are more than twenty thousand titles available for download (including
         Ellen) from Amazon alone. And they are only one of many outlets.

CJ:   How difficult was it to get Ellen published?

bfo:   Initially not that hard. I sent out two dozen query letters and received two
         offers. Getting Ellen ready for publication was the real challenge. I tend to be
         a perfectionist. I rewrote almost every story, including Bill and Ellen’s, many
         times, two stories twelve times each, and would have done more prep had I
         not had a deadline. I re-edited the first edition of the print copy also for the
         second printing. It was far easier to write the stories than it was to prepare
         them to be published.

CJ:    What’s next?

bfo:    Last week I submitted the second draft of a novel titled FLOOD, A Saga to my
          publisher. And I am currently editing another called Five Women
          in Black that I wrote while on the faculty here almost thirty years ago. I also
          have completed the first draft of a novel titled The Footpath and am
          writing another titled The Rental.

CJ:     What are they about?

bfo:     There are detailed synopses of the first three on my website, bfoswald.com.
           I wrote Flood over this past summer and I have dedicated it to our daughter
           and her family who were made homeless during the catastrophic Cedar
           River Valley flood in Iowa this spring. Our daughter finished her RN classes
           and took her final exams during the height of the flood and its aftermath,
           and did very well with both. We are extremely proud of her.  However the
           book has nothing to do with their experience.

CJ:      You said you wrote Five Women in Black thirty years ago but you are just
            now getting it ready for publication. Why is that?

bfo:     At the time I was beset by a number of personal problems. I had been carrying
           the kernel of FWIB around in my head for a while before that and decide to
           start writing it as a diversion. When I am working I lose all track of time and
           block out everything around me. I wrote almost all of the novel on a legal pad
           in the faculty lounge in Ovalwood Hall right here on campus. The lounge was
           usually deserted and quiet and it was only a few hundred steps from the college
           library where I did my research for the story.
                  When I started dating my present wife she took a interest in the book and
           typed the manuscript. When I bought my first computer I transposed the book
           to floppies, stored them and forgot about the project. With both Ellen published
           and Flood soon to be, my wife urged me to resurrect FWIB and submit it.

CJ:      You mentioned research. Do you still use libraries?

bfo:     No. There is a wealth of information available to me on the Internet. What
           used to take me hours in a library I can now accomplish in a matter of
           minutes, electronically storing whole articles for referencing without having
           to write a single note.

CJ:     What do you envision in your future?

bfo:     I plan to keep writing and submitting my work as long as my age and health
           permit. I’ve got lot of stories to tell and I enjoy telling them. If I am fortunate
           one of my books will gain national attention. But there are a lot of writers
           publishing a lot of books so the competition is fierce.
                  Having Ellen published was very important to me. I always dreamed of
           seeing my name on a book cover. I never imagined it would appear first on
           the label of a CD.  In any event I am now a published author and proud of it.

CJ:      Thank you Professor Oswald. I’m looking forward to reading more of your books.

bfo:      Thank you, Paul, for your time and your interest.

      bf oswald links: E-mail bfoswald@gmail.com; web page  http://bfoswald.com
              http://amazon.com   http://synergebooks.com