As you all know, I've recently published my first book, Roof Oasis. It's the first of a series and it's a love story that takes place during the apocalypse. As one of my friends from the South Jersey Writers' Group, James Knipp explained during a book signings for our group's first anthology, "Marie's story is Romeo and Juliet meets "The Walking Dead" done by Jules Vern."
But I'm not the only one with good news! Hypothetical Press which was edited my Amy Holiday and Jessica A. Walsh has published their first anthology, Reading Glasses. Hypothetical Press is the publishing arm of The South Jersey Writers' Group and I'll be interviewing all the authors featured in Reading Glasses here on my blog.
My first guest is Bruce Capoferri. Bruce Capoferri sells automobiles, but enjoys writing stories and songs in his
spare time and is currently working on a novel. He has four autobiographical
stories published in Primo Magazine and one in Buona Salute. He lives with his
wife, Barbara, and cat, Krikat.
Marie Gilbert: Thank you, Bruce, for taking the
time to do this interview. I’m happy to meet you and we have a few questions
for the people out there. What got you started in
writing? What was your inspiration to take pen to paper? What authors inspire
you?
Bruce
Capoferri: I have always been a story teller.
But I have to thank Miss Shepherd, my eighth grade English teacher, for
recognizing it and encouraging me. I wrote a short story entitled The
Paradise Lost Affair that she edited and submitted to a teacher’s magazine and
got published. I wish I had gotten a copy of it, because it was the first
time I was recognized for having some talent. I must also blame - I mean,
thank - my fantastic coach and brother-in-law, Glenn Walker, for coaxing me
into putting my stories down on paper and submitting them to magazines. I have
to thank my wonderful wife, Barbara, for introducing me to HP Lovecraft,
Phillip K Dick and a host of other fantasy and science fiction writers. Barbara
is a children’s librarian and constantly supplies me with a wide variety of
fodder for my imagination.
Marie
Gilbert: What type of stories do you enjoy writing about?
Bruce
Capoferri: The first few stories I got
published were autobiographical. I truly enjoy documenting my slightly
askew memories of growing up next to my Italian grandparents in Elm, NJ.
But fantasy and science fiction is right up there as well. I guess
it’s because I can make my characters say and do whatever my devious mind dreams
up. I am in the process of finishing the last few chapters of my first
novel and I’m enjoying wreaking mayhem and chaos so much I’m having difficulty
reaching the conclusion.
Marie
Gilbert: Where did you get the inspiration for this story?
Bruce
Capoferri: The inspiration for ‘The Malocchio’
sprang from the Italian belief that someone can impart bad luck upon a rival or
enemy with a malevolent glance. Over the years I have also heard this curse
referred to as ‘The Maloiks’ or ‘The Maloikies’. But, no matter how you
may pronounce it, my story takes this old world superstition to a more deadly
level.
Marie
Gilbert: Amy mentioned that you are working on a novel. Could you tell us a
little about that?
Bruce
Capoferri: “The Children of God and Men”
sprang from a conversation I had with my cousin, Sandy Core, at a family
reunion. She mentioned that a short story I had written and shared with
her titled “Hitching a Ride on Borrowed Time” reminded her of an excerpt from
the book of Genesis in the Bible. It portends that Angels (known as The
Watchers) were sent to Earth by God to supervise the development of man-kind.
But finding the women of men attractive, the Angels took as many of the
women as they wanted for wives resulting in the births of giants and men of renown
(also known as Nephilim). In my research I discovered the banned ‘Book of
Enoch’ and then really became intrigued. The book allows me the opportunity to
explore comparative religions and how world-wide myths and legends have shaped
multi-cultural beliefs. If you enjoy reading stories about conspiracy theories,
ancient alien influences and Native American prophecy mixed with apocalyptic
action, you will love my book. By the way, did I mention it is also a
dark comedy?
Marie
Gilbert: Do you belong to a writers’ group? If so, why and if not, why?
Bruce
Capoferri: I'd like to consider myself a
member of the South Jersey Writer’s Group because it is the only one who has
recognized me. It will also be the first entity to publish one of my stories in
a hardback book. The difficulty I have is time to attend meetings. This
is because I am a full time automobile salesman and work most evenings. I
do my best to keep in touch with what is going on, however, and read Writer’s
Digest and similar publications.
Marie
Gilbert: Was this the first kickstarter that you ever participated in? What was
it about our kickstarter that made you want to help out?
Bruce
Capoferri: Although I have submitted my
manuscripts to various contests, this was the first one of this type.
Marie
Gilbert: Thank you Bruce for doing this interview
Bruce Capoferri: I want to thank everyone at South Jersey Writer’s
Group and the Hypothetical Press for making my dream a reality.
I hope you enjoyed learning about Bruce Capoferri and in a few days, I'll be posting another interview with J. Keller Ford, another author featured in Reading Glasses.
You can find Roof Oasis on Amazon. com and on kindle.
You can find Reading Glasses on Smashwords, for Kindle, Nook, iBook downloads and more.
Our group will be doing many book signings over the next few months. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello. We'll have plenty of books to choose from: Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey (our group's first anthology) What to Expect When You're Dead by John Farquhar, Reading Glasses (A collection of speculative short fiction by Hypothetical Press), and Roof Oasis by Marie Gilbert.
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