The Writing Life with A.A. Freda, author of 'A Police Action'

 Award-winning novelist A.A. Freda received high acclaim for his debut novel, Goodbye Rudy Kazoody.  In his second novel, A Police Action, Freda delivers a gripping Vietnam era novel about two lost, confused young adults, Samantha Powers and James Coppi. 

What’s inside the mind of a coming of age author?

Well the first thing inside my mind is the ability to drift back to a time when I was trying to develop to adulthood. The wonder and mystery of it all. The anxiety felt when life didn’t appear to be going as anticipated. The emotions of teenager or a young adult trying to lean exactly where they should fit.

What is so great about being an author?

Since I’m a fiction writer what I enjoy the most is the ability to tell a story. To keep a reader interested for hours and days in a tale that I spin. To allow the reader to enter a world that they may have never contemplated going to.

When do you hate it?

Dealing with the editor is a tiring time, although important. When you write a story, and realize that it needs a major rewrite. The moment you realize what you have on paper simply will not work.

What is a regular writing day like for you?

Writing days vary. There are the days when you’d rather do anything but write. Come up with one project or another to avoid writing. Then there are the days when you don’t want to stop. The story is so clearly in your head that you simply will not put down the computer. To afraid that if you stop, you will lose all those good ideas.

Do you think authors have big egos? Do you?

I don’t know much about other authors or their egos. I don’t have a massive ego. My head does swell a little when I read a good and well thought out review.

How do you handle negative reviews?

Fortunately, I have not had many bad reviews. If it is a well written negative review pointing out certain weakness in my writing I will give it its due. For the most part, I tend to ignore negativity.

How do you handle positive reviews?

Other than the swell head that I previously mentioned, I try to evaluate what it was that the reviewer liked. How can I keep that positivity and use it in my next story.

What is the usual response when you tell a new acquaintance that you’re an author?

Most of my acquaintances know that I love to write. The usual response is to ask me questions on what I’m currently working on.

What do you do on those days you don’t feel like writing? Do you force it or take a break?

Well if I’m not on a deadline, I don’t force my writing. I like to go hiking and mountain climbing. It allows my imagination to get recharged. Shooting pool is another of my favorites. I have a pool table in my house. Will play for hours, even by myself.

Any writing quirks?

I like to write in my favorite chair. The best writing seems to happen in that chair.

What would you do if people around you didn’t take your writing seriously or see it as a hobby?

I can’t control what people around me think of my writing. If they read my books and like my stories, that’s enough for me.

Some authors seem to have a love-hate relationship to writing. Can you relate?

No, I can’t, I love writing. It is the greatest form of escape.

Do you think success as an author must be linked to money?

No absolutely not. Although it wouldn’t be all bad if I made some money writing. There’s other ways to measure success in writing. Good reviews. Awards, and so on.

What had writing taught you?

It has taught me that there is no limit to a person’s imagination. You can write about far away beings from a distant planet, or two people having a conversation over a cup of coffee. Good writing can make both of those situations interesting to a reader.

Leave us with some words of wisdom.

Don’t forget to price your writing. While money should not be your only reason for writing, it shouldn’t be completely ignored either. To take a quote from my book Goodbye, Rudy Kazoody. “Any man that doesn’t ask to be paid what he’s worth, is probably not worth paying.”

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Title: A Police Action

Genre: Coming of Age/Historical Fiction/Military

Author: AA Freda

Publisher: Dorrance

Find out more on Amazon 

A Police Action

A Police Action is a gripping coming of age Vietnam War era romantic novel. It is the story of two lost and confused young adults. It is love at first sight when nineteen-year-old Samantha Powers meets James Coppi at the Country Honky Tonk in Colorado Springs. There are just two problems to a storybook ending for Samantha’s passion. She is pregnant with someone else’s child and James, a young soldier, is heading for a war in Vietnam.

Will this instant attraction be enough to form a lasting bond? What will happen after James is deployed? Will he return home safely, and, if so, will it be to Samantha? Follow along as the young lovers mature through their individual hardships and those that they share.