Author Interview with Howard Shapiro

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Today's Author is  Howard Shapiro. Welcome to I Love My Authors Howard it is so wonderful to have you here today.You are such an Awesome Spirit and I have had the pleasure of getting to know you a little more in the process of preparing this post.

Meet Howard Shapiro

HOWARD SHAPIRO lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife and two sons. The Controller for the Pittsburgh-based Visual Effects firm, Animal Inc., he has also written four children’s books and The Stereotypical Freaks will be his debut Graphic Novel.  His 2008 book, Hockey Player for Life, has been the #1 downloaded children’s hockey e-book on Amazon’s Kindle chart since its arrival as an e-book in November of 2011.  His, Hockey Days book was the only book featured in the December 2007 Sporting News Annual Gift Guide as a Best Buy Gift for Children.  Through a corporate sponsorship program he set up (and maintains), since the 2010-11 season, both of his children’s hockey books have been given to NHL teams (over 2,500 copies to date) for use in their community and educational initiatives.  Since 2006 his annual charity raffle, which he matches dollar for dollar donated, has raised funds for several hockey-related charities including the Mario Lemieux Foundation, Hockey Fights Cancer and the Keith and Lisa Primeau Scholarship Fund.
For more information, please log on to howardshapiro.net

Check out the Awesome Bookmarks! They are so cool.

The Interview

When did you start writing?

Since I was about eight years old.  I loved the old Encylopedia Brown series and I wanted desperately to write stories like those as well as write about sports.  I had my little electric typewriter and I'd hack away as best I could!

  

What inspired you to do it?

 When I was very young, the inspiration came from the Encyclopedia Brown books as well as comic books, mostly Spiderman and Batman.  As I got into my teen years I tried my hand at songwriting as Bruce Springsteen and Pete Townshend were my favorite songwriters and these days I've been inspired by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Gipi and Neil Kleidd.

What projects have you done?

I've done four self published children's books - 2005's "Hanukkah Counts Too!", 2006's "Destructo Boy and Spillerella", 2007's "Hockey Days" and 2008's "Hockey Player For Life".  The two hockey books have been used extensively by NHL teams in their community and educational initiatives and "Hockey Player For Life" has been the on and off #1downloaded kids hockey book on the Kindle chart.  "The Stereotypical Freaks" is my first traditionally published book.

Any new projects coming up?

Yes, I am working on the sequel to "The Stereotypical Freaks", another graphic novel and I hope to have it out next Christmas but we'lll see how that works out.

 Are you an independent artist or are you represented by an agency?

I am an independent artist but I am seeking representation.

Any favorite bands? Do you use music to inspire you as you write?

Answering the second question first, yes, music is a huge inspiration on my writing.  It's easily the #1 inspiration!  So much so that at the beginning of each chapter of "Freaks" I listed recommended listening songs.  As far as favorite bands, there are so many but if I had to choose some favorites they would be (in no particular order)  - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Who, Big Country, U2, The Afghan Whigs, The Rolling Stones, Urge Overkill, Green Day, Van Halen and Soul Asylum.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in your field?

I think the num,ber one thing is to have a extremely thick skin because the rejection will come fast and furious.  You can almost turn it around and have the atittude that "I'll show you"  that is what I've developed.  And you can't let the rejection get to you, you have to roll with it and develop a never say die attitude.  You need that base and from there be open to criticism and work as incredibly hard as you can. 

Anything you would like to share with readers on a personal note that would allow them to get to know you better?

Well, I'm a married father of two sons (both 13 years old) and I live in Pittsburgh, PA.  Writing is not my full time job, I am an Accountant by trade for a visual effects studio.  I am more then happy, and would encourage anyone and everyone to get in otuch with me if they had any questions or would like more info!  My email addy is hockeyplayer4life@gmail.com and my website is howardshapiro.net

Do you find it hard to share your work with others?

It's a good question because I am an extremely shy and quiet person but writing is actually my escape from that and a chance to "speak up" and be heard.  It can be tough to lay your emotions out because no matter what, as the writer, part of you is in the characters.  The character of Tom in all of the books I've done is mostly me or how I'd like to be or act.  My "Hockey Days" book was very personal in that it was about me and my dad and our relationship and how hockey brought us closer together.  He passed away in 2005 and so I did the book as a tribute to him and to give myself and my sons a great way to remember him in better times when he was still alive.  So, its difficult at times for me to read it, to this day, because I really would give anything tohave him still here.  So, putting those emotions out there is difficult when you are a very private person as I am.  But in the end, writing is a great outlet and if I didn't have it I would have a very large therapy bill!!

Did your writing come from just a need to express yourself or a particular experience that you had?

Excellent question!  It actually came from both!  First and foremost though it is the best way, at least for me, to express myself.  As I said in question #9, I am a very quiet and reserved person so to have an outlet to express myself is very important!  Some people do it by painting or through art, some via call in talk shows or letters to the editor etc.  For me, it is putting my deep emotions on paper through fictional characters as an outlet to get those thoughts out.  As an adult, one thing that got me back into writing in my twenties was seeing the movie "Reality Bites."  After seeing that at the theatre I was so angry that a movie that had potential could be so bad (sorry "Reality Bites" fans) that I thought, I can do better.  I'm not saying that I have done better but it is a challenge everyday to try and GET better and have my writing get to an A level.  Its what I strive to do every single day, get better!

A few pages from The Stereotypical Freaks!!

Page 2

Page 8

Page 49

"The Stereotypical Freaks" on Amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/Stereotypical-Freaks-Howard-Shapiro/dp/0578112175/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347289907&sr=1-1&keywords=the+stereotypical+freaks

"The Stereotypical Freaks" Page on Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15995501-the-stereotypical-freaks 

Stalker Links:
Personal Facebook Page -
http://www.facebook.com/hockeyplayer4life

Author Facebook Page -
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Howard-Shapiro/296610707017204

Twitter -
https://twitter.com/hockeyplayer

Website -
www.howardshapiro.net

Goodreads Author Page - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/205856.Howard_Shapiro

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to us today Howard. It has been a pleasure to host you today.