William R. Potter is virtually touring for the month of November with his book Lighting the Dark Side: Six Modern Tales. He joins me here at DC today to talk about his book and about self-publishing.
Q: Hello, William, and welcome to Divine Caroline. Thank you for the interview.
A: Thank you for having me on Divine Caroline. I’m happy to be here.
Q: You are virtually touring for the month of November with your book Lighting the Dark Side. Could you tell us what your book is about?
A: Lighting the Dark Side is an anthology of fiction featuring three novellas and three shorter works. They are about human nature and how our darker side can impede our ability to cope with hardships. The book opens with a novella called “Bent, Not Broken” where we meet Dwayne Johnson, a man embarking on a new relationship even though he is plagued with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Also included is a police procedural called “Prominent Couple Slain.” Detective Jack Staal is disillusioned about his career after he takes a nosedive from big city homicide investigator to small town detective. Desperate to prove himself, he ignores protocol to work a case that is not his to solve when a wealthy man and his wife are found dead.
The book closes with the largest piece, “Surviving the Fall,” a tale about James Goodal, a man who spent his entire life avoiding uncomfortable situations. Decades of this safe and easy existence have left James lonely and facing divorce. This all changes when he takes in a young street girl named Ashley. The pair finds comfort in their unorthodox friendship until her violent world returns forcing James to fight for Ashley and for his very survival. In the three remaining stories, you will find average but flawed people struggling to overcome their weaknesses.
Q: How did you come up with the title for your book?
A: After years of false starts, I decided to get serious about writing fiction in 2001. I practiced with several short stories and with my budding confidence, I attempted different genres, styles and greater and greater word counts. Before long I had a collection of shorts and a novella that approached novel length. The births of my children in 2003 and 2005 slowed my writing for the most part until 2006; however, I did manage another novella.
