Ask the Author: Michael Bowe
Answered Questions (3)
Michael Bowe
Hi Linda,
You certainly made my day with your message. Thank you for your kind words about my novel, as well as the daily exposure it is about to receive on your show. Since its release a year ago, The Weight of a Moment has been well-received and won several awards, but it is only now starting to find its audience. For new authors, it's a very crowded marketplace. As for a message for your viewers, I can only say that I hope the novel has the same effect on them as many of the readers I've heard from who've told me that they didn't just enjoy the book, but it also made them think about their lives, and life in general. I can't think of better feedback. Be well, Michael Bowe
You certainly made my day with your message. Thank you for your kind words about my novel, as well as the daily exposure it is about to receive on your show. Since its release a year ago, The Weight of a Moment has been well-received and won several awards, but it is only now starting to find its audience. For new authors, it's a very crowded marketplace. As for a message for your viewers, I can only say that I hope the novel has the same effect on them as many of the readers I've heard from who've told me that they didn't just enjoy the book, but it also made them think about their lives, and life in general. I can't think of better feedback. Be well, Michael Bowe
Michael Bowe
When I finished the first draft of The Weight of a Moment, I sought input from readers I know, knowledgable people with experience in publishing. A few suggested eliminating Robbie Reynolds or the diner scenes, and focusing on Tom and Nick. It's important as a writer to write freely and edit aggressively; the first draft was 350 pages, the final book a fraction of that.
While their suggestions were consistent with the modern formula for bestsellers, which says go directly from Point A to Point B and don’t risk losing the reader along the way, that’s not a book I’m interested in writing. In my mind, those books are basically the literary equivalent of chase scenes in movies. I want to write books that are meaningful, that make readers think and reflect, that are more than just a story.
For instance, the Robbie Reynolds’ subplot is a parable. Who would inject a parable into the middle of the story? Maybe, only me. I don’t know. Robbie’s story is poignant and powerful, and, in many ways, a counterbalance to Tom’s and Nick’s stories. Also, the diner scenes are the setting for some very important conversations between Nick and Tom as well as the source of the small town aesthetic. I viewed both those subplots as crucial to the book.
I would guess that a lot of the people who dislike the book, dislike it because it’s different than what they’re used to. They read five books at a time and aren’t interested in one that asks more of them. They are comfortable with the norm.
The storyline in The Weight of a Moment isn’t daunting, but it requires readers to focus, think, and even reflect at times. I think readers who are open to this challenge get a lot from the book, and that is why there are so many wonderful reviews. Reviewers have not simply enjoyed the book, many have been deeply touched by it. That’s the kind of book I want to write!
While their suggestions were consistent with the modern formula for bestsellers, which says go directly from Point A to Point B and don’t risk losing the reader along the way, that’s not a book I’m interested in writing. In my mind, those books are basically the literary equivalent of chase scenes in movies. I want to write books that are meaningful, that make readers think and reflect, that are more than just a story.
For instance, the Robbie Reynolds’ subplot is a parable. Who would inject a parable into the middle of the story? Maybe, only me. I don’t know. Robbie’s story is poignant and powerful, and, in many ways, a counterbalance to Tom’s and Nick’s stories. Also, the diner scenes are the setting for some very important conversations between Nick and Tom as well as the source of the small town aesthetic. I viewed both those subplots as crucial to the book.
I would guess that a lot of the people who dislike the book, dislike it because it’s different than what they’re used to. They read five books at a time and aren’t interested in one that asks more of them. They are comfortable with the norm.
The storyline in The Weight of a Moment isn’t daunting, but it requires readers to focus, think, and even reflect at times. I think readers who are open to this challenge get a lot from the book, and that is why there are so many wonderful reviews. Reviewers have not simply enjoyed the book, many have been deeply touched by it. That’s the kind of book I want to write!
Michael Bowe
Great question, Chris. And yes, I viewed Alex as a minor but very important character. And yes again, his conversations with Tom and Nick are significant.
Alex is a typical kid who has no idea what he wants to do with his life. He is at a critical juncture in life and, like most recent high school grads, doesn’t even know it. Nick has a first conversation with him and tells him, “You don’t need to know what you want to do in life, only that you want to do something.” Then later, Tom tells him about his day at the Chesapeake Bay and the man with the Labrador retriever. It is a powerful story about finding what you are born to do.
I see Alex’s role in the story as representing the “possibility of moments.” Moments happen in our lives all the time that have the potential to be significant, but only if we seize them and act on them.
I think of Alex in two possible outcomes:
Flash forward fifteen years and he is in his mid-thirties. In the first scenario, he is a grown man who has done nothing with his life but smoke pot every day, work meaningless part-time jobs, and play video games.
In the second scenario, Alex is sitting in a conference room, CEO of a successful business he started, talking to his employees about the moment that changed his life and set his course in life. He tells them about one of those conversations with Nick or Tom and how he came out of it a different person, with newfound direction and purpose in his life. After that day, he thought about the conversation often and moved forward with it as his mantra.
This quote has a different meaning in the book but it applies to Alex also...
“In every lifetime, sometimes more than once, a circumstance occurs that opens the heart to its fullest measure, where significant, meaningful change is possible, where failures and shortcomings can be absolved, and a person can be reborn. Some are healed or renewed by the experience, while others fail to recognize the opportunity and it passes by.”
Those moments with Tom and Nick either impacted Alex or they did not. It was up to him. Those were "potential moments."
Alex is a typical kid who has no idea what he wants to do with his life. He is at a critical juncture in life and, like most recent high school grads, doesn’t even know it. Nick has a first conversation with him and tells him, “You don’t need to know what you want to do in life, only that you want to do something.” Then later, Tom tells him about his day at the Chesapeake Bay and the man with the Labrador retriever. It is a powerful story about finding what you are born to do.
I see Alex’s role in the story as representing the “possibility of moments.” Moments happen in our lives all the time that have the potential to be significant, but only if we seize them and act on them.
I think of Alex in two possible outcomes:
Flash forward fifteen years and he is in his mid-thirties. In the first scenario, he is a grown man who has done nothing with his life but smoke pot every day, work meaningless part-time jobs, and play video games.
In the second scenario, Alex is sitting in a conference room, CEO of a successful business he started, talking to his employees about the moment that changed his life and set his course in life. He tells them about one of those conversations with Nick or Tom and how he came out of it a different person, with newfound direction and purpose in his life. After that day, he thought about the conversation often and moved forward with it as his mantra.
This quote has a different meaning in the book but it applies to Alex also...
“In every lifetime, sometimes more than once, a circumstance occurs that opens the heart to its fullest measure, where significant, meaningful change is possible, where failures and shortcomings can be absolved, and a person can be reborn. Some are healed or renewed by the experience, while others fail to recognize the opportunity and it passes by.”
Those moments with Tom and Nick either impacted Alex or they did not. It was up to him. Those were "potential moments."
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Mar 10, 2021 03:45AM · flag
The cover image is a photo of a statue of a man during what I interpret as a serious "moment." His eyes seem drawn and his overall look is s ...more
Mar 10, 2021 05:22AM · flag