The following is an author questionnaire that Bryce filled out to be interviewed by a national radio syndicate. He thought to post it just for the halibut:
1. What inspired you to write this book? I have a brain that tends to ‘collect’ worthwhile information and retain it for quite some time (in this case, since about 8th grade). I had built up several themes that lacked a bonding idea. When I read ‘The Da Vinci Code’, I was inspired by the concept of short (very short) chapters – I had never really seen that before. Shortly thereafter, I read about a man (JP in my book) that provided that common link. “Body of Knowledge” then became a reality.
2. In general, how does an idea for a book come to you ~ does it perk slowly in your mind or does it come in a flash? I ponder ‘imponderables’ constantly. The most commonly used term in most of my reviews (almost all of them really) is “This makes you think.” – I absolutely love that, because, sincerely, that’s how the book was hatched – through time, and LOTS of pondering.
3. Give us an idea of the plot/subject without giving too much away. Interesting wording of the question – because it is a very difficult book to describe without giving the plot away. In general, as mentioned above, the bulk of the story involves revealing the true identity of my next door neighbor (JP), who is a genius, but claims to be someone that is impossible. My quest to [dis:]prove his identity leads me on a quest for knowledge, and discovery of the unknown.
4. What is the primary message you’d like your readers to take away from this book? (If a novel, is there an underlying theme?) There is SO much knowledge that is out there that is fun to know. In addition, pondering the unknown (i.e. Death / God / Science) can make life more meaningful.
5. What is your favorite scene in the book? Why? My personal favorite, although almost all my reviews have varying scenes, is when the main character (JP) describes a ‘bet’ between a publisher and an author. The ‘bet’ involves the author writing an entire story using 50 words or less. The gist of the scene is that the word ‘genius’ sometimes has different connotations than we attach to it. (The excerpt for this scene can be found on my webpage http://www.bodyofknowledgeonline.com ). – The ‘author’ in this case, is Dr. Seuss, and the book is ‘Green Eggs and Ham’.
6. What was the most difficult scene to write? Why? The scene where I have to say goodbye to JP. I cry when I read it.
7. Which character do you identify with the most in your book? How much of yourself did you put into these characters and did you realize you showed up in the book? If so, while you were writing or only afterwards upon review? Bryce Anderson. In a very real sense, this book is an autobiography. I put 100% of myself into the character, and, as stated above, I really do cry when I read portions of it. This is definitely by design, from start to finish, of the book.
8. What are you reading right now? ‘Mere Christianity’ by C.S. Lewis – I love the way he leaves you to work out thoughts on your own. Also worthy of mention – I just finished ‘Life of Pi’ – a wonderful book that has thousands of little gems about animals in it.
9. What authors, books, or ideas have influenced your writing? Dan Brown, C.S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein., Wilson Rawls. I enjoy any book that contains Entertainment, Education, and Enlightenment. If they contain all three, I will give it 5 stars with no reservations.
10. What is your go-to book–that one you’ve read more than once, possibly over-and-over? OR Who is your go-go author? ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’ (Wilson Rawls). – I’ve read it about 30 times, and read it to my kids twice. Just a great book for everybody.
11. Can you offer a glimpse into your “real life” and share with us a bit of your personal life—Outside of writing, what’s important to you (i.e., hobbies, passions, causes, family)? I was raised in the mountains of Missoula, Montana, and have always been a ‘family man’ – including when I was a child. I hold the family to be the most vital unit to society, and, if we could all know that, and strengthen it, the world would be a better place. I love reading to my kids – I have 4 of them and they are all extremely smart. I attribute that to both the time spent together as a family, and the time spent reading and spending spare time with them. I love sports, and participated in pretty much all of them until I blew my knee out in 2000. Now, I pretty much rely on my brain, and not my body.
12. Tell us something surprising about you and/or something very few people know about you. I have 11 fingernails. (2 on my right thumb). Go figure! I also cry a lot, but almost always in private. I also laugh a lot.
13. What has been one of your biggest struggles and/or successes (professional/personal) and what have you learned from it? Right now, I’d have to say finding a distributor for my book. I was under the assumption that, once you were done writing the book, the work was done. Sadly, writing the book seems like the easy part. What have I learned? – It sounds cliché, but I’ve learned to believe in myself and my work, and stick with it. I do believe there is a light at the end of this tunnel…
14. Have you ever had a nickname? Tell us about it. “The Brik” – someone butchered my real name (Bryce) once when I was younger, and it just kinda stuck. I like it though, feel free to call me that if you’d like.
15. Who is your biggest fan? I would hope that my kids are, although you’d have to ask them that. Outside of them, I have a high-school sweetheart that I met up with on Facebook about 3 months ago that seems to top the list. I have a ‘fan club’ (only because I applied for author status on Goodreads) that has 6 members currently. That flatters me – but I am really not in this for the accolades.
16. What was the best advice you’ve ever received—do you follow it? When I was 12, my Dad took me to a movie. Kids under 12 were charged $2.00 instead of the normal $3.50. The ticket taker asked my Dad how old I was. He responded “12”. – After he had purchased the ticket, I asked him why he didn’t say I was 11 – and he could have saved $1.50. He replied: “My integrity is worth more than a dollar fifty.” -- That stuck with me to this day, and, yes, I try to follow it.
17. What is your favorite literary turn-of-phrase / quote / word picture? “If you have trouble believing in me, maybe it would help you to know that I believe in you.” -God, (George Burns), from the movie “Oh, God!”
18. What did you learn about yourself while writing this book that you may not have expected? I learned that I am a very sensitive person. It might have been my age, or just the phase that I was going through at the time, but that’s what struck me most about my ‘changing’ as I was writing the book.
19. What’s next for you ~ Anything else you’d like to offer? I’m working on a sequel (entitled “States of Mind”), but what I’d really like to do is get “Body of Knowledge” ‘out there’ first.
20. How do readers get in touch with you? Website Address? Email? Website: www.bryce-anderson.com Email: author.bryce.anderson@gmail.com
Bryce welcomes ALL comments and will (if he has time) personally respond to all forms of media he receives.
1. What inspired you to write this book?
I have a brain that tends to ‘collect’ worthwhile information and retain it for quite some time (in this case, since about 8th grade). I had built up several themes that lacked a bonding idea. When I read ‘The Da Vinci Code’, I was inspired by the concept of short (very short) chapters – I had never really seen that before. Shortly thereafter, I read about a man (JP in my book) that provided that common link. “Body of Knowledge” then became a reality.
2. In general, how does an idea for a book come to you ~ does it perk slowly in your mind or does it come in a flash?
I ponder ‘imponderables’ constantly. The most commonly used term in most of my reviews (almost all of them really) is “This makes you think.” – I absolutely love that, because, sincerely, that’s how the book was hatched – through time, and LOTS of pondering.
3. Give us an idea of the plot/subject without giving too much away.
Interesting wording of the question – because it is a very difficult book to describe without giving the plot away. In general, as mentioned above, the bulk of the story involves revealing the true identity of my next door neighbor (JP), who is a genius, but claims to be someone that is impossible. My quest to [dis:]prove his identity leads me on a quest for knowledge, and discovery of the unknown.
4. What is the primary message you’d like your readers to take away from this book? (If a novel, is there an underlying theme?)
There is SO much knowledge that is out there that is fun to know. In addition, pondering the unknown (i.e. Death / God / Science) can make life more meaningful.
5. What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
My personal favorite, although almost all my reviews have varying scenes, is when the main character (JP) describes a ‘bet’ between a publisher and an author. The ‘bet’ involves the author writing an entire story using 50 words or less. The gist of the scene is that the word ‘genius’ sometimes has different connotations than we attach to it. (The excerpt for this scene can be found on my webpage http://www.bodyofknowledgeonline.com ). – The ‘author’ in this case, is Dr. Seuss, and the book is ‘Green Eggs and Ham’.
6. What was the most difficult scene to write? Why?
The scene where I have to say goodbye to JP. I cry when I read it.
7. Which character do you identify with the most in your book? How much of yourself did you put into these characters and did you realize you showed up in the book? If so, while you were writing or only afterwards upon review?
Bryce Anderson. In a very real sense, this book is an autobiography. I put 100% of myself into the character, and, as stated above, I really do cry when I read portions of it. This is definitely by design, from start to finish, of the book.
8. What are you reading right now?
‘Mere Christianity’ by C.S. Lewis – I love the way he leaves you to work out thoughts on your own. Also worthy of mention – I just finished ‘Life of Pi’ – a wonderful book that has thousands of little gems about animals in it.
9. What authors, books, or ideas have influenced your writing?
Dan Brown, C.S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein., Wilson Rawls. I enjoy any book that contains Entertainment, Education, and Enlightenment. If they contain all three, I will give it 5 stars with no reservations.
10. What is your go-to book–that one you’ve read more than once, possibly over-and-over? OR Who is your go-go author?
‘Where the Red Fern Grows’ (Wilson Rawls). – I’ve read it about 30 times, and read it to my kids twice. Just a great book for everybody.
11. Can you offer a glimpse into your “real life” and share with us a bit of your personal life—Outside of writing, what’s important to you (i.e., hobbies, passions, causes, family)?
I was raised in the mountains of Missoula, Montana, and have always been a ‘family man’ – including when I was a child. I hold the family to be the most vital unit to society, and, if we could all know that, and strengthen it, the world would be a better place. I love reading to my kids – I have 4 of them and they are all extremely smart. I attribute that to both the time spent together as a family, and the time spent reading and spending spare time with them.
I love sports, and participated in pretty much all of them until I blew my knee out in 2000. Now, I pretty much rely on my brain, and not my body.
12. Tell us something surprising about you and/or something very few people know about you.
I have 11 fingernails. (2 on my right thumb). Go figure! I also cry a lot, but almost always in private. I also laugh a lot.
13. What has been one of your biggest struggles and/or successes (professional/personal) and what have you learned from it?
Right now, I’d have to say finding a distributor for my book. I was under the assumption that, once you were done writing the book, the work was done. Sadly, writing the book seems like the easy part. What have I learned? – It sounds cliché, but I’ve learned to believe in myself and my work, and stick with it. I do believe there is a light at the end of this tunnel…
14. Have you ever had a nickname? Tell us about it.
“The Brik” – someone butchered my real name (Bryce) once when I was younger, and it just kinda stuck. I like it though, feel free to call me that if you’d like.
15. Who is your biggest fan?
I would hope that my kids are, although you’d have to ask them that. Outside of them, I have a high-school sweetheart that I met up with on Facebook about 3 months ago that seems to top the list. I have a ‘fan club’ (only because I applied for author status on Goodreads) that has 6 members currently. That flatters me – but I am really not in this for the accolades.
16. What was the best advice you’ve ever received—do you follow it?
When I was 12, my Dad took me to a movie. Kids under 12 were charged $2.00 instead of the normal $3.50. The ticket taker asked my Dad how old I was. He responded “12”. – After he had purchased the ticket, I asked him why he didn’t say I was 11 – and he could have saved $1.50. He replied: “My integrity is worth more than a dollar fifty.” -- That stuck with me to this day, and, yes, I try to follow it.
17. What is your favorite literary turn-of-phrase / quote / word picture?
“If you have trouble believing in me, maybe it would help you to know that I believe in you.” -God, (George Burns), from the movie “Oh, God!”
18. What did you learn about yourself while writing this book that you may not have expected?
I learned that I am a very sensitive person. It might have been my age, or just the phase that I was going through at the time, but that’s what struck me most about my ‘changing’ as I was writing the book.
19. What’s next for you ~ Anything else you’d like to offer?
I’m working on a sequel (entitled “States of Mind”), but what I’d really like to do is get “Body of Knowledge” ‘out there’ first.
20. How do readers get in touch with you? Website Address? Email?
Website: www.bryce-anderson.com
Email: author.bryce.anderson@gmail.com
Bryce welcomes ALL comments and will (if he has time) personally respond to all forms of media he receives.