An Interview with Daniel K. Gentile: Author of The Candle Room

I was born in Chester, Pennsylvania in 1962, but since my father was in the military, I spent many years traveling abroad. I graduated from an American high school in Kaiserslautern, Germany. After college and law school, I was admitted to the California State Bar in 1990 and my practice includes handling real estate and business matters with an emphasis on trial work and litigation.

Why did you want to write a book?

I’ve always enjoyed writing, which, as a lawyer, is major part of my practice. Writing a novel was a goal I had since high school. Unfortunately, I never had the time to make it happen. A few years ago, I decided to make the time and to follow my passion. I’m currently working on my second novel which I hope to complete prior to years end.

Why did you choose to self-publish?

I decided to go the route of self-publishing because I was not interested in being rejected by publishers over and over again and accomplishing nothing in the process. My goal was to write a book and offer it to readers interested in legal thrillers. I never expected to make money or to have much success doing it on my own. But, it was important for me to do it and self-publishing afforded me that opportunity. If I went the other route, I’m convinced I’d still be stuck in neutral.

What tools or companies did you use, and what experience did you have?

CreateSpace through Amazon was instrumental in helping me put the book together. I also used Adobe for the cover. The process was fairly simple, but the formatting differences between a paperback sold on Amazon and the e-book sold on Kindle were a bit frustrating. Unfortunately, once the manuscript was finished for printing of the paperback version, the formatting had to be completely changed to allow it to be published through Kindle. For my next book, I’ll avoid this problem by formatting the book so that it works for both.

What do you think are the main pitfalls for indie writers?

I’m not sure being labeled an “indie” writer garners the same credibility that authors receive if they are published through the big players. However, there are many, many indie books which are far better than some of those books.

What tips can you give other authors looking to self-publish?

Have patience and edit, edit and edit again. Don’t release the book until you believe it is perfect. My book was edited several times but there are still a few errors that other’s detect. I’m not thrilled about that. Fortunately, we’re not alone. Even the best books published by the big guys have errors, despite their herculean efforts to eliminate them.

What was your steepest learning curve during the publishing process?

Editing. Someone said writing a book is easy, but re-writing it through the editing process is difficult. I agree. I have all of my drafts of this book. What I originally wrote is vastly different than the final product. Also, proper punctuation is the mother of all evil. I realized that I knew nothing about proper punctuation and my spelling was atrocious. I had to learn this all over again.

As a writer, what is your schedule? How do you get the job done?

I’m very busy in my practice, but fortunately I need little sleep. For years, I spent much of my nights trying to fall asleep. I finally decided that rather than wasting that time, I’d write a book. Most of the book was written after midnight.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I haven’t really experienced that yet. Almost everything I do, I think of how I can incorporate it in my book. If I see someone on the street, he/she becomes a character. If I hear something on the news, I try to figure out how to twist it and turn it into an interesting story. I don’t always use that material, but I’m always thinking about it. I’m currently finishing my second book, entitled, “Sleep.”

Who are your biggest writing inspirations and why?

I’ve always loved John Grisham. I think he has a unique way of allowing the reader to understand the story, through its complexities. I’m not a big fan of some of his books, but most of what he writes is great.

How do your friends and family get involved with your writing? What do they think of your book?

A few of my friends/family read the book, but I’d have to say the vast majority did not. I don’t push it on them since you must have an acquired taste to enjoy these types of books. That said, I think they admire the fact that I was able to publish a novel which, for the most part, receives good reviews and ratings and which people actually purchase.