An Interview with Andrew Augustine Connor: Author of Birdie Pesky Was Here

Andrew Augustine Connor studied Art in Boston at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Boston and Tufts University where he attended on a full scholarship. He lives with his family in the Midwest and is at work on his second novel, Saturday Night Palsy, the sequel to Birdie Pesky. Saturday Night Palsy is scheduled for publication in late 2024 or early 2025.

Tell us about your book.

Birdie Pesky Was Here is a warm coming-of-age comedy featuring an epic bank heist, an eclectic cast of characters, and all the page-turner qualities of an old-school action suspense thriller.

Why did you want to write a book?

I studied painting in college and had been working in that medium since graduation in 1991. After completing a colossal assemblage that was over a year in the making combining painting and sculpture, and culminating in a book and short film, I felt the need to take a break from visual art. This approximately coincided with the passing of my father, a proud son of Maine and a writer who was, as he liked to say, an old newspaper man.

One day, as I was sorting the items that filled one of the many boxes of his personal effects, I came upon a short story he’d written and one he’d told my brother and me as kids innumerable times at our urging. My first instinct was to illustrate the story, an undertaking that I started and quickly scrapped recognizing my efforts were, at best, halfhearted. But there was an undeniable connection between this discovery and the next steps I would take as an artist, because my father’s nine-page short story became the inspiration for one of the key scenes in my novel. This was the spark that for the next 10 years distracted me from my painting studio and how I came to write my first book.

Why did you choose to self-publish?

I contacted a number of agents and several took a look and passed, but one seemed quite interested and I thought I was on my way. A few days later, his assistant followed up informing me that the manuscript was too long for an unknown unpublished author. My manuscript was over 600 pages and in excess of 180 thousand words – I’d have to cut it in half. There was no way. So, I self-published.

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

I self-published to Amazon/Kindle which was a reasonably uncomplicated experience.

Would you self-publish again?

Sure.

Tell us about the genre you wrote in, and why you chose to write this sort of book.

The geographic setting and era (Maine on the eve of WW II) stemmed from my father’s short story, which was my inspiration to write to Birdie Pesky.

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

The people who have read the book have been very enthusiastic and I appreciate their indulgence.

What are your plans now your book is published?

I still have my family and job and other work that keep me busy and fill the hours of the day, but I do spend some time, perhaps casting about a little, perusing various promotional avenues that I believe might be a good fit for the book. I’m also working on the sequel.

What did you learn on your journey as an author?

It’s a process that for me seems quite similar to painting in many ways, but particularly, in that a good idea might come quite readily only to be scrapped a week later and then resurrected a week after that.

What’s next for you as an author?

I’m at work on the sequel, which will be called Saturday Night Palsy and picks up in Twin Cities, Maine a generation later in the 1970s and 80s and features cameos from a number of characters that populated Birdie Pesky. It’s darker than Birdie and I expect it will be complete and ready for publication in late 2024 or early 2025.