12 Cups of Coffee
A Novel by Dave Goossen
Q & A with the Author
Q. Where are you from?
A. I was born in Halifax Nova Scotia. My dad, who was from the prairies, was in the Canadian navy and stationed there. I did most of my growing up in Victoria, BC
Q. Tell us your latest news.
A. I am a new father! My second daughter, Maya Grace, was born November 15, 2007. I googled her name after she was born and it turns out that Garrison Keilor's daughter has the same name. How cool is that?
Q. When and why did you begin writing?
A. I first started writing in junior high school, way back in 1979. Why? For our final english project we were offered the opportunity to make a video and some friends and I jumped at the chance. Most of the video is silly Monty Python / Benny Hill action sequences, tied together by a couple scenes I wrote to get all the plot across. I realized then that I only liked writing when I could write screenplay format. I didn't like writing prose at all. I have been writing screenplays, film treatments, one act plays since then. Everything except novels.
Q. When did you first consider yourself a writer?
A. When my best friend and I wrote, performed and produced a half hour of sketch comedy in high school. When the teachers commented to us on the quality of the writing and the level of humour, that's when i considered myself a writer.
Q. What inspired you to write your first book?
A. I couldn't figure out how to write it as a movie! I had all these thoughts and ideas but I couldn't figure out how to write a screenplay that would be mostly first person narrative. So I pushed aside my fears of writing prose - writing where every word counts - and started telling people that I was going to write a novel. Then, because I told so many people, I basically had to write it.
Q. Who or what has influenced your writing?
A. I got a lot from Stephen King's book on writing, and the screenplay books by Syd Fields for plot. I still plot my books like they are screenplays.
Q. How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
A. I read a lot as a kid, and still do. I think the main thing that has coloured my writing is that I grew up in a safe loving home, in a safe, clean city, in the best country in the world and that level of security has allowed my sub-conscious the freedom to play with all sorts of ideas.
Q. Do you have a specific writing style?
A. Not yet, I don't think. I like to get into a zone and just write for a few hours a day, sitting back to see what comes out of my fingers.
Q. What genre are you most comfortable writing?
A. I have written a lot of different genre's of screenplay, I am not sure how many will become the basis' for books, and I seem to be drawn to what might be called Lad-Lit. Nick Hornby, Douglas Coupland, those kind of authors. Of course, saying that, I am currently writing a bit of an action adventure idea I have been playing with for six years.
Q. How did you come up with the title?
A. Originally it was '24 Cups of Coffee', as I thought I would jump back and forth, one coffee story chapter, one present story chapter, but that didn't pan out.
Q. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
A. That the most important things you may learn in life may come to you in the most unexpected of places.
Q. How much of the book is realistic?
A. Hopefully it all is realistic! I tried to write with an open heart to make sure that what ever happened would be as authentic as possible.
Q. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
A. Yes. I fully admit that as a writer, I am constantly canabalizing my life and the lives of those around me, tossing it all in a blender and seeing what floats to the surface. FYI: I did try to put sugar in my first cappuccino and I did have a friend stop me.
Q. What books have most influenced your life most?
A. 'Generation X' by Douglas Coupland, 'Mysterious Island' by Jules Verne - I still read it every few years, and have so since grade two. The Harry Potter series - I have some teen book ideas I am looking forward to playing with.
Q. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
A. Nick Hornby - he's the closest to what I aspire to write like. I would love to sit down with Carl Haissen, just to find out what makes him tick.
Q. What book are you reading now?
A. I just finished 'All Hat' by Brad Smith
Q. What are your current projects?
A. I am working with a good friend on the screenplay for '12 Cups', and I am about halfway thru a new novel called 'Rebecca's Pocket' about some people in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Q. Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
A. The Mankind Project. www.mkp.org I had been looking for some understanding of what it was to be a man in the world today - reading a lot of Robert Bly, Michael Meade, etc - and a dear friend connected me with MKP. It has been a fantastic community of caring men, who are trying to change the world for the better, one man at a time.
Q. Do you see writing as a career?
A. Yes! I finally got to the point in my life, after burning out in the software industry, after taking a couple of 'What is your purpose?' courses, of being unwilling to not stand up and say that writing is the career that I am going to have.
Q. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
A. I would find a few more wise souls for some intensive feedback before writing the second draft.
Q. What do you see as the influences on your writing?
A. Monty Python - for the subtle power of words, in an obvious way. Douglas Coupland for being successful, urban and proud to be Canadian.
Q. Can you share a little of your current work with us?
A. It's the story of a woman who has found herself over her head in the midst of layers of suspense. She has to figure out what is going on and make some life and death decisions about what she is going to do. The story started out as a kind of 'Run,Lola, Run' meets 'Memento' kind of film and now I am taking the basic story and adding a quirky humour to it.
Q. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
A. Finding the time! With a newborn in the house, my ideal writing time of 8 to 11 am, on the couch, in the semi-dark, is less possible. And I'm not getting the restful sleep I was before!
Q. Who designed the covers?
A. I did, with my wife. I mocked up a cover before I even started writing the book, put some glowing reviews on it, put a 'Oprah Book Club' sticker on it, and put it up over my computer to look at every day. The power of intention. After I finished the book, we took the actual photos in our dining room, had a good friend Photoshop it into something amazing, and voila!
Q. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
A. Marketing it. I am so glad it didn't know how hard the business side of writing was before I started writing. I have easily spent more time on marketing, finding an agent, building a website, than I did writing the book.
Q. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
A. That I could do it. And that means that I can do just about anything, once I decide that I'm going to do it. That has been the biggest learning. I have also dispelled my internal myth that my ideal 'way' of communicating was the screenplay. Writing novels is so much more exciting.
Q. Do you have any advice for other writers?
A. Just do it. Don't self edit in the first draft. Just get it all down, right to 'THE END' and only then go back and edit. Quantity then quality.
Q. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
A. Thanks for reading my book, and I'd love to hear what you thought of it.
Q: Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?
A. I edit. If I can't be forward creative then I do my best to be backwards creative. There is always something to be edited! Either that or I work on the business of writing, the letters, the website, answering questions like this. Or just go for a walk and listen to some music. The muse always comes back, I have learned that. Another great way to get back to being creative is to read - to enjoy what other authors are doing.
Q: How did you deal with rejection letters, if you received any?
A. I got to a point a few years ago where I could finally separate me from my writing and look at any criticism of my writing - my product - as not being a criticism of me personally. That was a huge step forward and outward.
Q: What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?
A. Interesting characters, a good plot and honest dialogue.
Q: How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?
A: Once an idea gets into my head I open up a document in my Palm Pilot and I start writing down any and all thoughts I have about that idea. Nothing is dismissed or discarded. Then I start noticing which of the puzzle pieces fit together and from that comes a plot that I tune into 50 roughly six page scenes. This comes from my screenplay writing where I would create a plot of 50 two minute scenes. After that process, I have a fifteen page, single spaced story. From there, I usually just open up a text file and start writing.
Q: Tell us a bit about your family. Your adoring public would like to know!
A: I met an amazing woman, Shana, in 2004, we got engaged in 2005, married in 2006 and had a child, Maya Grace, in 2007. She has been and continues to be the biggest support in my writing and my life. I also have a wonderful 16 year old daughter, Kalli, from a previous relationship. Kalli arrived early so she could be at the opening of a play I was putting on at the time. We found out that we were pregnant with Maya the day I finished the first draft of '12 Cups' and the first shipment of books arrived the day she was born! I am blessed with daughters who don't want to miss out on what daddy's doing.
