Scott Semegran Speaks at the Texas Author Project Award Reception
Accepting my award for Adult Fiction at the award reception for the 2019 Texas Author Project, I spoke about my winning novel To Squeeze a Prairie Dog, about being an indie author, and the importance of local libraries. Filmed at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission on Feb 6, 2020. Video by James Grayson at Grace On Productions, LLC.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udyomqwySPw
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/390316999
Transcript
Good Afternoon!
I would like to thank the Indie Author Project, Library Journal, and the librarians across Texas who chose my novel, To Squeeze a Prairie Dog, as the winner of this award. I would also like to thank the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for hosting this wonderful event.
Even though I am considered an indie author, it takes a team of professionals to help me publish quality books. I would like to thank the fine folks who helped me mold and polish To Squeeze a Prairie Dog into an award-winning novel. They are: Brandon Wood and Lori Hoadley for editing. Andrew Leeper for the cover design. And David Aretha at Yellow Bird Editors for proofreading. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to my novel.
I was initially interested in the Indie Author Project because of their commitment to connect libraries, their hardworking librarians, and their readers to the local writers in their communities, something that I immediately recognized had parallels with the Buy Local Movement. Many of you may be the beneficiaries of the Buy Local Movement, having fallen in love with your local farmers’ markets, independent bookstores, or artisan shows. If you’ve supported local businesses like Alamo Drafthouse or BookPeople or Waterloo Records, then you are part of this movement. With the Indie Author Project and community libraries, what they are telling readers, in essence, is to Read Local. There are hundreds, if not more, excellent indie writers in the State of Texas who are publishing novels, memoirs, history books, and more, that are of equal quality to what is being published by the Big 5 publishers in New York City. If you subscribe to the notion that quality books are only published by these Big 5 publishers, then you might as well say that quality food only comes from big corporations. If you have purchased excellent produce at a farmers’ market or eaten a delicious meal at a local cafe or sipped an exceptional craft beer brewed in your neck of Texas, then you know—without a doubt—that big corporations are not the only place to buy these types of products. Books of the highest quality are being published all across Texas by indie authors like me and Michelle Rene. The Indie Author Project, Library Journal, and libraries across Texas are leading the way in the discovery of these great writers through curated collections. That way, the patrons of libraries know that they are checking out books of high quality. Pretty amazing, if you ask me.
I am very pleased that my novel won this award. I am honored to represent the indie author, fiction writing community of this state which has a great tradition of storytelling. My novel, at its core, is about the friendship between a diverse cast of characters and the camaraderie they share while working in the trenches of state government. What is more appropriate to represent Texas, whose state motto just happens to be “Friendship,” than a novel about the friendship between a country bumpkin, an African-American matriarch, a middle-aged single mother, a manager with a propensity for mischief, and a gigantic young man of Mexican and Japanese descent? Their friendship is the glue that holds my novel together. I also wanted my novel to have a positive ending, and I’m pleased to see it resonate with so many people, which has sent that positivity back to me.
If you would indulge me just a little longer, I would like to talk about the two important women who inspired me to write this novel. I dedicated To Squeeze a Prairie Dog to these two amazing women.
First, there is Margaret Downs-Gamble. She was my English professor during my freshman and sophomore years at the University of Texas, right here in Austin. Before college, I was not enamored with literature. The only pages I burned through were either Marvel comic books or newspaper comic strips. But once I attended Margaret’s classes at U. T., I discovered that I loved great literature and, as it turned out, was quite good at analyzing it. To my parents’ utter surprise, I declared English as my major and never looked back. If someone ever wanted to retrace the steps I took as a writer that got me here today—standing behind a podium and accepting a book award—then those steps would lead back in time to Margaret Downs-Gamble’s classroom at U. T. That’s where my writing career began. And if any of you have had a teacher in your life that inspired you, then you will understand why I dedicated this novel to my teacher: Margaret Downs-Gamble.
Second, many of you may or may not know that most writers have an initial audience of one, that single person that they are hoping to impress with their new story. My audience of one for To Squeeze a Prairie Dog was my wife, Lori Hoadley. She was the one I wanted to impress, to make laugh, and to maybe even make cry a little. When I was first working on this novel, I gave her some vague tidbits about the story. I mentioned some of the characters and what their motivations were. But for the most part, I kept the story close to me. I wanted Lori to enjoy the story without preconceptions. I wanted her to discover the lives of J. D. Wiswall, Rita Jackson, Deborah Martinez, Brent Baker, and Conchino Gonzalez with fresh eyes. When she began reading my book, I was “chomping at the bit” as they say. I wanted her to love my story and love my cast of characters. So, when she finally came to me—a little teary-eyed, a little forlorn—because of what I did to one of my characters late in the story, I knew I achieved my goal of creating a story and cast that my wife loved, that she connected with, and that she cared about. And if Lori felt this way about my cast of misfits at the fictional state agency of the Texas Department of Unemployment and Benefits, then I knew that other readers would feel the same way. Thank you, Lori, for supporting me and being my editor and number one fan.
And thank you Indie Author Project, Library Journal, and the librarians of Texas for choosing my novel as the 2019 Texas Author Project winner for Adult Fiction. I’d like to end my time up here by sharing a statistic that was released recently by a December 2019 Gallup poll. According to the Americans' Reports of Leisure and Activities, “Going to a library” was the top leisure activity for Americans, outpacing “Going to a movie at a movie theater” by almost 2 to 1. Americans go to their library 10.5 times a year, which I find amazing. But we can do better. Let’s try to make it 12 times a year or more. So, be good to each other, read more books, and support your local library.
Thank you!