Author Interview: Scott Semegran

Welcome to this week’s free edition of Publishing Confidential. Today’s q&a is with Scott Semegran, an award-winning writer whose book The Codger and the Sparrow was published earlier this year.

Your book, The Codger and the Sparrow, brings two people together in an improbable friendship.  Hank is 65, and Luis is 16. Their initial commonality is that they both got in trouble with the law, but their bond deepened. Tell me what inspired this story.

So, the initial nugget of the idea for this story came to me in the fall of 2020. My wife and I had fallen into the habit of waking up in the middle of the night, probably from the stress of the pandemic. I was sitting on my couch late one night petting my cat (Berri, rest in peace) when I had a vision of an old white man and a young Black guy in a classic car, driving somewhere. They looked like friends to me, not a paternal relationship or anything like that. They were just two dudes hanging out, looking easy and comfortable with each other. So, I started to ask myself, “How are these two friends?” The stark contrast of their outward appearances seemed somewhat comedic. It wasn’t until I dug deeper into their backstories that I discovered what they had in common: their grief from familial loss.

Relationships play a significant role in your books—specifically, friendship between people who, given other circumstances, would probably never meet. Tell me a bit about that—what is your thought process about relationships?

I think relationships are so important. I’ve discovered that blended families can have intense bonds. The friendships—and found families—in my life have been so important to my well-being. When you choose to have good people in your life, your life will be better. But I also believe people have much more in common than they think. I’ve enjoyed exploring odd-couple dynamics in my fiction. Of course, there’s huge potential for comedy, but there’s also the opportunity to dig deeper, see what makes the characters tick, and observe how they can learn to know and appreciate each other.

Something that struck me in The Codger and the Sparrow was that Hank and Luis hit the road to see the women they loved/love. Hank wanted to see his old flame, and Luis wanted to see his mother. Did you envision the story any other way?

No, the story was always about Hank and Luis believing that a better life awaited them in Houston, but everything they needed was already within their reach in Austin. I found it funny that Hank and Luis felt that their arrival in Houston would be greeted with great fanfare by these two women, but these women were happily living their own lives without them, and their arrival was more of a nuisance than a pleasant surprise. I think Hank and Luis were naïve to believe that their “showing up” would be seen as something unique to Nancy (Hank’s old flame) and Carmen (Luis’s mother).

Another theme in the book, at least to me, is second chances and what we gain/lose by taking them. Could you talk to me a bit about that?

It’s a cliché, but it’s true: everyone deserves a second chance. But what can come out of a second chance, if someone truly learns and grows from their mistakes, is an opportunity for a deeper connection with people. When Hank and Luis meet, I feel they truly want an opportunity for a second chance in their lives. Hank had been grief-stricken for so long from the loss of his wife and daughter in a tragic car accident that it was eating at him. And Luis wanted to get to know his mother, whom he hadn’t seen since he was a little boy. But what neither of them realized was that the real second chance was their newfound friendship.

Readers of this newsletter would like to hear about the authors’ writing process. Tell me about yours. Do you outline? Do you set a daily word count?

For this novel and the two I wrote before it, I created a basic outline of most of the main plot points, a rudimentary road map, so I knew the story's overall flow and where it would end up. I like to leave some wiggle room to explore within chapters and discover surprises. Surprises are key because if I’m surprised, the reader will likely be surprised, too. Kurt Vonnegut once said (I’m paraphrasing here) that the most important thing an author can offer a reader is a surprise, and I believe this to be true. I do like to track word count to see my progress, but I don’t have a hard-and-fast rule about a specific word count per day. If I can at least write a few hundred words per session, then I’m usually happy with that. The key for me is to keep a writing routine that I can adhere to as much as possible. I have a specific writing routine that gets me back in the flow: same time of day (mostly), the same few albums I listen to, coffee, maybe a cookie, and an hour or so alone.

Texas is significant in this book (and your other books). Would you ever set a book elsewhere?

I’ve tried, but I always go back to Texas. It’s a large state with many different cities and interesting people. Texas has a crazy mix of rebelliousness and congeniality. Maybe, one day, I’ll write about it somewhere else or create an imaginary world where women’s rights are respected, working people pay less taxes than rich people, immigrants are treated with compassion, public education is valued, and so on and so forth. But, for now, Texas is my setting of choice. I haven’t gotten tired of it yet, or not found inspiration here.

Do any of your own life experiences inform your writing?

My life informs almost everything I write. But the difference from what I’ve been writing about during my late 40s and early 50s compared to what I was writing about in my 20s is vast. I think in my 20s, my writing was more insular and self-centered. I’ve gotten more curious about other people as I’ve gotten older. My last three novels have very little to do with me personally, especially The Codger and the Sparrow, but my feelings about friendship are deeply ingrained in these stories.

You’ve been traditionally published and have self-published. What are some pros/cons of each avenue of publication?

SS: With self-publishing, I learned all aspects of publishing a book: how to typeset, create book covers, deal with editors, and hire graphic designers. I called all the shots, and I enjoyed that aspect of self-publishing. I looked at it like I was a micro-press. But there's still a general lack of respect for authors who self-publish, which is a shame. With traditional publishing, new doors have opened to me, such as opportunities for grants or book awards that didn't accept self-published books. For instance, my publisher submitted The Codger and the Sparrow to the National Book Awards, which doesn't accept self-published books. NEA endowments are also closed to self-publishers. However, many of the promotional tools I use with my self-published books can only be used with my traditionally published book if I control its price. For now, I will continue pursuing traditionally published book contracts and self-publish some books myself. I'm a hybrid author now, as they say.

What do you see as the biggest challenges for authors today?

The biggest challenge I see for traditionally published and self-published authors is marketing and publicity. There are so many books being published every year. So many! Much of the marketing and publicity falls on the author's shoulders, both with self-published and traditionally published authors. Authors are pressured to be savvy social media influencers, which is difficult for many. Most writers I know are not super outgoing people; they don’t want to be out in front of strangers, talking about themselves and promoting their books. I hear many authors complain about this and that they wish that all they had to do was write the book and turn it in, then start the next book, which isn’t the reality these days. I don't mind discussing my books on social media, but it can distract me. I've taken social media breaks recently to focus on my writing.

What is up next for you? Is a new book on the horizon?

I have a book coming out in March 2025, a literary novel-in-stories called Starman After Midnight. I'm also working on a couple of novels I’ll give my literary agent when they're ready, hopefully, next year. I will also be retiring from my day job in the next couple of years, and I want to grab the baton of full-time writer and make a go for it.

YOU CAN PURCHASE A COPY OF THE BOOK HERE.

Original interview was posted here.