Floyd M. Orr is an unknown
who has led a remarkable life, leading him to consistently write
about various subjects from an
unusual perspective. Born February 22, 1948, in Natchez, MS,
he was adopted as a baby. He graduated from Mississippi State
University in 1971 with a B.A. in Psychology, but due to circumstances
beyond his control, he immediately went into the family business,
which led him into a career in the financial industry. The author's
psychological treatise on each subject he embraces has been clearly
influenced by his thirty years in the money business. Although
much of the author's subject matter was conceived from the mid-Sixties-onward,
he did not fully edit and publish his first book until 2000.
The surface of his first two books (PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM
and KER-SPLASH RECREATIONAL POWER BOATERS GUIDE) appears
to be a homage to gasoline-powered hobbies, but the strong undercurrent
tells a story of America out of its mind and out of control.
Visit his website at http://www.e-tabitha.com/
Pageonelit.com: Where did you grow
up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were
your earliest influences and why?
Floyd M. Orr: I grew up in several small towns in Mississippi,
some of which were incredibly close to some of the most infamous
of the civil rights events of the '60's. I generally consider
the campus of Mississippi State University my hometown: I lived
there 1964-76. I was always a bookworm. I graduated from Black
Beauty to the series of Lone Ranger hardbacks to paperbacks filled
with werewolves and vampires. I have been reading car books consistently
since 1965.
Pageonelit.com: Why did you write
PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM? Tell us about this book.
Floyd M. Orr: I
had always wanted to write a car book like no other, a book filled
with facts and figures, but these would be interspersed with
a 
multitude of hook lines and
catch phrases indigenous to modern American culture. I wanted
to write a book about sports cars in which any American could
wallow, stories of an America only the car nuts know really well.
I have been truly addicted to cars and the car culture all my
life, and particularly with my interests in reading, psychology,
and sociology, I felt that I could offer an unparalleled depth
to the subject. I want Daydream to be the Easy Rider or the Vanishing
Point of car books.
Pageonelit.com: Where did the title
PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM come from?
Floyd M. Orr: I
have been a fan of Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Wolfe for some time.
Wolfe's The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby about
the car culture was the initial inspiration. Vonnegut's travels
through outer and inner space have fascinated me since I read
Cat's Cradle in college, and much of Daydream reveals my Vonnegut
influence. Plastic refers to the fact that Corvette bodies are
made of plastic, and Daydream's subtitle is The Corvette Chronicles.
The Ozone reference comes from an old Commander Cody album title,
and the reader will certainly feel lost in the ozone at some
time while reading Daydream. All of the concepts and cultural
hook lines were originally inspired by my daydreaming as I drove
throughout the vast expanses of Nowhere, Texas.
Pageonelit.com: Talk a little about
your book KER-SPLASH RECREATIONAL POWER BOATERS GUIDE.
Floyd M. Orr: I
have been almost as fascinated by powerboats as I have with cars.
There is very little material on the market about the most common
type of non-fishing, non-sailing recreational boating. I wanted
to compile a lot of information into a small book about family
boating and water skiing. Ker-Splash is a reference book that
is fun to read. The timing of its creation and release is meant
to coincide with the massive changes in the recreational 
boating industry as the result
of economic recession, corporate buyouts, the jet-ski boom, and
the new wakeboard fad. As with Daydream, my entire motive for
writing Ker-Splash was to combine information and entertainment
in an all-new way. Ker-Splash is somewhat more of a nonfiction
reference work presented in a more straightforward manner than
is Daydream. The goal of Ker-Splash was to splash down right
between the 100-page Illustrated Buyer's Guide Series and the
800-page Unofficial Guide Series, offering a comprehensive introduction
to family boating.
Pageonelit.com: What has been your
feedback from readers and book reviewers? What do they say to
you about their interpretations of these books? What do they
like about the book?
Floyd M. Orr: The
most important responses have been when the readers have said
that Daydream is meant to inspire the reader to remember and
fantasize about his own experiences. This is very important to
me because I want more than anything for my writing to be lasting.
I want to bring memories to the surface. Many parts of Daydream
are obscure and vague on purpose. The cultural references are
so numerous and thick that the reader will have to read them
carefully and/or repeatedly to catch all the meanings - and that
was my intent. Ker-Splash was not fully available until April,
2002, so I cannot offer any significant insight into readers'
responses yet.
Pageonelit.com: Tell me about your
publishing experience -- The good, the bad and the ugly….
Floyd M. Orr: I
started writing Daydream in 1984.
Most of that book was serialized in the newsletter of the Longhorn
Corvette Club of Austin, TX, over a period of many years. The
book was, of course, rejected
by at least fifty publishers until the creation of iUniverse.
As soon as I discovered that company on the net, I totally re-edited
Daydream and began a campaign to learn about computer graphics
and organize a group of photos that I wanted to include in the
book. The only downside now is that my intensely researched and
edited fifteen-year project has to contend with the stigma of
being just another POD book.
Pageonelit.com: Are you working on
a follow up? Or something totally different?
Floyd M. Orr: The
third book is my real passion. I just released these two topics
derived from my hobbies for fun and practice. Before I even had
my psychology degree, I had created my own theory of personality,
and I have been sitting on this story for more than thirty years.
Daydream and Ker-Splash are for a male audience in love with
their adult toys. The third book will be about dating and relationships,
and the audience will not care much for motorized toys.
Pageonelit.com: What was the last
book you read?
Floyd M. Orr: I
am currently reading Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints. Ms.
Rice is absolutely my favorite author of novels. I think Queen
of the Damned, The Vampire Lestat,
and The Witching Hour are her best. Before Saints I read the
best general interest car book I have ever seen, Great Cars of
the 20th Century. I read The Unofficial Guide to Cruises 2000
while I was writing and editing Ker-Splash. During past years
I have read many books by Robert Rimmer, Kurt Vonnegut, and a
number of others. I tend to read many favorites twice.
Pageonelit.com: Do you have any hobbies?
What are they? How do they enhance your writing?
Floyd M. Orr: My
hobbies have been intricately involved with my writing. Cars,
boats, motorcycles, psychology, sociology, and computers have
all been my obsessions. The only one that has not entered my
writing officially has been music, and I'm not done yet.
Nonfiction in a Fictional
Style
