Philip A. Nero
A
professional writer
and journalist,
Philip
Nero grew
up in an era of war,
political corruption
and civil unrest.
His first novel,
Twice Upon a Time,
delivers a surreal
plot line which
takes us back in
time for an
enjoyable read -
while implying that
finding our better
selves now is likely
our best hope for
the future.
A
transplanted New
Yorker, Philip
currently resides in
Wisconsin.
PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow
up and was reading and writing a
part of your
life?
Philip A. Nero:
I was born in the Bronx and, with
the exception of three pre-school
years in Toronto, Canada, was raised
in a Westchester County suburb of
New York City. Reading and writing
became a part of my life, along with
’rithmatic and all the other stuff
they taught in school. I liked math
most at first, but when we got to
logarithms, they scared the hell out
of me. Writing appeared to be among
my better options for trying to earn
a living.
PageOneLit.com: Who were your
earliest influences and why?
Philip A. Nero:
My mother and father because they
fed me, clothed me, and kept me safe
and warm; and my Uncle Danny because
he taught me and my siblings the
importance of a good pillow fight.
If you have to get physical to
resolve differences, pillows are the
perfect weapons.
PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?
Philip A. Nero:
I don’t dance without a couple of
drinks, and I can’t sing or
draw. But I could always string
written words together and had a
pretty fair imagination. I
eventually gravitated to newspapers,
but there is only so much you can do
creatively as a reporter. I think if
I had become a columnist, I never
would have written fiction. You can
get your views on things out in a
column in ways that are more
creativity than reporting routine,
hard news or writing features.
Fiction allows for imagination,
creative, and self-expression. The
only downside is that while it can
be fun and satisfying, it’s a lot
harder than most types of writing,
and certainly more difficult than it
appears. Kind of like a good golf
swing, which, if done well appears
so effortless and simple, but is
anything but. I went to a book
reading recently. The author does
both fiction and non-fiction. She
said when she begins hearing her
muse, she immediately prays aloud,
“Please God, don’t let it be another
novel.”
PageOneLit.com: Who is Col. Ellis
Ellis?
Philip A. Nero:
A figment of my imagination, I hope,
or my publisher and I will need a
good lawyer. As a fictional
character, he represents anyone who
is reflective enough to periodically
question what is, to the extent it’s
been lived, the sum of their life.
And maybe take time to listen
closely to their conscience, not
just turn up the volume in other
areas so they can ignore it. Most
people in that position have to
change their internal selves to
effect change or personal growth.
Ellis feels compelled to change
himself, but in the process gets to
change the events that helped form
him as a person and shape some of
the world around him. Militarily,
there’s a bit of Dwight D.
Eisenhower in him. Eisenhower led
the D-Day invasion and was the only
general in the 20th
Century to become president. He also
coined the phrase
Military-Industrial Complex in his
last televised speech as president.
A career military man and Republican
president warned us about the
dangers of an economically rewarded
war machine. Why can’t we heed the
warning?
PageOneLit.com: Your new
book, "Twice Upon A Time", deals
with 'TIME TRAVEL' which has been a
science fiction staple. Your main
character goes back in time to early
1970, a time shaped by the events of
the late ’60s - Two questions: How
did you decide to send Col. E. Adam
Ellis back in time by way of a storm
and why did you select 1970?
Philip A. Nero:
I chose a setting and a storm to be
my time machine. It was a lot easier
than building one and far more
convincing than proving to readers I
could. Storms already have a
reputation for messing with our
lives. The way the media reports on
the possibility of a winter storm,
for example, almost gives the simple
snowflake superpowers. Mountains
have a kind of mystical quality to
them; and they’re a great literary
image. Combine the two and the
implausible becomes believable, so
long as the reader has at least some
willingness to suspend his or her
disbelief. Why the ’60s? I’m
thinking probably because I liked
the music and hated the war. More
importantly, from a time travel
perspective, they fit the time
frame.
PageOneLit.com: If you could go back
in time - What year and why?
Philip A. Nero:
Nov. 22, 1963: Because it would be
easier to prevent the Kennedy
assassination than going back a few
more years and trying to keep the
Dodgers from moving to L.A. .
PageOneLit.com:
"Twice Upon A Time" deals with the
past and the present, but ironically
flirts with the future. Your plot's
story begins with the end of
Operation Iraqi Freedom -- Did you
sketch your plot or did the story
write itself. Why did you begin at
the end of the war rather than in
present day?
Philip A. Nero:
Operation Iraqi Freedom is over? I
guess I missed that. But if it is,
hip, hip, hooray!!! And I mean that
with far greater sincerity than
anything I have to say about
writing. As for the concept of
sketching vs. something writing
itself, I don’t want to be the next
guy to sing the “Writing is Hard
Blues.” That tune is just one big
cliché. It’s a cliché, however,
because it’s true. Nothing writes
itself. I didn’t sketch it either.
Like I said before, I can’t draw.
But at times I can scribble a pretty
fair plot line. I think that’s the
thread from which you can spin a
good yarn. A novel is just a lot of
good yarn knitted together well. Now
ask me about knitting and I’ll
gladly tell you how difficult it is
for me to do – but it can be fun too, I
hear.
The book was originally written (by
me not itself) after the start of
the first Gulf War during the
administration of Pres. George Bush
the Elder. I was too busy working
and raising my kids to effectively
find an agent or publisher. Ten
years later, my kids were raised and
Emperor George W. Bush the Lesser
started this most recent insanity. I
updated the book and had much more
time and better luck finding a
publisher. The May-December Romance
element became more a March-December
thing, but still works.
PageOneLit.com:
What is it about the science fiction
genre you enjoy?
Philip A. Nero:
I like a lot of what we label
science fiction, but don’t like
labels in general and Science
fiction is one I don’t like
specifically. Primarily because some
people (usually those who to tend to
think they’re more intellectually
evolved than others) turn up their
noses to anything called science
fiction. Their selective vision
can’t see past the high-functioning
robots, advanced gizmos, complex
wow-machinery, intergalactic
incidents, etc., etc., etc. There’s
all kinds of fiction out
there, good and bad, including what
we call science fiction. Some of it
draws more on science than fiction;
some of it the other way around.
Some throws in a range of fantasy.
This book takes a bit of science and
a touch of fantasy, twists them
together to stand things on end,
altering reality just enough to make
for a good tale -- sort of what
Vonnegut did so well. (So getting
back to an earlier question, I guess
you could call him an influence
along with Mom, Dad, and Uncle
Danny.) Science fiction, historical
fiction, literary fiction, any
fiction is an evolving thing, and
generally more evolved than some
people who would routinely dismiss
one form of it over another. When
Slaughterhouse Five came out, it was
put in the science fiction section
of the local bookstore. Today it is
usually found in the literary
fiction section, never too far from
the newspapers, magazines, coffee,
and desserts. Now, if you want me to
come up with an in-between, classy
label for it, I’ll need a little
more time. Brunch wasn’t built in
day.
PageOneLit.com: Does "Twice Upon A
Time" have a political statement? A
personal statement? What do you hope
readers will say after reading your
book?
Philip A. Nero:
The personal and political statement
are one and the same and a little
derivative: What this country needs
is good five-cent alternative to
war. After reading the book, I hope
readers will say, “Hmmmmmm.” After
that, it’s about what they think and
do.
PageOneLit.com: What did you learn
from writing "Twice Upon A Time"?
Philip A. Nero:
Something I would like to share with
everyone. I learned: You know, you
never know.
PageOneLit.com: What's next?
Philip A. Nero:
As far as writing goes, the working
title is A Cure From Cancer; The
Second Coming. It has nothing to
do with curing the disease or the
return of Jesus. Not yet, anyway.
But, you know, you never know. As
far as everything else goes, I have
no idea what’s next. I just hope
that as a species, we humans learn
to do it better and with far less
violence and aggression than we’re
doing it now.
PageOneLit.com: What was the last
book you read?
Philip A. Nero:
I tend to juggle two or three at a
time.
And over
more time than I’ll
admit, I finish about two out of
three. The one I’m deepest into now
is Howard Zinn’s A People’s
History of the United States,
1492-Present. I can’t remember
for sure the title of the last one I
finished. I just hope, given the
fragility of life, it wasn’t the
last one I’ll ever finish.
