The workings of the male American mind... they have one. Or so Leif Petersen says...

 Boring Author Interview Revisited

by

Leif Petersen

What’s so great about your crap book? (Don't want the boring details, a couple of lines is suffice!)

My book explains the workings of the typical American male’s mind.  That hasn't been done quite like this before.  It's sort of a users' manual in novel form. The male mind works?!

Is it a short book? With pictures of lots of barren deserts?

Amazon.com

Does ‘being a writer’ make you feel like an outsider with normal, everyday people such as your family and friends?

First, my family and friends are not normal, everyday people, but yes, it does, because there is too much sex in it.  Literary sex, to be sure, but I do not think one’s children split those hairs. Also, my wife would be horrified. And my parents are still alive.
This is what pen names are for! 

What do you really think about erotica? Is it the low of the lows for writers?

It’d be easier to answer “when do you really think about erotica” (rather continuously).  Well-done erotica is high art, but lousy erotica is disgusting.

Is there an author who inspires you? Do you think you write better than them? Is your aim to out-sell them?

Yes, John Updike. He was a Harvard boy so of course I write better erotica than he did but no, I will never out-sell him.  He went to Harvard. I didn’t.
 

In the writing world, have you ever regretted anything i.e written your own review (or written a bad review on a competitor's novel), argued on-line, copied someone else's idea?

Hard to say – maybe writing my book?

Don't say that! It sounds unique in its formula.  

How long did it take you to complete your book (from idea to publication)?

My book, published in 2013, is about cheating in a marriage.  The original idea was for it to be about not cheating in a marriage.  That was around 1981, maybe.  Some guys move faster than others.  But it is neither boringly long, nor laborious to read.
Wow, sounds like a labour of love.

Give me the first, middle and end line in your book.

1. As far as he could tell, he had stopped sleeping with his wife on account of dirty dishes in the sink.
2. “Life is complicated, Dr. Wilson – we just keep it sorted out.”
3. “I love you,” he said.

Thanks Leif for allowing us a look into your mind. Thing is, it's a bit lonely and sort of unoccupied in there. Just saying.