New Novel Immortal Explores Vampires, Pixies, History, and a Man Who Lives Forever

Gene Doucette is the author of a new novel titled, "Immortal". It comes out on October 1, 2010, published by Hamel Integrity Publishing. I had the chance to interview Doucette recently. His sense of humor is ever present, even in casual conversation. Doucette's other publications and daily blog reflect his wry observations of the world and creativity as well.

MD: You have a new novel coming out on October 1st, 2010. Is this your first book? And do you write in other formats?

GD: "Immortal" is my first published novel, but two other novels came before it and I've written two since. I've also been published as a humorist with "Beating Up Daddy", "Vacations And Other Errors In Judgment", and "The Other Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook". The first two are collections of humor columns from my halcyon days as an online humorist, and the last is a parody of the survival handbooks that were popular not so long ago.

I'm also a screenwriter. I have a feature script called "Charlatan" that's won a couple of decent awards. It's based on one of the novels that pre-dates "Immortal". And I've had a few short films produced. Before all of that I was a playwright.

MD: How long have you been working on "Immortal"? Did it spring from a short story or other format? Or was it an idea that just "sprang to mind" one day?

GD: It was very much a "sprang to mind" sort of thing. I had an idea of writing from the perspective of an immortal man-the entire book is in first-person-but didn't know much more about the story until I wrote it. I think the first draft took about four months or so. There were rewrites that followed, including a complete overhaul of the ending that happened about two years after it was first "done". That would have been, oh, four years or so ago.

MD: What inspires you to write, in general. Are your driven to get your ideas down on paper? Is it an overwhelming urge to express yourself? Or is it something you pursue for your own enjoyment?

GD: I never thought of it as something that required inspiration; I've defined myself as a writer since I was old enough to string together letters to make words. It's just what I am.

Yikes, that sounds kind of pretentious, doesn't it? I mean, of course I enjoy it. And there is a certain arrogance to any writer that keeps plugging away without much in the way of compensation. You have to believe you're good enough to succeed, even if you haven't yet.

MD: It seems there's a lot going on in this novel - fantasy, a bit of sci-fi, drama, comedy...did you want to challenge the reader? Or yourself? Or is it reflective of your own mind/personality/interests?

GD: For the longest time I was the only reader I cared about, so it had to be something that kept me interested long enough to finish the novel. I didn't set out to create a mash-up of science fiction and fantasy; it just happened that way. And it's certainly a reflection of my own interests and personality.

I delve into a lot of history in the book-an immortal man who's been alive for 60,000 years will have a lot to talk about-and one of Adam's main points is that history was only exceptional in hindsight. That's certainly a reflection of me; I'm not interested in romanticizing the past. I'm also not a huge fan of magic, so while I inserted a lot of magical creatures into the narrative, I didn't bring magic into it. That made it challenging for me, but in a good way.

MD: What training have you had as a writer? Do you follow the "write every day" suggestion?

GD: Um... training? Let's see: I took some writing courses in college, but that was a long time ago. I'm pretty much self-taught. And I don't come close to writing every day. I'm a binge writer, which is what happens when you have kids in the house. I'll write in bursts and then go for long stretches without doing anything. I have been a regular blogger, which I guess qualifies as writing every day, except I never considered blogging that way; it's more like something I do when I'm not writing, if that makes sense.

MD: Do you think it is helpful to attend Writer's Conferences? If so, why? Which ones have you been to? Would you recommend any specific ones? What about Writing Groups? Do you belong to any? Are they worthwhile?

GD: Oh, I'm terrible about this. Would you believe I have never been to a writer's conference in my life? I have nothing against them at all, I just didn't ever find a good combination of accessibility, utility, and funding to get me to one.

I have found my way into the occasional writer's group-like the RI Film Collaborative Screenwriters' Group-but I've always been a solitary writer. If there's something wrong I usually know it.

MD: What was/is the most challenging thing about bringing "Immortal" to life? And to market?

GD: Getting a publisher was a horrific experience. I secured an agent with my first draft and he shopped it to all the major publishers, every one of who agreed that it was highly entertaining and they didn't know how to publish it so they weren't going to. After a rewrite of the ending and a few more publishing declines, my agent dropped me.

I found a publisher on my own two years ago but didn't learn until last year-when the book was originally supposed to come out-that they were slightly less than trustworthy, so I got out of the contract. My new publisher, Hamel Integrity Publishing, is brand-new, and so we've had quite a few "learning experiences" to work through to get to this point. Mind you, this is for a book that has needed no changes since 2006.

MD: What advice would you give to anyone else who wants to become a successful, published writer? (Besides work hard and be persistent). Courses? Degrees? Professional affiliations? Groups? Conferences? Online critiques? Read other books, newsletter, etc. on writing? Blogs, etc. etc.

GD: The question presumes I'm successful... I'm not sure I agree with that just yet.

But all right, the best advice I think I can give is to remember you're there to tell an entertaining story. That may sound simplistic, but I talk to a lot of writers, and believe me, this point can get lost.

As to the rest, my degree is in English but I can't say that's helped me as a writer, more like being a writer helped me get a degree. I do belong to a lot of different groups, but the best thing about hanging around with other writers is that other than my wife, the only people who really understand how difficult this is are other writers. Having someone to commiserate with is huge.

MD: Where can we find out more about your book, your other work, and perhaps read some excerpts from "Immortal"?

GD: My website! http://genedoucette.me for the main blog. Most of my "Immortal" info can be found at http://genedoucette.me/immortal, and if you want to get really fancy, http://genedoucette.me/category/immortal.