The following is a mock interview I did with Oprah to practice for the real thing. (If anyone can let her know that I'm available for an interview anytime I'd really appreciate that.) She thought I was J. K. Rowling for the entire interview, that is because I copied the transcript from her interview with J. K. Rowling. However, this was a very introspective task and if you have some spare time totally worth doing!
Winfrey: So, this is the first time we’ve met.
Duryea: It is but, I have a confession in 2008 I ran a
marathon and my only goal was to run it faster than you ran the Chicago
Marathon. So I feel like I spent 26.2 miles chasing you.
Winfrey: And my producers tell me that your real name is Jo.
All this time I thought you were ‘J. K.’.
Duryea: No, my real name is Judson. I go by ‘J.B. Duryea’. I
don’t know where your producers got that information.
Winfrey: J. K. is -
Duryea: J. B. It is my first two initials. I went with J. B.
because I think Judson Duryea is too weird of a name, nobody is going to pick
up a book with that on it. They won’t know if that is the author or the title! But
J. B. Duryea is a little more intriguing, people would see that and be curious.
Plus I don’t want my first name to get popular, I like it because it is unique
and rare. I don’t want it to become the next Liam.
Winfrey: Kathleen.
Duryea: Close. Katie, that’s my wife’s name.
Winfrey: Jo Kathleen.
Duryea: Judson and Katie, yup. Katie kind of encouraged me
to start writing. And it was my mom’s idea to try National Novel Writing
Month. And I did that while I was deployed to Afghanistan.
Winfrey: And fooled the boys for a while.
Duryea: Haha, no the boys in the office didn’t noticed a
thing. I kept working full days in Afghanistan. But I would spend some spare
time writing.
Winfrey: Not for too long.
Duryea: About two hours a night. I was kind of inspired and
focused, I could bang out 2,000 words most nights.
Winfrey: Yes – and I don’t think the boys have minded.
Duryea: As long as it wasn’t interfering with my work they
wouldn’t care. Probably more likely to make fun of me though. Do you ever find
yourself wondering what life is like in Afghanistan?
Winfrey: Not a bit. When we came – just arrived yesterday –
it was beautiful. Scotland is beautiful.
Duryea: I would love to go to Scotland. The food kind of
scares me but the scenery must be breathtaking.
Winfrey: And the green is greener than anything I’ve ever
seen other than Ireland.
Winfrey: Why did you come here? That you thought would be particularly stimulating
to your creative process. That’s why you wanted to come here? To finish?
Duryea: Honestly, I came here because I wanted to be
interviewed by Oprah!
Winfrey: We have a lot of things in common.
Duryea: I know, that is why I was so excited about the
interview.
Winfrey: First of all you know this is the last year that
I’m doing the Show. I will go on and do other things but when I came to the end
of Hallows – the ‘last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air’, ‘the train
rounded a corner’, ‘Harry’s hand was still raised in farewell’. ““He’ll be
alright,” murmured Ginny. As Harry looked at her he lowered his hand
absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead. “I know he
will”. The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.” When I
came to the end of that I mourned not only for the end of the series but for
you. I cannot imagine what that was like.
Duryea: I have to be truthful here. I never read Harry
Potter. I saw the first movie and thought it was kind of boring. And the kids
were really creepy looking. That is quite a powerful ending though.
Winfrey: I can’t imagine.
Duryea: But my book was a journey of itself. I started it in
Afghanistan. Over the course of November I wrote about 2,000 words a night. It
was a grueling process. Two hours after an 8-10 hour workday, plus working
out, plus getting up at sunrise to talk to my wife on the internet. It was
tough.
Winfrey: What did you do when you finished?
Duryea: Stayed in Afghanistan. I had to stay for another 3
weeks.
Winfrey: Did you know ‘all is well’ was going to be the last
line?
Duryea: No, that’s not the last line. It is the bit about
the laughter and the sea. “And the sharp bird screech at the end of Kaw’s
patented laughter faded into the limitless sky and brought a smile to Jor’s
face.” Did your producers do any of their homework?
Winfrey: And you always knew that?
Duryea: I had pictured the end about one quarter of the way
through the writing process and I just kept writing to that end.
Winfrey: All is well.
Duryea: That is correct
Winfrey: But you know what happens ‘ever after’.
Duryea: So I have two sequels drafted and that kind of ends
the story. But ‘ever after’ is still kind of floating around. I kind of feel
like the characters are a creation of their own and they’re having their own
adventures waiting for me to reconnect with them and see what they’ve been up
to.
Winfrey: Will you?
Duryea: You know being a writer is a funny thing. On one
hand you have your craft. On the other you have a desire to earn money. I don’t
want to have 7 books following the same characters year after year. In order
profit from that you have to have a cult like following. I kind of have to
diversify my portfolio if you will. To answer your question, I will come back
if my novel takes off and readers want to know more.
Winfrey: Tell me: did you ever feel that you had to succumb
to the pressure? Because when you first started – the first one – the world
didn’t know. And afterwards – once the deals are made and the industry and the
entire universe of Harry Potter began I’m sure the pressure was overwhelming at times.
Duryea: It is. No themes parks yet thought. The writing
landscape has kind of changed into something like the movie landscape. In the movie industry
they want source material with a following that will be a guaranteed hit. The
book publishers want you to have a following, or credentials, or any assurance
of success before they pick up your book. They want the next Harry Potter, 50
Shades, Hunger Games or Twilight the same way Hollywood keeps reselling
franchises to us.
Winfrey: That’s such a great analogy.
Duryea: Thank you. I hope I get the chance to share my story
with the world. I would love to see queues of people waiting to buy a hard copy
of my book.
Winfrey: We call queues lines.
Duryea: Yea, sorry I’ve been abroad for so long. Also, I
feel like line is a silly way to describe a queue. Line has a sort of infinite quality
to it.
Winfrey: The line went on and on and on.
Duryea: Exactly. People in queue waiting to get a print
version of my book. I’ve spent the better part of a year trying to get agents interested in my book. But it didn’t work, and I felt a bit of
urgency to get out my book.
Winfrey: And that is when you knew.
Duryea: Yup. I feel like in America our cultural memory is
so short. I don’t want people to forget what Afghanistan or Iraq felt like for
our shared history. I feel as though by the late 70’s we had forgotten about
Vietnam already. I wasn’t around for that, but that's just a feeling I have. Iraq, for example. Some people
are so excited to re-invade Iraq in 2003. And I won't lie I was young and naive and one of them. I grew up watching 'Black Hawk Down' and 'Saving Private Ryan'. War was awesome! But then I found out that it is not. That is why I want to squeeze my book in this ‘inter-war
period’. Hopefully I'll have just a small little impact on the discourse of the nation and its military.
*** Commercial Break ***
Are you excited for the book release! Mark your calendars
November 24th! Tears of Ugh: Part I
*** Commercial Break ***
Part Two
Winfrey: It is the land of bagpipes, whiskey, kilts, and
castles. Scotland is also the land home to the queen of the publishing world –
billionaire mom – J. K. Rowling. I traveled to Edinburough to meet J. K. in the
city where her beloved boy wizard, Harry Potter, leapt from her fantastical
imagination into the hearts of millions. Here among the cobblestone streets and
quaint cafés J. K., then a struggling single mother, wrote the Sorcerer’s Stone
– long-hand, while her young daughter slept at her side. But isn’t it
interesting that in the first book, when Harry is being dropped-off at his
uncle’s, it is predicted – ?
Duryea: I’m sorry to cut you off, but I have a tremendous
amount of respect for J. K. Rowling, single mothers, and authors. But I would
love to talk about my book a little bit too. My focuses on another young man
name Jor. It is the story of a boy charged with stopping an invasion that will devastate all that he knows. On his journey across the continent he'll me ancient spirits, warriors, invaders, bystanders, and most importantly he'll fall in love! And
Winfrey: One day every child in the world will know his
name.
Duryea: Is that a promise?
Winfrey: So, didn’t you know?
Duryea: Know what?
Winfrey: Wasn’t there part of you –
Duryea: That thought the book wouldn’t follow a
‘traditional’ publishing route?
Winfrey: Subconsciously, that knew? Yes.
Duryea: I really didn’t even think about it at the time. I
wrote the book and took it from there. After a little research I realized that
I would have to do this myself. I took one English class in College, so I don’t
think an industry run by English Majors would appreciate someone getting famous
because they banged out a 50,000 word story in a month. I knew it would be doubted by people
looking to put out another best seller. I didn’t think I was writing the
next Philosopher’s Stone.
Winfrey: Philosopher’s Stone which became Sorcerer’s Stone.
Duryea: I did not know that was even the title of the first
book.
Winfrey: Wow.
Duryea: But in my head during the writing process I just had
to get to the end. Then worry about the rest later.
Winfrey: So there was some hint that – the voice had said to
you –
Duryea: Finish, finish, finish. You know what I mean?
Winfrey: Yes.
Duryea: From initial idea to final draft, it was a long
journey. But that was you know, Act 1, or maybe even the prelude. Now comes the
real journey, getting the story out there.
Winfrey: Is it true that it just – You know I’ve heard the
legend is that the story just entered your head while on a train.
Duryea: No, I was in Afghanistan, trying to figure out why I
was in Afghanistan. Everyone has to wonder that at some point.
Winfrey: That is true.
Duryea: I didn’t have a terrible deployment. It was a short deployment also.
Winfrey: Which for you is about six?
Duryea: Yes, it was six months, but there was a month of
pre-deployment training as well. The deployment started and I began to pitch
stories to Katie. She liked them and told them I should write them down. I
never thought that was me. I never knew that I
Winfrey: Was a writer.
Duryea: Yes. I took the safe route in college. I studied
Civil Engineer and was on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. So that paid for most
of my college and guaranteed a job after. It was stable, and I knew I wasn’t
going to be millionaire doing that, but it would mean that I would have a
pretty decent living. And when I got into the Air Force it was a bit of
adjustment. Really the hardest part is figuring out all the different acronyms.
AFPC, AETC, MC, RTB, OEF, OIF, OND, PCS, TDY.
Winfrey: I know. Kooky words –
Duryea: So writing was something that I did purely for fun.
Winfrey: I think the greatest gift the Harry Potter series
has given to the world is the freedom to use our imaginations.
Duryea: I never thought of it like that. I know Harry Potter
really has had an amazing impact on the literary world. I think people are less
scared to pick up a children’s book now. And children are less scared to pick
up a book that might be intended for someone a little older than them.
Winfrey: What about all the criticism that you received from
a lot of religious people who felt that it was too dark and frightening, and
wizardry, and sorcerers, and magic, and all the like?
Duryea: I hope I don’t receive criticism from anyone. I tried to make the story so the people are all good people, but they have intentions that are
not their own. They believe they are doing what is right but they have been tricked.
Winfrey: I love what you said. I read this some place where
you said you were not trying to convert people to Christianity when you wrote
the books.
Duryea: Haha, I am certain I never said that. It is true though that I'm not an
evangelist. It is more of a fear
Winfrey: To be criticized –
Duryea: Right, at the same time though maybe if you’re being
criticized you’re doing something right. Look at the 50 Shades books. I don’t
think you can find one positive review of them, but somehow that is a
multi-million dollar industry. Do they have action figures for that yet? I
don’t know, they probably will soon. I don’t respond well to criticism
either, ask my wife. So, I hope I can maybe talk with them and learn from it.
Either way, I implore all the people reading this and download the book, rate
the book whether you enjoyed it or not, and if you did enjoy it or know someone
that might then please spread the word.
***
The final section of this interview will be released in
December. Between now and then like me on facebook, following me on Instagram,
and tweet me on Twitter!
And don’t forget to download for free Tears of Ugh: Part I on iBooks and Kindle on November 24th!
***
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