Featured Interview With Louis K Lowy
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
A former firefighter, I sometimes feel as if I jumped from the fire into the frying pan when I took up writing as a means to fulfill my passion to create characters and worlds that I longed to inhabit or longed to avoid. I also play bass guitar, though not as frequently—something’s gotta give when you write.
Originally from Pittsburgh, I moved at a very young age with my parents to South Florida and have remained here. I have two grown children. I live with my wife and our terrier, KC.
I am a recipient of a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, my work has appeared in, among others, New Plains Review, The MacGuffin Magazine, The Chaffey Review, and the anthology Everything Is Broken. My first novel, Die Laughing, is a humorously dark sci-fi adventure set in the 1950s.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As a child growing up I loved, loved comic books. I accumulated more than 10,000 (and yes, I still have them!) This evolved into a love of books — anything from J.R.R. Tolkein to Sinclair Lewis and Charles Dickens. I play bass guitar and wrote song lyrics for the many original bands I played in. Story writing came later, after I left the fire department and I cut back on playing, mainly because I enjoyed writing so much.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My range is wide open. I love everyone from Jane Austen to Stephen King. I gravitate toward sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural but anything that is well written and engaging I’m always happy to read. Favortie authors include the two previous mentioned ones along with James Joyce, Ray Bradbury, Charles Dickens, Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty and on and on.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My first novel, Die Laughing was released by IFWG Publishing. As I mentioned earlier it is a humorously dark sci-fi adventure that takes place in the 1950s. It is the story of Las Vegas funny man, Sam E. Lakesside, who is abducted by shape-shifting aliens and their leader, a power-hungry mobster, and forced to participate in a plan to rob the earth of it’s oil.
Sam recruits a black-listed comic book writer and the mobster’s ex-girlfriend to fight back. This leads them to New York City and the Steve Allen Show, where Sam is forced to choose what he wants most in the world — to be a star — or the planet’s survival.
IFWG just re-issued the print and e-book version. They added new font and tan, pulp-like paper to the hard copy to give it a 1950s feel. They also corrected a few typos that bothered the heck out of me and, (dare I say it?) allowed me to tighten up a few passages.
My forthcoming book, Pedal, is a women’s fiction novel. It is scheduled for release by Assent Publishing in spring, 2015. Pedal tells the story of Joanne Brick, a single, 49-year-old elementary school music teacher who is fired and struggles to reclaim her life back through bicycle racing.
I wanted to create a realistic, contemporary story with an everyday, middle-age heroine, and where the stakes take on a greater significance beyond itself. I also thought the theme of change and how ordinary people deal with it was an important issue worth writing about, particularly in these times of economic uncertainty.
I hope Pedal will inspire women and men of all ages to overcome life’s turning points.
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Thanks so much for the interview, Vinny! You guys are — well — awesome!
I stumbled upon “Die Laughing” and really enjoyed it. Found it hard to put down at night. Looking forward to Louis K Lowy’s next novel. Now I’ve got a new author to follow.
Thanks for your kind words!
Talk about a well-rounded character– a fire fighter, guitar-playing writer who writes women’s fiction. Now that’s an author to read!
Shucks, thanks Sue, you’re making me blush…