From earning a living to getting the dog to poop to running for the United States Senate, The Diary of a Nobody chronicles the life of Sparrow, a funny, average man passing an average life.
In addition to Sparrow, you’ll meet The Wife, the cat, the dog, his friend Bonser and his rug rat Matt and Brian, Sparrow’s co-worker at the Doily Delivery Company.The Diary of a Nobody is a real-time novel, updated daily at www.writersshack.com. It begins in October, 2013 and was inspired by a 19th century British novel of the same name. Gaylon Kent, 49, is an American writer. In addition to The Diary of a Nobody, Gaylon has written the novel The Regular Guys and Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir. He also writes the columns The Daily Dose and The Bottom Ten. All of Gaylon’s work is available exclusively at www.writersshack.com.
Q: Please tell us about The Diary of a Nobody and what inspired you to write it.
A: The inspiration came from a 19th century
British novel of the same name. It is set in 1885 and is about an average
British bloke with an average clerk’s job, an average wife and a no-load kid
who just lost his job and moves back home.
I found it completely brilliant, a captivating read, and saw
no reason why I couldn’t produce a funny 21st century version.
The Diary of a Nobody
starts in November, 2013 and continues to this day. It is updated daily at www.writersshack.com and 2013/14 is
available in hard cover and paperback. Succeeding years will be, too.
Q: What themes do you explore in The Diary of a
Nobody?
A: The joys of everyday life. The pleasures of a good
marriage. The futility in trying to get the dog to poop when it’s 20 below. The
thrill and satisfaction of accomplishment even if a billion Chinese couldn’t
care less about your accomplishment.
Q: Why do you write?
A: It is what I was meant to do with my time on this planet,
and I genuinely believe I have something to say and your readers are better off
for having read it.
A writer, any artist, really, must believe this with every
fiber of their being. If I am not writing so you will remember it the rest of
your life, why am I even bothering?
Now, you may or may not remember something I wrote forever
and ever, but I am wasting everyone’s time by not trying. I would merely be
typing.
Q: How picky are you with language?
A: Quite, especially with dialogue. Every word must count,
must move the story forward, must not waste the reader’s time. Naughty words
must fit and be appropriate to the character and circumstance.
This is funny because ages ago I served our country on an
old diesel submarine, the USS Blueback. I
received a Master’s degree in swearing with special emphasis on the Holy
Trinity and I still swear, as a matter of course.
Q: When you write, do you sometimes feel as though you
were being manipulated from afar?
A: Afar, no. Within, yes. Which conceptually is probably the
same thing.
While I hope every single one of your readers goes and buys
my book, or better yet, books, I do not write for money. I write because I have
something to say. So I sit down and write what I feel needs to be said first,
then go and find readers for it.
Q: What is your worst time as a writer?
A: With regards to actually writing, it is when I am tired.
My mind does not produce readable material when it is tired.
Another bad time is right after finishing the first draft of
a novel. You put so much work into it and it was so much fun and now it’s all
over.
Q: Your best?
A: Right after finishing the first draft of a novel!
Seriously, it was so much fun and so much work it is
supremely satisfying to have the first draft finished because now you can look
forward to the fun of polishing and editing it.
As far as actually writing, I prefer to write first thing in
the morning, when the mind is freshly rested and caffeinated.
Q: Is there anything that would stop you from writing?
A: Death. That’s about it. We were all put on this planet to
do something.
Q: What’s the happiest moment you’ve lived as an author?
A: Every day I get to sit down and write what is on my mind
is satisfying. The best is yet to come, however.
Q: Is writing an obsession to you?
A: No, in that I do not let it interfere with other things.
When it is time for dinner, I eat dinner with my wife. When it is time to earn
a living, I do that. When it is time to go and umpire a high school baseball
game, I go do that.
However, if I am not writing I am probably thinking about
it. It never ends. So perhaps the answer is yes.
Q: Are the stories you create connected with you in some
way?
A: Oh, very much so. A writer who does not have at least a
contextual connection with what he writes is not writing, he is typing.
The Diary of a Nobody
is, to a great extent, on my life. I’ve tried to get the dog to poop when it
was 20 below, and I have a funny wife, though I am actually farther along in my
officiating career than Sparrow is, but I’ve been in his shoes.
Q: Sparrow ran for
the United States Senate in 2014. Have you ever run for the United States
Senate?
A: Yes! As Sparrow was running as the nominee of the Minor
Party I was the Colorado Libertarian Party’s nominee.
Sparrow’s campaign paralleled mine closely. We both made TV
appearances and both came in third in a six-person race.
And we will both run again.
Q: How did you like
running for the United States Senate?
A: It was a lot of fun. I had wanted to run for the US
Senate since I was a boy with no guarantee it would ever happen. It was
satisfying.
It is tough to get taken seriously as a third party
candidate, though. More than once someone would say “you know, I like what you
stand for, too bad you have no chance to win”.
Q: Remembering this
is not a political blog, what is your platform?
A: In a nutshell, liberty is the solution to every problem
this nation faces.
Q: Fair enough. Ray Bradbury once said, “You must stay
drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” Do you agree?
A: Yes. There is a lot of reality out there to distract you,
mainly in the form of amusements and other distractions that take you away from
the keyboard.
There are a thousand ways and a thousand excuses to not
write. When I was younger I made every single one, probably twice. Not writing
is the biggest battle a writer faces. Our job is to avoid them. We can only get
ready to write so much before we have to dive in and start putting one word
next to another.
Q: Where is your book available?
A: At my website, www.writersshack.com.
You can subscribe and read my books in a pretty neat-o flipbook format, or you
can by the actual books themselves.
Q: Do you have a website or blog where readers can find
out more about you and your work?
A: www.writersshack.com. The Diary of a Nobody is updated daily
there, and you can also read my other books plus my columns, The Daily Dose and The Bottom Ten.
In past lives Gaylon has been, among other things, a radio announcer and a newspaper reporter, as well as working security at the Monte Carlo and Venetian/Palazzo hotels in Las Vegas and working a Brinks armored truck. Gaylon was the Colorado Libertarian Party’s nominee for United States Senate in 2014, finishing third in a six-person race with a bit more than 52,000 votes. He is a two-time graduate of the Harry Wendelstedt School for Umpires and is an accomplished high school sports official. Gaylon served on an old diesel submarine, the USS Blueback, in the Navy and still like his grandfather, Gaylon C Kent, commands his American Legion post. Gaylon and his wife Marian live in Hayden, Colorado. He is originally from Los Angeles. He enjoys a wine pairing from time to time and is known to not wash his coffee mug.
For More Information
- Visit Gaylon's website.