Adam Pitluk

Read the review here. 

When did you start reading, and what did you like to read as a kid?

I started reading late in life – consistently in the sixth grade, because I was dyslexic and too ashamed to tell anyone about it. It was finally discovered and I worked with a reading specialist after school and on weekends for a year. My earliest recollections of reading were various practice words from my tutor.

When you were growing up did you have books in your home?

There were always a lot of books, but they looked too intimidating to a kid who couldn’t read. And they smelled funny.

When did you think about becoming a writer? Was there someone who got you interested in writing?

In high school, with my dyslexia behind me, I started reading everything I could get my hands on. When I read Bob Greene’s “Be True To Your School,” that’s when I knew I wanted to be a writer. He was from Ohio and he did it. So it seemed possible. Until I learned that he went to Northwestern, and I stopped liking him.

How do you write? Do you have a daily routine? What’s good about it? What do you hate about it?

I wake up super early, make a pot of coffee, close all the curtains and blinds, keep the room dark, drink the coffee, see my wife off to work, put in some Neil Young, turn it way the hell up, pack a dip, and I won’t stand up or spit it out until I have 2,500 words written.

Any particular story to tell concerning the writing of this book?

Half the people in Quincy, Illinois, wants it to fail. The other half want James Scott dead. That’s some pressure.

What’s some good advice that you’ve received concerning writing? What’s some advice that you could offer young writers?

The best advice I’ve received is also the best advice I can offer. Sam Freedman, my book writing professor at Columbia University, had this to say on writing narrative nonfiction: “If you’re gonna be in, you got to be all in.” And to that I’d add: “It’s not too late to start taking premed courses.”

How did you find the publisher for this book? What has you experience as a publisher been like?

My agent found this publisher for my first book, “Standing Eight.”

What are you working on at the moment?

A proposal about Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

What are you reading?

“Devil In The White City” by Erik Larson and “Elmo’s Potty Time.”