Author Interview

World of Writing - Author Interview

Here it is October already and we are closing down the fall garden beds, sifting compost and starting up the studio again. We are thrilled to have memoir author David Pruitt with us today. A shout out to publicist Erin Nicole Conti (with PRByTheBook.com) for connecting us with today's guest.

David tells us that he is "a first-generation college graduate, a licensed CPA, and a first-time author of the memoir: Relative Distance.” David started his business career in an entry-level accounting position before advancing to first CFO, then CEO of Performance Bike - which was, for a time, the largest specialty cycling retailer in the United States. 

David invites our readers to drop by his FaceBook or LinkedIn pages; find his memoir at: Amazon

Q: Why don't we start by having you tell us something about yourself? (use some adjectives here to describe yourself, your life, your work life).

A: While all of us are, at some level, shaped by the community around us, the term “self-made” is best used to describe my story. I was raised in a southern, blue-collar, lower-middle-class, highly-dysfunctional family. My father was physically and verbally abusive and my mother was mentally ill, I suspect schizophrenic. I had two older siblings who eventually became homeless - one of them for over twenty years. Importantly, they’re doing well now.

 

Partially because I was the youngest of three kids and witnessed the struggles of my older siblings (who I love dearly), I managed to pay for college, graduate, became a CPA, and after a few years land at Performance Bike. When I started, we had 12 retail stores and revenue of $40 million or so. Over the next twenty years when I served first as CFO, then later as CEO, we grew to well over 100 stores, $250 Million in revenue, and at our peak employed 2,000 people. Like many who’ve risen into a leadership role, I had my share of professional success. I also had more than my share of failures. Still, I always gave my very best. I left nothing on the table.   

My most important life accomplishment has been helping my wife raise our two sons into good, responsible human beings. One is on his way to being a cardiologist; the other is just getting started in his business career after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill. When your journey provides the foundation for your children to take their lives to a better place – better than where you started – that’s a generational lift. What’s more important than that? 

Q: What are common mistakes authors make (and how to avoid those mistakes)? 

A: I’m going to direct my suggestions to first-time authors with the assumption that writers know how to write - but may not fully understand the marketplace for their book. 

Write something you have an interest in or a passion for. Writing a book is incredibly rewarding but it’s also quite difficult. You have a much better chance of completing the journey successfully if you have an interest or connection to the subject matter. 

Consider the market for the book you want to write. Is there a viable, identifiable, penetrable market for the story you want to tell?

Finally, before you write your book, develop a better understanding of the publishing industry itself. 1.7 million books are published each year, and the odds for a breakthrough are small. Also, understand you may write a wonderful book, but, as a first-time author, your platform (your built-in audience) is critical if you want to gain access and visibility for your project.  

In summary, write your book because you have something important/interesting to say, a passion to say it, a pragmatic trust in your talent, and hopefully a great idea that will appeal to a reachable market. Then get to it with your eyes open, your dreams intact and a drive to succeed!

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

A: I knew I was going to write something by the time I was nineteen years old. I took a creative writing course freshman year in college and wrote a story that my professor liked and read aloud to the class. I enjoyed the work of writing that paper - and the positive feedback I received for my efforts. I was also at a place in my life when I desperately needed someone to tell me I’d done something right. 

A few months later, in my sophomore year, I’d saved enough money to move into the dorms on campus – and, more importantly, to leave my abusive adolescence at home behind. My roommate soon became a great friend and my unknowing therapist. Late one night over a few beers I told him about my past struggles at home - and my ambition to write a book one day.

I just knew it, even at nineteen years old! 

Q: Why did you decide to write?

A: I decided to write because I felt I had something important to say and I’d reached a moment in life when I had time to say it.

After I retired from corporate America, I began to reflect on my life journey and quickly realized it was the thinnest of lines that led me down the successful path I’d traveled. Things could have, and probably should have, gone very different for me. Yet, despite whatever success I’d had, the memories of my difficult upbringing and the associated negative impact on my self-esteem and confidence were (and are) a mental weight I’d carried throughout my life and career. It occurred to me that others might carry that same weight. 

If I could effectively share my experiences in successfully overcoming early abuse and tell a good, powerful story in the process, maybe I could inspire people like me and educate a larger audience about the resultant issues that emanate from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). 

That’s why I wrote Relative Distance.

Q: Did writing this book change your life in any way?

A: That’s an interesting question. 

Because of the subject matter, I’ve had friends and family members ask if writing Relative Distance was a cathartic experience for me. Not so much. 

While I did shed a few tears in the process, the main change in my life from writing the book was the reminder that hard work and persistence can lead to tangible accomplishment. I set out to write a good book and I believe I have.

Yet, the real epiphany I gained from the experience was uncovering numbers that suggest more than thirty million adults in this country have a history of abuse they endured when they were children - be it emotional, physical, sexual, neglect, etc. Sadly, most carry the bitter memories and the complex implications for the subsequent direction of their lives in self-imposed silence. It’s an issue that’s unexpectedly pervasive but well hidden in our society. 

Can a book, my book, impact any of those lives for the better? ...I don’t know - but that’s the change I’m seeking.  

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