DAVID LAWRENCE
Author of the IN THE SUBURB OF POSSIBLE SUICIDE

Tell us a bit about yourself – something that we will not find in the official author’s bio?

I am a ranked tennis player and ski racer.  I boxed on television and championship cards. I have a Ph. D. and was the CEO of a large insurance company.  I rapped three albums and wrote a jazz album.  Every major magazine has written articles about me. I starred in a movie at the Sun dance Film Festival. I have published one thousand poems and several hundred articles.

Do you remember what was your first story (article, essay, or poem) about and when did you write it?

My first book of poetry was “Living with Mirrors” in 1974.  It was written with my wife.

What is the title of your latest book and what inspired it?

“In the Suburb of Possible Suicide” is my latest novel and it was inspired by my lost adolescence in Great Neck.

How long did it take you to write your latest work and how fast do you write (how many words daily)? I write about five pages per day. 

I started this book in jail for tax evasion and wrote and rewrote it during the next 25 years while writing other books.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I write almost every day. I do a lot of my writing in a small office at Gleason’s Boxing Gym.

Is writing the only form of artistic expression that you utilize, or is there more to your creativity than just writing?

Sports are my other form of creativity. I find boxing very creative. I write songs and rap.

Authors and books that have influenced your writings? 

As I get older I am influenced by no one.   When I was young I would imitate everyone. Now I dive into myself and find my personality. When I was young I liked a lot of the European writers.

What are you working on right now? Anything new cooking in the wordsmith’s kitchen?

I am working on a book of poems about death and a novel about my business failures.

Did you ever think about the profile of your readers? What do you think – who reads and who should read your books?

Sad people should read my books. Also early middle aged people who are finding themselves.

Do you have any advice for new writers/authors?

Write every day and let the words dictate the theme to you.

What is the best advice (about writing) you have ever heard?

Follow the words.

How many books you read annually and what are you reading now? What is your favorite literary genre? 

I stopped reading because I am 72 and want to use

all my time for writing.

What do you deem the most relevant about your writing? What is the most important to be remembered by readers?

I am sensitive, humorous and off base.

What is your opinion about the publishing industry today and about the ways authors can best fit into the new trends?

I am what I am and don’t wish to imitate any other writers. My other books.  Published poetry books are “Lane Changes” (Four Way Books), “Living on Madison Avenue” (Future Cycle Press) and “Dementia Pugilistica” Turtle Bay Press. He has also published “Blame it on the Scientists” (Poetry Chapbook), and memoirs, “The King of White Collar Boxing” (Rain Mountain Press,) and “On Jail: The Essays” (Prison Foundation.)  I signed a contract with Eyewear Publishing in the UK for the poetry book “Broken Paragraphs.”