BookBuzz.net Interviews "Approaching Twi-Night" Author M. Thomas Apple

Atlanta, GA, August 06, 2015 --(PR.com)-- While promoting "Approaching Twi-Night," BookBuzz was able to sit down for an Author Q&A with M. Thomas Apple.

When asked what inspired him to write his first novel, the author responded, "The germ of this story came when I was engaged in a master’s of fine arts (creative writing) program. I had moved to the Mid-West just after graduating college, having had a fall-out with my father over what now seem like unimportant issues but at the time were incredibly crucial to me. While trying to come up with ideas for a story, I was frequenting a local minor league park with friends about once every two weeks, and at some point it occurred to me to combine a fictionalized version of some of my recent experiences with the story of a minor league ballplayer. But once I finished the draft, and finished the program, I set the story aside for a while. Almost two decades, in fact. In the meantime, I moved to Boston, worked several different temporary jobs, then came to Japan and became an English teacher. Finally, after several years of non-fiction writing, I thought I should go back and try my hand at fiction again. Lo and behold, the draft of my 'baseball' story was discovered, and I set about editing and rewriting my younger-self’s work."

Apple then explained why he hadn't published it before, "Perhaps at the time it was initially written the book resembled my own life too much. Now, with twenty year’s worth of distance, I was finally able to reshape the story and make the characters come to life, keeping that sense of father-son generational conflict but also giving more flavor to the story, and ending it more satisfactorily."

What does he want readers to grasp from the novel? "The plot of the story revolves around the main character who is approaching the end of his career, but is unwilling to let it go and uncertain what he will do once it’s all over," the author said. "Most of all, he is afraid of failing… failing himself, and especially failing his father. Yet at the end, just after he feels he let a chance not to fail escape his grasp, he finally realizes that it is failure, not success, that defines us, and allows for ultimate reconciliation."

When asked what he's currently working on Apple replied, "My work keeps me busy with both teaching and research, but fiction-wise I’ve been working on a science fiction novel, set of novels, really, which has begun to take shape the past couple months. I’m also outlining and starting to do some research on another baseball-oriented novel set in Japan, in the 'corporate leagues,' which are amateur teams owned and run by Japanese companies."

For the complete interview visit http://bookbuzz.net/blog/qa-from-the-author-of-approaching-twi-night/

BookBuzz.net is a marketing company for indie authors, self-published authors, and small publishers.

"Approaching Twi-Night"
By M. Thomas Apple
Publisher: Kinoshita Kijitsu Press
Published: February 2015
ISBN: 978-4905426660
ASIN: B00TI3WVJ8
Pages: 243
Genre: Literary Fiction, Sports Fiction