Growing up and coming of age. It’s something
everyone has to deal with at some point in their lives. For some people it
comes naturally as they age and for others it comes as a requirement due to an
event in their life. The latter is the case of Matt Derby a typical college
senior faced with growing up and finding himself. Derby is the main character
in debut novel, Boarding Pass by
local author Paul Cumbo. Below is a Q&A with Paul about Boarding Pass, his background, and his
inspiration for writing his first novel.
Who are you?
I’m a Buffalo guy and an English teacher at
Canisius High School. I was born in the city, grew up here, and have lived here
most of my life, except for a few years in the DC area. I live in North Buffalo
with my wife and son.
What’s Boarding Pass
about?
Thematically, the novel is about a guy coming
to that scary moment in his early twenties when he figures out that it’s time
to grow up…for real. It’s a coming-of-age story, but it’s also about defying the
assumptions we make about ourselves and others. It emphasizes how formative our
teenage years are, even though we might not see it at the time. Oh, yeah–and there’s
a lot in there about family, too, especially fathers and sons.
Why did you write it?
Because I’m a teacher. I’ve looked out at
classrooms full of kids–all boys in my case, since I’ve taught at two all-male
prep schools for the past twelve years–and I’ve wondered what kind of men
they’ll become. It’s so interesting to see where people go in their early
twenties. Sometimes they’ll wind up exactly how you predicted; other times,
they’ll defy all expectations–either for good or bad reasons. Personally, I
struggled to figure out who I was at that age. I think most people do. I wanted
to write a story about that time in a young person’s life. I feel like a lot
has been written about teenagers and thirty-something’s, but not as much about
those tenuous years of the early twenties.
What is your intended demographic?
Boarding Pass might appear to be a young
adult novel, but it really isn’t. Much of the story is the main character’s
flashbacks to his sophomore year at boarding school. However, it’s a frame
tale–meaning those flashbacks are set within the central plotline, which is
about the same character at age twenty-one. I think the book has appeal for
teens on up, but for different reasons. Younger people will likely relate to
the immediacy of the high school and college experience, whereas older readers
will probably have a more reflective, maybe nostalgic perspective about those
times in their own lives. While the protagonist is a guy, and the story is
unmistakably told from a male perspective, many of my most enthusiastic readers
have been women. Several have remarked how much they enjoyed a glimpse into the
male psyche.
Why did you choose to self-publish?
There’s been a lot of press lately about
changes in the publishing industry, including a recent piece on NPR. When I
started working more than ten years ago on the story that would become Boarding Pass, I had big, dreamy aspirations
of a contract with a major company, just like many undiscovered writers do. But
the truth is, the publishing world has changed, thanks to the Internet. Self-publishing
just makes sense now. There’s a degree of independence that is hard to match,
not to mention a surprisingly lucrative royalty schedule. Of course, independence
also implies a financial investment, not to mention several other hurdles. Thorough
editing is expensive, time consuming, and ultimately, humbling. I had to revise
Boarding Pass after realizing I’d
allowed some embarrassing, silly typos into the first limited printing. I
decided to form my own small business, One Lane Bridge Publications, to use as
the publishing imprint of record, and produce the book using Amazon’s
print-on-demand service, CreateSpace. So far I’ve sold my entire first-run
print inventory, and online and e-Book sales have been brisk.
Where is the book available?
It’s in stock at Talking Leaves Books on Elmwood and Main
Street, and I encourage readers to support those local businesses. If you
prefer to buy online, it’s available on Amazon and through my website, http://www.paulcumbo.com where you can find
a link to the book on Amazon. I’m happy to sell copies directly. I love meeting
readers in person, so you can email me at onelanebridgepublications@gmail.com
to arrange a purchase in the area. I also do complimentary visits to book clubs,
reading groups, or classrooms to talk about Boarding
Pass, or just writing or self-publishing in general. The book is in stock at Rust Belt Books on Allen Street.
Is it available as an eBook?
Yes. It is available for instant download for
$9.99 from Amazon’s Kindle Store. You can read it on just about any device
(e-reader, iPad, tablet, or even a regular PC or Mac) using the free Kindle
App.
Are you working on another book?
Yes. Two, actually. the first is a collection
of short stories. The second is nonfiction–a series of travel essays and true
stories drawing from my experiences in different parts of the world, including
the Dominican Republic, Nepal, and Nicaragua.