IndieView with Diane Wald, author of My Famous Brain

It was inspired by a person I met many years ago — a person who, like Jack, had a very high I.Q., could memorize enormous amounts of reading material, and was struggling to cope with a serious health problem. 

Diane Wald – 9 November 2021

The Back Flap

“My brain was famous, but I was not. Not every gifted child invents a pollutant-free fuel, paints a masterpiece, or finds the cure for cancer,” Jack MacLeod tells us. “Some of us just live out our lives.” Jack died in 1974; now, he’s ready to narrate his story from beyond the grave.

Jack’s prodigious memory, which allows him to memorize books, and his penchant for psychic connections give him unusual insights into the events of his past life and make him fiercely curious about his current state of existence. Jack immerses us in interconnected tales of his childhood participation in a research study on the intellectually gifted, his dual career as a clinical psychologist and university professor, his participation in the unmasking of an unscrupulous colleague, his long-term health issues, his brief but life-changing love affair with a student, his deep friendship with another man, and his eventual acceptance and celebration of the circumstances of his fate. How Jack dies, and how he deals with the murder of someone close to him, mirrors how he has lived and grown, and marks the significance of everyone and everything that ultimately brings him to yet another level of brilliance.

About the book

What is the book about?

Although deemed a genius, psychologist Jack MacLeod, who passed away from a brain tumor in his forties, never became famous. In My Famous Brain, Jack narrates his life story from beyond the grave—relying on his intelligence and prodigious memory to gain haunting insights into the struggles and relationships that shaped his existence.

When did you start writing the book?

I started it more than twenty years ago, but it lived in a box in my study until about three years ago when I got brave enough to take it out and revise it.

How long did it take you to write it?

Well, if you count all the years it lived in a box, then more than twenty, but I guess I would estimate about four years all told, because the revisions were extensive.

Where did you get the idea from?

It was inspired by a person I met many years ago — a person who, like Jack, had a very high I.Q., could memorize enormous amounts of reading material, and was struggling to cope with a serious health problem.  I created a fictional character somewhat like him, and created a fictional life for him that suited my goals.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I wrote and rewrote the last few chapters several times, needing to get them just right.  It took a while to hit upon the one event that set the ending in motion; then things went smoothly.

What came easily?

Not much, really! I’d only written one other novel and wanted to be really careful about what stayed on the page.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

As I mentioned, the main character was based on a real person, but almost all the other characters were either composites or newly minted.  They served to illuminate the main character, so I had to create roles for them.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Of course, there are lots!  I love Edith Wharton, Henry James, the Brontës, and a million poets (my first writing love, before fiction).  Now that I’m writing fiction, I want my sentences to flow as well as, say, Wharton’s do.  Of course I’ll never be that good, but I try!

Do you have a target reader?

I aim for a wide readership, but I’m especially interested in people who are intrigued by the psychological/parapsychological aspects of life.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

Once I really get going on something and am truly interested in it, I just write as much as I can in every sitting.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

So far, I’ve not outlined, or have done so very loosely and only on parts of a project, but I think in my next book, I will.  It’s a different kind of story.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

Both.  Once I’ve finished a day’s work, I’ll usually go back over it a few times before moving on.  And then there’s extensive editing at the end.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

Nope, no music. I love music, but when I write I like everything to be really quiet.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

I spent a year doing that.  I got lots of good feedback and a few whole manuscript requests, but nothing came of it.  Mostly I heard things like “we really like this, but literary fiction is a crowded field…or doesn’t sell…etc.”

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I just got tired of waiting.  I’m not young, and I didn’t want to spend years and years at the mercy of agents and contests.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

I went with She Writes Press, which does a phenomenal job on every level, including the cover.  They are superior.  Plus, you get access to a whole community of women writers.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I hired a publicist.  Unless you’re really hip to the whole crazy book-biz, I think your book risks going completely unnoticed unless you do this.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Do your best research on the presses you are considering.  Then, go for it!

About You

Where did you grow up?

Ramsey, New Jersey

Where do you live now?

Just outside of Boston.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’m big on animal welfare and veganism.

What are you working on now?

A novel about a woman who commits a sort of a crime, but doesn’t get caught.  She is also a bit psychic.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of My Famous Brain from Amazon US or Amazon UK.