I was recently interviewed by Dorothy Thompson of the Virginia Beach Examiner. We discussed the steps and processes that a new author experiences. I hope you enjoy the interview.
Interview with Frank Zaccari, author of 'When the Wife Cheats'
July 17, 2011 - Infidelity is defined by Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition as:
- The fact or state of being an infidel
- Unfaithfulness or disloyalty to another, esp. sexual unfaithfulness of a husband or wife; adultery
- An unfaithful or disloyal act
While this is true, Frank Zacarri, author of the new book, When the Wife Cheats, has a different way of looking at it.
"No disrespect to Mr. Webster," he says, "but infidelity in a marriage is much more than the words listed above. Infidelity can be described or defined as:- The single greatest violation of trust in the single most important relationship (marriage).
- It destroys relationships, marriages, families, friendships, careers, businesses, and reputations.
- It often leads to financial ruin for one or both parties.
- It leaves you with the feelings of depression, failure, betrayal, loss of self-esteem, isolation, worthlessness, intense sorrow, and grief.
- It destroys hope, faith, trust, dreams, goals, and plans.
In an interview, Frank talks about his new book and why he wrote it.
Thank you for this interview, Frank. Can you tell us briefly what your book is about?
When the Wife Cheatsis about a family, father and two young daughters, discovering then coping with and ultimately surviving the lies, deceit, betrayal and abandonment of infidelity. It is based on a true story.
Why did you choose your particular genre?
I was writing from a terrible personal experience. I wrote the book When the Wife Cheats at the recommendation of family/grief counselors. The counselors told me this was the first generation in the United Stateswere the wife/mother was leaving the family. They added there is little to no data regarding the impact on the family particularly daughters since men are not willing to talk. They said writing what occurred would help my daughters validate their feelings.
Do you ever experience self-doubts with your work?
I had a tremendous amount of self doubt. The first was based on the fact that I never wrote a book before. I had no idea if I could do it or how to go about getting a book published. Since I didn’t know what I didn’t know, I self published the book. Once the book was published there were the doubts about if anyone would even buy the book and now my doubts revolve around how best to promote the book. It is a great deal of work, but I am enjoying the adventure.
Where do you write? Do you have a favorite place?
Writing When the Wife Cheats was a very emotional experience. My youngest daughter was still living with me at the time and I did not want to upset her while I was writing the book. I also wanted to be completely available for her when she wanted to talk or vent. So on the nights when my emotions would not let me sleep I would get up, go into the extra bedroom and write the book. When the Wife Cheats was largely written between the hours of 1:00and 4:00in the morning when my daughter was asleep.
What kind of research did you have to do during the writing process?
As the word about my wife’s affair and leaving the family made its way around our community, a strange thing happened; male friends and acquaintances told me how sorry they were and shared a similar experience. I was shocked. I had no idea so many men had been victimized by infidelity. I thought I was the only man who was so terrible that my wife not only left me, she left our entire family. I knew something was terribly wrong with our marriage, but I had no idea what it was and my wife was not forthcoming with the reason.
As I heard more stories, I started to see a pattern, some common threads in all the stories. I decided to write this book about infidelity from the man’s and children’s perspective. It is based on actual situations told to me by many men who went through the devastation of their wives’ infidelity. Their story and mine were woven into one story.
Who is your publisher and how did you get accepted by them? Did you pitch your book yourself or go through an agent?
As I stated earlier, When the Wife Cheats is the first book I ever wrote. Since I didn’t know what I didn’t know, I self published the book.
How are you promoting your book thus far?
Not knowing what I was doing, I took three steps to help promote When the Wife Cheats.If you could give one book promotion tip to new authors, what would that be?
The first was website, however I had no idea how to accomplish this task. I used Intuit and created the website myself which is called www.frankzaccari.com.
Second, believing I needed a professional review of the book I contracted with Pacific Book Review. The review can be found at http://pacificbookreview.com/When-The-Wife-Cheats.php.
Third I also contracted with Pacific Book Review to create a book trailer which can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqPOm5WHr-E
Finally, I was introduced to Charles Barrett from the Barrett Company who has been very helpful scheduling radio show interviews and various blog reviews. It is a great deal of work, but I am enjoying the adventure.
The one piece of advice I would share with aspiring authors everywhere is
Don’t take NO for an answer! You are going to hear NO far more than Yes.
What’s next for you?
I wrote a second book named From the Ashes: The story of the Universityof Washingtonvolleyball program.This is a true story which chronicles how proper leadership and business management principals helped in turning UW’s volleyball program from a disorganized, losing system to an incredibly successful, elite program.
I am finishing my third book named Inside the Spaghetti Bowl. Like many of the “baby boomers” my family recently faced the difficult task of burying our Mother. This is a book about family and unconditional love through the good times and bad. It is about a family who is and always will be there for each other no matter what. We hope you see your family in this book and the memories make you smile.
