Chanticleer 10-Question Author Interview Series with David Calloway – Historical Fiction, African American History, Slavery & the Civil War

CHANTICLEER 10-QUESTION AUTHOR INTERVIEW SERIES

with Award-Winning Author, David Calloway

Hello friends, we have another fabulous interview for you today.

In 2024, David Calloway took home the 2023 Chanticleer Grand Prize in the Goethe Awards division for his fascinating novel, If Someday Comes. Here, he tells us how he was inspired by his own family’s history to write If Someday Comes and the subsequent heights it is now reaching! Take a minute or two and get familiar with David to learn more about his ancestors’ amazing story. You won’t be sorry!

Chanti: Your writing is very personal. What drove you to tell your family’s history?

Calloway: The heart of my wish to write and to tell my family’s story was to record for the coming generations the stories I heard from the old folks as I was growing up. I wanted to preserve the struggles, hardships, and triumphs of my ancestors’ American lives.

I think I always wanted to write, but put no real effort into it early in my life, as I was filled with self-doubts about my ability. Eventually I would overcome my inertia through the feedback and encouragement of close friends and family. In my professional life, I was in the motion picture and TV business, first as a cinematographer, then as a director, and then a producer. From day one, I read every screenplay – all revisions – and watched the words come to life on the screen.

Slowly, I learned what worked to tell stories economically, so some story sense came by osmosis, some by study, some by practice. I took story structure classes, studied Robert McGee. I read Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott and On Writing by Stephen King. I talked with working writers about series and story arcs, plotting, character, and foreshadowing. I also attended writer workshops, retreats, and read other successful novelists.

Chanti: When did you finally feel you were an author and add that to your extensive resume?

Calloway: The day I opened the box that brought the proof copy of If Someday Comes! Up to that point, there were many moving parts, the manuscript, the proof reading, the cover art, the endless formatting. Here in my hand was a real book, something anyone might buy. Unbelievably, it had my name as writer on it. It’s been published for many months, and I still find it hard to introduce myself as an author.

Chanti: Your ancestor’s story is so compelling. What genre best describes your book?

Calloway: If Someday Comes is historical fiction, closely based on the true story of my great-grandfather’s life during the American Civil War. I grew up knowing where people were during that period, but their exact relationships were lost in time, so I filled out the characters and created the tone of the plot as I went. Comments from the old folks like “he was a nice man” are not enough. It’s hard to avoid retroactively applied values to those times, and I’m sure some of my twenty-first century “I have judgement” slipped in there somewhere, but the goal of getting his story into a book was my true goal.

George Calloway

Chanti: How did find the information you used to fill in the background of the story?

Calloway: I read historical accounts of the period and subject, then added in my family’s tales of the past. I also created an outline of events for the story, and I used incidents I read about in books, letters, and newspapers for inspiration. The motivations of people never change for as far back as written history will allow us to see. Well-worn are the old trials of the human condition, and how often do we quote the Romans and Greeks on sex, greed, love, and jealousy. And of course, my own feelings on the same subjects.

Chanti: That’s a rich way to develop both character and story! How do you approach your writing day? What is your routine?

Calloway: “Sporadic” is my routine. I’ll write for several days, then none, then return to the page, then realize I need input, then read more history and other people’s work, stare at the blank screen, castigate my own procrastination, remind myself that no one is going to read this if I decide to cut it-so don’t worry. Then I despair that none will read the book anyway, convince myself that I’m hungry and a snack will get me going. I’ll check my email, take my dog for a walk, and then have lunch with old friends whom I’ve convinced my book is going great.

Ad infinitum.

Chanti: What about writer’s block? How do you handle it when the words just won’t come to you?

Calloway: Staring at an empty page with no ideas popping is tough. I write whatever comes to mind. It may have nothing to do with the book, or it may have a connection later on in the story. Some days are two sentence days, some are two-page days. I concentrate on my rights as an editor and will change or eliminate any thoughts, so I just jump right in.

If I’m really stuck, taking a walk helps. I leave the phone at home, as I find stepping away from it resets the brain. Sometimes I imagine your main character with walking with me. And the phrase “I’ve got to sleep on it” is a maxim I refer to often, because problems are solved and ideas are generated by whatever part of the brain is working at night. It’s an approach that work for me… sometimes.

Chanti: Those are great pieces of advice for breaking out of a block. Beyond writing, what sort of marketing tips do you have for authors?

Calloway: Online ads are the only strategy that has worked for me. Spending lots of money in trade magazines has been a complete bust. I advertise on Amazon and Facebook. Set a budget and see how it works for you. Even so, It’s a struggle. Contacting public libraries, local papers, community clubs (Rotary, Elks, Chamber of Commerce) help – they always need luncheon speakers. I also make a point of being available for online book clubs and chats, and I have a website that has book reviews, awards, and links to other websites. www.IfSomedayComes.com. And I always encourage readers to write reviews online. It really helps others to decide to read the book.

Chanti: What is your next project? Another story about a member of your family?

Calloway: Yes! I am working on my Grandfather James’ story as historical fiction. He was born a slave in 1860, and grew up to become a surveyor and farmer. James and his brothers – all graduates of Fisk University – worked for and with Booker T. Washington in the building of Tuskegee Institute. James ran the farms and also taught farming. He was Tuskegee’s representative sent to Washington, DC to lobby for land grants to help finance the school. Later, James was hired by the German government and traveled to Togo to teach cotton farming.

Chanti: Who are the perfect readers for If Someday Comes?

Calloway: The book is a story of family, both before and during the Civil War. It highlights the close relationships between owner and slave, and as was so often the case, is about one large family separated by race and class.

The story includes the good stuff, like love, courage, ingenuity, as well as the bad stuff of violence, cruelty, famine. Everyone suffered during the war; but remarkably, George (my Great Grandfather) kept everyone alive on both sides of the color line.

It will be a book for anyone interested in the Civil War, the experience of slavery in East Tennessee, and the relationship of whites and blacks in the South.

David Calloway was born in Chicago and grew up in Palo Alto and Berkeley. Calloway holds an MFA from UCLA in Film Production. His first job was as an Editor, progressing to Cinematographer, then a Producer of features and television. He is a member of the Producer’s Guild, the Director’s Guild, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Calloway is a Director on the board of the Angel’s Gate Cultural Center and on the board of the Offshore Racing Outreach Foundation.

Calloway lives and works in Los Angeles, California. You can find out more about David Calloway’s writing on his website.

If Someday Comes available on Amazon in print and Kindle, and as an Audible book.