Interview with Leonard H. Roller, author of 'Darklight'

Leonard H. Roller was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He holds a BA degree in journalism from New York University, an MA in comparative literature from Columbia University. He has worked as an actor and public relations executive whose clients included such stars as Audrey Hepburn, Kirk Douglas, Joan Crawford, Paul Newman, and others. He’s been a communications consultant for Lockheed, Mattel, and Hilton Hotels and Resorts. He has served as a French translator for the U. S. Army in France, where he spent leave time climbing in the Alps. The author of a communications training text The Profits of Persuasion  (International Resources, 1986), his poems have been published in The Lyric, Pearl, The Storyteller, Deronda Review, Ancient Paths, Snowy Egret, Space and Time Magazine, Thema, California Quarterly, and many others.

His latest book is a book of poetry, Darklight.

Visit his website at www.leonardhroller.com. 

Thank you for this interview!  I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when

you’re not writing?

I read - mostly classics. (I suppose that sounds snobby, but the classics are good!) I try to see the world (not so easy. we fall out of the practice of really seeing things...). I spend significant time being with my wife, who is beautiful and of the tribe of angels, with Tascha, our German Shepherd who is probably more intelligent than I, our cat, Jake, who is certainly more neurotic than I, and trying to understand bureaucrats who may or may not be either.I also like to look at the night sky. There's so much in it...

When did you start writing?

At the age of six. I worte a 5-line Ode to Spring.

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life?

That's a tough one. The first time I realized the beauty and power of words.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

Being retired, I have enough time now, much of it wasted on trivialities, so I'm not sure that 4 more hours would make such a big difference.

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

On a distant planet, inhabited by truly intelligent life.

Back to your present book, (add book title here), how did you publish it?

Self-published through Friesen Press. I was too impatient to run the gauntlet of submissions to traditional publishers.

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?

To faraway galaxies, black holes, the beginning and end of time. The fare was reasonable; i never left my desk.

Why was writing 'DARKLIGHT' so important to you?

I felt the stars needed a spokesperson.

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

From God - that's as good an explanation as any. Most of them just find their way from my heart to my head. Why? If I knew the answer to that I'd either be the greatest poet who ever lived - or I'd stop writing.

Any final words?

The question sounds like what they ask a condemned prisoner before execution. The rest is silence.Oh...buy my book, I need the money.