Tell us about yourself.
The elements present in MJ Politis’ works that define them can be best described as humanistic comedy, drama and satire with a unique cerebral edge. Along with being thought provoking, they speak to common experience of struggling people trying to make the world a better, more enlightened and Alive, big A, place. Premises are often unconventional utilizing unpredictable and intricate plotlines to tell stories about complex characters with many internal contradictions. A large portion of the works utilize historical settings which relate situations that we encounter today, as well as being authentic to descriptions of life which we don’t experience in the 21st century. A common but not always present theme in the books and films is…’revolutionary’. Rugged individualists trying to do and implement the right things in a dead, dying or corrupt world. Central characters in stories penned struggle with intensity to make the world a better place, often against ‘too cool to sweat’ and ‘cool to be cruel’ antagonists.
Due to his previous career as a highly prolific senior level research neuroscientist, lecturer and veterinary clinician, many of the story themes are biomedical or deal with issues regarding how science serves, and (when done irresponsibly) doesn’t serve us in the tradition of fellow docs who became writers such as Anton Chekov and Michael Crichton. Stories about Revolutions are heavily represented because of his dedication to initiating and maintaining positive social change that is healthy as well as sustainable. Tales about the Wild West, the Wild East (Russia) and Greece represent a substantial portion of his writing due to his ancestry as well as having lived the first portion of his 73 year old life in the Big (Crab) Apple as a masochistic workahollic and the second half in rural Western Canada owned by horses, who he continues to work for, and with.
Author, 76 novels/novellas. Dir/Writer 25 plus films. Samples, links, award/festival/distribution history on MJ Politis, Ph.D., D.V.M., H.B.A.R.P. (human being aspiring Renaissance person)
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
Grew up in metro NYC, at age of 30 got research lab of my own site unseen in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Spent and, to some degree, squandered 17 years there, and moved further West to Kamloops, BC to direct a movie, and have been there ever since. Becoming unemployed for the first time when the lab I was working in at Albert Einstein Med School in the Bronx drove me to start writing fiction, inserting cures for and observations about the human condition into story rather than scientific papers. Moving to Saskatchewan as a masochistic workahollic who thrives on intensity forced me to put myself into other places through writing stories, and later on, making films. The need to cure and awaken the collective human soul led me to trying to change the world through art rather than technical science.
What was your journey to getting published like?
Rocky. I play to the story, not the whims of a fickle audience. Tried many routes, and discovered that I was not a 90 percent like everyone else and 10 percent quirky but 90 percent weirdly insightful and on a good day with the right people 10 percent understandable and liked. From the beginning, just as it was when I was a research scientist, I write faster than the 'systems' can publish and distribute. Had some successes getting commissioned to write books and make films, and acceptances from publishers. But there are too many stories inside of me and too many ways of telling stories too wait…and wait…and wait….for the few gatekeepers who are functional to get them out to the world.
What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
A therapist who helped me develop as an artist and functional human at the beginning stages of the writing stage of my life, regarding one of the books that all thinking readers connected to (The Telenkovian Experiment). "This won't do it for you (to be popular in the commercial mainstream world), because the main character is too human.'
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Not to overquote the commercial—Just do it! Expect the process to be hard, and exhausting, but it is a GREAT kind of tired. Listen to critics, but do not obey all of them, thinking that they are all right…A camel is a horse designed by committee. Be original, burrowing from others but NEVER directly copying. Do not expect or spend all of your time trying to get rich or popular, but instead strive to be truthful. A harder thing to do than it sounds. But more rewarding than you can ever envision.
What’s a fun fact about you that your readers might not know?
Yes, that 'f' word which to me is bypassed so I can get to Bliss. The fingers, for me, are smarter than the head. I am doing my job as a writer if after completing a chapter, something happens on the page that I didn't plan. And…I look at it afterwards saying to myself 'who wrote this, not me because I'm not that smart'. Said from a universe I feel myself transported to that is (like Tralfamador) a dimension that I was always in, am in, and always will be in. We are transformed by writing and transform the world, now and in the future.
What’s your guilty pleasure book or genre?
Gotta love those ETs, particularly if they double as Greek gods such a Promethius, riding horses. And…biting satire that holds NOTHING back and leaves NO sacred cows in the pasture unexamined, or vicariously dissected.
What’s your favorite quote about writing?
{From 'The world according to Garp' for books—'Writing is writing, publishing is timing'
When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
Making films. Riding horses. Doing veterinary work (to pay for the former two endeavors). And…sleeping, hopefully learning what to write when I awake.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Interesting Q. Honestly, do not remember. The (as some would say) happiest part of my life occurred after puberty.
What has inspired you and your writing style?
The need to enlighten, excite, educate and evoke humor as well as pathos. Rule of threes incorporated into sentence structure in prose as it is used in setting up punchline for verbal comedy. Suppose as well, reading and absorbing 19th century literature written by intensity driven authors which (like this sentence here) involve long, compound sentences rather than bullet point 'one verb, one noun, one object' motifs which are becoming, tragically, too popular. NOT—-See Spot run. Jane sees Jack. Spot bites Jack. Jack bites Spot. Jane laughs at Spot and Jack.
How do you deal with negative reviews?
Depends on who it from, and what genres/themes they like and are conditioned to. You don't ask a romance novel lover to assess your horror Western novel. Or vice versa. Negative comments are considered but not automatically implemented because those delivering those comments are 'hip, cool, and connected'. You can't please or serve everyone. Yet, we try, as best as we can.
How do you connect with your readers?
I write the books and make the films. With regard to the latter, film festivals and various outlets (broadcast stations, streamers, etc). As for the former, I put them on website(s), ask a few trusted people for comments. I admitedly suck at publicizing myself or the work. And am uncomfortable with applause. I live in an isolated town in an isolated province in a (relatively) isolated country.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing…After completing part three in Henry and the Wolf Doctor (described below),…not sure. Something NOT contemporary or about animals. OR…something my film/book publicist says is most sellable. Maybe a script, and maybe a book. Not sure.
Are there any Easter eggs or hidden messages in your work?
Probably more hidden messages than I intend. Even if some characters have sociopolitical values that I disagree with, I like reveal WHY they have those values.
How do you approach writing dialogue for your characters?
I try to envision them visually and hear them, based on people I know or people the world knows. But they are composites, speaking differently than any other character in the books, with actions that are unique as well. Their metaphors are unique to them. They often think and feel things that are different than, or contradictory, to what they say. For all of them, I have an understanding of their past history, not all of the elements of such being obviously related.
If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
Please consider all of the books I write and films I make. You won't connect to all of them, and YOU are the ones who know better what you will like/connect to than I do, or ever can do.
MJ Politis, Ph.D., D.V.M., H.B.A.R.P. (human being, aspiring Renaissance person)’s Author Websites and Profiles
Website
MJ Politis, Ph.D., D.V.M., H.B.A.R.P. (human being, aspiring Renaissance person)’s Social Media Links
Facebook Page
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.