Click here to browse our fantastic gallery of FREE or hugely discounted novels

Interview with A J Knauss, author of Room Four

image

image image
In declaring Room Four one of the best Indie Books of 2012, the Kirkus Review described it as “The laugh-out-loud tale of how a hapless accountant endures a three-day coma in the company of another soul in limbo, observing the gritty, often bizarre goings-on of an inner-city emergency room.”

Here we interview the book’s author.

Tell us about Room Four.
The jacket summary follows:

It’s just after Christmas and Alan Fries, hapless accountant, wonders why nurses with antler hats are hovering over him. He endures a three day coma stuck with only Jerry for company, an 87 year old crank who died in the same room earlier but is waiting for someone to sign the death certificate. Jerry and Alan becomes dead flies on the wall of an aging Chicago hospital and observe the staff…the doctor who leaves his sperm sample in the work fridge, the veteran nurse putting the kibosh on an intern’s crush, the holiday hamfork injuries and the various nutcases who file through the ER doors. When they uncover a billing scandal and the truth about the corrupt CEO who is bankrupting the hospital they get to work. But can they put the proof in front of the eyes of the living in time? Can they save the hospital before driving each other crazy? Will Alan get resuscitated and start the bucket list he never had? A grouchy, laugh-out-loud, heartwarming tale of how tough love shines through the crustiest exterior.

What genre is it?
Comedy, in a bureaucracy-skewering, slightly paranormal way.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Fans of Kurt Vonnegut , Nurse Jackie, Joseph Heller , and Six Feet Under.

How long did it take to write?
Just over a year. And then another year to edit. And gather rejection letters from agents. But when the second agent who read the whole manuscript sent back a letter that to paraphrase said “I love it, its quirky, I wouldn’t know how to market it” that was when I went the indie route.

What was the most challenging part of your creative process?
Keeping my archetypes from becoming stereotypes. I’ve been the idealist intern, I am now a (slightly) grizzled veteran doc, and I have many patients who are grumpy old men. But I didn’t want to make any character one-dimensional along those lines.

You’re a doctor? Tell us more about yourself.
I’m a practicing emergency medicine physician in Milwaukee. I’m also an Army reserve doc. Prior to all of this, I bred praying mantises, sold shoes, was a security guard, and waited tables through many years of school. Like my characters in ROOM FOUR, I often wonder if the long arm of bureaucracy could extend into the afterlife.

Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?
www.ajknauss.weebly.com.

Where can we buy Room Four?
Through Amazon ( US, UK), Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and most other on-line book sellers.

What’s next?
I am working on a sequel-of-sorts as well as a different project entirely and whichever one wins the race to get outlined will become the next real project. And lately I’m trying to help a lot of people with the flu feel better in the ER.

image image

Leave a Facebook, Google+ or Wordpress Comment

Loading Facebook Comments ...

One Comment

  1. Pingback: Interview with Dom Ossiah, author of Leonard Bliss and the Accountant of the Apocalypse | Indie Author Land

Leave a Reply