Santa Maria was author Mark H. Parsons’ stomping grounds from age 3 until his 30s. About 20 years ago, Parsons and his wife—a notable author in her own right, Wendelin Van Draanen—bought a parcel of land in Pismo Beach, where they built their current home.
“I’ve always lived on the Central Coast. Who wouldn’t want to?” Parsons said in an email interview, to discuss the November release of his new novel, The 9:09 Project.
Parsons hates the idea of summing up his latest book with an elevator pitch, he said, but revealed that it’s a love story geared toward young adults that explores themes of grief and using art to recover from loss.
The 9:09 Project marks the second fiction novel for Parsons, who wrote two nonfiction books and more than 200 articles for national publications before taking on his first fiction novel, Road Rash, in 2015. Parsons opened up about switching to fiction writing and his personal writing method during the recent Q-and-A over email with the Sun.
Sun: As an experienced nonfiction writer, what inspired your crossover to fiction writing?
Parsons: My wife and I share an office—she’s also an author—and I noticed she was having way more fun writing fiction than I’d been having writing nonfiction! So I decided to really make a serious effort with book-length fiction, and I have to say that I absolutely love it. It’s much more satisfying and emotionally involving than writing nonfiction, at least for me.
Sun: What inspired you to start writing young adult (YA) fiction, specifically?
Parsons: YA is a wide-open field these days. You can write about virtually anything you want—important, edgy issues, if you like—as long as it’s done appropriately. And done sincerely. Teens have the best BS detectors! You can’t fool them, regarding the authenticity of your work. Books can be so important at that age. It’s pretty rare that someone reads a book at 40 or 50 that changes their life, but many of us were influenced by books we read as a teenager which have stayed with us throughout our adult lives. And finally, even though YA can occasionally explore dark themes, there’s usually at least some small glimmer of hope in the resolution. Which is more in alignment with my overall sense of life than the “life sucks and then you die” mentality.
Sun: How would you compare your experience writing your new YA novel, The 9:09 Project, to your experience writing your debut YA novel, Road Rash?
Parsons: With Road Rash, when I started I had at least a rough idea as to where I was going for maybe the first half of the book. With The 9:09 Project, I had nothing. I’d just finished another project and still felt the need to write, so the next day I jumped in cold and just started writing, with zero plot in mind. The character and a vague overall vibe came to me, and I just followed the character on his journey.
Sun: I always like to ask authors about their writing schedules. How many hours a day would you say you spent writing while working on The 9:09 Project? And which parts of the day do you enjoy writing the most?
Parsons: Everyone is different, but I generally try to do a few good hours of writing a day—I go until I run out of gas, maybe three or four hours—and then there are lots of admin tasks associated with writing that you can do while you recharge your creative batteries. I like writing first thing in the morning—starting while it’s still dark, if possible, because that gives me the feeling that it’s just “me and my story,” and the rest of the world is asleep. Then I’ll do the admin stuff in the afternoons.
Sun: I read that there will be free cake available at your upcoming book launch (Sunday, Nov. 20) at Monarch Books in Arroyo Grande. May I ask what kind of cake it will be?
Parsons: It will be “delicious” cake. Ha!
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood would like to quote Frodo Baggins in response to the cake mystery: “All right, then. Keep your secrets.” Comment at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 17-24, 2022.
