Interview with AJ Bozeman, author of The Door Behind Me
ABOUT THE BOOK
Kristy Ventura is a teenage girl with the deepest of emotional and psychological problems. From family drama (her mother left her at a young age, and she blames her dad) to constantly starting fights with people, Kristy has a hard time keeping herself in check and out of trouble, and as a result, she lost what she considered her best partner, Violet Wayne. One day, Kristy tries to make up with Violet, but then finds out that Violet was in a completely different part of the globe. From this point, Kristy jumps through a plethora of hoops to get the slightest bit of interaction with Violet. Kristy understands that she must do everything in her limited amount of power to reunite with Violet and get a step closer to repairing her shattered spirit.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This work serves as a debut publication for A.J. Bozeman, an author residing in Minneapolis, MN. A.J. graduated from Hopkins High School in 2019, and was one of two speakers within the ceremony. A.J. is a music lover, ranging from genres such as rap, pop, EDM, indie folk, and house music. A.J. is also a college graduate recently receiving a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in psychology from Metropolitan State University. A.J. has maintained a passion for creative writing from the early age of 12, and this passion was fully realized as he began writing ‘The Door Behind Me’ in June of 2020. A.J. is an avid fan of the 2020 critically acclaimed video game, The Last Of Us Part II, which served as the primary inspiration for this novella.
Kristy Ventura is a teenage girl with the deepest of emotional and psychological problems. From family drama (her mother left her at a young age, and she blames her dad) to constantly starting fights with people, Kristy has a hard time keeping herself in check and out of trouble, and as a result, she lost what she considered her best partner, Violet Wayne. One day, Kristy tries to make up with Violet, but then finds out that Violet was in a completely different part of the globe. From this point, Kristy jumps through a plethora of hoops to get the slightest bit of interaction with Violet. Kristy understands that she must do everything in her limited amount of power to reunite with Violet and get a step closer to repairing her shattered spirit.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This work serves as a debut publication for A.J. Bozeman, an author residing in Minneapolis, MN. A.J. graduated from Hopkins High School in 2019, and was one of two speakers within the ceremony. A.J. is a music lover, ranging from genres such as rap, pop, EDM, indie folk, and house music. A.J. is also a college graduate recently receiving a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in psychology from Metropolitan State University. A.J. has maintained a passion for creative writing from the early age of 12, and this passion was fully realized as he began writing ‘The Door Behind Me’ in June of 2020. A.J. is an avid fan of the 2020 critically acclaimed video game, The Last Of Us Part II, which served as the primary inspiration for this novella.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00This is speaking of writers i'm steve richards.
00:07This is the speaking of writers podcast i'm steve richards the book is the door behind me the author is a jay bozeman his first book christy ventura is a teenage girl with the deepest of emotional.
00:19And psychological problems from family drama.
00:22Her mother left her at a young age and she blames her dad to constantly starting fights with people christy has a hard time keeping yourself in check and out of trouble.
00:32And as a result she lost what she considered her best partner violet wayne.
00:36One day christy tries to make up with violet but then finds out that violet was in a completely different part of the globe.
00:43From this point christy jumps through a plethora of hoops to get the slightest bit of interaction with violet christy understands that she must do everything in her limited amount of power to reunite with violet and get a step closer to repairing her shattered spirit.
00:59This book serves as the debut publication for a jay bozeman and author residing in minneapolis minnesota a graduated from.
01:07Hopkins high school in twenty nineteen and was one of the two speakers at that ceremony.
01:14AJ is a music lover ranging from genres such as rap pop edm indie folk and house music.
01:20AJ is also a college graduate recently receiving a bachelor's of arts degree in psychology from metropolitan state university.
01:28AJ has maintained a passion for creative writing from the early age of twelve and this passion was fully realized as he began writing the door behind me in june of twenty twenty.
01:39AJ is an avid fan of the twenty twenty critically acclaimed video game the last of us part two.
01:45Which actually served as the primary inspiration for this novella happy to have for the first time AJ bozeman join me here on the speaking of writers podcast welcome AJ.
01:56How you doing that was a great introduction thank you for that thank you and a great first book for you here too so there was inspiration from this video game talk about that on the overall story here.
02:08Yeah more specifically i mean the game overall was a very enjoyable experience to play but more specifically within the game was the dynamic between.
02:18Ellie and dina which were the two i guess main protagonist for the game and just taking bits and pieces of their interactions with each other from their romantic moments to their their arguments and how you can really see like how much they love each other resonating through that game.
02:32In the midst of maintaining that relationship there i mean they're pretty much going to the end of the world at that point so them being strong and sticking together through a tough time like that.
02:41So i want to just take that bit of the game and just incorporate it in this story but have it be something completely different i mean in this book it's not like you know the world's coming to an end it's just one party is trying to regain that so.
02:54More specifically that is the main inspiration for this book is the relationship between the two characters.
03:00Speaking of characters how did you create christy.
03:03It was a that was a challenging portion of it i mean at the early stages of the book she actually had an entirely different name there's a bunch of.
03:12Creative detours that i took writing a book this big i mean it's my first time you know diving into something like this so there's definitely a bunch of detours that i took but with creating christy.
03:24It was um i wanted to create a character that is deeply flawed but when as you read and you progress through the story.
03:32You understand why she's so flawed and you get bits and pieces of where you may feel a little empathy or sympathy for her because you know.
03:39Depending on what the readers gone through you may you know understand what it's like to you know be raised in a single parent household or have a parent that may be slightly overbearing but means the best or you know.
03:50Doesn't you have a hard time like managing emotions and making rational decisions which is clear as day when it comes to reading this book is clear as day with christy.
03:59But then you get moments like when she reflects on her first date with violet of her first interaction how violent tends to like you know calm her down or even.
04:08Parts of the book where she guess gains a new parent or guardian and renee and she is also calm in those moments as well so.
04:15It's a mix of creating a character that doesn't have it all together but.
04:21I guess like i said you generate some kind of empathy or sympathy towards them as the story progresses.
04:28I mentioned in the introduction you started writing this book the door behind me during the height of covid in june of twenty twenty was that helpful for you and three and a lot of time like we all did.
04:38Oh yeah that's that's actually kind of one of the main catalysts other than the last of us part two that's actually one of the main triggers for starting the book because.
04:47I just finished my first year of college and i had nothing else to do i had plans for that summer but you know.
04:53Especially in minnesota it wasn't safe to leave the house for reasons that we we are pretty much already understand.
04:59I'm so when i just opened my laptop and didn't really know i didn't even know this was going to be a full on novel at that point i just wanted something else to keep me occupied and keep me focused during the day.
05:12I just opened my laptop and just wrote something i think i finished the first two chapters i think in a week and then after revising it and looking it over i just like what i had and i just continue with it so then i.
05:25Can i put the title can i put the other characters in the settings and and went from there and two and a half years later the book was finished.
05:32Any issues with writer's block during that writing process and if so how did you deal with it.
05:40One hundred percent definitely writer's block occur with the story and it is occurring now as i'm still juggling which story i'm invested in more than trying to.
05:50Continue writing um I would say writer's block is just a part of the process there's no real way I wouldn't say avoid it.
05:57Like anyone who wants to be a writer who wants to you know, excuse me delve into being an author definitely don't shy away from writer's block it's part of the process, so I would just say embrace it.
06:07Even when you get those moments where you may write a full page or full pages gets done or full chapter gets done, even when you just write one word or one line and then you don't touch it for the next few days to a week.
06:17Moments like that you're still making progress you're still getting a step closer to finishing the story.
06:25People always say slow progress is better than no progress, especially with something as big as a book you definitely want to you know savor those moments where okay you wrote one line but it's one line more than you had before so.
06:36Definitely don't shy away from writer's block embrace it it's part of the process and once it's all over it's going to be a very very satisfying conclusion in the end.
06:45AJ as part of the process did you use an outline here and did you know the ending when you started out.
06:54I did I actually did use an outline but the outline is actually it has bullet points that some of the chapters it's kind of accurate but.
07:03It ended up getting I think a good chunk of the ending of the book got changed as I got closer to it, so I did use an outline and i'm happy you brought up.
07:13A different ending because there was a much different ending a much darker ending for the story.
07:18And it was actually going to involve you know Christie finally meeting up with violet and violet finally seeing that Christie wasn't honest the whole way through like seeing that she was lying the whole time about.
07:28You know, changing her attitude and changing her ways, and you know not being so quick to want to get violent.
07:34She basically lied just to be with violence and violence all through that, so it was going to get to a point where violence going to run away.
07:41and just try to get as far away from possible as Christie because she couldn't handle it and.
07:46I forgot how I said it was going to happen, but at the end of the story violet was going to end up passing away as a result of Christie's actions.
07:54And Christie's guilt was going to drive her to basically do the same thing to herself but ends up getting saved by her estranged mother.
08:03reason I did not go with that ending is because throughout this story, you see so many dark patches that Christie goes through from you know.
08:11Finding out that violet is no longer in town getting into it with her dad basically being a runaway and you know.
08:18Seeing the like the friend that took her in her issues with her own relationship as well there's a lot that goes on in the story and I feel like the ending that I.
08:27went with within the story it kind of gives the reader and it gives Christie and it gives everyone every focal character in the story, a bit of a break a bit of a relief, a bit of a.
08:37burden that goes off of their shoulders everyone finds their closure a family gets back together, and you know the relationship may not have went well, but it's healthier for everybody in the end.
08:47And we don't like to give away too much, but any couple three chapters your favorites to write in this one.
08:54Probably the fourth one where it's a reflection of the first time Christie had met violet and they danced around and then I probably would say my favorite chapters of the one that talk about the relationship, the first day, the second day and then.
09:08I guess, probably the chapter that you know Christie finally or gets help to get the courage to finally go overseas, and you know reunite with violet because it's just.
09:18Even as I was writing it, I was getting very excited like I just want to get to the point where they finally meet up like the list let's go let's go let's go.
09:25So hopefully the reader will get that same feeling as well, but it was definitely exciting for me to write those out because you know all this baggage that we've like nine chapters deep, we know the.
09:35We know the struggle, we know the main point that Christie's trying to do and we're finally at that point and we get there and it's like it's about time, so now we can just build off of this so definitely my favorite chapters were the reflection of their first meeting their second date and then when Christie finally meets up with violet again.
09:54Now, I know the story is written out of order, why did you use that technique.
09:58It just felt easier, and it was, I guess it made it, I guess it made the writing process more fun and sometimes it helped with the writer's block, I even got a little bit of advice from you know my dad when I told him about the book because it's just like when an artist makes an album and you see how the album is structured and like how like certain tracks don't order the artist doesn't necessarily you know record they didn't make the songs, potentially in the order that they're put out to the public, you know, like the last track, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's
10:28like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know
10:58it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like,
11:28you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you know, it
11:58I don't actually ever get into writing my own book as an adult. So yeah, this is something that I've definitely
12:03enjoyed.
12:05Did you always know that you were a pretty good storyteller, though?
12:09OK, that's a good question.
12:12It took a while to develop that skill.
12:15I think it was just a matter of me just seeing different ways of how storytelling is done from video
12:21games to music to books and even movies.
12:24I actually had an idea of, you know, kind of like with Marvel and how they do the different cinematic universe type deal
12:30my initial idea and I don't know if I'm still gonna go follow through with it was
12:35Write more create more characters and then bring them all together in the same universe and give them a center plot to do
12:41I don't know still gonna do that because that idea has kind of been done to death and it's not as
12:45Original even though it would be fun to make and it will take a lot of time
12:49I don't know if I I don't know if that vision is still there
12:52But um, I think being a good storyteller took a long time to develop
12:56I don't know when it triggered me to finally go all-in with it. But I
13:00Guess I always had it just didn't know it yet until I started with this
13:05What was the feeling like when you finally completed this and it got published?
13:10totally euphoric totally for it and I
13:14even not even when it got published just getting it done just like writing it, you know, cuz I
13:18I
13:19Didn't really know how I wanted it to stop or how long I wanted to be
13:23It was just a matter of what made sense and where was a good point to you know, stop the story altogether
13:27so and I remember the day I actually finished writing it to and it was an
13:31incredibly blissful feeling
13:34And I just reminded myself even if it never if it never sees the light of day if it never gets published
13:40It's like I have a fully written piece of work in my possession right now that can't be taken away
13:44So that was satisfying enough is just getting it done getting it published was a whole different, you know process
13:50but once it finally happened like for it was um, it was a great feeling so
13:55It was a process. It was a lengthy one
13:58It was sometimes, you know a stressful one, but it paid off and I'm currently back in that process right now
14:05But it's definitely worth it because something came together really special to me. Yeah, I was gonna ask you what's next for you and your writing
14:13I'm currently in the midst of trying to pick which two stories. I'm currently writing or have two
14:20Books or ideas in the works right now. I'm just trying to figure out which one I'm more invested in
14:26Which I probably should dial back a little bit because it's probably making the writing process more difficult than it should be is
14:32being invested in two ideas simultaneously, but
14:36yeah, I'm definitely I mean I even have the copy of the book here with me right now and
14:40I just set it up and I look at it every day before going to work or even when I'm in the house just to
14:46Remind myself like you know
14:48It came it came to fruition it came to life. So truly anything is possible. So I'm definitely gonna
14:54Try my hand at this one more time and hopefully the end result is something
15:00That'll come together and it's better and bigger than this, but we'll see and AJ
15:04What's the main message you would like readers to take away from the door behind me?
15:09Main message from the door behind me. Nothing good gets away. Sometimes patience is stressful. It's tough to have it's
15:17It's hard to do. It's can be annoying to be patient, but it's 100% necessary
15:24Yeah, nothing good gets away just let you know, sometimes just let the chips fall where they may and
15:29Sometimes you do have to be proactive and take action to make changes
15:33But overall at the end of the day, we're all you know, we're all in this life together
15:37We're all looking for the same thing. We're all looking to be at peace
15:40We're all looking to you know, fall in love and have that you know that person you want to grow old with
15:46We're all looking for that
15:47So it's out there. The world's very big. It's a very big place. So if you don't feel like you have it now
15:53Like I said have patience and it's gonna be hard, but it's not impossible. It's definitely
15:59a
16:00necessary tool to have
16:02The book is the door behind me. The author is AJ Bozeman his first book. There it is
16:07It is available get it at writers or public writers Republic comm Barnes and noble calm and Amazon
16:14Calm as well. And if your independent bookstore doesn't have it tell them to get it tell them to order it as well
16:22AJ thank you so much for joining me. Not a problem, man. Thank you for your time. And this is the speaking of writers podcast
16:29This is speaking of writers, I'm Steve Richards