An Interview with Randall B. Allen

A retired English teacher living now in Florida, Randy is a dinosaur, born during WWII, raised in west central Indiana in the times before computers and electric cars. In fact, his earliest homes had no electricity or running water, no telephone, no central heating or air conditioning. Those were not the good old days, but those are the times Randy prefers to write about. His first book, Growing Up with Grandpa John’s Son, is a 663-page autobiographical tome being used primarily as a doorstop by the few lucky souls who have read it—or read at it. Shoal Bend is a bit shorter, but also autobiographical in that many of the characters are family members. The story events, though, are totally fictitious. When Shoal Bend was released in January 2025, Randy did the same thing he did back in 1966 as he began his teaching career: called his bank and told them to be prepared for a massive influx of cash. His dream of success (or maybe his naivete) knows no bounds.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The book’s title is explained on page thirteen of the book. It was easy. My developmental editor wanted something more elaborate, but I lazily stuck with my simple two words.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

My friends and I have all been impressed with the book cover art. I felt that Ronaldo Alves of Atmosphere Press worked a miracle out of the negligible information I was able to provide. Only a bibliophile like me could feel the swell of satisfaction that washed over me as I held my book for the first time.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I was thirteen when my family got a TV. Until then, and even after, my best friends were books. I still have the short story I wrote in sixth grade. I knew then I wanted to write, but career and family made getting started difficult. That’s my excuse for not writing my first book until I was seventy-two.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

Teaching English and social studies for thirty-seven years has been my only profession. During high school and college and for several years into my teaching, I worked as a grocery clerk, and I knew early on that such work was certainly temporary. Because I never experienced that influx of cash into my bank that I wrote about in my author biography, during my thirties and forties I made up for my salary shortfall by becoming a confirmed “do-it-yourselfer” and repeatedly doing home renovations.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

The most rewarding and meaningful part of the publishing process was the developmental editing. I didn’t like it at the time, but the developmental editor, Megan, helped me very effectively to get the action going earlier in my novel and to make it longer by adding a chapter as well as descriptions of character interactions.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Wow, that’s hard. Maybe “O, Danny Boy” and a hymn or two.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

That’s difficult, also. One thing: well, maybe that nothing else makes a man as good and strong as a strong, solid family unit. My perfect reader appreciates the plot of my book: the rising action, the climax, the denouement; he or she appreciates the character development and the symbolism; he or she is surprised by the twist at the end.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

Currently, I am contemplating a second novel based on a piece of writing my father did about an escapade in his teens. We’ll see…

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

Working with Atmosphere Press has been rewarding. The editors have graciously put up with my occasional bouts of stubbornness and pedantry and complaints here and there. To other writers who want to publish, persevere.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.