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An Interview with Mark Pickvet

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Mark Pickvet was born in Pinconning, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He went on to obtain a PhD in History and has written many books, especially on the history of glassware and the State of Michigan, and several works of fiction.



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

It was just a debate between “99” and “100.” 99 sounded cooler, like it was one short. People tend to focus on even numbers; I try to use more 13s or say “112 seconds” instead of “2 minutes” or somewhere between a quarter and a half a mile like a third of a mile or maybe 600 yards.

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

Several choices were offered for the cover, but there was one that stuck out at both my wife and me. Since this is a rather dark work dealing with death in real-world situations, the superimposed skull behind what looks like an eerie swamp with sunglasses that reflect the lit-up crossing gates of a railroad crossing is both clever and eye-appealing. The purplish-violet overtones are nice too, since purple has always been my favorite color.

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

I am a long-published author, primarily in the world of nonfiction. I wrote a PhD dissertation on the world history of glassware and another on the history of the State of Michigan. I had many, many books published in these two genres; nevertheless, history has always been more of a hobby as teaching mathematics and working as a safety engineer have been my primary professions for making a living. This is the first work that builds upon my career as a safety engineer and a little bit of history too—it can be categorized as historical horror fiction given that it explores many ways in which people meet their untimely demise in real world though fictional settings—nothing supernatural here.

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

Teaching and engineering. I do like restoring old cars and have a habit of wrecking them in certain storylines. The very first chapter for instance is about racing a train with a special 2012 Dodge Challenger Yellow Jacket model. The car is totally destroyed in the book, but to the relief of all of my fellow MOPAR enthusiasts, the car is still in my garage safe and sound in pristine condition though I have around 11k miles on it now. You can see a full-color picture of it in the back fold of the dust cover jacket on the hardcover edition of the book. In the paperback version, there’s a black-and-white photo.

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

Though I have been a published author for over three decades, there is always the thrill of seeing a brand-new book in print with your name on it. That never gets old.

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

There’s nothing cute about this book. It’s simply not for the faint of heart, so it’d have to be more of  a hard rock kick-butt track, not necessarily metal. Top 20 alphabetically would be:

1) AC/DC – “Highway to Hell”

2) Aerosmith – “Take Me the Other Side”

3) Black Sabbath – “Crazy Train”

4) Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer”

5) Deep Purple – “Smoke on the Water”

6) Dylan – “Thunder on the Mountain”

7) Foghat – “Slow Ride”

8) Golden Earring – “Twilight Zone”

9) Greenbaum – “Spirit in the Sky”

10) Guns ‘N Roses – “Don’t Damn Me”

11) Led Zeppelin – “Let Me Take You”

12) Limp Bizkit – “Break Stuff”

13) Metallica – “To Live is to Die”

14) Nazareth – “Hair of the Dog”

15) Noise Unit – “Hollow Ground”

16) Rolling Stones – “Rough Justice”

17) Skid Row – “Piece of Me”

18) Smash Mouth – “Walking on the Sun”

19) Stone Rider – “Bad Lovin’ Never Felt So Good”

20) Van Halen – “Ascension”

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

Take safety, warnings, signs, bulletins, and the like seriously—VERY SERIOUSLY. I don’t know if there’s a perfect reader out there, per se, but I did see the book appealing to those who have a sophisticated, morbid, or even a little sarcastic sense of humor…like the end of chapter 2 reads “The shallow water turned red and Matt was dead.”

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

Well, a sequel, of course; I figured I have enough material over the past few decades to write three or four books on the subject. 99 More Ways to Die would be next. When I finally put enough material together to write a manuscript, I found that I had twice as much left to draw upon in the future without much in the way of repetition.

Non-writing projects are cutting brush, digging ponds, chopping wood, restoring cars—got a ’59 El Camino and a ’71 Cuda that need a little work, among others—and trying to live a full, happy life while leaving all of the darkness in what may potentially be the Ways to Die series.

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

The fiction market is a very difficult one to break into. Atmosphere Press provides an opportunity as a hybrid publisher and they are a friendly, competent group to work with. Although you have to invest, and it is a good idea to keep your day job or have another means of support, they will put a quality product out there and perhaps give you a chance to succeed. It’s a long shot to make it as an author, but sometimes you have to start somewhere. Atmosphere will set you up with the editing, cover design, layout, ISBN filing, Amazon or Ingram links (or both depending which way you go), and perhaps a little marketing too.


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