AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN HOLT, NOBODY’S MULLIGAN
What’s Nobody’s Mulligan about?
Nobody’s Mulligan is set in a small town in the south called Grace’s Parrish. Our protagonist, Margaret Sullivan, is raised by her maternal grandparents as her father does not contribute to her rearing; more on that in the story itself. She is raised in a very Catholic household by her maternal grandparents, and inexplicably is treated like a social outcast in many settings. Her trials and tribulations, which include a quest to find clues that would give her a better understanding of her mother’s traits and talents, are preparing her for a colossal confrontation with evil that is the culmination of our nation’s escalating depravities, much of which she is unaware of. With death and time confiscated the tormented citizens of Grace’s Parrish know what suffrage is, as evil identifies Margaret as the impediment to global damnation and erupting purgatory. The antagonist, Templeton, who barely graduated college, is possessed by evil that’s been manipulating him through the portal of his own self-declared entitlement. [I’m sure your listeners are already picking people out in their own lives that fit this description quite closely] The end is epic but the price is hefty for everyone – especially the reader!
How did you get the idea for Nobody’s Mulligan?
Nobody’s Mulligan was culminated during a very tumultuous time in my life, believe it or not. I was in the awful process of a dissolving marriage, leaving my children as a result. I was sharing a house with two other people and literally had NOTHING. Everything I had, with the excepting of the clothes on my back and a 15-year-old transportation, I was encouraged to pray the Rosary for guidance.
Having always wanted to write, I had wanted to create something in the line of a crime novel, having a background in law enforcement. But I struggled with a viable storyline. Praying a Novena, I asked, not for the words to generate financial gain, but the words that He needed me to write.
At the end of the Novena, I sat in my desk chair, alone in my bedroom. I remember it perfectly. The only light was the entering the single window from the lamppost in front of the house. I had this epiphany and actually uttered the words, “Ok. Your way, not mine.” It was as if to say that God was telling me, Ok, I’ll grant you your request, but I need this done first. That’s when the first ideas for Nobody’s Mulligan started to materialize.
How did you get started?
It was several months later, mired with near depression, and frustrated at books I’ve read or movies watched that I thought could have been done better, when I blurted out I just need to make time to just write. The angel who is now my wife, told be to just jot some things down right now. So I did. And the first page of Nobody’s Mulligan began to materialize.
How long did it take you?
Start to finish was about two years. I had been working two, sometime three jobs just to get by, but I chipped away at and next thing I knew, a story was developing. Truly a beautiful process. I remember getting to the library as soon as it opened, writing until it was time to go to work.
To anyone looking to write their first novel, perseverance is irreplaceable.
So, you wrote at home?
Actually, the only part of Nobody’s Mulligan that was written at home was the first few paragraphs. I suffer from ADD, very easily distracted, so Nobody’s Mulligan was written in the local libraries in Levittown and Bethpage NY. In all kinds of weather. It didn’t matter. I was on a mission. Drudging through the chilling melted snow puddles – or driving rain – sometimes I’d get 3-4 pages down and other times it was 12-14 pages. The time flew!
Tell us something about yourself
I’m a father of five fantastic children, married and living with my wife and step son in NC. Originally from Long Island. I retired from the sheriff’s department. I’m the youngest of seven, born and raised Catholic, so my value set was faith, school and working hard. During the course of my career, I received many compliments on my ability to write comprehensive reports and had always wanted to just sit down and write for myself. But I have to say that my love for writing was conceived in my high school modern lit class. My teacher was a woman named Othalie Pepper. Fantastic teacher! I will never forget her.
I currently enjoy continuing writing and encourage anyone who is even mildly interested to just sit down and begin. It doesn’t matter what or how you write. Just start. Even if you don’t feel you’re any good at it, just do a little at a time You never know when the next JK Rowling may reveal themselves. And it might as well be you!