Ken McGorry has been writing since third grade. (He learned
in first grade, but waited two years.) He started a school newspaper with
friends in seventh grade, but he’s better known for his 23 years as an editor
of Post Magazine, a monthly covering television and film production. This
century, he took up novel-writing and Ghost Hampton and Smashed are examples. More are in the
works, like the promised Ghost Hampton
sequel, but he’s kinda slow.
Ken lives on Long Island with his
wife and they have two strapping sons. There are dogs. Ken is also a chef
(grilled cheese, and only for his sons) and he enjoys boating (if it’s someone
else’s boat). He has a band, The Achievements, that plays his songs (try https://soundcloud.com/ken-mcgorry).
Back at Manhattan College
(English major!), he was a founding member of the venerable Meade Bros. Band.
Ken really was an employee of Dan’s Papers in the Hamptons
one college summer, and really did mow Dan’s lawn.
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About the Book:
Lyle Hall is a new man since his car accident and spinal
injury. The notoriously insensitive Bridgehampton lawyer is now afflicted with
an odd sensitivity to other people's pain. Especially that of a mysterious
young girl he encounters outside a long-abandoned Victorian house late one
October
But the world now seems surreal to the formerly Scrooge-like
real estate lawyer. Lyle’s motion in court enjoining the Town of Southampton
from demolishing the old house goes viral because he leaked that it might be haunted.
This unleashes a horde of ghost-loving demonstrators and triggers a national
media frenzy. Through it all strides Lyle’s new nemesis in high heels: a
beautiful, scheming TV reporter known as Silk.
Georgie Hall’s own troubles mount as a campaign of
stationhouse pranks takes a disturbing sexual turn. Her very first case is
underway and her main suspect is a wannabe drug lord. Meanwhile, Lyle must
choose: Repair his relationship with Georgie or succumb to the devious Silk and
her exclusive media contract. He tells himself seeing Georgie’s epitaph was
just a hallucination. But a few miles away the would-be drug lord is loading
his assault rifle. Berto needs to prove himself.
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Thanks for this
interview, Ken. Can we begin by having you tell us about yourself from a
writer’s standpoint?
Thanks for talking with me! Hmm…I
wrote my first fiction in third grade – a rip off of “Big Red,” Jim Kjelgaard’s
Irish Setter adventure, boyishly reimagined by me with a black Lab and poachers
in the Great Northwest (available for feature film option!). Started a school
newspaper in seventh grade with friends and made a little money! Much later,
spent about 23 years as an editor/writer for Post Magazine, a monthly covering
film and TV production. During that time I dabbled in scriptwriting (I’m an
insomniac) and that finally morphed into novel-writing: “Smashed,” (out in
2017) and, out now, “Ghost Hampton.”
When not writing, what
do you like to do for relaxation and/or fun?
Fun…fun…well there’s golf. It’s
time-consuming, expensive and frustrating, but at least I know where I stand
(in a sand bunker). Also, I actually work out in a gym. And I’m a songwriter:
https://soundcloud.com/ken-mcgorry. And have a great band!
The Achievements record with me and perform occasionally and we have two new
songs coming out soon.
Congratulations on
your new book! Can you give us the very first page of your book so that we can
get a glimpse inside?
Sure:
1. Rush Hour
It was the roadwork on Montauk
Highway that made Lyle Hall get the electric
chair.
Since last winter, he’d made do with the self-propelled
kind—his daughter Georgie called it the “Mr. Potter model.” To Lyle, it
said temporary. A new electric wheelchair with high-end options would
say permanent.
At 55, Lyle was not ready to say that.
He’d made good progress over the spring and summer, strength-training his upper
body. A perky female physical therapist came to his house in Bridgehampton
twice a week; a tattooed trainer guy beat him up on Fridays. Lyle had the
stretchy resistance bands and a rack of light dumbbells in embarrassing
lavender in the living room. Dangling in the dining room doorway was the
“Torquemada”—a sling-like contraption he used to hoist himself up and perform
certain torturous routines.
Any strain or discomfort he felt
was north of his L4 vertebra. Lyle had no feeling from the lower back down,
since killing Elsie Cronk with his stupid Hummer last October. Almost a year
now.
Each week he journeyed to Southampton
to the spinal-injury clinic where they worked miracles. Lyle fully expected
them to make him their next miracle and the team there was so positive and
effusive that they kept the dream alive. As professionals, they didn’t hold
Elsie Cronk against him, but they knew. Everybody knew. Even though Lyle and
Elsie and an old duffer walking his dog were the only witnesses, they knew.
With
his SUV piled up on the War Memorial at Bridgehampton’s main intersection,
windshield spider-webbed and red, the first-responders, busy trying to free the
elderly lady from her big old Ford, initially pronounced him dead. Lyle had a
bona fide near-death experience and was comatose for two weeks. But few really
cared. Elsie was the tragedy. Elsie had been on her way to her son’s 50th
birthday party.
Lyle Hall lived.
Would you say it’s
been a rocky road for you in regard to getting your book written and published,
or pretty much smooth sailing? Can you
tell us about your journey?
Oh, it’s been part rocky road, part
Sisyphean task, with some treachery and some miracles sprinkled in. Literary
agents and traditional publishers felt that my central character was too
unlikeable, especially for female readership. I decided that, in the age of
“The Sopranos” and “Breaking Bad” etc, I wanted a challenging, memorable guy as
my lead, saying, “This ain’t ‘Father Knows Best’!” I finally got what I wanted
by self-publishing and one of the “miracles” is, readers love Lyle Hall! I’ve
been a frequent guest at book clubs, which primarily comprise women, and get
tons of online feedback from appreciative readers who enjoyed the ride with
Lyle.
If you had to
summarize your book in one sentence, what would that be?
A controversial lawyer’s discovery
of a haunted house sets a quiet Hamptons
hamlet on its ear.
What makes your book
stand out from the rest?
It’s reality based, even though
it’s a “ghost story,” and it’s funny. (There’s comic relief as Lyle’s neighbors
align against him; plus Lyle is kind of humorous in his own way.)
If your book was put
in the holiday section of the store, what holiday would that be and why?
Well how long does Halloween last?
Can I get five weeks? Not a bad Christmas gift either! Then there’s Groundhog
Day!
Would you consider
turning your book into a series or has that already been done?
Well, yeah! I’m struggling to get
the time to get two sequels up and running. They are presaged in this first
volume (one reason why it’s 450 pages). The coming titles are: “Ghost Hampton Harrier” and “Ghost Hampton Tomb.” And
this first “Ghost Hampton” has been optioned for a feature film (which could be
exciting)! And I’m trying to put finishing touches on my standalone earlier
novel, “Smashed.” Oh, and then there’s something out there called “Stranger on
the Shore.”
What’s next for you?
A nap. Mind if I stretch out right
here for a bit? Thanks. Thanks very much…
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