Joe Zagets
Author Interview - Joe Zagets
Author of #AUTHORLIFE
After selling his first thriller novel for six figures, Mackenzie "Mack" Lane quit his job as a journalist to become a full-time author. But now, a few years later, his career is spiraling downward. With each book doing worse than the last, he fears his status as a Boring White Dude is partly to blame.
With his bank accounts dwindling, Mack has to find a way to make more money: his ex-wife wants to send their son to a private high school, and his current wife wants to have a baby. Mack begs his agent and editor to sing the praises of his new novel and do everything in their power to encourage his publisher's marketing team to make the book a bestseller.
But as Pub Day for his fourth novel approaches—without the interviews and publicity he'd so hoped for—Mack knows his book is in trouble. And with it, his career and personal life. Growing more desperate, Mack concocts a risky and more-or-less unethical idea for a publicity stunt. His agent, Wallis Wallace, reluctantly goes along with it—after all, if it works, she stands to gain 15% of his windfall. And if it doesn't work, Mack is the one who will suffer the consequences of being ridiculed and cancelled.
#AuthorLife is a hilarious satire that shows us what can happen when an author gets the wrong sort of inspiration from his dying career…because publishing is a bloody hard business.
Author Interview - Joe Zagets
Author I draw inspiration from:
For the evocative writing and captivating storytelling of her Cal Hooper trilogy, I'm going to have to say Tana French. It truly is a pleasure to read an author who writes better than I ever could.
Author Interview - Joe Zagets | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
On the couch, feet up
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardbacks are beautiful for the jacket art. Paperbacks are easier to hold. I don't read ebooks because I don't want to have to stare at another screen (and holding a book is so viscerally satisfying). And I don't do audiobooks for the simple reason that I can't listen diligently enough to keep my mind from wandering.
The last book I read:
THE EXTRA by Annie Neugebauer
I tore through this novella in a day. Psychological horror in a setting of woods and camping is totally my jam. I'm starting the next book in the series, THE OTHER, today.
Author Interview - Joe Zagets | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer: I'm so enmeshed in the habit now of quickly revising thoughts as I go, backspacing to make corrections without even thinking about it. I don't think I could write anything coherent with pen and paper.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
For sure it's wishful thinking that a dude this cool would tolerate me: Cal Hooper from THE KEEPER by Tana French. (He was also the main character of her two previous novels, THE SEARCHER and THE HUNTER.) Cal oozes strength, integrity, and a very grounded common sense. A retired detective, he protects the people around him, even as he's (mostly) set aside police work in favor of woodworking. He's also a very good Dog Dad.
Author Interview - Joe Zagets | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Very sad person, indeed. Although, being a film director would be a pretty good alternate dream job.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Grunge
Place I’d most like to travel:
Norway
My signature drink:
Protein shake
Find more from the author:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/joezagets.author/
Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/joezagets-author.bsky.social
About Joe Zagets:
Joe Zagets
Joe Zagets is the pseudonym of a bestselling author. He fell in love with the power of storytelling over teen summers spent at the American Ibsen Theater. He went on to write plays, poetry, and essays—while working an eclectic series of jobs at a video store, shoe store, a regional television station, and a public library. When not writing he can be found contemplating how we got here.
