Glen David Gold charmed an audience of fans of his book, Carter Beats the Devil at the finale of this year's Lamorinda Reads season at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center. The engaging, likeable author couldn't have been more down to earth, illustrating his journey toward completing the book with lots of colorful, juicy details.
"They said make yourself at home, so I brought my dog," said Gold as he first reached the podium. The well behaved, rather large Cocoa just hung out on his leash, napping at times.
Right off the bat he confessed to plagiarizing a story about a goldfish when he was three. Continuing the brutally honest trend were four self-described "very bad" novels in a row starting at twenty-three. "I had been mistaking clever for genius," said Gold. Carter Beats the Devil was born at the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program at UC Irvine when he was in his early thirties. He got off to an encouraging start sharing the first paragraph and early chapters with a very supportive Graduate Writer's Workshop at the MFA program. It wasn't all smooth sailing for the lengthy historical fiction novel however, at one point he took an eighteen month hiatus. He followed that with a job as a receptionist, from which he was fired. Once finally complete, his publication date was September 11, 2001.
The film rights for the story have also had a slightly bumpy ride: first optioned by Tom Cruise, then AMC - The American Movie Channel, then Warner Brothers. Gold reported he just had a phone call the other day that Warner had renewed their option.
Since Carter, Gold has published a novel, Sunnyside, numerous short stories, and screenplays. He'll be teaching at the MFA program at UC Irvine in the spring.
"They said make yourself at home, so I brought my dog," said Gold as he first reached the podium. The well behaved, rather large Cocoa just hung out on his leash, napping at times.
Right off the bat he confessed to plagiarizing a story about a goldfish when he was three. Continuing the brutally honest trend were four self-described "very bad" novels in a row starting at twenty-three. "I had been mistaking clever for genius," said Gold. Carter Beats the Devil was born at the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program at UC Irvine when he was in his early thirties. He got off to an encouraging start sharing the first paragraph and early chapters with a very supportive Graduate Writer's Workshop at the MFA program. It wasn't all smooth sailing for the lengthy historical fiction novel however, at one point he took an eighteen month hiatus. He followed that with a job as a receptionist, from which he was fired. Once finally complete, his publication date was September 11, 2001.
The film rights for the story have also had a slightly bumpy ride: first optioned by Tom Cruise, then AMC - The American Movie Channel, then Warner Brothers. Gold reported he just had a phone call the other day that Warner had renewed their option.
Since Carter, Gold has published a novel, Sunnyside, numerous short stories, and screenplays. He'll be teaching at the MFA program at UC Irvine in the spring.
Reach the reporter at:
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA