We are honoured to work with as many authors as we do at Pegasus Publishers – each with their own stories to tell. Their worlds are singular, their characters are relatable, and their creativity truly knows no bounds.

This is Author Life, a feature on the Pegasus Blog, that opens the door to each of our author’s creative process and previous literary experience, offering you – the reader – an opportunity to learn a little about the mind behind the novel.

Meet Elijah Rice, author of the humorous collection of musings, The Incredibly Strange Thoughts of Life.

What are the three most important things you have accomplished, aside from publishing a book?

I find it difficult to separate my greatest accomplishments from publishing books, since some of my proudest moments all relate back to writing and the work I've done to get published. So, while it may be a cop out, apart from publishing “The Incredibly Strange Thoughts of Life”, I have to put self-publishing my comic book near the top of the list. Creating a comic was something I have dreamt of since I was a child, and while that is still publishing, it has to be there.

I'm proud of the work I accomplished in the culinary field. Though I never rose to the rank of chef, nor owned my own restaurant, I look back at the work and feel very accomplished, especially starting as a dishwasher, and eventually running my own line. I'm proud of pushing myself to try for the harder jobs, never stop learning on the job, and get to a point of full confidence inside of a kitchen having never attended culinary school or stepping foot in a professional kitchen until the age of 19. I think that is an accomplishment worth celebrating.

While this third accomplishment may seem strange, it remains an important personal experience to me- traveling to New York City on my own for the first time. For context, I grew up in small-town Maine. At that point, I had travelled to Boston a couple of times, but these were all curated group trips. So, for me to step out of the Port Authority bus terminal, into the bustling nightlife of Manhattan was an incredibly overwhelming experience. After all, I’m just a homeschooled white boy from Maine, and this was a blast of stimulation like no other. But, in spite of my overwhelmed senses, my heart pounding in my chest, and the growing fear of the unknown, I walked forward and embraced the city head on. Now, I love NYC and try to go whenever I can.

In your own life, what influences and inspires you to write?

Living inspires me to write. Doing new things, meeting new people, watching movies, traveling, or sometimes just walking down the street and grabbing a cup of coffee. My mind is a free flowing river of thoughts and ideas. I can’t help but imagine things as I move through life. My brain is constantly spinning scenarios of, “what if that happened?” and then I think, “well, this is what would happen...” which, in turn, leads to “and how would those people react?” And before you know it, I’ve got a story, or a funny thought floating around in my head all because I looked up at a building, and imagined what could be going on at the top floor. Sometimes, I have too many thoughts, but then it’s my job to take the jumbled mess of ideas in my mind and focus them into something at least half-way coherent.

Which book or author has had the biggest impact on you, and why?

I mean, technically speaking, my answer has to be The Bible. I grew up in church, my mom used to sit us down and read it to us every day from when I was a small child into my teen years. I used to be in Bible quizzing competitions that required me to memorize portions of The Bible. So, from a purely objective standpoint, it’s The Bible.

Now, if we remove The Bible from the equation, my answer feels almost as basic, but To Kill a Mockingbird has remained my favorite book ever since I first read it. I think I was at the perfect age when I first read it and it’s message still rings true for me. I still believe in fighting for equality and justice for those who don’t have the privilege to automatically receive it.

How would you summarise your book in as few words as possible?

It’s a window into the mind of an over-thinker, set in the framework of humor instead of catastrophe. At its core, it’s about the human mind and all the amusing musings you have in a day.

What were your first experiences with writing?

My first experience with writing began before I really knew how to read. I would draw out little stories on paper and staple them together. Once I did start learning to read and write, my staple-bound picture books grew in sophistication with dialogue such as “I hat u” and “I luv u.” This series of books involved a mad scientist who loved a girl, but she loved someone else, so the scientist invented a giant death ray and killed his rival. But, this only made the girl hate him more. This all culminated in my five year old self’s magnomopes “The Broken Heart”. I recall asking my mom how to spell the title, but none of the dialogue.

In your opinion, what are the key ingredients for a good story or novel?

For me, the key ingredient to a good story is relating to someone on a human level. Even if the character has an existence that I could never comprehend, like being born to wealth, living in another country or time period, it doesn't matter, as long as I can feel them and understand them on a human level. Even a character who is a murderer, there are still ways to make the reader see the world through the killer’s eyes. So, even if you despise them, you understand them, and that draws you into the character and makes you invested in the overall story.

How long do you spend writing every day?

I would like to say something like: “I sit down and write for at least an hour every day”. But, that would be a lie. Sometimes, when inspiration strikes, I can go weeks or months consistently sitting down and actually writing every single day. However, most of the time, I sit down in front of my computer staring at the empty page and draw a blank. Or, I sit on the couch and look over at my office door and think: “I should really be writing right now”. More often than not, I go through my day, have an idea and think “hmm, that’s interesting, I should really write that down”, and then I don’t. I feel I write my best stuff when I’m not trying to force it, so I typically only write on the days that come with the overwhelming urge to write. When I get that feeling of “I have to get the idea down”, it almost seems as if I’m possessed by an idea, so much so that the idea takes control of my body until it’s at least somewhat fleshed out on the page.

How long did you spend writing this novel?

From start to finish, I took a year to write this book, which was a self-imposed deadline. The first book I ever wrote and published, I spent years writing, rewriting, and tweaking. Much like my first book, The Incredibly Strange Thoughts of Life, it isn’t a narrative, it’s a collection of comedic observations. So in theory, you could write it forever and never be done. So, going into this project, I knew that I needed a hard deadline to get the work done, and I stuck to it.

What was the most challenging part of writing this book, and what did you learn from writing it?

Whenever I write comedy, the goal is, obviously, to make people chuckle. So, I really have to think about a joke and figure out ‘is this funny’ or ‘is this only funny to me’, and if it is only funny to me, ‘how can I rephrase the joke, so it’s funnier to more people?’ Don’t get me wrong, I love niche, hyper specific-jokes and comedy, but I’m not writing a book to just make myself laugh, I want other people to laugh. So, the lesson I needed to learn was how to make my specific humor more universal. How to write in a voice that is authentically, 100% mine, but also appeals to others.

What did you find most helpful when writing your book?

Whenever the ideas just weren’t flowing, the best thing I could do was leave the keyboard and go do something else. Stimulate the brain with something totally different and the thoughts and observations would eventually come back. For instance, I was feeling very stuck on ideas. I was about 8 months in, and I still wasn’t satisfied with the length or amount of topics. This happened to coincide with my birthday and I went out with family, and all it took was being in a new environment with other people dictating the conversation and just absorbing it gave me the last push I needed to get the book over the finish line.

What writing advice would you offer to your younger self?

I would tell my younger self to not be so attached to everything you write. Your ideas don’t come out perfectly, other people will have thoughts about your work, other people will edit your work, and yes other people will change your work and it’s perfectly okay. Being so protective of your work and treating it like sacred text will only be a disservice to yourself and your writing in the long run.

The Incredibly Strange Thought's Of Life is available on our website.