Barry Eisenberg| Featured by JeanBookNerd

The talented Barry Eisenberg was recently featured in JeanBookNerd. Barry has been asked a number of interesting questions about his book and his journey from writing to being a published author.

Click here to view the full interview.

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?

Three of the most important things I learned in school have come at three different life stages. I had two very adoring older siblings, although their doting proved both a blessing and a curse – a blessing because they showered me with love and attention, yet a curse because upon beginning kindergarten, I was confronted with the stark reality that the world did not revolve around me. I had to learn to wait my turn and to share with other kids. It was a humbling experience, albeit a very important one. Another important learning experience came about when, at 21, I began graduate school. There, my eyes were opened to a world of different philosophies, perspectives, and ways of thinking. Assumptions that had developed in my relatively conventional upbringing were tested in ways I could not have imagined. The third thing I learned, and indeed, am still learning, is not as student but as professor. My graduate students, all health care professionals, are some of the most inspiring people I have ever known. They are tested daily as the lives of others are in literally in their hands.

Tell us your latest news?

I published my first novel! My writing to date has been in non-fiction, focusing on trends in health care and higher education. I loved the experience of writing the novel and am immersed in the writing of my next one.

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

I have always loved writing and feel motivated by so many people and experiences. Having worked in health care for the entirety of my professional career, I have always been taken by the quiet, yet unrelenting, courage of those who must dig deep as they cope with serious illness. My thinking about life and, thus, my writing is shaped by those kinds of stories. My wife and children all write, and I learn much from them about how to frame emotions and motives. I am fortunate to have wonderful friends and colleagues whose prolific and varied writing styles help me to appreciate the beauty and power of the written word. It would be a daunting task to list the influences of the many journalists, authors, and playwrights whose works I read regularly. I cannot imagine life with the opinion writers of The New York Times, past and present, like David Brooks, Maureen Dowd, Frank Bruni, Paul Krugman, and Michelle Goldberg to name a few whose opinions frequently mesh with my own, and those like Bret Stephens and Ross Douthat, who help me understand different points of view. Jon Meacham and Doris Kearns Goodwin are historians I greatly respect. If I were to list the novelists who have inspired me, the list would be endless. But, top of mind, I recently read a novel by Kate Quinn and was awed by her ability to create a visual context that felt so visceral. I hope that I can incorporate the things I have learned from all of these authors into the lives of my characters.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

The most rewarding experience has been the positive reaction to the book, and particularly the heartening comments about how emotionally satisfying the story has been to readers.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?

While Primal Calling is a mystery and tale of international intrigue, at its core it is about a young man’s journey of self-discovery and a family’s pursuit to reconcile love and trust. I hope that readers will relate to the decisions made by the characters and would love for readers to think about how they would react if they were faced with similar situations.

What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?

My sweet dog, Dolan, turns into Cujo when our neighbors walk their dogs past our house. His barking sometimes becomes uncontrollable. Seconds later, after they walk past, Dolan returns to his sweet, lovable self, and I am left trying to recapture my thoughts which have scattered about in the air.

What part of Jack did you enjoy writing the most?

Jack, the central character, suddenly faced a monumental, life-altering, set of circumstances. He had to dig deep to find the courage to persevere. He was an ordinary young man facing an extraordinary discovery about his family. The part of Jack that I found most enjoyable to write, but also the most challenging, was finding the balance between his self-doubt and his principled nature. Assigning him too much of either would render him, respectively, either immobilized or inauthentic. Of course, it is up to the reader to determine if I was successful, but as I deliberated while writing those sections, I found that I learned a lot about myself.

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