Our new writer covering local authors introduces himself

Hello Buffalo Hive readers: My name is P.A. Kane. I’m an indie Buffalo author of three novels, a book of essays and a satire website called Buffalo Mud. 

I was scrolling through social media recently and came across The Buffalo Hive. I liked what I saw and signed up for a free subscription. I also answered the query at the bottom of the subscription page:

Meanwhile, tell us: What do you most want to see in The Buffalo Hive? What kind of arts? What kind of stories? What kind of listings?  

I answered that I wanted to see a feature spotlighting the vast array of local/indie authors in Western New York, thinking I might wrangle some free publicity for myself. But, my reputation as the 1.5 millionth most popular Amazon author apparently preceded me, as I received a quick reply from Hive editor Elmer Ploetz:  We would definitely be interested in a local author spotlight feature … would you have any interest in writing one?   

So, here we are spotlighting local authors — easiest job I ever got. Maybe you can find an audience with Mr. Ploetz for a Hive feature highlighting the fantastic community of paranormal gender-bending sword and sorcery gothic romance writers in Western New York. Just sign up for a subscription and answer the query. 

We probably won’t get into the sword and sorcery romance genre here, but we will be profiling, interviewing and featuring the work of local authors. In the coming months, we will speak to the award-winning author of literary, historical and crime fiction, Stephen Eoannou, and delve into his new novel/series, After Pearl. We will also talk to another award-winning Buffalo author of cold-case police procedural novels, the very popular Lissa Marie Redmond. 

Before that, and in the spirit of getting to know each other, for the few Hive readers who possibly aren’t aware of Amazon’s 1.5 millionth ranked most popular author, I thought I’d kick off this feature with a brief sketch of who I am — a little back and forth with myself about myself. Also, I have a new novel out called Larry Plumb Is Still Here — so yes, I did wrangle some attention for myself. 

Q: How did you start writing?
 A: I was an aimless kid who thought I would be 18-years-old forever and could just skate by in life without putting effort into anything. Despite my shiftlessness, I managed to get into Brockport State out of high school, where I quickly learned drinking cheap beer, taking black mollies with a kid from Oneonta at the end of the hall and never showing up for class was frowned upon. Several strongly worded letters from the college Provost showed up in my mailbox informing me I was being placed on academic probation and unless there was immediate improvement I would be asked to leave the college. Of course, I wasn’t up to turning any of this around and did leave Brockport. After some more aimlessness and in danger of taking a permanent seat on the bullet train to nowhere, a friend handed me The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, by Carlos Castanada, and it was a revelation. I was like, yes, I can do this — be a writer. The problem was I was mostly illiterate and needed to keep a roof over my head. So, I got a blue-collar job in the transportation industry and started to read. Eventually, I married and had a family. When the kids were older and I was more literate, I began to write earnestly and had my first novel published at the tender age of fifty-four.  

Q: Fifty-four? What made you think you could publish a novel at fifty-four?

A: The first novel, Written in the Stars: The Book of Molly, which is temporarily out of print, was kind of an accident. I had this over-the-top Buffalo Mud character from South Buffalo, Molly Shea, who was preoccupied with being Irish and hanging out with the in-crowd at all the best South Buffalo dives. But as it sometimes happens with these South Buffalo girls, they grow tired of Sully or Smitty or whatever firefighter they’re with and these dives. So I had Molly read some Philip Roth and listen to John Coltrane (a bit much for young Molly, but all my characters listen to Coltrane), and soon she had some depth and aspirations—she went on that journey where the little acorn becomes the oak.

So, it was more of an accident than an intention. And, as a sidebar, you know how people say age is just a number or 60 is the new 40? It’s not true, and I have the crumbling knees and enlarged prostate to prove it.

Q: Your new novel “Larry Plumb Is Still Here” — what is it, and why do we need to know he is still here?

A: As I said, I had this blue-collar job for nearly three decades, and while I was a non-complaining serviceable worker, I was by no means a top-flight employee, except for the part where I didn’t bitch and moan. However, the capacity for work among some of my fellow employees was astonishing. On top of that, they coached their kids’ teams, read books and could install sump pumps, metal roofs, brake pads — you name it. I wanted to write about these guys I worked with who were self-aware, empathetic and still very manly in the traditional sense. The way men are often portrayed these days swings from the bumbling Peter Griffin to the ass-kicking Jack Reacher. And I wanted to write a narrative letting the world know that guys like Larry Plumb, with all his heroic masculinity, are still here and lacing ‘em up every day.

Q: What’s with the beret?

A: Isn’t it obvious? 

Q: What can we expect from the characters in your writing — is there a through line?

A: I thought I was just telling stories about everyday people and the obstacles they face, whether it’s a parochial community, being an outsider or facing familial rejection, but quite by accident, I found one of the main through lines of the protagonists in my novels, Molly Shea, Jackson Wolf and Larry Plumb, is they are striving to be more — all are trying to rise above their station in life. They’re ordinary people working to grow, evolve and be the best version of themselves. They read, work out and just try to step it up. They’re also bitchy about music — the likes of Journey and The Red Hot Chili Peppers get taken down hard by my characters. 

The weekly faces in my locally-themed satirical blog, Buffalo Mud, found here: buffalomud.com, are mostly a silly blend of Western New Yorkers and have equally silly alliterating names like Wendell Wussman, Jill Jeroffsky, Benny Bleetner, Kurt Kurchacha and Dawn Dietrich. There’s also a regular cast of characters who show up too: the South Buffalo legend Jack Conrad, the ever-changing Bad Ronald Leisten and myself—the local author.

 Q: Really, what’s with the beret?   

A: *Eyeroll*