Interview with Mike Mihalek

Three Chords
Mike Mihalek
RoseHeart Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9780980150421
Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (4/08)

Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar of Reader Views is pleased to be joined by Mike Mihalek, who is here to talk about his new novel, “Three Chords.”

Mike graduated from Buffalo State College with a science degree and spent over thirty years working in healthcare. He has a deep love of music, which he has used as one of the themes in his first novel, “Three Chords.” He also loves photography and fishing, and he tries to combine his respect for the environment, insights into human nature, and offbeat sense of humor into his work, despite the lack of humor in the theme of this, his first novel. Mike also writes poetry, which he has thinly disguised as song lyrics in the book; he feels a writer should be able to write in a variety of genres. The rich and often times bizarre world of Florida, where he’s lived for the past twenty years, has so far played a major role in his work.

Tyler:  Welcome, Mike. I’m glad you could join me today. To begin, will you tell us about the main character, Ethan, and the quest he is on during the course of the novel?

Mike:  Ethan starts out to discover the reason his mother abandoned him and his father when he was just a child. He’s a successful singer/songwriter/musician now, at the age of twenty-six, and, like all creative people, “suffers” through bouts of self-examination. His songs have often dealt with the themes of loss, insecurity, and resentment, and certainly he understands why, but he’s reached a crossroads in his career, and he feels the need to understand why his mother left. I don’t really see him as the main character, however, since early on in the story his goal in finding her changes from his self absorbed obsession to understand to his desire to let his mother know he and his father don’t resent her.

Tyler:  Why did you choose to make Ethan a musician, and how does that tie in to your choice of a title for the book?

Mike:  The obvious answer is the musical theme; the concept that many pop songs have, at their core, three basic chords. Ethan being an only child, I used the metaphor of reuniting his three person family that way. As to why he’s a musician, I wanted a character with deep connections to his inner self. Like I said, creative people are constantly soul searching and observing the world around them for inspiration. I guess I say it more bluntly somewhere in the book, where a character points out there’s a big difference between going through life with your head buried in the sand and living life with your eyes wide open. Music has always played a major role in my life, and I feel that’s true for many others. The sense of empathy we get from a personal connection to a song helps get us through hard times and brings back memories of the good ones. Again, paraphrasing a line from the book, we’re all old enough to realize a song can’t change the world, but hopefully never so hardened by life to stop wishing one could.

Tyler:   Since Ethan isn’t the main character in your opinion, are the Three Chords, the main characters, and are they Ethan, his mother, and his father? I ask because his father doesn’t seem to be as significant to the story as Ethan and his mother, Julie.

Mike:  The father, John, I refer to as the eternal optimist. We learn during the story that’s not entirely true; in fact he’s never stopped loving Julie and always hoped someday she’d come back into his life. He’s had to maintain a healthy attitude, however, for Ethan’s sake, and that’s one of the themes of the book. Ethan starts out his search for what he thought would be a first step in his own self healing, but realizes in many ways it’s his parents that have the most to gain. I wanted to explore the sacrifices parents make, or think they’re making, when it comes to the well-being of their children. In some ways, running away only makes things worse. It’s really Julie’s growth I wanted to explore, and how her choices affected everyone around her.

Tyler:  Why did Julie leave the family, and how old was Ethan when she left?

Mike:  Ethan was ten, and, without giving away too much, let’s just say a trauma Julie thought she’d buried in her past comes back to haunt her.

Tyler:   Ethan then must have strong memories of his mother. When his mother left, what did his father tell him was the reason, or did Julie tell Ethan she was leaving, and what was his reaction at that time?

Mike:  At the age of ten, Ethan’s mother was the center of his universe. She left a note for John, but he never shared it with his son. Again, John comforted his son by saying she wasn’t happy with him, not her son, and as such took the blame, even though he knew, or at least hoped, that wasn’t entirely true. Still, a young boy would be filled with confusion and anger, and those emotions would haunt him for the rest of his life if left unresolved.

Tyler:   Tell me about Ethan’s family, his father, and his girlfriend. How do they react when he decides to leave them to go search for his mother?

Mike:  John has strong suspicions as to why she left, but never shared them with his son. He’s tried to spare him the harsh realities of life, and preserve the good memories from his youth. He’s reluctant to open old wounds, but finally realizes he can’t shelter him forever. Ethan’s girlfriend, Amy, sees this new quest as just another example of his inability to commit. Ethan’s always kept a calculated distance between himself and his lovers, and she’s tried her best to bridge that gap. In short, John understands his son’s need to confront his mother, but fears finding her might ruin whatever life she may have made for herself. Amy feels Ethan could better deal with his issues if he’d only learn to trust someone enough to let them get close, but she understands that confronting his past might be the first step towards doing just that.

Tyler:  How does Ethan end up finding his mother?

Mike:  Like many police procedurals, it just takes one important lead, and by digging into her past that lead pans out. If you visit my web site you’ll find I’m not a fan of plot devises that don’t drive the themes of my stories. As such, it was the family dynamics and self-destructive nature of my characters that I wanted to explore.

Tyler:  How do Julie and Ethan react to each other upon meeting?

Mike:  It occurred to me they’d be experiencing any number of emotions, but also that for the past sixteen years they’d each half expected they might meet face to face some day. That first meeting is tenuous, neither wanting to face the tough questions that would eventually need to be answered. I tried to explore their relationship in a series of intimate scenes, each peeling back layers until the heart of the matter gets revealed. Ethan has lived long enough to see how people can become so damaged by life they just retreat from it, and Julie understands she’s not only punished herself but the ones that love her by doing so.

Tyler:   What is Julie’s living situation when Ethan finds her? What are the problems she has recently found herself involved in?

Mike:  Julie’s lived “off the grid” for most of her time away, and ended up working in a small marina in Southwest Florida. Hard hit by recent hurricanes and facing pressures from local developers, the aging owner and his granddaughter are trying to keep the business going, but prime waterfront property’s worth far more than the business, and his daughter wants to pressure him into selling. Julie arrived four years ago, right after the owner’s wife passed away, and she played a major role in keeping the place afloat. Faced with resentment from the daughter, and the two unprincipled local fishermen she’s hired to disrupt the business, Julie finds herself in the middle of the daughter’s get rich quick scheme and the fishermen who have a few ideas of their own about what to do about her and the marina.

Tyler:   What made you decide to write “Three Chords” and incorporate the themes and material you did?

Mike:  I wanted to explore universal themes like loss and regret. The term “damaged goods” has always struck me as so appropriate for anyone who considers themselves a survivor, and I’ve always believed it’s how a person responds to those hardships that reveals the character within. Bad decisions result in bad results, but people are often more eager to make those kinds of decisions because the right ones are sometimes so much harder.

Tyler:   Mike, what do you hope people will learn from reading “Three Chords”?

Mike:  I don’t consider myself a teacher, but I’ve lived long enough to understand that nobody needs to go through life alone, unless they choose to, and even in choosing that path it doesn’t always mean they deserve it. Sometimes you have to face your fears, sometimes you have to reach out for help, but nothing can be overcome without first deciding to take that first step. To be honest, writing character driven stories has forced me to explore themes most people try to avoid, and in doing so I’ve found the process extremely cathartic. I hope my readers benefit from the same experience.

Tyler:   You said before you don’t like plot devices that don’t further your novel’s themes, and you just stated you write character-driven stories. What do you think is the most important element of novel writing—plot, theme, character, or something else?

Mike:  Good question. I guess it would be theme. Not to sound arrogant, but my point about plot devices goes along with my idealistic attitude that if you don’t have something to say, don’t write. On my website I say a book should only be long enough to engage the reader and tell the story. I understand literature is meant to entertain, but it seems to me if you’re going to release your work to the public, why couldn’t it also stimulate the consciousness of your readers? Why shouldn’t it deal with moral and social issues as well as entertain, and why shouldn’t it at least try to inspire hope in the process?

Tyler:   While you don’t consider yourself a teacher, what do you feel is the real goal that a novelist should have? Will you share a little bit about your philosophy of writing a novel specifically?

Mike:  Change the world? Again, it sounds ludicrous, but like I said about a song, wouldn’t it be nice if a story could do that, even if you only start out by touching one person at a time? Failing that, my philosophy would be to be honest. What I mean by that is, I’d rather read a flawed novel with heart than a good “beach book,” I’d rather see the director’s cut of a movie than the “by committee” theatrical version, and I’d rather buy the entire CD than the radio hit. I need to believe there’s a bigger goal behind the work than just to make a buck, and even if my work comes off as melodramatic, clicheic, or unrealistic, I want my readers to know my heart was in it.

Tyler:  Mike, who would you say have been your literary influences?

Mike:  I’ve always loved writers like James Lee Burke, who can leave me staring at a sentence, trying to fathom its meaning and the brilliance that inspired it. Of course, any good story told well is entertaining, but if that story touches me in some way, it becomes that much more special.

Tyler:   What is next for you, Mike? Are you writing another novel?

Mike: My second book should be out later this year, and I’m currently working on my third. Book two is much lighter in theme, though it deals with the positive and negative aspects of aging. I’m exploring some of the ideas I briefly touched on and wanted to develop further in “Three Chords” with my current project. Also, I was naïve enough to write a screenplay for “Three Chords,” which I’ve entered in a couple of national contests.

Tyler:   Thank you for joining me today, Mike. Before we go, will you tell us about your website and what information can be found there about “Three Chords”?

Mike: My website is 2headedmullet.com, and it would take far too much time from the topic at hand to explain that name choice. A link to my fabulous publisher, RoseHeartBooks.com, can be found there, as well as short blurbs on myself and my philosophy of writing, a brief synopsis of my next book, and a personal contact form.

Tyler: :  Thank you, Mike. Good luck with your screenplay, and I hope you’ll come back when your next two novels are published.

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