Interview with Keith R. Fentonmiller, Author of Life Indigo

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Life Indigo (The Water Nymph Gospels Book 2)?

My late grandfather, Dr. Meryl Fenton, whom we all called Papa. Like my novel’s protagonist, Kasper Mützenmacher, Papa was a squat fellow with a big nose. Unlike Kasper, Papa didn’t have a facial scar, nor was he cursed (so far as I know). Papa always reminded me of Zoot, the jazzy, saxophone-playing puppet from The Muppet Show, which may explain why Kasper loves jazz and plays the cornet. It also may explain Kasper’s overwhelming sense of being manipulated like a puppet—whether by Nazis, women, his children, or Fate.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Life Indigo (The Water Nymph Gospels Book 2), what would they be?

Mood Indigo (Duke Ellington), Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin), Fly Me to the Moon (Frank Sinatra), Paper Doll (The Mills Brothers).

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Magical Realism.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

Absolution (Alice McDermott).

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

A dinner scene where all the plot points and familial tensions between the generations emerge.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I like to write in my zero-gravity chair. I figure if I don’t fall asleep while writing, my readers won’t fall asleep while reading.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

A song every day.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

I would ask them to reflect on this quote from Rainer Maria Rilke: “There are multitudes of people, but there are many more faces, because each person has several of them.”

Keith R. Fentonmiller is the author of the new book Life Indigo (The Water Nymph Gospels Book 2)

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