LLP Faculty Member

 A Chat with Dr. John Minichillo's on the release of his Message in the Sky
by Eleana Stone, Social Media Intern

I reached out to English Professor Dr. John Minichillo to discuss the release of his 1924  novel Message
in the Sky. The plot of the novel takes place in Napanee, Indiana,  where in broad daylight, a UFO appears and changes the lives of two neighboring couples. It is intriguing to see professors express their writing through novels. It is also inspiring for students who enjoy writing their own pieces, and inspire to write their own novels as well. Below are the insights he provided regarding the process of writing his book and the advice he has for future writers.

 1.What inspired you to write "Message in the sky?"

I’ve written a handful of novel-length satires. What I tend to look for is a clash of cultures, and to exploit that tension for comedy. I’d been interested in, and/or terrified by, the idea of UFOs since I was a little kid. I knew the appearance of a UFO in the sky was the catalyst for a brand new life for a lot of people. So the book opens with neighboring couples in their backyards to witness it. They don’t like each other much but are forced together by this event. And it does change each of them. From there I sort of play around with the UFO stuff in pop culture. 

2. What is something you wish for readers to take away from your novel? 

Satire can be confusing for readers because it’s not realism and it relies on exaggeration. My neighboring characters are named the Trumps and the Clintons. I don’t mean for a reader to imagine the actual Trumps and Clintons living next to each other, but these are character types. Satire exposes ignorance, but I try to come at it from a position of love. Because I love the subject, I feel I have the right to make fun of it. So while this is not a serious book about the very serious subject of potential E.T. visitors, I do hope that it stands the test of time.

Congress is currently curious enough about the subject that they’ve had public hearings to pose questions about what the military and their aerospace contractors know. It’s possible that one day soon truths and deceptions will be revealed.

One of the risks of writing a comic novel is that someone will take the time to read it and conclude that it wasn’t funny. In the event a reader feels this way about  

3. Do you have any advice for writers who are interested in writing their first novel?

I went to graduate school to study in writing programs. For fiction writers this generally means working on short stories to be workshopped by your peers. Over the course of a semester you might write 2-3 stories. At this pace (replacing “short stories” with “chapters”), it would take several years to accumulate enough pages to add up to a novel. And while it doesn’t have to go that slowly, it does require the same level of attention. All the work that goes into a short story, with most of your time spent editing – a novel requires that for each chapter. If I work a little each day,or even every other day, I can usually get a first draft in about nine months.

What tends to go wrong is that once you’re comfortable with your setting and your characters, this process and the long nature of the project can tend toward“plodding.” As near as I can tell, thank you Oxford English Dictionary, “plot” “plod” and “plow” all have a similar root. If you think of the act of writing as being like the work behind a plow, you’ll understand that you absolutely do not want the act of reading to be at all like watching someone slowly churn a row of dirt.

John Minichillo, PhD
TSU English Professor

So you have to find shortcuts to finish the field and ways to keep readers interested. For this reason, most of my novels have three parts (and the parts may or may not be what Hollywood writers call “three act structure”), because I find it useful to introduce a new beginning somewhere halfway through, and to do it again before the final stretch. Techniques that work this way are to introduce new characters or new points of view, to change the sequence of time, or to introduce a new setting. “Novel” means “new.” You have to keep it new or it won’t be any fun to read.

After finishing a first novel, which may take a couple of years, many writers will shelve it, what we refer to as a “desk drawer” novel. In other words, it was important for you to write it, but it may not be good enough to publish. I have more than one of these. 

4. Were there any challenges that you may have faced, while writing your novel "Message in the sky?"

I went down a lot of rabbit holes. I’ve explored the theories and listened to hundreds of video interviews of experiencers, and there are too many rabbit holes for one book. In addition, there’s disinformation around the subject. Disinformation tends to work by mixing lies with the truth so we don’t know what’s real. According to experiencers, it’s often the weirder stuff that’s true. What people have said in congressional hearings is that the subject is so top secret that sometimes even the President of the United States hasn’t been read in. We’re only able to learn about UFOs because of independent researchers, journalists, and whistleblowers. Most of these people risked their careers to get the word out, and my work for this book has depended on theirs. To date, I haven’t been contacted by any men in black. I attribute this to being small potatoes. 

5.How do you overcome challenges in writing, what do you suggest for others that struggle with their writing? 

Some writers love ideas, some love words, some love people. It’s probably best if we can get all of that love in the same book. So you also have to love the work – that idea of walking behind a plow. Yes, the work can be plodding, but someone who loves words might also love editing. Someone who loves people might really enjoy discovering the perfect character “beats.” Someone who loves ideas might write a philosophical novel so unlike contemporary fiction that the culture takes notice, and the culture changes if even just a little. 

But this can all be very lonely. Seek out fellow writers, or a community of writers, because honest feedback is rare and valuable. Connect with people who care about literature and it will help keep you motivated. They’ll reinforce for you why this old fashioned activity is still important. 

Feedback and community are built into university writing programs, which I would recommend, but only if that level of sacrifice for the craft makes sense to where you are in your life (these are 2-3 year programs and you may never publish, you may never work in a profession related to writing). The programs can be expensive, but there are teaching assistantships that come with tuition waivers, and there are also “low residency” programs that are mostly online. 

Here’s a hot take: there are more than 250 university MFA programs in creative writing but not one at an HBCU. It’s probably time, and Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster should get together to fund it.

Overall, Dr. Minchillo gave a great overview of his novel. The interview should inspire other students who are interested in writing or creating a novel. It was an amazing opportunity to hear from Dr.Minchiilo as he was able to share his own thoughts and experiences. I suggest everyone check out his novel Message in the Sky.