Behind The Words // Larry Enright

I know Author Larry Enright from Twitter, after first hearing his name uttered by mutual acquaintances who mentioned how darn funny his book, "Four Years From Home" is. When I think of Larry I imagine a somewhat seasoned writer who's seen it all, done a good heaping portion of it, and took home the t-shirt as a souvenir. Plus, he's charming as all-get-out. Let's see what Mr. Enright has to say about his unique writing situation and experience...

Larry talks about this guy named Larry Enright...

Who the heck am I? I often ask myself that question. I was born in Pittsburgh four years after World War II ended and am the middle kid in an Irish Catholic family of five children. My father and mother were married during the war and started their family after Dad came home in 1945. I have his wedding photo. He was in uniform and my Mom was in a beautiful dress - her mother’s wedding dress. Things were very different then. People were happy to be at peace again after that terrible conflict and struggling to rebuild their lives, always hoping for things to get better. There were no personal computers, no Internet, we shared a phone line with the neighbors. TV - if you were lucky enough to have one - was black and white. And if you were a writer, you used a pencil and paper.


Today, in addition to being an aspiring old writer, I am a musician prolifically published on Youtube. Yes, I know, but please hold your applause until the end. I play acoustic guitar and have since 1964, my Martin D-35 being the one material possession I will regret not being able to take with me — well, not counting the coffee maker. I am also Director of Research at Neumann University where I do predictive and statistical modeling. Turn down your pacemakers if the excitement is too much. I live on a farm on which we used to grow and sell Christmas Trees. We have of late adopted a “back to nature” approach to the farm which is about as laissez-faire as you can get. I have been married for 31 years and have two sons in their twenties.

Four Years from Home is, I would guess, the only thing I have written that you might know. However, there are over 300 million people in this country alone, so unless you are one of the 20,000+ who have bought the book, chances are pretty slim you will know my work. But, now that I think of it, it can be pirated at several Internet torrent sites, so maybe I underestimate the potential there. I have also written two other novels (and I use the term loosely) which never made it to publication. They were, as I call them, practice runs.

Larry talks about his writing space...

We have an enclosed sun porch where all but one of the family computers reside. That is where most of my writing is done. It faces east, so mornings are fantastic there. There are wrap-around bookshelves below all the windows, a neat chestnut slat ceiling, and the leftover scent of honey from a bee hive that periodically comes and goes in the crawl space under the room. We have deer that wander through the yard outside the sun porch, a family of 15 wild turkeys that frequently march past, and many, many other birds. The house sits so far back from the road and is so protected by the trees around us that we have become a bit of a haven for wildlife. I also have a computer in the study upstairs if I need absolute quiet. I don’t listen to anything but my own thoughts when I write.

Larry talks about his upcoming writing...

I am working on are a sequel to Four Years from Home. The first draft was finished over Christmas and I am now working through the second draft. It’s a major rewrite, but it’s coming along. My personal goal is to finish and publish by the fall. A falling meteorite might actually speed up that process.

In addition to that, I am just beginning a serialized prequel that will be published periodically as a blog. It is called A King in a Court of Fools. If you read Four Years from Home, you will recognize the title. So many people who read Four Years from Home were clamoring for more about the life of the young Tom Ryan, the protagonist in Four Years from Home, that I felt compelled to feed the frenzy. Actually, I thought it would be fun to create his earlier life in serial format and if it actually worked out, publish that as an e-book as well. The first episode is due out this month. That worked for Dickens, didn’t it?

Larry talks about his support...

My wife and sons are very supportive of my efforts. I made them sit through fourteen sessions of my reading Four Years from Home aloud. After such a brainwashing, how could they not be? There is never enough chocolate.



Larry, thanks so much for stopping by and sharing some insight into you, how you work and what you're up to. (I always suspect you're 'up to something' and now I know for sure). If readers want to learn even more about Larry and his writing they can catch up with him at his blog or Facebook page.  Oh, and you should watch the video of Larry at his webiste, too!


Much obliged, Mr. Enright!