Literary Spotlight: Thomas Pierce

Thomas Pierce is the author of the non-fiction book, The Last Rose. He has been a computer programmer, consultant and speaker.

Q: Other than being cathartic, what was it like sharing such a personal story of the loss of your wife and daughter with the public? What kind of response has it received from readers?

A: The Last Rose is a book that I never intended to write. I just started telling friends and relatives about the strange, yet wonderful, things that were happening in my life and they all kept telling me to write the stories down so I would not forget them. I wrote them for myself and my granddaughters, and it was very therapeutic. When I started telling people my stories I almost felt like they would think that I was ready for a straight jacket, however, every time someone heard them they always told me to put them in a book. I printed copies and put them in loose leaf binders for friends and family. They in turn started letting other people read it and I began receiving beautiful e-mails from people I did not know telling me how much the book helped them with something in their lives. It became very obvious to me that I had to get the book published so it could help more people.

I expected that the target audience for my book would be older women, but I have received beautiful emails from 19- year- old service men to 65- year- old men and everyone n between. They all found at least one thing in my book that relates to them and each one has been totally different.

The book is not really about the accident, but many have told me that after reading it they felt like they were right there with us in that water and on the rescue boat.

Q: A reporter said that the book is “a story of survival and true love and how it prevails.” Can you elaborate on this hopeful theme?

The book covers the year of my life after I lost both my wife and daughter in a Baltimore water taxi accident, but it really starts before the accident. It talks about how both JoAnn and Lisa realized something was going to happen and did things to prepare me and them for it. It then talks about all the rainbows and the extraordinary number of times the number 13 has appeared to me and my family. It is totally beyond logic and defies explanation. The fifth anniversary of the accident is almost here and these things continue to appear to us on very specific dates and times. JoAnn and I were married for 37 ½ years and we were never unhappy. I truly believe that love never dies and that they continue to watch over us. I can no longer doubt that there is an afterlife and that life and love lives on past our time on this earth. Chapter ten is about my session with a medium that served to deepen my faith in eternal life. I have always approached everything in my life with a positive attitude and it became obvious that my wife and daughter were helping me go on with my life in that positive way and to help others approach problems in their lives in the same way.

Q: Why did you decide to go the route of self-publishing? What have been the advantages/disadvantages?

As more and more people requested the loose leaf copies of the book I decided to have 500 printed by a local printer. I had to do this three times to keep up with the local demand and decided it was time to find a publisher and make the book available nationwide. I thought that because the accident received world wide publicity that I would have a better shot at attracting an agent and a publisher. This did not happen, so I finally self-published the book. This made it available worldwide. My publishing package included media training and a media campaign that got me started doing radio interviews. It also allowed me to go to Book Expo America and have a book signing there. I found that getting worldwide publicity is much harder than getting local publicity. It requires a constant effort to let people know about the book.

Q: You are not by training nor vocation a professional writer. How did you go about telling your tale?

Writing the book was the easy part. I felt like the book was being dictated to me from above. I found four people to edit the original work. They did a fantastic job. The local newspaper and independent book store and radio stations were a big help in getting the ball rolling.

Q: Without the benefit of a publicist or large publishing house marketing department, how have you marketed your book?

The first thing I did after getting my book published was create a website. Mine is www.thelastrose.com. If you are advertising, doing media interviews, or just talking to people you need to direct everyone to your site to learn more and to purchase the book. You need to constantly find new ways to attract attention to your book. It is never easy but it can be a lot of fun.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact, Touching The Dead and Vampire Resurrection, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.