Interview with author Michael Thal

Good-ByeTchaikovsky (March 2012) by Michael Thal

Publisher Royal Fireworks Press

Grade:5- 10

ISBN:978-0-88092-469-6

Leo Tolstoy writes, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” This may be exactly how both author Michael Thal and his main character, David Rothman feel. Both are affecting others’ lives with their work, and both did not actively decide to make a change to themselves. Rather, one was decided for them. Author Michael Thal lost his hearing in his forties as a result of a virus and writes, "I was motivated to write Good-Bye Tchaikovsky as a way to heal the pain of my hearing loss”. Thal was a teacher for decades before becoming a writer. Already having touched so many, this book is another opportunity to bring a message to young people. In Good-Bye Tchaikovsky, Deaf Character David is already going through the change of adolescence and the change of receiving world-wide attention; he must now confront his own body that has changed literally overnight. As a violin virtuoso, his performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto draws attention from the masses including the Queen of England. On his twelfth birthday, David loses his hearing. Both Thal and his character David could have pitied themselves but instead, they both rose to the meet the changes in their lives.

Below is my interview with author Michael Thal who describes with experiences with his book Goodbye Tchaikovsky.  

(To the right is a picture of the author from last summer while visiting Virginia City, Nevada. Don't worry; he isn't really a jailbird!)

SP: What made you decide to make David's character deaf or to even include a deaf character especially one who could use sign language?

MT: David Rothman, the POV character in Goodbye Tchaikovsky, appeared in the opening scene of the book as he played Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto before a sell-out crowd. The 11 year-old child prodigy was one of the best violinists in the world. The morning of his twelfth birthday the boy woke up to a profound silence. I chose a hearing child turned deaf for my book’s novel because I wanted to explore the emotional effect of hearing loss on an adolescent. I lost my hearing at the age of 44. I was curious what the reaction would have been to a pre-teen and the affect of deafness on his development during his teen years.

SP: How does your experience as a sixth grade teacher help you write a book for a young audience?       

MT: I taught elementary and middle school for 28 years. I understand the age group. This comprehension helped me as an author to develop realistic dialogue and emotional reactions to character life problems.

SP: What type of research did you do for the book to make your characters realistic? 

MT: Before I even had the idea for the book, I studied ASL at a Tripod program in Burbank, California. After the program was terminated I attended ASL classes at Pierce College, in Los Angeles. My knowledge of sign was a huge help when I spent a few days observing classrooms at the Marlton School. This is a school for the Deaf and hard of hearing in Los Angeles where ASL is the primary language used in the classroom. My friend and former ASL teacher, Stephanie Johnson, was kind enough to let me watch her class and introduced me to other teachers at the school so I could observe their classes, too. I also interviewed people who attended Deaf schools as adolescents. My interview with Deaf actor/director Troy Kotsur was a huge help.

SP: Since you have experienced some hearing loss, have you learned any American Sign Language? 

MT: Just for the record, I am legally deaf in my right ear and have a profound loss in my left. After the doctor told me I had a progressive hearing loss, it seemed to me a no brainer to start learning ASL. I’ve been studying the language for the last 18 years. Though I’m close to fluent, I am slow at reading finger spellings and Deaf friends have to slow down a bit. However, I find that I understand them better than hearing people, even with my hearing aides on. I am so glad I learned and encourage all hard-of-hearing people to do the same.

SP: What do you hope that readers will learn or take away from the book? 

MT: I want readers to understand how lonely it is to be deaf in a hearing world. I want them to realize how important it is to look at a Deaf or hard of hearing person and speak slowly. None of us want to be dismissed with comments like, “Oh, never mind.” Or “It isn’t important.” For a time, my own brother wouldn’t talk to me because he didn’t want to repeat himself. Hearing loss is an invisible disability. I hope Goodbye Tchaikovsky takes away some of the screens and adds texture to the problem.

SP: What advice would you give to young people who are reading your books for the first time? 

MT: I hope they enjoy themselves and provide me with feedback. I encourage them to visit my website at www.michaelthal.com or e-mail me at michaelthal@sbcglobal.net. Perhaps they will also enjoy my novel, The Legend of Koolura, a story about a sixth-grade girl who has very cool powers, which she uses to battle a stalker determined on destroying her and her friends.

Good-Bye Tchaikovsky (March 2012) by Michael Thal

Good-Bye Tchaikovsky (March 2012) by Michael Thal
Publisher Royal Fireworks Press
Grade:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
ISBN:978-0-88092-469-6

Book Description
A twelve-year-old violin virtuoso, David Rothman, is plunged into a deaf world, necessitating him to adapt to a new culture and language in order to survive. Rothman is an overnight success. He performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in New York’s Symphony Hall with rave reviews attracting the attention of the Queen of England. His future is laid out for him like a well-lit freeway. Then, on his birthday, David suffers from a sudden and irreparable hearing loss, plunging him into a silent world. Written from his own perspective, the novel shows how an adolescent boy sets about coping with this devastating new condition. It takes time. How will he communicate with his friends? What can he do about school?  How do you deal with unexpected and possibly dangerous situations? What will his future be like?

The author, a teacher who lost his hearing in his forties as a result of a virus, says:  "I was motivated to write Good-Bye Tchaikovsky as a way to heal the pain of my hearing loss. I was curious what it would have been like if I lost my hearing when I was in sixth grade and not as a 44 year-old adult."
Goodbye Tchaikovsky

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For more information about the author, check out his website.  

The Secrets of the Moon Singer by B Roman

The Secrets of the Moon Singer by B Roman

Publisher: Lulu February 26, 2012

I will be reading this book next. The author writes that The Secrets of the Moon “is a metaphysical adventure series which involves a deaf teenage boy who comes to realize over time that his 'disability' is also his greatest gift.  But this realization does not come easily - or even in the first book of the trilogy… The stories speak to unconditional love, family loyalties, dealing with tragic loss, and experiencing unexpected miracles.”

Book Description

In Adventure One of the trilogy, young David Nickerson deals with a series of family crises: his father's unemployment, his deafness after a serious illness and now, the mysterious disappearance of his sister Sally, crippled in the crash that killed their mother. Desperate to find her, David experiments with sacred crystals, and conjures up the supernaturally-powered clipper ship Moon Singer, which takes him on a fantastic journey to an uncharted mystical island filled with danger. The people David encounters all have a soul connection to him and their lives are destined to intertwine many times over. When he must rescue a young princess with the gift of healing in her song, held prisoner in a palace tower, David believes he will also rescue his sister Sally. Strangely, too, in this "other world," David finds he can hear for the first time in years. This gift foretells his destiny: to explore the contrast between goodness and evil, and to save a life that means more to him than his own.

Interview with Flying to the Light author Elyse Salpeter

Flying to the Light by Elyse Salpeter

Publisher: Cool Well Press, Inc. (November 10, 2011)

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

[Paperback & Kindle Edition available]

Description

How far can you run, until you just can’t run anymore?

Seventeen year old Michael Anderson and his deaf kid brother, Danny, find themselves in mortal danger after their parents are kidnapped by ruthless biophysicist, Samuel Herrington. Michael discovers Danny has a powerful gift-he knows what happens after a person dies-and now others want to know, too. The brothers must outwit and outrun Herrington, the FBI, and even fellow Americans in a harrowing cross-country chase, because whoever gets to Danny first will have the power to control the fate of every person on earth.

 

Elyse Salpeter’s Flying to the Light is told through the perspective of older brother Michael who until a few days before the story begins is an average high school student with parents who work as scientists and a little brother Danny who just happens to be deaf and uses American Sign Language to communicate. The entire family is fairly fluent in ASL and the characters attempt to gain Danny’s attention through visual clues. Salpeter explains that Danny’s deafness wasn’t intended as a disability. “It is simply a part of who he is, but I do make him special…” In fact, Danny is so special that older brother Michael’s world is completely changed in this science fiction thriller.

Danny has special powers. I won’t give this away but readers discover the impact of these powers through the eyes of Michael who is confused and unsure whom to trust especially because he learns that his parents and little brother aren’t exactly the family members he always though they were. He seeks assistance from friends of the family, and even his teachers but again and again discovers the magnitude of situation.

I am a sucker for supernatural elements and I really, really, really want to tell you about some other aspects of the book but you’re going to have to read this for yourself.

Check out my interview with author Elyse Salpeter whom I learned on her website that she had published a short story in a Vampire magazine. If you’re interested in vampire stories, she co-edited one and was a contributing author to Nights of Blood 2. I will point out that this wasn’t a tease. Flying to the Light does not include any vampires…. Or does it?!? Bwa ha ha ha ha ;)

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SP: What influenced your decision to have Danny be a deaf character who uses sign language?

ES: When I was first thinking about writing FLYING TO THE LIGHT, I was staring at a group of birds and imagining this unique idea about them. It was so quiet and peaceful as I watched them and this vision of a little boy came into my head. I wanted to make him special, to have this great ability. When I decided for him to be deaf, it wasn’t because I wanted him to be perceived as having a disability, but simply be a part of who he was. His family and the people around him don’t treat him any differently, they just have to learn how to communicate with him effectively to find out all the wonderful things he knows. I also don’t see a lot of deaf characters in mainstream fiction and I thought it would be a unique and interesting concept for people to read about.

I love the idea of children being able to communicate and while I think lip-reading is a great skill, I always liked the idea of a parent being able to communicate with their children at a very young age. Kids want so badly to express themselves and to be understood, so knowing and using sign language was something I wanted the parents to have used with my character from the very beginning. I explore Danny talking a little bit and lip-reading in the novel, but I concentrate on sign language mostly.

SP: What is your experience with American Sign Language and Deaf people? (did you consult anyone or any websites to learn about deaf people/deaf characters?)

ES: I took ASL classes for two years at Stony Brook University. My professor, who was deaf and didn’t speak, was wonderful and taught us so much. I remember one evening walking to an evening study group and we were all moving through the Student Union building and in one of the side rooms music was BLASTING. It was incredibly loud and my professor started dancing to the beat and I stared at him, confused as to how he could hear the music. He saw my expression and immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me to the floor, pressing my hands against it. The floor was literally pounding and vibrating from the bass of the speakers and we just sat that way for quite a while “listening and bopping to the music” as people walked all around us.  That’s where I got one of the ideas in the book for Michael and Danny to get away, by making a television super loud.

I tried to be true to the character. I remembered things my teacher taught us, I watched videos to learn, read about products and talked to a lot of different folks in the community on Twitter. I’m sure I might have made some mistakes or taken some liberties in the book, but I tried very hard to be as accurate and true to Danny as I could. I’m hoping that if I do finish a sequel, I’ll be even more true to the character.

There are times I utilized my own personal story as reference as well. I have lost about 40% hearing in my left ear. We’re not sure why, but it’s slowly getting worse. I find I have to strain to hear people at times, face them so I can read their lips and see if I can catch all the conversation. It’s a struggle in my own home, especially when my family is calling me from another room, while the television is on, and I’m running water to do the dishes! I have to stop everything, walk up to them and speak to them (geez, you think they’d come to me!). And, if I’m having a hard time falling asleep, I’ll turn to my right side. If I’m on my left side, I can hear everything, but if I turn over and cover my good ear, the house is suddenly very quiet and I fall right to sleep. Not great when I need to hear the kids, though. I used a baby monitor for years after I really needed to, just to make sure I could hear one of my children whose room was on the far side of the house. I also have to be really careful in my office. If I put the phone to my good ear to hear, I have no idea I’m actually speaking much more loudly than I need to. One of my co-workers literally pounds on the wall to let me know I’m probably shouting!

SP: Would you discuss a bit of your process. How do you begin writing? What research did you do?

ES: Writing to me must come first from an idea. I’m always amazed at writers who MUST write a sequel for a book because it’s in their contract. That kind of pressure to find a compelling enough idea and produce something seems overwhelming. For me, it’s like a muse appears… suddenly an idea pops into my head and I’m inspired and just have to get the idea out. With FLYING TO THE LIGHT, I started thinking about birds and maybe they really aren’t what all of us think they are. And then I thought, who could be the hero for this who knows all about these birds? That’s how Danny came into my head. I wanted to make him wonderful and special and just like any other six year old, but to have this powerful knowledge that makes him stand out from everyone else.

SP: What do you hope that readers will learn or take away from the book?

ES: I wanted this book to also be more than just about Danny and his abilities. I wanted it also to be about his older brother, Michael. This seemingly naïve seventeen-year -old boy had a charmed life and suddenly the world was ripped out from under his feet. His parents had been kidnapped, an evil biophysicist was after his brother and he finds out there have been major secrets hidden from him. Through all of this, he had to find reserves in his inner character and I really think readers will enjoy how he matured over a week’s period.

I also wanted to explore the relationship between the two brothers. I believe it’s realistic and the fact that Michael would do anything for his little brother was something I wanted to explore in the book.  

SP: What advice would you give to young people who are reading your books for the first time?

ES: I want young people to realize that within each of us is a special ability. Not everything can be seen on the surface and we must trust in ourselves in all that we do. I really believe when you put your mind to something, you can achieve it and you should never give up on a dream, even if it takes years to accomplish. You must trust in yourself, always.

SP: Do you have any plans for a follow-up?

ES: I actually have written two chapters of a sequel to FLYING TO THE LIGHT. It takes place when Danny is now thirteen years old. It’s in the beginning stages right now, so I’m not even sure if THAT will change, but so far so good. (no pressure, folks!)

SP: Anything you'd like to add?

ES: I have this wonderful little ferret named Whiskers, who is deaf. We didn’t know the first few days we had her, but one morning my twins, who were seven years old at the time, were screaming at each other, right next to the cage. Our little ferret slept through the entire thing. When she woke up, we tried a lot of different things, crumpled paper, turned on the vacuum, squeaked toys and soon realized she couldn’t hear at all. Now we knew why she was so nippy, why she didn’t respond to us, why she was startled at times when we would walk up behind her.

We started our research immediately on how to communicate with her, reading a bunch of sites on how to train deaf ferrets. We began to use some very basic signs for her. If we wanted her to use the litter box, we’d get down to her level and point at it. Then put her in the litter box. She’d come out and we’d repeat it. If she nipped, we held her away from us, her watching us and would put up our finger and shake our head no, with a firm face. We did this over and over and in a few days, she learned that a stern face with a pointed up finger meant don’t nip and if we pointed to the litter box, she’d go in! We try to be respectful of her and not sneak up behind her… in fact, we’ll stomp on the floor a bit, or clap our hands if she’s walking around, just so she knows we’re coming up behind her so she won’t get startled.  

She’s just the greatest little pet and to let us know how much she loves us, she licks our faces, necks, you name it! Just like a puppy! She chases us around the house, steals our socks and gloves and is just the greatest little thing ever.

For more information about the author, check out her website.

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