For Walter Prucnel, his dreams really have become a reality — in books that is. The long-time Norwood author was vacationing in Long Beach Island a few years ago and had a dream about a bus accident that was so vivid, he decided to put his thoughts on paper and six months later, he finished his first novel, "The Plunge." Since then, he has published two other novels – "Guilty but Innocent" and "The Many Faces of God." I recently sat down with Prucnel to discuss his hobby of writing and his plans for the future.
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Staff photo by Joe Camporeale
Norwood resident Walter Prucnel discusses his novels and his upcoming plans for a sequel to ‘Guilty but Innocent.’
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Q: Who or what influenced your writing?
A: After I wrote the first book, people enjoyed it so much that they actually encouraged me to continue writing. I was trying to think what else I could write because "The Plunge" was a suspense story. I talked it over with my wife and I wound up wanting to do a murder mystery based in our hometown.
Q: Is there a message in any of your books that you want your readers to grasp?
A: There’s no vulgarity or intense sexual content. All of my books have a page in it called Readers Remarks, that they mail back to me. The majority of people were surprised that you could write a mystery novel about the Mafia and all these tough, rough guys and there’s no bad words in it and still get the point across. When I first wrote this one, I had the four letter curses and I read it and I didn’t like it so I decided to take it out and mentally, I made myself promise that I’d never use it.
Q: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
A: Every author gets writer’s block. Like the "Mahogany Statues," which is the book I’m working on, I’ve been on it for about five months and I had to stop for about a month because I just couldn’t concentrate on it no more. And then all of a sudden, I have an idea.
Q: Did you learn anything from your books?
A: "The Many Faces of God," I did a lot of research on. That’s all about different religions. And, with the Internet and the libraries, I looked up a lot of different subjects. "The Plunge," a lot of times, I just used common sense, you know, be practical in this situation of what somebody would do. And with the characters in my book, I always try to put myself in their position when I’m writing.
Q: Do you have any advice for other writers?
A: I really can’t advise anybody, I’m really not an authority but — write with your heart.
Q: Do you remember the day your first book was printed?
A: I was elated, I showed my friends, my wife, and they were proud of me but of course, they never thought it would take off from my dream and my days on the beach writing. Then nine months later, I finished a book. They were really surprised that I stuck with it.
Q: There is a cat in each of your books. What is the significance of that?
A: My sister and niece, they donate so much time and their own money as founders of Animal Life Savers, which rescues animals that are to be euthanized. They love animals. All of my books will have a cat in them because they love them and all of the cats usually have a part.
Prucnel is currently halfway finished writing his latest book, "The Mahogany Statues" and at the request of his readers, starting a sequel to "Guilty but Innocent." When he isn’t writing, Prucnel enjoys gardening, surf fishing and repairing forklift batteries and chargers at his business, Charger Mate.
