Campus Celebrity- Dr. Rick Wilber

                                                                                    Photo and interview by Mary Small

USF Mass Communications professor and published author

           The journalism majors knows him and love him but Dr. Rick Wilber has more to offer than to just the j- students at USF. When he’s not teaching Mass Communications and Society and Magazine Feature Writing, he’s writing. Wilber has published two novels, several short-story collections, a memoir, and several college textbooks on writing and editing. His most recent book is “Rum Point,” a murder mystery and baseball novel that draws on Wilber’s background as the son of former major league baseball player, the late Del Wilber of the St. Louisville Cardinals. Pick up a copy at the USF bookstore and Dr. Wilber will be more than happy to sign it for you!

Magazine major Mary Small sat down with Dr. Wilber for a Q&A Session:

Q: When was your book published?
 
A: It came out in March of this year
 
 
Q: How has the response been?
 
A: The reviews for “Rum Point,” have been very good, and there was a really nice one in the literary baseball magazine “Spitball.” Sales have been modest in the paperback version, but it seems to be selling well as a Kindle book on Amazon. It was top 10 or 20 in its categories, mystery and sports, for quite awhile.
 
 
Q: What is the book about?
 
A: It’s a murder mystery about a good hearted but alcoholic father and his cop daughter, who’s very capable. He thinks he is helping her in the book; but, really, she is helping him with his problems.
In the first chapter a body washes up on the beach and the daughter finds the body as she works the beach patrol for the local police force. After that, some drug smugglers think she found something on the body and try to get it from her, even as she begins to unofficially investigate the crime. Troubles ensue.
The father figure is the manager of a baseball team that is clearly based on the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s  been said that the character, a guy named Stu Lindsay, is a lot like Rays Manager Joe Maddon, but I’ve never met Maddon. I think there is a certain personality type with baseball managers, and that’s a type I’m familiar with, since my father was a pretty successful Triple-A manager for years.
           As with a lot of ballplayers, the father figure knows that the game of baseball controls him just as much as he controls the game. He eventually has to decide what matters more to him, baseball or his daughter’s safety. Ironically, he’s trying to help, but while he’s a great manager, he’s not a great cop, and he really causes more problems than he solves.
 
 
Q: What else have you written that has been published?
 
A: My previous book, “My Father’s Game,” was a memoir about the challenges of being my father’s caregiver toward the end of his life, and about a family’s life in baseball. I also wrote a thriller novel, “The Cold Road,” that did pretty well in the marketplace and got some nice reviews. There have  also been some short-story collections, several college textbooks, and more than 50 short stories published in various of the science fiction magazines. I have a novella coming out in Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, in fact, in a few weeks.
 
 
Q: What do you like to write about? Do you write mostly about your relationship with your father?
 
A: For better or for worse, my relationship with my dad has inspired me, but I mostly write science fiction. I have been a heavy science fiction reader since I was a kid, and I guess I never grew out of it.
 
 
Q: What made you want to become a writer?
 
A: I have always been a heavy reader, so it was only natural by high school that I wanted to write stories myself. I wrote for my high school literary magazine, which was a little strange because I was also the quarterback of one of the state’s better high-school football teams. I suppose that was when I realized I could love the sports world and the literary world in equal measure..
 
 
Q: What would you consider your biggest accomplishment in your writing career?
 
A: I can’t pick one thing. That would be like picking a favorite child. You just have to be proud of being a reasonably successful writer and enjoy the process of becoming a reasonably successful writer.
 
 
Q: What was your biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your career?
 
A: There are business obstacles like finding an agent you like and who likes you, and finding an editor that you like and who likes you. It’s always obstacle, too, trying to promote a good book and trying to get an income out of a book that took years to write.
 
 
Q: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
 
A: Number one…read! Read heavily, especially read what you want to write. Number two…start writing! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You have to get rejected and go through the learning curve.
 
 
Q: What classes are you currently teaching?
 
A: I am teaching two sections of Mass Communication and Society, and also teaching Magazine Feature Writing.
 
 
Q: How do you balance your time between teaching at USF and writing for publication?
 
A: When I am not teaching I am thinking about writing. I am currently working on an e-book called “Media Matters,” for Allyn & Bacon. I’m about half done with it so it will be out in January 2012. I really enjoy working on it. It is by far the most interesting and innovative textbook I have written.