‘Lessons From a Life Champion: Sometimes Even Winners Make Duty’ is a smart, funny parody on memoir and self-help books. It is written in the overstated, self-indulgent prose you see in a lot of inspirational memoirs, and self-help books. The irony is that I didn’t do anything great and I am the last person who should be offering advice. I am an ordinary guy going through ordinary life problems. It does tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end that I feel keeps readers invested, and it is much more intelligent than the silly bathroom humour that people may think when they see the cover. It is relatable narrative filled with smooth humor.
Are you find that the self-help books aren’t solving your problems? Want to have some laughs instead? Then take a break with A.J. Aberfeldy and me, as we chat about the book that will get you giggling, ‘Lessons From a Life Champion: Sometimes Even Winners Make Duty’. A.J., this parody looks at a more ordinary type of life than what books that live in the self-help or memoir genre generally do. Did you really use the events in your own life to fill the pages of this book, or did you borrow events from other people’s lives?
I drew on every difficult or emotionally challenging event in my life and I make fun of it in this satirical memoir. I think people will enjoy this because my life experiences are very relatable and if they can find humor in my problems they can hopefully laugh at themselves a little too.
Do you think about making people laugh as you write?
I write to tell stories to one friend in particular who has the same sense of humor and same outlook on life as me, dry and sarcastic with a sense of cockeyed sanguinity.
By writing to this friend, do you find that you can get all energetic and lost in the storytelling aspect of writing, or do you find turning these events into laughs takes more energy? What keeps you writing?
I write out of necessity. It has become part of my morning ritual. Every morning at 5 a.m. I write for 2 hours before I go to work as I sip coffee. It is therapeutic for me and it gives me an outlet for my creativity. I feel like it is a release when I write. I will write until I am dead, even if I never sell another book. I just enjoy the process.
I love that you enjoy the process so much! As you look back on what you’ve written, do you feel that your enjoyment of the process has changed and improved what you write?
My writing has become more personal and more in the authentic voice of who I really am. I enjoy writing in a conversational style, like as if I were telling the story to a friend over a couple of beers.
I know that you’ve mentioned that you wouldn’t necessarily publish another book, but have you considered creating an author brand around your work so that your voice is clearer to you?
Yes. I don’t know if anyone really gets my author brand, or what an author brand even is. I do maintain a persona as a successful self-help guru like a Tony Robbins, or Tim Ferris, only I am broke and I am a trainwreck. I do it as a way to laugh at myself.
*Laughs* You don’t see Tim Ferris laughing at himself all the time, and I think he’d be better off having a few chuckles like you do! Aside from obviously providing a great source of howling laugher for your readers, was there another strong idea that was important to share in this book, and of course this interview?
I love the Oscar Wilde quote, “Life is too serious to be taken seriously.” That pretty much sums up my book.
You know we’ve been serious far too long now, so I think it’s time that we encourage readers to take some time to have a chuckle and pick up some important, and perhaps not-so-important lessons from ‘Lessons From a Life Champion: Sometimes Even Winners Make Duty’. A.J. thanks for sharing your book with us today, and I hope that you keep your keys at the keyboard so that you can publish your next set of life lessons!
—
Excited to read the book we discussed today? Find it here on Amazon: ‘Lessons From a Life Champion: Sometimes Even Winners Make Duty ( ASIN: B07F69724J )‘.
Want to find out more about A.J. Aberfeldy? Connect here!