Hopkinton native Mike Leary is the author of a new, semi-autobiographical novella called “Smoking Cigarettes.”
An estranged uncle, a cabin in the middle of the New Hampshire wilderness and an addiction to cigarettes — these are the elements that set “Smoking Cigarettes,” a novella by Hopkinton native Mike Leary, into motion.
“The main character is loosely based on myself,” said Leary. “He has sort of a nervous breakdown after inheriting this cabin.”
In the story, the narrator relives childhood memories and past trauma and explores how those influence creativity, along with the nature of addiction. Along the way, the narrator encounters “wary locals, a disembodied voice on a long-dead phone line, and a decades-old carton of Kent Light 100s that stares back like a memory,” according to the description on Amazon.
While “Smoking Cigarettes” is a work of fiction, Leary said much of the 104-page book draws from his life. Like the narrator of his novella, Leary’s uncle owned a cabin in Enfield, New Hampshire. As well, Leary battled a nicotine addiction for decades — a struggle he recently learned to control.
“I was a pack-a-day smoker for 20 years,” said Leary. “I started smoking when I was 18 and quit over a year ago.”
During his process of quitting smoking, Leary turned to the page. Developing the themes of “Smoking Cigarettes” was not an intentional act, he noted, but rather a consequence of processing past memories and his addiction.
“I started reminiscing about my childhood, and this character came to my mind,” he explained. “The story just … came out of nowhere.”
“Those summers in Enfield, the memories we picked up along the way — all that was sort of the jumping-off point,” he added.
Childhood memories, life of writing
Most of the memories captured in “Smoking Cigarettes” are pulled from Leary’s time at his uncle’s cabin, but his writing life developed from his time living in Hopkinton.
Leary, who now lives in Grafton, grew up in Hopkinton with his father and two older brothers. “As far as the Leary boys, it was just the three of us,” he remarked.
He also had the support of his grandparents, who had lived in Hopkinton since the 1950s. Leary said his grandmother in particular was an avid reader who visited the Hopkinton Public Library on a weekly basis and had “shelves and shelves of books in her house growing up.”
Leary also recounted memories of the first stories he recalls crafting — with his grandmother assisting. “As a kid, I used to dictate to my grandma, and she would write stories that I would tell her,” he said.
Leary said the love of books for him is genetic, and that he has a need to tell stories. He has continued cultivating that need, developing a sustained writing practice well into adulthood.
“I have been writing my whole life,” Leary said.
He has managed to keep a steady writing life in between marriage, moving between North Carolina, Texas and back to Massachusetts, career changes and starting to raise two children. Leary said he has another manuscript he completed before the novella that he hopes to get published one day.
As he continues to work on his craft, Leary keeps a robust support system. He noted that his mother is highly supportive of his work, and he praised his wife, Melissa, as his number one cheerleader.
“She’s always the first person to look at [my writing],” said Leary.
Promotion key for self-publishing
With that support, Leary completed the first draft of his novella in four months and spent an additional eight months editing it. His plan was to go through traditional publication channels, and he made efforts to send “Smoking Cigarettes” out to independent publishers.
However, continuous rejection made Leary rethink his approach.
“After I got the rejection back, I decided this book was ready,” he said. “I decided to self-publish it and not keep waiting on people to say yes.”
Added Leary: “I’ve read this book probably a dozen times or more and just was so certain this was something I needed to get out there.”
“Smoking Cigarettes” debuted on Amazon on July 22. As of Aug. 11, it was No. 7,168 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction and had a rating of 4.9 stars (out of 5) from a total of 15 reviewers. The book is available in both digital and print.
The release on Amazon is only the tip of the iceberg for Leary. He noted plans to get the book into other online booksellers and hopefully into retail locations later on.
“We’re going to track our sales through those platforms and then probably next year get wide distribution,” he said.
While publishing the book was easy, the push to promote it has been its own challenge. Leary said he has reached out to local businesses and spoken with other news outlets to get the word out about his novella. He also has an author page on Facebook he updates regularly.
The Hopkinton Public Library recently announced it will host a reading of “Smoking Cigarettes” on Sept. 18.
As far as what it takes to make a self-published book successful, Leary boiled it down to one element: confidence.
“Anybody can publish a book these days,” he said. “It’s about having the confidence to push it to people and hope they enjoy it.”
Leary said that “Smoking Cigarettes” was as much a therapeutic exercise for him as a creative one. His desire in sharing the book with others is that they take from it what he did.
“If anybody has ever struggled with addiction or depression or trauma, I think they [can] identify something with this book and take something away from it,” he said.
“The process of writing it was incredibly therapeutic,” Leary added.
Mike Leary was a neighbor of ours. my husband and I both read the book and loved it. It had a little Stephen King feel to it at times. Can’t wait for the next one Michael.