Here are some questions that were asked of me about the novel.

Is the novel autobiographical?

I call the genre “autobiographical fiction”.  It is more or less a memoir made into fiction.

Why did you decide to go with a novel treatment instead of a memoir?

I’m also a personal essayist and so I work within the memoir form a lot. My blog of personal essays is The Blog of Innocence.  I chose the novel form to explore the creative boundaries of fiction and autobiography. “Lethe in Vegas” is one of three sections, or novellas, that cover my adolescence. The whole narrative is an epic retelling of my adolescence in different locations, at different time periods.

Was it to have more freedom with the narrative and to have the liberty to create composite characters, etc.?

Yes. This is a story I have been working on for over ten years. I continue to deepen the characters and go deeper with the story as well.  The only explanation for this is a meticulous love of the craft of fiction.

What percent of the novel really happened to you?

I would say about 70% of the story actually happened. But whenever we try to separate “what happened” from “the story about what happened”, or memory from lived experience, we run into major problems. I don’t think any representation, including a memoir, can be “the truth”. Once words are formed about an experience, fiction gets created.

Is the novel finished?

While The Novel of Life is far from finished, the Las Vegas section is done.  In the next section of the novel on this blog, Lethe will return to the rehab center in Tuscon, Arizona.  But I haven’t written it yet.

I approach this work not as a professional novelist but as an amateur and a hobbyist. I leave it alone for weeks or months and then return to it and work diligently for awhile before I put it down again.

Do you plan to publish the novel or will it only be available online?

This is my first novel. If there is enough interest and I am pleased with the final product, I may publish it. Most likely, the graphic editions of the work will be published sooner. An Argentinean illustrator is currently working on a graphic novel based on the Las Vegas stories.

Your age, the college you were attending when you dropped out and the year or years you were in Las Vegas?

I dropped out of Hamilton College my junior year; I was 20. I lived in Vegas for only a month in 2000 before I left for a rehab center in Arizona, and then a halfway house in California.

How should I identify you?

You can identify me by my real name: Chris Al-Aswad. I use a pen name, which is also the main character of my novel, Lethe Bashar.

Any other biographical details?

I was born and raised in the western suburbs of Chicago. I transferred to DePaul University in 2002 and graduated with an English degree a year and a half later.  Now I live in Central Illinois and work as a freelance writer and SEO consultant.

Which chapter is your favorite and why?

For the Las Vegas section, I would say my favorite chapter is “In Which Louie takes Lethe to his brother’s apartment”.  This scene best evokes the seedy burlesque of Vegas.  You can hear me read the chapter out loud on the podcast for the novel.

That’s somewhat of an introduction to the work. To begin reading the novel click here.