1). Welcome to an Interview with Cliff Fazzolari, author of Desperation, Waldorf & Juli, Eye in the Sky, and Money Changes Everything. Conducted by Kitty Harrington of WQLN in Erie, PA.

2). Tell us about yourself and your Erie Connection - I’m originally from North Collins, NY which is about 30 miles south of Buffalo. I grew up in a family with two outstanding parents, and three great brothers and two awesome sisters. They’re a huge reason why I’m sitting here today. I came to Erie in 1982 to attend Gannon – I wasn’t real sure what life was all about when I got to Erie, but at Gannon, I learned that I love to write, and I received a balanced education. I appreciated the ethical aspects of my education, as well as the educational aspects of my time there. I had a lot of great teachers, and some of them were actually on the faculty – some of the students taught me a lot about life.

I also attended a lot of parties when I was down here. I spent quite a few hours at the nightspots – like Antler’s for quarter draft nights. I also visited Presque Isle, the mall, and you name the place, I probably ate there. Overall, I found the town to be a little bit of every city in America. I’ve traveled a lot since college, but I always feel something in my heart when I come back to Erie. By the way, I’m still not real sure what life’s about.

I’m married to Kathy and I have three sons, Matthew, Jacob, and Sam. We live in Blasdell, New York - about halfway between North Collins and Buffalo. I imagined having a life like this, and it’s going real well. I want to afford my kids the kind of life that I had.

3). Did you always want to be a writer? – English was always my favorite subject. It always came to me rather easily, and I never struggled to make a thousand words on a paper – usually, I had to cut it back. Of course, a lot of my friends saw that I enjoyed writing and when a term paper was announced or a book report was due, half the heads in the class turned in my direction. I read a lot of books – I did when I was ten years old and I still do today. One year, I was going to keep track of how many books I read and by the middle of January I was up to nine – and I just stopped counting. I’ve spent a ton of money on books and music through the years, but I never felt like I wasted a penny.

As for the writing – I always wanted to be Oscar Madison. I wanted to eat like a pig, dress like a slob, and write things people want to read – I’ve done two out of three and the writing is coming along.

Seriously, I knew that I’d be a writer. I had one friend who said that the only difference between writers and non-writers was words. That’s stuck with me to this day.

4). How did you get started writing? – Actually, I hurt my back working construction. I was living in San Jose, California at the time and all of my friends were back East. I was sort of pining for this girl from back home, and I guess all that misery clicked in my brain, and I started writing a story. I didn’t know what I’d do with it, but being just 22 and awful naïve, I sent it away to publishers. I got some interest from a small-time publisher and it actually got the ball rolling.