Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to A.I. Bayroff. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

A.I., thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was a horrible student. I would read, study, re-read, and study more, yet digesting the minutia of math and chemistry and memorizing the specifics of US history, such as dates and names of the generals, alluded me. When I took my first Writing Composition class in grade school, I found I could create a world that had never existed. Characters, plots, themes, all at the end of my pen. That, and watching my mother read eight-hundred-page books one after another, I thought, “Hmmm, maybe I could write something that she’d read.”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I didn’t write my first novel until 1994. I just graduated from The Savannah College of Art & Design down in Georgia, and landed a job at the ad firm, Ogilvy & Mather, in New York. I was commuting over an hour, sometimes two, from central NJ (Yes, there is a central NJ) into the city. I had an idea for a book, had the time, so I started writing. Four hundred pages later, I was done. After that, I wrote three more novels over the next twenty years, writing here and there, sometimes not for months or years at a time. Life, I guess, got in the way. Work, dating, moving, other projects, moving again, starting a design studio, then moving again. I also started doing stand-up comedy in 1998 in Houston, TX, then moved to Los Angeles, and performed for the next 5 years, until I moved back to NY. Stand-up takes up a chunk of any free time you may have, so the only writing I did for those years was for comedy.

It wasn’t until 2018 that I started rewriting my first novel, Midpoint, published in 2020. After that, I published a new novel every two years. Harvest in 2022, Sunshine in 2024. Currently, I’m working on my 4th novel, Panic.

Aside from the novels, I have three other published titles. The first book I ever published was a typography book for college students entitled “The Stuff Type Is Made of”, with Simon and Schuster. Then, “Pushing The Hack”; a homage to my grandfather who was a taxi driver in NYC from 1920-1960. After that, it was “Check, Please!” A comical dating story book; illustration created by my friend, Sten Ulfsson.

The typography book went into its third printing and was in over 130 schools around the country, along with a few institutions abroad. A proud moment for a younger writer and designer. As far as my novels, my novels are over 100,000 Kindle pages read, and climbing to 200K quickly. Very cool.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love this question. For me, three distinct milestones are rewarding as a writer:

First is the most important: the idea. Having the idea, or the germ of an idea, kickstarts the story. Or for comedy, the premise. Once that idea, the direction, is hammered out as much as you can, you’re off.

Second, I’m able to tie together all the storylines, come up with a twist, or take the reader in a direction they (I hope) never see coming. Sometimes I surprise myself, which is always a fun moment.

Third—big exhale—you’re done. You’ve done your due diligence, read, re-read, edited, edited, and edited, and it’s time to put your baby into the world.

The fourth secret milestone is good, or at least, favorable reviews. But that’s not why we write.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I cannot stress enough for any reader, on any level, to read Stephen King’s, On Writing. It will change your outlook on writing. Trust me. Also, I watched a Master Class of Dan Brown, David Mamet, Malcolm Gladwell, and others. Always good to get different perspectives on how other writers think and write.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.booksbybayroff.com
• Instagram: booksbybayroff
• Other: Amazon author profile page: