We were lucky to catch up with Alexander Manzoni recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexander, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I came up with the idea for my first realized novel: The Spokane Story when I was sitting in the day room at the United Gospel Mission men’s shelter. I was writing in my journal, listening to all the crazy stories that my fellow mendicants were expressing around me. Breaking Bad had recently run its course. And I thought it would be interesting to tell a tale from the other side— the side of the junkie, the side of the dealers that sell only barely enough to maintain their habits. I had dabbled in “bathroom chemistry” for a time, before, back in New Jersey. My entrepreneurial activities back then were dubious. I first tried extracting cannabis resins and DMT. When that didn’t work (I almost set my house on fire making the former). I later tried making my own heroin with chemicals and materials off the Internet. The drug dealer in my town, was king. And I wanted not only a taste of the high life again after my father lost all of his money, but clout and power on the streets. I did not have the stomach for such business. The experiments failed. But they gave me a sense of what a cook does and what dangers can arise. Around the time the last experiment fizzled, I tricked my brother’s friend into giving up his connection. And that sealed my fate.

Seven years later, it was Autumn 2014. I had lost everything. And was almost resigned to a fate of living rough. But I wasn’t about to leave it at that. I had big ideas. Though those ideas weren’t going to be realized until I found an apartment. Thankfully, the Salvation Army helped in that regard. Once I was settled, the writing began. It took two years of tireless work. I took an existing Youtube channel of mine and repurposed it for my writing. I started by recording audio tracks of the first few chapters. When the book was done, I was so proud and excited. But what then? I was not so sure. In 2016, had begun attending open mics and arts events in the city. After a couple, I got up the nerve to read. It only took a few times before I was approached by a local radio DJ poet, Stephen Pitters, for KYRS.FM to do a prerecorded reading and interview. This momentum allowed me to eventually springboard into additional features and additional radio spots.

I kept my eyes open for submission opportunities. I found many. Though not for my novel. So in the meantime, I had a variety of poems published in small literary magazines and websites. A novel like this was going to need a very specific kind of publishing house. There were a few times I was able to send it in somewhere, but it was always rejected. Eventually, I realized that if this novel was going to be made— I had to be the one to do it.

In my discussions about the novel with local poets, one, a Mr. Dennis Held, offered to give my book a read through and provide notes. I was so afraid of what those notes were, so I put it off for a year. Until I was ready to begin the formatting process. And that, in itself, took at least a year.

Mr. Held advised me of a local printer-publisher that could help me: Gray Dog Press. Once the book was formatted and the cover done (thanks to my wonderful girlfriend, an expert graphic designer), funds were being saved up. My own Mother, Virginia Lee Cervino, took a producer role. Along with her estranged sister, Kathy, they helped put it together at the last minute.

The book was printed and ready for pick up weeks ahead of schedule. It was a glorious day. If only I knew the trials that were to come.

I sent out emails to all the local newspapers, periodicals, radio stations and indie book stores. The only ones that got back to me was one bookstore and the original DJ mentioned above.

All along the way, I kept posting. Letting everyone know that the book was coming. Yet when the day came for release, nobody bought it. It didn’t help that I wasn’t included in “new releases” and my novel was placed in the middle of the fiction section. A local Tiktok influencer bought a copy and gave it a great review. Still nothing. It took five months to sell four copies. And when they were sold out, no mention was made of restocking. So I was back on my own.

My baby arrived two weeks after the book finished printing. And since then, Baby Xander has been my priority. I did a couple poetry features and interviews. That helped moved a copy or two.

To get the book out there, I was going to need a new strategy. Which brings me to today: I have been placing copies in “little free libraries” across town with the idea that someone would get their hands on it and want to talk about it. But still, business remains glacial. I remain optimistic. And continue to write my novels. I have five almost completed manuscripts, including the rough draft of The Spokane Story 2. Currently, I have been seeking anthologies, events and other opportunities to grow my fledgling business. I found a publisher (The Horror Connection) willing to take one of my novellas: a horror tale about a recovery house run by a serial killer called “The Program.” I signed a contract, helped an artist design the cover (it looks fantastic). And they are in the process of releasing the book in the following months.

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 am a prolific writer and performer with a powerful rhythmic style.

I got into this business after trying my hand at sound engineering and failing to obtain any decent clients. I ended up selling my equipment for drugs. And the next time I was hospitalized, it occurred to me that I wanted to do something that “they” couldn’t take from me. Writing was one of those things. I had started novels beginning at age fifteen or sixteen. I finished a rough draft. And when it was done, someone stole two out of the three notebooks. It crushed me. But, years later, I realized that it was my true calling.

Performing was something I realized that I loved once I started doing open mics in 2016. The rush I get from it is unlike anything else I can get without picking up a drug. My intense and sardonic style has entertained many over the years: from coffee houses to art galleries to Spokane City Hall.

So, in short, I write novels, novellas, short stories and poetry (prose, freeform and rhyming). I make vlogs and have my live performances recorded (thank you, Sophia). I occasionally compose music and have a variety of instrumental tracks at the ready. In the past, I have done illustrative art and claymation. And have also provided voice overs for my brother’s now-defunct podcast. One of my upcoming projects will be the audio recording of my new book: “The Program”.

My message is one of understanding and forgiveness— that one can indeed change and turn a new leaf when others have counted them out for good. My genres include literary fiction, horror, sci-fi, political satire and crime.

I am most proud of my baby boy, my thousand-plus pages of poetry, my realized self-published novel— being able to get off the streets and do all of this without a completed college education (I dropped out after a few semesters due to stress) and my daily writing streak that has lasted for eight years.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There was a period that lasted two years, from around 2012 to 2014 where we did not have a regular source of electricity at our house. Mom got behind on bills until it was thousands of dollars. Our house ran on gas and we ran out of that too. The electric company shut us off just before the frost. And we had to make do with a small generator. Work for me in construction dried up. So I wrote my stories and poems and read most of the Game of Thrones series by candlelight. I washed my clothes in the bathtub with a stick. When I went to dry them they froze. It was hell. I figured out how to break in to the box. And for a couple months we had power until one day I slept in and forgot to set it back. The utility man caught us.

Then, later on, when we were getting closer to finding a buyer for our house, Mom got the power back on temporarily and some heating oil. We got into some sort of argument and I went over to Dad’s for about a week. When I returned, the whole house smelled like kerosene. Somehow Mom didn’t notice the heater sprung a leak. My basement room, my clothes and everything in it was ruined. Anything that entered the house came out smelling like petroleum products. For the next year, people didn’t want me in their cars, on their couches or in their houses. I heard: “Something smells like oil. Hmmmm…” practically every day of my life. Talk about depression! My self-esteem went to the dogs. Even after our house sold, the smell on my items remained. My family photos even still smell like that. At the time, I was able to go to my Dad’s two houses over and warm up. I got to see my dad’s “new family” living their lives while his old one lived like mole people. It hurt. A lot. Dad did everything he could. But it was a difficult and complex situation. And he had his own set of problems to deal with, him being bipolar as well and all. I thought I could write us out of this. But I was not ready. From this era, I produced a book of as yet unpublished horror short stories and novelettes called: “From New Jersey to Hell”. These years of pain prepped me for the real struggle for when I landed on the streets of Spokane and had nowhere to live. I left the shelter when the hours I needed to apply for dead-end jobs (thanks to my felon status) did not line up with the hours they wanted me to be at the shelter attending church. So I spent almost two weeks sleeping outside under the bridge next to the shelter, hiding whenever they sent people in to clear us out. Then again, it could have been the amphetamine psychosis.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I began by creating my pages. Then I started making contacts around the city by going to events and open mics. I would approach featured poets at the end and buy their books, tell them a bit about myself and obtaining their socials. This is a long game. It took years to build those accounts. In small towns, this may be near impossible. It was forty minutes to the nearest open mic back in Jersey. And as a result, I never attended any on the east coast. Luckily, Spokane had plenty of events to attend.

Creators don’t seem to follow back like they used to— there’s this idea that the more follows one does the less important they are. This has gotten to the point where accounts will follow you and many others only to unfollow everybody after a time to make themselves seem more impressive. These are not the “fans” or “friends” you need.

Occasionally, the algorithm would show my account to many others and I had points where I had hundreds of follows in a week. However, once I started doing political activism, the algorithm stopped being of aid. Even years after I relented, the sting of the shadow bans remained. I pivoted to different types of videos. Nowadays I mostly only have time to post my live performances and my baby videos. The algorithm liked that. Gave me plenty of views. Though not many follows. I noticed that it usually only shows videos posted in the past day or so. So I would advise posting often. But don’t get on peoples’ nerves. I try to stay humble. My achievements are announced, but not in a braggadocious manner. It is important to find your fans and keep them. But not to sound too desperate.

If you’re starting out: make your author Facebook, Instagram, X, Youtube and Tiktok accounts. Be wary of your content. I used to post poems. Nowadays they train AI using whatever you put out there. So I wouldn’t put a whole piece up unless you’re comfortable with that. I post occasional excerpts, vlogs, performances. Try to stay on topic. Your wild frustrated rants should probably be kept to yourself. After I got suspended for speaking out against Putin on Tiktok live I didn’t know what to think anymore except that corporations are corrupt and my writing career depends on following their capricious terms of service. Try to see what’s ahead. Youtube began demonetizing poems of mine they didn’t like that were up for years with no issue.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://spokanearts.org/artists/alexander-antonio-manzoni/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writingmanzoni/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/WritingManzoni/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/writingmanzoni
• Twitter: https://x.com/WritingManzoni
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@writingmanzoni
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/writingmanzoni
• Other: https://www.spokanecreators.com/literary-art/alexander-antonio-manzoni

Image Credits
Paintings by my wonderful Mother: Virginia Lee Cervino (R.I.P)