The following is an interview with author, professor, and former Chicago Golden Gloves boxing champion Bill Hillmann regarding the release of the coming-of-age novel, White Flight, through Tortoise Books. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Hillmann about his creative process in bringing this personal narrative to life on the page, what he hopes that readers may take away from the story’s themes, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the release of White Flight! What can you share with us about the story’s premise?
Bill Hillmann: The premise is, basically, a rough and tumble Chicago family flees the violence of city for the fancy Western suburb of LaGrange, Illinois. The main character, Joe Walsh, is the youngest. He takes up boxing, pours his heart into it, and fights through massive family struggles, and when he looks up–he’s one of the best fighters in the country and progressing towards an Olympic bid, when a tragic altercation throws his life into a downward spiral. Joe goes on the run to New Orleans, but he can’t escape his destiny and ends up in one of the darkest places on Earth. But will he survive? Only love can see him through.
BD: How would you describe your creative process in bringing this personally inspired narrative to life on the page?
BH: Funny thing is I’ve been working on this novel since before I started with The Old Neighborhood, which was my first published novel and which explores events with Joe Walsh and his family that precede everything that happens in White Flight. I first wrote White Flight in 2003 and gave the first draft to the author Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting, Men in Love, Resolution, and more) as a wedding present. It was a horrible and utterly embarrassing excuse for a novel. I’d written it on Adderall, thinking I could cheat past the grueling process of becoming an author. But, I came back to it about 15 years after I started it, and I rewrote it with a lot of passion. It’s amazing how far it’s come and I’ve come.
The funniest thing about the original draft was that I was writing from a place of insecurity that manifested as egotistical self-aggrandizement. What I’ve learned over the years is actually that your accomplishments are much less interesting than your defeats. Vulnerability and true suffering are what bind a reader to a character and to a text. You’ll notice that I spend more time, attention, and love on Joe’s defeats rather than on his victories, because losses carry nearly all of the wisdom. We all end up broken by this world and we must find a way to carry on. Joe’s great message to the world is that we must always find a way to endure and cling to our humanity, no matter the inhumanity, no matter storm, no matter the darkness. Hope is the only thing that we really have.
BD: What makes Tortoise Books the perfect home for this story?
BH: Jerry Brennan gets it. He’s an excellent editor who’s not afraid to stand up to you when you’re wrong. He gave me some brutal notes but after sitting with them a few weeks, I realized he was right. And they made this thing stronger. Jerry is honest, a straight shooter, a good friend, fair. He’s turned into a major pillar of the Chicago publishing community, and he will continue to do great things and I will be part of that future with him. Jerry and Tortoise are an institution.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that this story may connect with and impact readers?
BH: I think that this story would work well as a film or a TV series. It’s a trilogy and when all is said and done, the three books will add up to one thousand pages of fiction and I think a TV series would be a perfect adaptation. I’m working with Zach at Octopi Films on The Old Neighborhood and he’ll likely move forward with the rights for White Flight. I also want to turn the trilogy into an audio book. I think this story will impact readers due to the way it examines class and will invite residents of the suburbs to take a second look at the people they judge and cast out. As the suburbs change, I think it should be a lesson that people from different backgrounds should be accepted as they are and embraced rather than met with cruelty and judgement.
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
BH: I’m writing the next book in the series; it’s called The Annihilation. It’s a transgressive, psychological thriller and something that I think will really capture the imagination of readers. In the story, Joe Walsh turns professional as a boxer and rushes towards a world title fight but his mind unravels under tremendous emotional wounds and the brutality of the sport. All of that sends him into a CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy)-induced episode that ends in bloodshed.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about White Flight?
BH: The Tortoise Books website (https://tortoisebooks.com/) and my socials.
Instagram/Twitter: @Bill_Hillmann
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.hillmann/
