Shelf Media hosts the annual Shelf Unbound Indie Best Book Competition for best self-published or independently published book. You can find the winner, finalists, long-listed, and more than 100 notable books from the competition in the December/January 2024 issue of Shelf Unbound.
About The Author: J.R. Rice
Once upon a time, in the bustling city of Oakland, California, there was a man named J.R Rice. He was a Black man with a passion for writing, teaching, and spoken word artistry. J.R had always been captivated by the power of words and their ability to inspire, motivate and transform lives. As a young man, he knew that he wanted to make a difference in the world through his writing and his ability to connect with people. After receiving his B.A in Creative Writing and an English Education teaching credential from California State University of Long Beach, J.R set out to pursue his dreams. He traveled abroad to Greece, where he had the honor of being mentored by the renowned author, George Crane. It was there that he honed his skills and developed his unique voice, which he would later use to inspire and empower countless others.
Interview with J.R. Rice
Could you give us a glimpse into the heart of your book?
JRR:The heart of the novel lies in the book’s title: Broken Pencils. If you take a pencil and break it at the end, usually the tool is pointless. In the novel, the story revolves around the protagonist, Jonah Tarver, a troubled Black teenager from Oakland who believes that all lives are like broken pencils and that life is pointless. On the night of his Senior prom and the anniversary of his best friend’s death, Jonah is trying to discover his point in life or uncover that we’re all a bunch of broken pencils. a dark coming-of-age work of fiction written for a new adult audience.
Broken Pencils is a dark, coming-of-age work of fiction that explores themes of existentialism, alienation, mental health, and grief from the perspective of a troubled Black teenager. The reader follows Jonah Tarver through his chaotic twelve-hour journey, as he searches for life’s purpose in San Francisco on the night of his prom.
What sparked the initial idea for your story?
JRR:The initial idea for Broken Pencils arrived almost coincidentally. While studying at Cal State Long Beach, I was developing a teaching unit on Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, my favorite book in high school. I had dissected nearly every page and researched as much as possible of the book so that I could create a thorough curriculum for my class. In doing so, I was also seeing many aspects of my own teenage life within the protagonist as well as understanding how to craft a literary masterpiece.
After wrapping up the unit, I felt motivated to write my own story inspired by Catcher in the Rye, but with the people and places near to my heart and my experiences. Only problem was that I was missing one important part. Salinger used Holden’s character as a driver to convey the phoniness of society and the need to save the innocent, which was the theme driving the story. My book had a driver, but no car to drive the story.
After weeks of frustration in writing the first draft, I took a short trip to Pismo Beach in hope of inspiration over procrastination. On the drive there, I saw a billboard that read: “Broken pencils are pointless.” I remember turning my car around, pulling over near the sign, and just reading the words over and over. I’ll never forget that moment because that was the time I found my theme. I had discovered Broken Pencils.
How did writing this book impact you personally?
JRR:Over the course of writing my novel and releasing the book to the world, I felt deeply impacted by the amount of my personal life reflected in the story. Much like Jonah Tarver, I too struggle with bipolar disorder and carry a long history of mental health issues such as depression, mania, panic attacks, and suicidal ideations.
Initially, my intentions for the book was to shed light on mental health from a young Black teenager’s perspective. However, over the course of completing the story, I found myself confronting many of my past traumas and carefully reflecting and deciphering the cause & effects of my personal issues.
In the past few years, I have taken my self-care more seriously by returning to therapy, attending support groups, and regularly doing wellness activities like walks, meditation, yoga, and connecting more with my family, friends, and community. In a sense, I have been following the lessons from the novel, and learning to value the life that I have while I still have it. Broken Pencils has tremendously impacted my life because this story led to a deeper understanding and love for my imperfect, beautiful, true self.
Were there any unexpected insights or discoveries along the way?
JRR:The journey toward completing Broken Pencils wasn’t easy by far, and along the way, there were many unexpected ups and downs. After finishing my first draft out of college in 2009, I went into beast-mode and submitted my novel to as many publishers as I could, only to receive countless flood rejection letters and emails. “Unfortunately, your book is just not the right fit for us,” “Your book has potential, and we wish you the best,” “Please try again,” were common criticisms; however, I would take heed of their comments, go back and revise the novel so that the story was better, and then, as I did before, I would submit it again to different publishers and agencies, only to receive more rejection.
I wrote a third draft and then a fourth, and a fifth…sixth…tenth, yet more and more rejection. Years went by where I simply gave up on the project, leaving my dream on the shelf to dry up like a raisin in the sun. On top of the rejection, I had to cope with the loss of my father and friend, which added to the bitterness that perhaps my dream was deferred. Though the grief was unbearable at times, I was able to stay strong through the support of my loved ones. A deeper appreciation of life had emerged from the grief and despair. A motivation had arisen to use every ounce of my talents and embrace the life I have. In honor of my father and friend’s memory, I dedicated my book in their names.
A funny thing happened back in 2020. After feeling deep in grief, I decided to leave Oakland and go live and teach in Spain for three years, but upon feeling homesick, I returned to America a few months prior to COVID. So like most people on lockdown I was stuck inside with my TV, books, Cheez-its, bored as hell, and realizing that my life wasn’t getting any younger. I dusted off the old Google Doc file and opened my novel draft after going almost five years since my last edits. Within a year, I was able to rewrite Broken Pencils to where the story needed to be and then submitted my final draft to a variety of publishers and agencies, once again.
The most unexpected lesson learned was that you will lose and get rejected a thousand times, so that you will appreciate that one win forever. In December 2022, a small indie press called Tea with Coffee Media picked up and read my manuscript out of hundred submissions. The novel received the green light of approval from everyone on the staff, and the following night, they contacted me to see if my book had been published. On June 11th, 2024, Broken Pencils was released out into the world after living fifteen long years as a dream deferred.
What lasting message or experience do you hope readers will carry with them?
JRR: Throughout the novel, the theme of the broken pencil or pointless life is driven by Jonah’s action and interactions with people, recognizing that everyone is fragile and damaged in some way. However, I want the reader not to feel discouraged by this message, but rather inspired that we are not defined by our past. Even a broken pencil can still pen a beautiful masterpiece. A broken life carries a value more than the perceived damage. No, we are what remains from damage. Through this pain we managed to gain an understanding that our names are no longer damaged.
Can you share a sneak peek of what you’re working on next?
JRR:I do plan to develop Broken Pencils even further with an audiobook narrated by yours truly, along with a student reader’s guide that could be implemented within the classroom.
I plan to continue the Broken Pencils by showcasing Jonah’s journey within a poetry collection called, I WAS, AM, WILL BE.
Lastly, be on the lookout for Broken Pencils Part 2, but instead of the bay area, this time Jonah is searching for his purpose in Europe…
Continue Reading…
Article originally Published in the December/January 2024 Issue “2024 Indie Best Award Winners”