Russ Lippitt
The day he watched his dad get hauled away by the cops was the last day he saw him. His mom, a stripper, looked on. That was 26 years ago. The Lippitts' only child, Russ turned out to be anything but shell-shocked and timid. A novelist and forthright storyteller, he shows up at the local Starbucks in his anarchy tee-shirt. As we settle in to a couple of outdoor chairs at the spot on Sunset and Gower in Hollywood, Russ points out the greasers who happen to pass us by before he starts dishing tales in vivid color about his crap childhood. He includes instructions on how not to get your ass kicked when you're the only white kid in your hometown in Hawaii. Lion's Share, the novel I want to hear about, is his first, and it's no surprise that the central character is a loner, a punk and a modern day Outsider. In between hilarious vignettes about his day job lighting ballrooms for multi-million dollar weddings that make the Kardashians look chintzy, Russ, a 24/7 critic of opulence, talks about the S.E. Hinton comparisons and why anarchy is about civility and pulling together.
LW Do you believe in karma? I'll tell you why I'm asking you this in a minute.
RL I believe in myself, and what goes around comes around.
LW OK...well, I asked you about karma to try to delve into the meat of the main character in your novel, Lion's Share. Billy. He goes through a tremendous amount. The narrative spans how many years of his life?...
RL The most important four years of one's life. The period where a cub becomes a lion, to really find out if he can make it in this urban jungle we call society. The teenage years are vital to one's existence and it's these years that you don't forget as you get older and wiser.
LW So would you say he's more a product of circumstance or free will? Or has karma dealt him his deck?
RL They say, "you are what you eat". Why not, "you are where you live." If you're born in the dirt, congratulations! You're a worm. If you were born on top of a tree, guess what, you're a bird, you do the math.
I also wouldn't so much say karma rather then fate. I believe some people are born with the hand they were dealt and they try to make the best of the situation. Most of my characters in Lion's Share come from a horrible upbringing, living in poverty and looking for answers for "why?". It seems to be a theme of the youth today that is growing up now with divorce rates at 75% and unemployment at a record high. These things really mold the children and the future I believe is already written in stone.
LW You've characterized your writing style as being dialogue-driven and exposition-lite. Do you think that creates a certain immediacy? Does it make the characters more raw and real for you by dressing up their language with as few prose as possible?
RL That was an experiment I was working on for the novel. I wanted the voices to speak volumes, describe their looks, actions, and disposition through what they say rather than me sitting there explaining what color their cuffed jeans were. It also creates a fast pace to the story and that was the main goal. Just like a good Punk Rock song, it's short and to the point.
LW Did you write the novel for young adults?RL Define young adults? This generation is numb to violence and foul language so I kept it real to their voice. I know my novel wouldn't be handed out in any Christian schools to young adults anytime soon, but it does makes me wonder about the double standards. Books like Twilight, which is completely sacrilegious against the word of God, is socially acceptable because vampires are fun, and good-looking, and sparkly. Though Lion's Share is a work of fiction, it's from the hearts of the youth that spill onto the streets which is experienced by real young adults. That's my definition, I'm gonna have to call Webster on that one. Haha!
LW How did you pitch your novel to publishers? S.E. Hinton's Outsiders meets...?
RL S.E. Hinton's Outsiders meets REAL greasers. I'm sorry I like the Outsiders but it wasn't authentic enough for me. Just like how Hollywood has hijacked the greaser genre with movies such as Grease, Cry Baby, and Westside Story; greasers don't sing nor dance and it's not sugar-coated, PG violence. Real greasers are thugs, criminals, the person you don't want to run into in a dark alley. My novel was published because I told a story about an anti-hero. I reverse the roles of the protagonist and the antagonist, change the meaning of what we are supposed to accept from our characters. Lion's Share is different and fresh. I don't understand why formulas are so popular. I think most writers forget that storytelling is about telling a good story. It's simple and that's how I found my publisher, bare-bones storytelling.
LW How would you define today's punk movement? Are you a punk? Or a loner?
RL The punk movement is the same as it ever was. Granted, it did have its peek in the eighties and now it just went back underground. Don't be fooled by the crap you see on TV or at your local Hot Topic's. That is far from punk, that is commercialized capitalism at is finest. Punk is rude, blunt and at times controversial. I am a punk and I am a loner in the literary world.
LW Do you think punks identify with anarchy and all it implies? Or do other people identify punks with anarchy as a way of saying, "You're not living in the normal social order of things."
RL The rhetoric is that punks just want to belong. Anarchy is a venue for creating an atmosphere where everyone is equal. No racism, no bigotry and no politics. Talking about anarchy to the mainstream U.S.A. is like talking to a brick wall. They just don't get it because they don't live it. The punks do, the greasers do, the rebels do, etc... They see the government and the corruption, and it hits their homes the hardest. I don't see nothing wrong in believing in something if it has a good cause. Hell, we don't give shit to the Christians who believe in an invisible floating man in the sky, killing people in the name and starting wars over principle religious beliefs. You tell me who the radical anarchists are? They are 180,000,000 strong and growing.
LW Curious to know how a self-described rebel writer went about selling his first novel. So the first thing you did was to get yourself an agent, right?
RL It's hard to fight against the grain. Just like any writer, we struggle to get our work out to the public. Unfortunately the book business is a business and they like that whole money thing. I don't write for the money, I write to get my voice heard. If I can just get one reader to read my novels and think twice about their lives and what they are fighting for, then a job well done. I never got an agent, it's a Catch-22 with those people. They only want you when you're a somebody, but when you get to that point, why would you need them? I don't care much for the gate keepers, I do my own thing and I have my fan base which keeps a smile on my face.
LW And your next novel is?
RL Oh yes, the next novel will be out later this summer. It's called F.T.W. Rise of the Anarchy March. It's a look into a dismal future of an oligarchical government, where an up-rising opposition has formed to overthrow their predecessors. And for the tea-baggers out there, this isn't your manifesto. Grow a brain and think for yourselves, hopefully this novel will help, cheers.
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