Charlotte Cooper from Gaydarnation in the UK sat down with me for a little chat. (Note: This interview took place before the writer's strike in Hollywood ended.)

Fruit Cocktail is the second of Arthur Wooten's Curtis Jenkins series and the follow up to his 2005 novel On Picking Fruit. Witty and romantic, the books follow a loveable protagonist who also happens to be older than your usual literary heroes and HIV+ to boot. Based partly on real life and partly on the author's considerable imagination, these are books that will make you laugh as hard as you cry.

Wooten stepped up to tell us more.

What do you mean by autobiofiction?
So many people have asked me if "I am Curtis" the lead character in my novels and my honest response is my work, all my work, is autobiofictional. There's a little bit of Curtis in me - there would have to be. The type of writing that really touches a reader or makes them laugh is honest writing and that honesty has to come from within. That being said, I'm also just as much Curtis'mother Mrs. J., Quinn, his best friend - all of the characters, including Emily-Mae the dog!

Some of the dates Curtis goes on are bits and pieces of experiences I've had - blended with friend's stories. But so much of both On Picking Fruit and Fruit Cocktail is just pure fiction.

Why is Curtis an older protagonist?
It's very rare to read a novel with a gay protagonist, one who is 40 or older. It’s a voice I wanted people to hear. Many of the books centre around teenage angst or confused people struggling with their sexuality. There are thousands of us gays out there that are perfectly happy being out and out for years and we have stories to tell. Also, writing for an older character gave me a much richer canvas to draw upon.

Can you tell us a secret about the next book in the series?
The big secret is that there won't be one - at least not with my current publisher. I wish them well but I'm on to bigger and better things. The writers strike in Hollywood should be over soon and prior to the shutdown a premium cable network approached me about On Picking Fruit and Fruit Cocktail being a TV series. Since then directors, producers and other networks have been scratching at my door. So the next incarnation will be On Picking Fruit the TV series.

I'm actually taking a meeting this month brainstorming about ideas for new programming and I just completed a screenplay based upon an award winning play I wrote - Birthday Pie. It's a busy time.

Who are the writers you admire the most?
Although I'm known for my comedy - playwrights who have inspired me are Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams. More contemporary, Beth Henley. They all taught me that comedy is not only based upon truth, but to make it transcend time and location it must be written and acted as seriously a possible. Most people in life, hence most characters in plays, novels, TV or screenplays are at their funniest when the are put into an hysterical situation but take it totally seriously. You'll see that concept played out beautiful in any I Love Lucy rerun.

What advice do you have for others thinking about self-publishing?
Go for it! In 2005 I internet / self-published On Picking Fruit. Within a few months Alyson Books discovered it on their own and offered me the multiple book deal. And now Hollywood. If you have a dream, own it. If my dream can come true, so can yours.

"There are thousands of us gays out there that are perfectly happy being out and out for years and we have stories to tell."

You seem to have lived many lives, not only are you an author but you're also a trained Shiatsu practitioner, and you've been an actor. What's next for you?

With all the interest in On Picking Fruit and Fruit Cocktail being a TV series, I'm staying on board as producer/writer. This is my baby. But doing press for Fruit Cocktail, I've had a taste of radio - even chiming in on BBC Radio with my good friend Clayton Littlewood, the Soho Blogger and David Benson the actor. I'm threatening friends now that I want to do more radio.

I've also just joined reFRESH Magazine based in London. Each issue I'll be writing a humorous and irreverent advice column about love, sex and dating written in a "Dear John" format. They're terribly funny and the first one debuted in the February issue.

What else would you like to say?
So many talented people who want to be where I'm at in my career ask me what should / can I do to make it happen. I believe in The Four Ps. First you need a good Product - whether it's a novel, play, screenplay, or whatever - maybe it's the next best vacuum cleaner. And then you must have Passion. You're going to have to work hard and think outside of the box and be Persistent. But even more importantly, be Professional. And learn to be lucky. We all know that in order to be struck by lightening you must stand out in the rain. But you must be willing to stand out in the rain longer than anyone else. My good fortune didn't happen over night. I've been poured on and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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AUTHOR IS RIPE FOR PICKING -

Arthur Wooten's tales of dating life amuse both gay and straight audiences.

The Examiner - San Francisco 02/09/2008

If Armistead Maupin and David Sedaris had a love child, it would be Arthur Wooten.

It might take a certain amount of creativity to really absorb that concept, especially since Wooten, like Maupin and Sedaris, is middle-aged, but when you're dealing with apt wordsmiths capable of provoking thought, anything is possible.

And that is precisely what Wooten continues to do.

Several years ago, he sat down to pen his first novel, "On Picking Fruit," which chronicled the dating exploits of Curtis Jenkins, a 40-something gay New Yorker whose appetite for real love continually leaves him forever hungry. When publishing titans didn't bite, Wooten opted to publish his book online. He went on to produce other material, all the while fiercely self-promoting his work until one day, he received a surprise call from Alyson Books - the publishing house offered him a two-book deal.

Flash forward to the present day and you'll find Wooten's work nominated for a 2007 Lambda Literary Award and under consideration at a major cable network to be developed into a series.

"I have learned you can learn to be lucky in life," Wooten admits.

The author will read from his second work, "Fruit Cocktail" - a sequel to "On Picking Fruit" - Wednesday at A Different Light Bookstore.

Perseverance may be one of the secrets to Wooten's success, but the former gymnast and actor says he always envisioned something good coming of his creative offspring.

"It was a flame in my heart and I fanned it," he says of his first book. "So many times, people like to put out our fires. We sometimes lose that flame and I am proof that you can find it again."

He believes both straight and gay audiences have embraced both books because, quite simply, they can relate to it.

"I think we all are looking for connection, whether it is within ourselves or our family or our jobs or intimate relationships," he says. "We are looking for validation, for something that reminds us that there is more to life than just getting through the day."

The entire experience ushered in a bevy of lessons, too, many pertaining to the ever-changing face of today's publishing industry. Even with the book deal, he still remains his own best publicist.

"For me, this whole thing is a forum, it's above and beyond the writing of the book," he says. "Listen, life is too short. Go out there and do it. If I can, anybody can."

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Arthur's Interview/Review with Tim Parks at the GL Times site:

Fruit Cocktail
Interview by Tim Parks
Gay And Lesbian Times - San Diego

Novelist Arthur Wooten may very well be living the dream of writing "The Great American Novel." And why is that, you ask? Wooten self published his first book, On Picking Fruit, which was picked up by Alyson Books, a heavy hitter in publishing GLBT literature. Some would say Wooten hit the literary equivalent of a jackpot, especially when a multi-book option sweetened the deal.

"It was the last thing on my mind, I wasn't going for a traditional publisher," Wooten said. "Having self published through the Internet, it was a brilliant experience. I knew when I finished On Picking Fruit it was an incredible blueprint, and this was not my intent, for a television series. So, as soon as On Picking Fruit came out, self-published, I put all of my attention into, 'How do I get this to the right people to see if it would be a good show?'"

As fate would have it, his self-published tome had caught the eye of Alyson Book's executive editor, Joseph Pittman, who contacted Wooten about publishing his labor of love. Wooten was just about to appear on "Brunch," a live talk show on the now defunct Q Network, when the call from Pittman came in.

"He said, 'So, what's going on with your book?' And I said, 'Well, I'm promoting it.' And he said, "No, I mean who's doing it?' And I said, 'I'm doing it.' He said, 'Well, I'm the editor at Alyson Books, and we want to buy it, and we want to buy a sequel and offer you this three-book deal.' It was awesome."

For the time being, Wooten put plans for figuring out how to turn his novel into a television series on hold, to concentrate on his newfound literary status.

On Picking Fruit chronicled the dating foibles of Curtis Jenkins, a middle-aged HIV-positive man looking for love, a demographic of the gay fiction population that is not often heard from.

The novel garnered tremendous response and was well received by both critics and readers.

"It was incredibly cathartic for me," Wooten said. "It's fiction, but I'm middle-aged, and I was tired of reading books about people discovering, 'Oh my God, I'm gay, whether they were 18 or 47!' I was born gay, just like Curtis."

"It was liberating to write for, I was hoping, and it turned out to be, [for] an audience that would say, 'Nobody is really writing about us, and where we're at in our lives.' And especially with HIV; there are some real long-term survivors, who take great responsibility for their status, but they are not defined by it," he said. "So, it was a joy and total different experience to be able to write for this audience with this voice."

Wooten has found his writing has crossover appeal as well. He receives e-mails from many different people, from a straight woman who was reading the book in a bar and got asked out by two men, to a grandmother from New England who enjoyed his book tremendously.

"It doesn't matter if the coupling is male-male, female-female or male-female, dates from hell are universal," Wooten said of his book's broad draw.

Since Wooten describes his writing style as "autobiofictional," and the scenarios of the dates from Hades that Curtis endures in On Picking Fruit are based in part on situations from Wooten's own trials and errors in meeting Mr. Right, the Gay & Lesbian Times asked him about the worst date he's been on.

"It wasn't too recently, maybe a year and a half ago," he said. "I had a fantastic date, and we were set up by friends. We met at a restaurant bar; we had a drink, and it was that tentative thing, like, 'If things go well, then maybe we'll eat something.'

"And we did, we ate something, and it was terrific. And we're halfway through dinner and it's romantic and sexy, and he takes hold of my hand with this really loving face he says, 'You don't know who I am, do you? Arthur, we dated for six months!'"

Despite being mortified by the situation, Wooten chalks it up to his date having undergone a major makeover and denies it was a case of early Alzheimer's.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be for fans of his first book, it did give him fodder for his next project. Wooten has continued Curtis' dating adventures with his latest novel, recently nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. The sequel is titled Fruit Cocktail.

"With Fruit Cocktail, my editor wanted an outline, and I've never worked from an outline before. And the outline was very, very extensive, and when it came time to write the novel, I wrote it so quickly," Wooten explained, before shifting gears and getting into the ways his main character has changed from the first novel.

"Curtis changes a lot," he said. "I hesitate to use the word 'matures,' but along this quirky odyssey he truly evolves and becomes more conscious. But so does Quinn (Curtis' best friend in the books). I think they become more affected by the events in their lives, and it appears that they're more aware of the people around them as people, and not just extensions of their own lives."

"I adore Curtis, and to write him in a way where he is not operating from a knee-jerk dating reaction, he actually pulls back and says, 'Hey! Wait a minute! Is this good for me or not?' What was really fun for me in Fruit Cocktail is I really created the opportunity to show that Quinn and Curtis are like Lucy and Ethel, and if Curtis is in a bind, of course he'll put his good heart into it; but Quinn definitely makes things worse than better. It was delicious to write for them."

As for the further exploits of the character who is so close to his heart, Wooten is unsure if that will come to materialize, but does already have a title in mind.

"I've always said to myself, if I did write a third one, that the third book would be titled Fruit on the Bottom," he said slyly.

There just may be a different serving of Fruit in the works bringing back into the imaginative fold his idea for the first novel.

"I don't want to jinx it, and I also don't want to sound like one of those people that says, 'Ya know this is out in Hollywood,'" he said. "We are very close to a deal with a television series. That's just a dream come true."

Whatever the future holds for Wooten, he has already left an indelible mark on struggling writers everywhere with aspirations of becoming published one day.

"I honestly feel that everything that has been happening for me now, and the success at this point in my life, has been above and beyond the joy that I get from the writing and the feedback from the readers," he said. "It's a forum, it's a platform, and I just hope I can encourage and inspire with the wonderful things that have happened to me. And, if you can dream it, it can happen - you just have to really work hard and stay focused."
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Click here to read Arthur Wooten's interview with Carey Parrish at www.webdigestweekly.com.

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The Boston Globe
PEOPLE
By Diana Brown
November 5, 2006

FINDING HIS NICHE: Andover-raised Arthur Wooten, 50, recently discovered a mid-career talent for writing plays and a new novel, "On Picking Fruit," about the trials and tribulations of gay dating, which debuts later this month. His work has been nominated for several awards -- the Lambda Literary Award, the Stonewall Book Award, and the Publishing Triangle Award.

Wooten, a University of Massachusetts graduate, spent 10 years as a theater actor in New York City and then evolved into a shiatsu massage practitioner. But now he is focusing on writing. He has a sequel to "On Picking Fruit" called "Fruit Cocktail" -- due out next spring. "Whether you're straight, bisexual, lesbian, gay, or just confused, dating scenarios are universal," Wooten said in a written statement. " 'On Picking Fruit' is fast and breezy but also heartbreaking and full of hope."
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On Picking A Good Book

by Andrew Hicks Staff Writer August 6, 2005
The Gayly Oklahoman (Hard Copy and Website)

TULSA - You don't have to be an expert to realize that writer Arthur Wooten is extremely talented. His latest novel, On Picking Fruit is a masterfully crafted work about Curtis Jenkins, a single and lonely native New Yorker who, after an accidental suicide attempt, becomes the reluctant patient of an aging and eccentric psychiatrist, Dr. Madga Tunick. Dr. Tunick pushes Curtis to find the root cause of why he can't fall in love, and teaches him to manifest what he wants in a man. Helping Curtis navigate the tricky perils of dating is his mother, Mrs. J. and his flamboyant best friend Quinn. The Gayly Oklahoman sat down with Wooten in an exclusive interview to chat about his new book.

While his knack for putting words together comes off effortlessly, Wooten explained that, after spending nearly 10 years as a theater actor, he decided to seek out a new profession. That new profession unlocked his mind to a world of possibilities. "I have been a full time Shiatsu practitioner for 21 years. Shiatsu has allowed me to tap into the ability to write. I honestly believe that. To do Shiatsu you have to be ambidextrous and I was very right hand dominant. My left hand was forced to become as articulate as my right, and I swear that the stimulation to the right hemisphere of the brain has something to do with it. After a couple of years of doing the Shiatsu I started waking up in the middle of the night in a dream state, writing. I would wake up and then clearly read what I had written and they were complete works. Over the years I've honed my writing skills but on occassion, I still write like that today. But I'm always a camera up in the corner of the room, watching everything and typing as fast as I can. I don't write every day but I am thinking every moment, and then when it is time to write it's like lightning."

Lightning certainly struck when he sat the pen down to the romantic tribulation of Curtis, which left many critics questioning whether Curtis was just an alias for the author. "The funny thing is, many people are taking this as extremely autobiographical and it's not. The person I have to convince the most is my mother. Everything I write that has a mother in it, she immediately projects herself onto that character. I remember when she first read On Picking Fruit she said, 'It's so funny and touching and sexy!' She later wrote to me and said, 'Sorry I wasn't a better mother.' I called her and said, 'Ma you're a wonderful mother!' She said, 'I should have never taken you to that beach!' I asked, 'What beach?' And she replied, 'The beach where you lost it!' I said, 'Ma I made that up!' She sighed, 'No you didn't. I remember taking you to that beach and this is all my fault.'" I just shrugged my shoulders.

Wooten insists that, despite several resemblances to people and places the majority of the book is purely fictional. He encourages readers to find the one real date story and write to him on his website with the answer. Through the book Curtis is subjected to a variety of men, from leather guys to hustlers to young hotties and even a drag queen. While the book is lighthearted and funny, Wooten didn't shy away from addressing Curtis' HIV status, and the role it plays in his everyday and social life.

"I wanted to portray a person who does have this virus, where it's dormant and he is still thriving. He doesn't think about it much. He does the things he is supposed to. He is seeing the doctor, taking meds and taking good care of himself. So many thousands of people are living incredible lives with this virus that I thought it was time that we don't see it as a death sentence.

Another message that Wooten introduced through the stout voice of Dr. Tunick was that anything is possible once you set your mind to it. "Years ago there was something around called Sylva Mind Control. It sounds horrible and in truth it was, but it was a technique for people to be able to close their eyes and see a mental screen and then you envision what you want. I kind of twisted that in my own mind and I realized that, like writers, we do create our own lives. I honestly believe that nothing truly manifests until you see it in your mind first. You visualize something and then it will manifest physically. That's what I did with On Picking Fruit. I want to encourage and inspire as many people as I can. If you have a dream, believe in it and own it. Go out and do it!"