VR: The main character in your novel, Nez, is your fictional counterpart. Why did you decide to make your book semi-autobiographical?
Nez: “Write about what you know” is standard advice to writers. I didn't set out to do a semi-autobiography, rather to create a novel from real experiences. The spiritual elements of the story are something I lived. I wanted to have the part of me (and by literary extension, Nez) that was affected by what I found at the center of the novel.

VR: Why did you decide to write a novel at this time?
Nez: It more or less forced itself on me. Writing has always been my first occupation, starting with songs and so on. The ideas in LSHONZ were ideas that needed the forum of the novel to be fully expressed, so there was no choice really, and I felt ready to do it. I don't think I could have tackled this a decade ago.

VR: Your novel revolves around the myth of Neftoon Zamora and how Nez enters a process of spiritual awakening through their brief relationship. Why is myth so important? Can we live by myths today? Who do you feel is successfully bringing myth into modern culture?
Nez: If by "myth" you mean a parable or an attempt to explain by storytelling the ineffable or spiritual aspects of life, then myth is all we have. Myths are stories which give examples of powerful influences and controlling forces in our lives that we cannot explain in usual logical or mathematical terms, the language of the physical sciences. The spiritual awakening you are asking about can only be expressed in myth, telling a story about it, making up a legend to give it form, as Henry Miller says. These are the myths we do live by whether we are aware of it or not. So much of what is told as objective truth today is really a mythic interpretation of some complex and difficult subject. To me, filmmakers are the best at bringing myth to our modern culture because they are able to get such dense information across in an accessible way. Among those writer/directors I admire for their ability to do this are Francis Coppola, George Lucas, Jonathan Demme, and Stanley Kubrick, for those extant, and David Lean, Francois Truffaut, John Houston and John Ford, for those departed. As for literary writers, Milan Kundera, Lewis Carroll, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, and Italo Calvino are my touchstones.

VR: What does the character of Neftoon Zamora symbolize?
Nez: She symbolizes the effect of beauty, and intelligence, and truth on, and in, our lives.

VR: What are some of the lessons that Nez learns during his time with Neftoon Zamora?
Nez: The first lesson is of course the existence of the secret place. David called it "the secret place of the most high", and second, the need to sanctify that place, and keep it hidden from the world of greed, lust, and evil, to not let those aspects of character exploit, and as a result destroy, the place in him that inspired him, and nourished and fulfilled his fondest hopes.

VR: What do you hope readers will derive from your novel?
Nez: Most important, an enjoyable story that they will have a good time reading. After that, it's up to them.

VR: When people hear your name, their immediate association is with the Monkees. That was then, this is now. What's gone on in between?
Nez: I wrote, produced, and performed a series (10) of musical albums in the years just after the TV show went off the air. Late in the seventies I got interested in film and video and did some early work there. I came up with the idea that eventually became MTV, and explored the video form for a few years. In the early eighties I did a long form video, Elephant Parts, which won a grammy, and got me seriously interested in film. I co-wrote a screenplay that I produced and did the music for, a kind of science fiction comedy, called Timerider, then I did a few more films as a producer and financier: Repo Man, Tapeheads, and Square Dance. I did a short season in the mid 80's on NBC with a comedy show, and all along kept my hand in music; writing and producing three more albums in the 80's and early 90's, then turning to writing more screenplays, and now, novels.