Local Thespian Pens Post-Apocalyptic Novel … But You Won’t Recognize the Author’s Name

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Photo via James DeVita

James DeVita

James DeVita

The late Alan Rickman, an actor perhaps best known for playing Professor Snape in the “Harry Potter” film series, once said that actors are “agents of change,” noting that a film, a play, a piece of music, or even a book can make a difference and, possibly, change the world for the better.

James DeVita, a core acting company member of American Players Theater in Spring Green, knows that to be true. Or, at least, he hopes so, having played many of Shakespeare’s leading characters, some multiple times, at APT over the past 32 years. During that same period, he has been trying to stack his deck as writer, turning out numerous young adult books and plays, including adaptions of 17 classics for First Stage, Milwaukee’s nationally acclaimed children’s theater. Suffice to say, he has kept a busy artistic schedule trying to make a difference.

DeVita’s latest book entitled Sanctuary (Penguin Random House) take a very different spin. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the book’s protagonist, a billionaire, flees with his entourage to an underground mansion he has constructed in a former government missile silo somewhere in the Nebraska plains. The billionaire’s moral crisis centers on what to do with the people outside who come to his door seeking safety. The publisher called the work “prescient” of today’s condition, despite the fact that it was written three years ago.

Contemporary Anxiety

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Sanctuary by James Cleary

“It’s a very contemporary story of abundance versus scarcity,” the author says. “It’s about a society trying outrun the exhaust of its own cars, the situations that they themselves have created.”

But here’s the kicker. Sanctuary was not written by James DeVita. It was written by James Cleary, the thespian’s new nom de plume that utilizes his great grandmother’s maiden name. “If readers Google my real name they will assume that I am only a children’s writer,” DeVita/Cleary says. “I didn’t want that.”

But, as he now knows, if readers Google “James Cleary” they will also come up with books by “Cleary James,” an author who specializes in sexy, contemporary romance novels, like Do Not Disturb: A steamy billionaire romance, or self-help manuals by motivational speaker James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.

It’s a busy literary market out there. But both DeVita and his London-based agent are enthusiastic about the author’s new work and have already scheduled publication of foreign-language versions to be distributed in France, Germany and Italy.

DeVita had submitted another idea, which was rejected. But his agent liked the way he worked with characters, which led to a contract and the writing of Sanctuary. “My writing is very visual, and I am sure that’s directly from my theater experience,” Devita/Cleary says. “She also liked the nuance of characters and their dialogue. These are the things that come more easily to me. I am lucky enough to be around great literature my whole life.”

There also is a direct connection between DeVita’s theater work and the books he has written, with one art form clearly informing the other.

“Both disciplines are connected,” the author adds. “The desire for authenticity, honesty and being in the moment is very much the same in writing as they are in theater. First drafts and stage rehearsals are very much the same. You learn not to judge your work too soon.”

Sanctuary by James Cleary hits the street April 28 with a launch party at Arcadia Books in Spring Green. On April 30, Milwaukee’s Boswell Book Co. at 2559 Downer Ave. will host a reading, an author introduction and book signing at 6:30 p.m.