Eastchester Author’s Debut Novel Wins Praise at New York Book Festival

A year and a half ago Jeffrey A. Onorato was in a state of anxiety. After 100 query letters and 100 rejections, he began to believe that he had wasted seven years of his life. 

"I couldn't even get an agent to read my book," said Onorato, a 47-year-old Eastchester resident. "I got one agent to read one chapter. That's as far as I got." 

Then one day a co-worker suggested he send his book to Bryant Park Press, a boutique independent publisher who was looking for unique fiction. To Onorato's disbelief, they wanted to publish his book. His novel, The Sin of Addison Hall, would go on to receive an honorable mention in the Science Fiction/Horror category of the 2010 New York Book Festival. 

The novel draws the reader into a futuristic world where beautiful people are considered superior and unattractive people are forced to live as second-class citizens. The hero of the tale, Addison Hall, is a slightly unappealing man. Everything about his world reminds him that he is inferior and he suffers from low self-esteem. Then, a chance encounter with the beautiful owner of a coffee shop who takes an interest in him, changes his life.  Amidst clever antics of hasty tasty meals (fast nutritional supplement consumed by the residents of this world), caffeine tablets and perspiration shops, where the overweight are sent so they can be more pleasant to look at, is an introspective tale. Onorato explores the concept of a "master race" and how a vain value system can corrupt a society. 

The idea for the book came about in 1999 on a routine Sunday morning visit to the gym.  As he pulled into the packed parking lot, Onorato noticed that the lot in the church next door was empty. It occurred to him that people cared more about toning their bodies than they did their souls. Later that day he wrote the first chapter of his book. 

But it was a trip to Auschwitz in 2003 that brought the entire story together. While there,  he decided to use the Nazi concept as the framework for the book, which has brought both praise and harsh criticism. He remembers being venomously accused of glorifying the Holocaust by a book club member in New Jersey, where he was invited as a guest author. 

The disparity in reviews is mesmerizing to Onorato. One instant he is being called a genius and the next a "schmuck," he says. 

"The hardest thing is not letting the criticism affect my current work," he explained. 

His future projects include a sequel to The Sin of Addison Hall, currently titled The Redemption of Addison Hall.

"This book will be similar to the Valkyrie plot against Hitler," said Onorato. 

Before that, however, he is concentrating on his next novel, which is about materialism and is more challenging to write. "The first one is easy, but when your editor assigns a deadline there is more pressure." 

During the seven years Onorato toiled at his novel, he traveled frequently for his job with a consulting firm. He found himself scribbling away in airports, hotel rooms and Irish pubs. He used lessons learned from writing coaches and classes at the Gotham Writers Workshop to help him refine his story. 

Married and the proud father of two young boys, Onorato travels less, but the rigors of family life can be an interruption. He values the time he has to focus on his craft, at night when the kids are asleep and on the weekends when he has a few hours of alone time. 

His advice for new writers?  Keep the story moving. 

"It's like an exercise program, you have to do it every day. There were days when I would write a lot and there were days when I would write one sentence, but everyday I was moving the story forward."