Scott Oglesby - Spain Like You've Never Seen It

What do an alcoholic American with self-help issues, a clan of feuding gypsies, a German delinquent with his own catch phrase, a Welsh hustler with a penchant for one-upsmanship, and a foul-mouthed manic-depressive ex-writer who morphs into an eloquent intellectual after a few drinks have in common? They are all part of the zany crew of misfits who people “Lost in Spain,” a collection of humorous essays by St. Pete Beach writer Scott Oglesby. Not for the easily offended, this edgy, off-beat book will take readers down the rabbit hole to a part of Spain that won’t appear in any Michelin Guide.

Oglesby moved to Florida from Pittsburgh in 2005, wanting to make a fresh start. “I find the transient nature of Florida fascinating,” Oglesby says. “You get to meet a lot of people from different places, and they all have stories.” He married his wife, Karen, in 2007, and the couple moved to Spain in 2008. Three years later, they returned to St. Pete Beach with a treasure trove of stories about their experiences in the small Spanish town of Javaron.

An only child who “lived in my own head a lot,” Oglesby turned to writing.  He took a few creative writing and grammar courses while attending the University of Pittsburgh but left college when he was offered a job with the turnpike authority. He put his writing on hold until he relocated to Florida and started a blog. “I got a lot of positive feedback on the blog,” he says, “but I had deeper ideas I wanted to put out.” An admittedly “socially awkward person,” Oglesby wanted to connect with others who feel the way he does. “It was hard putting my self-analysis on paper for the world to read, but there are lots of people like me,” he says. “We’re like a little tribe.”

For Oglesby, writing “Lost in Spain” was a life-altering experience. “I love the creative freedom of writing,” he says. “Getting out of myself is a vent for me, almost like therapy. I’ve always been a comedian, but only on paper. I believe that every problem in life can be dealt with if you have a positive outlook and a sense of humor.” This sense of humor permeates the pages of “Lost in Spain,” a book Entertainment Focus praises as “a very funny collection of stories told by a witty raconteur with a fine ear for dialogue and comic timing.”

Oglesby has plans for another collection of humorous essays as well as a novel he describes as “a mixture of ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and ‘Clockwork Orange.’” Set in a dystopian future where Big Pharma takes over America, the novel explores the widening divide between the rich and poor. While he admits that his writing is sometimes cynical, he also describes it as “brutally honest.” He hopes his books will enable readers to “laugh at anything, and in doing so, at the end of the day, help themselves.”

For more information, go to www.ScottOglesby.com