Nate McIntyre: “Roaring Zeros”

Jason Carver is a member of a lost generation. Fresh out of college and buried in debt, he, like many of his peers, finds that the American Dream he’d been taught to believe in has become a cruel myth. The country is in the midst of the greatest economic crisis to strike in over fifty years. Jobs are disappearing, families are losing their homes, and for the first time in decades, the youngest generation faces the prospect of a less prosperous future than their parents had. It is an age of bailouts and “too big to fail” corporations in which the average citizen is too small to matter. Forced into a tedious, dead-end job just to stay afloat, Jason finds an outlet for his frustrations in punk rock and getting drunk with his friends. It seems that all he can do is bide his time and wait for an opportunity to escape his predicament. However, events in his life and the country at large continue to deteriorate. Public discourse becomes increasingly toxic. The nation’s first Latino president is attacked by a shadowy extremist group shortly after being sworn in. Soon afterward, Jason experiences the most violent and heartbreaking night of his life. All the while, a small group of well-connected elites benefit from the public’s plight. Jason Carver decides he’s had enough. He’s going to fight to save his future and his country. Anyone caught stealing either is going to pay.

My review:

“Roaring Zeros” by Nate McIntyre is a modernist Robin Hood tale set in a near future USA that is plagued by an economic downturn, poverty associated with corporal greed and by the surge of a right wing New American Front, NAF.
Our hero Jason lands a job as door to door salesman, encouraged to sell members of the public luxury they cannot afford, so his employer can afford more managerial bonuses. He leaves the job in anger and starts an almost personal vendetta against the greedy and evil forces in the country.
Not entirely heroic and benign Jason’s anger vents at his former boss, his French love rivals and the heartless wife of an industrialist. In their noble frame of mind however, he and his friend share their illegally obtained financial gains with his poor neighbours.
Their actions inevitably lead up to a big show down against the NAF and during the lead up to this Jason finally overcomes his rejected love for former flatmate Jessica and falls for prolific journalist Kristen (and she for him) but his obsession with his new role and the sacrifices he is willing to make threaten the new relationship.
The writing flows easy, plot and sub plots are told in a fast moving and pleasant way showing the professionalism and skill of the author. I must also congratulate the author for the great choice of title, , which works on several levels.
The book deals with controversial political issues such as the use of violence to counter violence, robbing from the rich and blaming poverty on corporal greed. Having a protagonist who sways between hero and villain himself was not always easy or comfortable reading, although it was thought provoking and stimulating in many ways. Fortunately Jason grows through the experience, showing McIntyre’s talent for character development. This is a challenging book as much as the economic situation is a huge challenge for the outlook for an entire generation, which Jason and his friends represent.
The book and its themes stayed with me long after I finished reading, which is always an indication that the author succeeded in his aim.

Interview with Nate:

Tell us a bit about yourself as an author and a person.

I’m twenty-seven and live in San Diego, California. I have a clerical job downtown and also do some volunteer work outside of that. My educational background is in political science and international relations, and I’ve had a strong interest in history from an early age. I also served six years in the Marine Corps Reserve.
As far as hobbies, I’m into reading, punk and similar forms of rock, home brewing, sports (baseball, hockey, international soccer), and maintain a modest PC gaming habit. Creative writing is a relatively new thing to me and this novel was my first serious attempt. It was an interesting experience that I’d like to try again once I have time.

How did you come to writing in the first place?

Honestly, the primary factor in my decision to start writing was boredom. I’ve always been a relatively active reader and follower of current events. I graduated college right when the “Great Recession” started, and along with a lot of people my age, I had a pretty tough time finding work. I was also close to the end of my reserve contract at the time and couldn’t even turn there for full-time employment because of budget issues. As a result, I had a lot of down time and one of the ways I decided to fill it was with this story.

When did you first have the idea for this story? Did you know then what the story would be about?

I’d say the idea first started forming in late January or early February of 2009. This was pretty soon after I had graduated and right in the middle of the financial crash and the bailouts. There was talk all over the news about job losses, companies going under and speculation about the “next Great Depression.” I specifically remember one morning where I was watching the news while looking for jobs on my laptop. A story came on about the bank that my parents and I had our money in being in danger of collapse. I called my dad asking him if we should pull our money out. It was pretty alarming and reminded me of stories my grandparents told me when I was a kid about what they went through in 1929.
In addition to this, there was a lot of heated rhetoric surrounding the 2008 election and Obama’s victory. We were seeing the rise of a lot of loosely-related groups under the Tea Party label and an outpouring of populist sentiment in general. The country and the world were in a lot of trouble and the level of public anger was very high. I started thinking about what I learned in my history classes about the Great Depression and what a modern repeat might look like. I didn’t know all the details from the beginning and some ideas changed over time, but that basic premise remained throughout.

How long did it take you to write the book?

The very first draft took about a year and was done in April of 2010. There was a lot of stop-and-go from there. Overall, it took about three or three and a half years to finish.

How many rewrites did it take you?

I never did a full rewrite all at once, but there were passes where I made significant changes. In total, I have around a dozen drafts dating back to the very first.

Which of the characters did you enjoy writing about the most and would you say you are like any of them?

They were all pretty fun, but Jason was the most enjoyable. I’d say there are elements of my friends and I, and many of our fellow Millennials in each of the characters. There are a decent amount of similarities between Jason’s background and my own. However, I think he and the other characters could be easy for a lot of people to relate to. As I was writing, I observed my surroundings with the goal of creating characters that played the role of “everyman.”

Do you feel as hopeless as some of the characters in the book, or as angry?

Back in 2009 when I first started writing, I would probably say yes, actually. Or at least close. That was a rough period for me personally and for the world at large. I know I wasn’t the only one, though. I’d say I’m still upset with many aspects of our society and government in the wake of the financial crash. However, the sustained level of scepticism and protest I’ve seen over the last few years has given me some hope that things will improve. Whether it was certain elements of the Tea Party, the Occupy movement a little more recently, the record interest in third-party candidates in 2012, or the protest movements in Europe and elsewhere, it shows that a growing number of people are waking up and won’t just accept the status quo any more. That’s encouraging.

In a nutshell: Could you say what the message of your book is or what would you like to express with it?

I wanted to illustrate the power of everyday people and the importance of exercising it when necessary. As recent events have shown, we live in a world where people are often treated as objects and have to just accept whatever is given to them, while those in positions of power and privilege play by a different set of rules. I also wanted to explore how it is often personal grievances and emotion that motivate individuals to act out on a wider scale.
The other point I wanted to get across was the potential dangers of populism and turning to the wrong solutions out of desperation. The Great Depression allowed fascism to take hold in Europe through a combination of street violence and elections. While I do think the current wave of populism is justified, some of the rhetoric out there is eerily similar. I wanted to explore what this would like look from my generation’s perspective if things continued to deteriorate. When I look at the events of the last year or so in certain places like Greece, I think this warning is especially valid.

Do you read the same kind of books? Do you have time to read?

These days I read a lot of non-fiction. Books about politics, history and things like that. I’m currently reading David Graeber’s Debt: The First 5000 Years, which has been interesting so far and I think addresses an important issue. However, I do like dystopias and books with some action and adventure. In the past I read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy and military thrillers like Tom Clancy’s work. I still do from time to time.

How do you write? What is your writing environment like?

I’m almost always in my room with music on. It limits distractions and sometimes the music can help me focus if I get stuck on something. I also like having the Internet at my fingertips so I can research something if I have a new idea.

Who are your favourite authors / influences?

I really like George Orwell’s work. Homage to Catalonia is one of my favourite books. Jack London is another. I also like a lot of Tom Clancy’s older books and admire the amount of detail and research that went into them. Brian Jacques is another I’d include, even though he was a children’s author. I probably read fifteen books from his Redwall series in middle school and thought he was good at making relatable characters.
I also get a lot of inspiration from music and movies. Greg Graffin is a brilliant songwriter and thinker whose work I’ve enjoyed for years. Some of the themes and style of this book were inspired in part by movies like Boondock Saints, Fight Club, and SLC Punk.

Who would play your characters in a movie?

Jason – Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s played similar roles before.
Marty – Sean Astin.
Roger – Jim Parsons.
Alex – Charlie Day. He’s hilarious and I’d like to see how he’d handle a character and story that becomes more serious over time.
Kristen – Olivia Wilde
Jessica – Amanda Crew

What is your next project and where would we find out about them?

I haven’t really started anything yet, but I do have a few ideas I’m considering. The one I think I might work on next is sort of a futuristic dystopia. I’ll probably make announcements about it on my blog, Facebook and Twitter once I start working on it.

Thanks for reading my book and giving me the opportunity to do this interview!

Blog: http://www.nathanstate.com (still needs work, but I do post updates here)
Roaring Zeros fan page: http://www.facebook.com/RoaringZeros
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Commander_Nate
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17250460-roaring-zeros
Amazon (paperback or Kindle): http://amzn.com/1481221167
Smashwords (multiple formats): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/269399
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/roaring-zeros-nate-mcintyre/1114072852?ean=9781481221160

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P.C. Zick in Tag, You’re It!

Here is a reblog of P.C.Zick’s “Tag You’re it!” a fun post amongst writers to talk about our work in progress:

Tag, You’re It!.

Tag, You’re It!
By Patricia Zick @PCZick

[In other news P.C.Zick has climbed up to No 4 in the Indietribe Books Charts]

I’m playing Indie Author tag today, and I’m IT. Being “IT” means that I share information about my work in progress, or WIP.

The Rules

Give credit (including a link) to the Indie Author who tagged you.
Play by the rules; therefore, you must post the rules.
You MUST answer all ten questions below.
List five other Indie Authors with links that you have “tagged” so that the game can continue.
Link Back

The Indie Author who tagged me is Christoph Fischer who writes the blog Writer Christoph Fischer where he writes reviews and promotes Indie Authors. He’s the author of The Luck of the Weissensteiners. His work in progress is Sebastian.

What is the title or working title of your WIP?

Safe Harbor, but I will have to change it before publishing. There are too many other books out with the same title.

What genres does your novel fall under?

Contemporary fiction with environmental themes

What actors (Dream Cast) would you choose to play the characters in a film version?

Emily Booth: Ashley Judd

Daniel Booth: Matt Damon

Barbara Evans: Michelle Pfeiffer

Jack Owen: Harrison Ford

What is the main outline for your book?

Safe Harbor is set in Florida where an international conglomerate starts to set up perfect living and vacation communities where they control every aspect of life, including wildlife put on display for the enjoyment of humans. The novel examines the folly of man when he transforms nature for his benefit. Nature always wins in the end. A group of ordinary citizens forms an odd group as they attempt to stop the destruction of the natural world they treasure.

Will your book be Indie published/self published or represented by an agency and sold to a traditional publisher?

I plan to publish this book as an Indie. However, I would be happy to accept an offer from a traditional publisher for any of my books.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I wrote the first draft during six months in 2007. Then life interrupted, and I put the manuscript aside until now.

What other books in this genre would you compare your book to?

It could be a combination of Barbara Kingsolver and Carl Hiassen.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The book is set in Florida where I lived for thirty years. For a time, I was a reporter covering the politics of several small towns in north Florida. For some reason, Florida and its people write the stories for me. Sometimes I create scenes that are tamer than real life because some of the things that happen in this state are not to be believed. Remember hanging chads, an astronaut in diapers, Trayvon Martin, and Casey Anthony, and you can figure out what I mean. Add in swamps that cover the lower part of the peninsula and some pythons, panthers, and alligators, you’ve got the setting for the next Great Florida Novel.

What else about the book might pique readers’ attention?

How about this: wildlife on steroids, new age charlatans clearing auras at the farmers’ market, a Vietnam Vet who’s actually a spy, and a dentist in love with his drill. I didn’t even mention the love triangles and the mysterious appearance of a tribe of people thought to be extinct.

Five other Indie Authors I’m tagging: Stop by their sites and say hello.

Rachelle Ayala: http://www.rachelleayala.com

Kris Jackson Design: krisjacksondesign.blogspot.com

Jennifer Donohoe, Author: http://www.jenniferdonohoe.com

Michele Shriver, Author of Real Life Women’s Fiction: http://micheleshriver.com

Carol Ervin’s Auther: http://carolervin.com

I hope you enjoyed this game of Tag as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.

Today is the last day of Trails in the Sand’s Virtual Book Tour and that means, it’s the last day to enter the giveaway. Visit my last tour stops today and enter the cool giveaway.

I’ve been on a virtual book tour with Trails in the Sand this week and today is my last stop and your last chance to enter to win a special package.
I’ve been on “tour” April 22-29 to celebrate the forty-third anniversary of Earth Day and to celebrate the publication of Trails in the Sand. Today’s the last day you’ll be able to enter a raffle for an exciting giveaway at the end of the tour. I’m giving away a package of autographed copies of both Live from the Road and Trails in the Sand, along with a Route 66 baseball cap, a Trails in the Sand magnet, all wrapped in a “green” grocery bag donated by fellow blogger Betsy Wild at What’s Green with Betsy. The bags were designed by Where Designs.

The Tour Schedule for April 29 – Check out these blogs today and enter to win the tour giveaway.
April 29

Jody’s Book Reviews features my guest post “Tikkun Olan Found Its Way into the Novel.” Jody features giveaways and tours. She also posts book reviews, but at this time she is not accepting requests for reviews.

Celtic Lady’s Reviews features Trails in the Sand. Kathleen Kelly says her blog is for reviews and giveaways.

Confessions of an Inner Aspen features an interview with me. Aspen is an aspiring writer of fiction and writes book reviews.

Bernice meets Paulette

One of the most rewarding sides of having this blog of recommendations is when my features bring these great books in the way of appreciate readers and fellow writers.
Two of my favourite authors have found each other’s work recently and I am so delighted about it that I am posting their reviews for each other.

As reminder here are the two books:

Until the Robin Walks on Snow

It is 1922. An immigrant family and their devoted midwife struggle to save a tiny premature baby. Inspired by real events in Norwich, Connecticut, this historical fiction novella about determination, family, faith, and friendship includes a story chapter about the family’s Polish and Lithuanian Christmas Eve traditions. Appendices include Author’s Notes about the facts, family history, and research behind the story.

Currently in the Top Ten of 9 separate Listopia Lists
http://www.goodreads.com/list/book/16076156
and a 4.6 average rating on Amazon

The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap

The year 1895 was filled with memorable historical events: the Dreyfus Affair divided France; Booker T. Washington gave his Atlanta address; Richard Olney, United States Secretary of State, expanded the effects of the Monroe Doctrine in settling a boundary dispute between the United Kingdom and Venezuela; and Oscar Wilde was tried and convicted for gross indecency under Britain’s recently passed law that made sex between males a criminal offense. When news of Wilde’s conviction went out over telegraphs worldwide, it threw a small Nevada town into chaos. This is
the story of what happened when the lives of its citizens were impacted
by the news of Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment. It is a chronicle of hatred and prejudice with all its unintended and devastating consequences, and how love and friendship bring strength and healing.

Currently 207 Reviews on Amazon, of which 146 are 5 Stars.
And well represented on several http://www.goodreads.com/list/book/14061559, too.

Here s Paulette’s review of Until the Robin Walks on Snow:

Bernice Rocque’s novella, Until the Robin Walks on Snow is a lovely read, crafted in beautiful metaphors and poetic prose to paint a family history of what it was to be an immigrant family in the early twentieth century. The story focus is on an extremely premature baby son and the efforts the entire community of family go to, to keep him warm, fed and alive. The reader never loses sight of this effort under the umbrella of love in a backdrop of extreme weather, challenging methods to offer heat and sustenance to the baby, while dividing up the duties of the mother so she can tend to her child. This is a heart-warming story of tenderness and compassion, that depicts the best of the human condition. A charming read.

Here is Bernice’s review of The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap:

In The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap we find ourselves inside small town mindsets and dirty deeds. Author Paulette Mahurin conjures up an unforgettable story about how good people can be hurt by dysfunctional human beings. The main setting is Red River Pass, a fictional location in the American west around 1895, when news breaks about the conviction of writer Oscar Wilde for “gross indecency.”

In finely wrought storytelling, the author introduces the scene, the times, and each of the characters with a good balance of narrative and dialogue. I particularly liked the degree of characterization, ranging from caricatures to warm blooded people, as a device to separate the primary perpetrators from their intended victims, as well as the sketching of some half developed people who waiver, becoming reluctant followers, bystanders, or supporters. Though the primary plot line centers on intolerance, and specifically the degree to which a same sex couple might seek to hide that relationship at the turn of the 20th century, we come away knowing the story could take place in today’s world, where people are similarly influenced by their views about this subject, religion, economic position, and perceived social standing.

The crisp dialogue sounds like what I would expect to hear from voices of people who lived in that time period in a somewhat remote location. The deft writing about how people jump to conclusions based on incomplete information is a hallmark of this well structured story. There were moments when I would have liked to draw my own conclusions about how characters felt or what was happening, rather than have the narrator tell me this information. But, to the author’s credit, after the tragedy occurs (and not necessarily what the reader might have expected), the author allows the reader to reach their own opinion about what might be ahead for the characters.

This is a book worthy of the accolades collected to date. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a well paced read and numerous worthy messages. It is the kind of book that triggers reflection about whether each day, you as a person, might have opportunities to infuse your own thoughts and behavior with more courage, kindness, and effort in understanding.

And here is what I thought:

“Until the Robin Walks on Snow” by Bernice L. Rocque grabbed my attention on the historical fiction forums on Goodreads and was intrigued by the Eastern European angle of the story, something that I have researched myself for my own books.
I found the relatively short novel had a lot more to it than Eastern European culture. It is a meticulously researched and detailed account of the winter 1922 and 1923 in Norwhich, Connecticut, during which a group of mainly Lithuanian Immigrants fear for the live of a fragile baby. Antoni is the smallest baby the doctor has ever seen – dead or alive – and his survival is in serious question.
The author describes precisely which steps the family and the doctors take to help the baby survive in the same way as she adds great detail and authenticity to the cultural background of that group: The house they live in, the cooking implements they use, the clothes and fabrics, the religious habits and celebrations – all of this creates an amazing insight and allows the reader to become part of the community and the times.
It is a great challenge to write about one small subject matter such as the birth of a fragile baby. Some authors might have been tempted to fill the book with lots of side plots to keep the reader’s attention but Rocque manages easily to hold the interest and the suspense up.
As a plot driven writer and reader I was surprised to find myself so comfortable in the slow pace which this close up of the family and the surrounding community kept. The Wigilia, a Polish Christmas Eve dinner, the fables told and so much more that is mentioned makes this a well-illustrated and rich feast for the historian and culturally interested.
Right from the beginning when the author gives an introduction, background and her acknowledgements, the writing was already so fascinating and captivating that I was surprised when the actual novel began.
This is well crafted from research to the composition. If you have an interest in this field then “Until the Robin Walks on Snow” is a must read.

AND

“The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap” uses two well-known scandals of 1895 to start off and move along the plot of our protagonists. It is an interesting and skilfully executed set-up, followed by an equally brilliant illustration of how the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde and the anti-Semitism shown in the Dreyfus Affair in France could have been received in a remote and isolated location such as a small town in Nevada.
Each chapter is accompanied by a quotation from Oscar Wilde’s work. I am not usually a fan of poetry and themes used as headings, but the author has chosen them appropriately and very well.
The description of the setting succeeds effortlessly with just enough detail to make it easy for us to imagine we are there with the heroes, but without overloading us with description that gets in the way of the plot. The portrayal of the times seems also very authentic and the dialogue is also very realistic and flows easily.
The way the characters interact with each other is simply brilliantly done and gives the book a lively feeling. The story is much more complex and involved than the beginning and the book title seemed to imply to me – which made this an unpredictable and compulsice reading experience.
The book is an illustration of hate, intolerance and gossip in a small community and is kind and politically correct in its message. At a time when Gay Marriage proposals are being voted on all over the world and homophobia comes back into the spotlight of media attention this story is reminiscent of many of our current arguments.
At first I found it unbelievable and off-putting that some of the characters would – at that time in history – have the understanding and tolerance as the author attributes to them. Then I realised that the same ancient prejudiced views that haunt our Mildred in the book are still around in 2012.
The book is a great piece of work on human nature and I will be recommending it to my friends.
5 out of 5

Mike Meyer : “Three Kitties That Saved My Life” and some more of his books

Today I am introducing Mike Meyer, a very talented and versatile writer whose complete works I have read and reviewed over the last month. His latest book, “Three Kitties That Saved My Life” has just been released. Here is an interview with the man himself and reviews of at least a few of his books.

Losing loved ones is an awful fact of life; losing one’s loving spouse, one’s day-to-day partner through life, especially in the prime of life, is one of the most unbearable tolls that we humans are forced to endure. This is the true story of my journey from grieving widower, not caring if I lived or died, to the once-again happily married man I am today, a man who both loves and cherishes life.

You might laugh and you might cry, at times, as you journey along with me. I sincerely hope that my words and the events they describe will be helpful to you as you too struggle through life

My review:

“The Three Kitties That Saved My Life” by Mike Meyer is a moving memoir about loss and recovery.
Meyer lost his first wife to cancer and gradually recovers from his grief and manages to move on with his life, with the help – you guessed it from the title – two cats and his second wife, named Kitty.
This is a selection of short chapters that chronicles the development of Meyer from a bitter widower to a fully functioning and happy man.
As an animal lover myself I could not help but love he tales of his relationship with the stray cat that comes into his life just as he needs someone the most – and the same goes for the cat.
Charming and much more upbeat so much sooner in the book than I would have expected this has a great feeling to it and is inspiring as well as entertaining. It reminded me much more of dog books such as “Marley and Me” (sorry, I have not read a similar cat book yet) than of cancer / loss/ self help books, but it should fit wonderfully in either category.
Having read different books by the same author I am amazed at the versatility of his writing and pleased to see a man so full of life behind those great books of his.

Interview with Mike:

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you come to writing in the first place?

I come from a long line of teachers, and books have always been a large part of my life. When I was ten years old, I wrote my first book, a short pamphlet about early California history, and my parents bought the only copy I made. They paid me a quarter for it. I was hooked. From that day on I wanted to be a writer. I love language. Words fascinate me.

You write in a lot of different genres. Is this a challenge you set yourself or do you find you are more at home in any particular type of writing?

I love to write the kinds of things I like to read since I am like a reader as I create my own books. I am a very eclectic reader. I love a good mystery, and I love to read non-fiction. I like to laugh. I am not afraid to cry. I am at home with writing itself, not with any specific genre.

Tell us about your books and how they came about.

My two international suspense novels came about from my life experiences. I was a professor in Saudi Arabia, where much of my COVERT DREAMS is set. I was a student in Munich, where lots of the action takes place. I was a professor in the Virgin Islands, so the idyllic island of St. Croix, where I lived for your years, is where DEADLY EYES is set. THE FAMOUS UNION, a comic romp through the halls of academia, came about from my forty-year career as a college professor. In addition, I personally made it through midlife, even though Marvin, in my THE SURVIVAL OF MARVIN BAINES, is having a tough time doing so.

When did you first have the idea to write “The Three Kitties that saved my Life”?

I was widowed over ten years ago, and I became a literal basket case. I loved my wife so much, and suddenly I was all alone in the world. I fought to survive, it was tough, but I made it. Married now for the second time, to my wonderful wife, Kitty, living in bliss with her and our two adorable rescue cats, the idea just gradually formed in my head that my true journey just might touch—and help—others.

Did you write it to inspire people or is it “just a love letter” to your wife and cats?

It is probably both. As my wife, Kitty, told me the other day, writing this book was very cathartic for me. I must admit that I found myself crying a bit at the beginning, but I also laughed a lot at the antics of the cats and, especially, when realizing how far I have come, much of that due to the love of Kitty.

Did you find it difficult to open up and write about something so personal?

I had to do it, I think. I have read just about everything I can get my hands on about grieving the death of one’s spouse, and writing about it just made complete sense to me. I do know that my deceased wife would be proud of me. She was an avid reader. She would have been proud of me for writing the book.

Are you going to return to crime fiction and humour?

I am not quite sure where I am going next. I have lots of ideas floating around my head. I do like a good mystery, and several potential plots have popped into my head. You just gave me an idea: I might write a humorous mystery. Yes, I do like that idea.

How do you write? What is the environment like?

I am an early morning person. I like to get up and then go running. As I work out, ideas for that day’s writing session pop into my head. I hurry home to jot them down, and then get to work right after breakfast. Since I am retired, I want to make my writing a pleasurable activity and to never view it as hard work.

How long does it take you to write your books?

It takes me a long time to write a book. I come up with an idea, but I never quite know how things will fit together, and I never know how it will end. That’s what makes the writing process so enjoyable for me: I am a reader as I write.

Who does the editing for it and control the quality?

I am a retired English professor. I taught for over 40 years at universities literally throughout the world. I do all my own editing. I am now practicing what I preached to my students, so to speak, for over 40 years in the classroom.

Who is your favourite character of all your books and why?

I literally fell in love with Rosie, one of the main characters of my Caribbean mystery DEADLY EYES. She is lively, sexy, and witty, and she can stand up to anyone and is not afraid to do so. I thoroughly enjoyed writing the quick repartee between her and Cuff. I miss it so much, that I revisit them in my book every now and then. I can’t help myself.

Who would play your characters in a movie?

I would love to have had a young Maureen O’Hara play Rosie. The fit would be perfect. My wife, Kitty, of course would play herself, as would my two rescue cats.

Do you find that your readers follow you as you change genres or do you get grief for not satisfying their demands or expectations?

I have no idea. I do know that many of my readers have read several and, sometimes, all of my books. I simply cannot be thought of as a writer of mysteries, because that is not what I am, although my two mysteries have been so well received that they are now #’s 1 and 2 on the Goodreads Recommended Thriller/Suspense List.

Who are your favourite authors? What is your favourite book?

I have very eclectic tastes, so I have many favourite authors: Richard Russo, John Steinbeck, and Stephen Ambrose—the list goes on and on. Since I really immerse myself in what I read, I would have to say that my favourite book is probably the one I am reading at the time.

What are your plans for the future? What are your latest projects and where would we find out about them?

I am tossing my ideas around at the moment, but, since I just recently finished my very emotional THE THREE KITTIES THAT SAVED MY LIFE, I haven’t yet finalized my next WIP.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Amazon author’s site: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Meyer/e/B005E7M8CW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Goodreads author’s site: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/674626.Mike_Meyer

Facebook writers’s site: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelMeyersWritingLife/app_191387770912394

Pinterest writing site: http://pinterest.com/temmike/

COVERT DREAMS trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9drU4-um_U

DEADLY EYES trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLBtVDUdC4

Author bio:

I have resided in and have visited many places in the world, all of which have contributed in some way to my own published writing. I have literally traveled throughout the world, on numerous occasions. I have lived in Finland, Germany, Thailand, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Saudi Arabia, where COVERT DREAMS is set. I gained the wanderlust to see the world, to experience other cultures, at an early age, and this desire has never left me. If anything, it has only gained in intensity as I have aged. I try to travel internationally at least once a year. In the interim, I spend lots of time traveling around both my home state of California and other nearby states.

I spent my early years in the small town of Lone Pine, California, the home of almost every western movie, in addition to a wide variety of other genres, made in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. In fact, Hollywood still films parts of big-time movies there today. My dad, the town’s lifeguard at the time, personally knew John Wayne, Lloyd Bridges, and Lee Marvin, all of whom came to the town’s pool, the Memorial Plunge, at times to cool off after a hectic day of working in the sun. I was even an extra in a movie filmed there in 1957, MONOLITH MONSTERS, a B-cult favorite even today. I was ten years old at the time. Even though I resided in a small town hours from the big city, I was exposed to the excitement of action and heroes at a formative age, and, thus, my interest in writing novels of suspense such as COVERT DREAMS was born.

As a recent retiree from a forty-year career as a professor of writing, I now live in Southern California wine country with my wife, Kitty, and our two other cats.

My review of Covert Dreams:

“Covert Dreams” by Mike Meyer is a cleverly told, multi-layered mystery/ detective story that kept me guessing and wondering from the beginning.
It starts with the murder of a girl in Munich in 1984, then moves 27 years forward, where B.J. splits from his girlfriend because of his recurrent dreams about the murdered girl. As he starts to feel that he knows her and speaks German – despite that not being possible – he even hires a private detective to find out about the girl.
In a separate present day storyline Stan Halsey has accepted a teaching position in Saudi Arabia when suddenly his wife is missing and all public records of her have also disappeared.
Stan decides to investigate himself since no official help is forthcoming and discovers by coincidence that another woman has recently disappeared in a similar way.
I don’t want to give away any more of the plot, only that both B.J. and Stan start to uncover things bigger than they had expected and that I was on the edge of my seat while pacing through this book to find out the connection.
This is a very well structured and neatly told thriller, skilfully done with great surprises and turns to make this far from predictable, certainly for me. The book was a bit of a special find for me as I had by coincidence just recently been to both, Saudi Arabia, and Munich which is also my home town and I did appreciate the many cross references of metaphors in the narratives that always pointed from one country to the other. However, the story works just as well without the local knowledge, if you are a fan of suspense and mystery this is certainly one for you. I was amazed at how long the two parallel stories could run separately with only hints at a connection, but it worked very well for me. A well-deserved 5 stars.

My review of The Famous Union:

“The Famous Union” by Mike Meyer is a hilarious farcial comedy set in a University Campus, highlighting the issue of institutional bureaucracy and its effects on effective public spending.
The story tells the arrival of two new academics on Campus, one of which has too many students and one who has none. The latter being stuck to a binding contract that secures his position although his job has been officially axed.
Meyer has a talent for comedy and unfolds the story and the implications of said binding contract very well. The main characters are fleshed out nicely by giving them rather quirky personalities and amusing side plots, such as their amorous involvements. There is also a cast of other characters: students, secretaries and bureaucrats that make the story an entertaining and enjoyable read.
Having known Meyer only as the writer of crime fiction it was a welcome surprise to see him just as good a writer in a different genre.

Interviewed by Amy Metz

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be honoured guest on Amy Metz’s wonderful blog: A Blue Million Books

Here is my interview :

Featured Author: Christoph Fischer

About the book:

In the sleepy town of Bratislava, in 1933, Greta Weissensteiner falls for Wilhelm Winkelmeier, a bookseller from Berlin. The couple and their families are increasingly challenged by the disintegration of the multi-cultural society of Czechoslovakia. The story unfolds further as war comes to all of Central Europe, with its torment, destruction and unpredictability – even after the fighting has stopped. The Luck of the Weissensteiners is historical fiction.

Interview with Christoph Fischer

Welcome, Christoph. Congratulations on your debut book, The Luck of the Weissensteiners, being a Top 10 Indie Book on theindietribe.com. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I started writing only a few years ago; I never had an inclination or ideas until then. What started off as an experimental short story, primarily written to see if I could do it at all, ended up as a complete, although still unpublished, novel. After that, I could not stop writing as new ideas keep flooding in.

Why is the first novel you wrote still unpublished?

I did not have the guts to publish until I had almost written seven novels. The first one still needs work, as many first novels are often experimental. At my current output rate it will be with you hot from the press in autumn 2014.

Excellent. Tell us about your two-computer writing system!

That was implemented during the editing for The Luck of the Weissensteiners, which involved several editors.

To keep one master document at all times, I used one laptop to view the suggested changes and one laptop or computer to then work on said master copy.

What do you like best about writing?

I enjoy most that I never quite know what is going to happen to my characters. I begin with set ideas for plot and characters, but it all takes on a life of its own, and it is like I am being told a story, so I am eager to return to the desk to write and find out more every day.

What’s your least favorite thing?


I would have said that editing and proof reading is my least favorite part of the experience, but over time I have come to appreciate the art of fine tuning and polishing and no longer see it just as necessary evil but as a creative and rewarding process. (I still prefer writing drafts, though.)

I love the title of your book. How did you come up with The Luck of the Weissensteiners?

The name Weissensteiner is ‘borrowed with permission’ from a dear friend of mine. I always thought it was a great name. The part about “Luck” just came into my mind, and the more I thought about it, the more I loved it. Whatever muse whispered it into my ear, I would heartily like to thank. It was spontaneous, not planned or constructed.

How did you create the plot for this book?

The plot is loosely based on my grandmother who lived in Czechoslovakia until the end of World War II. She and her sister (Greta and Wilma) lived together in Germany until their death in the 1980s. Greta divorced her husband in the 1930s while pregnant with my father.


When deciding to tell their story, I read a lot about the times and the history and from many different stories and historical anecdotes a vague idea started to form.


While writing, I kept going back to the history books and the Internet to double check that what I had written was historically correct, and that often brought in more new ideas.

Do you have imaginary friends? When do they talk to you? Do they tell you what to write or do you poke them with a Q-tip?

Don’t tell anyone, but I do imagine a Jewish scholar with a great sense of humor dictating me those stories, maybe that is why I have so many Jewish characters in my books, despite me being a gentile. His name is Avram, and he pokes my right toe when he is ready.

Your secret is safe with me and my imaginary friends…and maybe a few readers. When you start a new book, do you know what the entire cast will be?

Not at all. I tend to write novels with an ensemble cast because I like to shine light on a situation from different perspectives. Some characters are known to me from the start, others pop up out of necessity and become very central–it is the beauty of writing for me, the many surprises.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

In my new book Sebastian, there is an elderly couple who have a love-hate relationship after many years of marriage. I enjoyed writing their arguments.


In The Luck of the Weissensteiners, my favorite character is the Countess. Despite her aristocratic background, she has a liberal mind and an appetite for art and extravagance. I also loved Johanna, the mean and selfish woman who eventually discovers her softer side.

What would your main character say about you?

Did you really have to make us go through all that drama? Couldn’t have written a comedy, could you?

Are you like any of your characters? How so?

I think I am in each and every one of my characters. I try to see the story from their perspective and for a brief moment become them, otherwise I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting anyone read about them. They are a catalogue of my best and worst parts and of who I would like to be.

I would love to have the jovial kindness of Jonah Weissensteiner, the spirit of The Countess, and the selflessness of many other characters. Maybe creating those characters will help me get there more quickly.

If you could be one of your characters, which one would you choose?

No doubt, the Countess. Strong, diplomatic, eloquent, big hearted, and extravagant.

With which of your characters would you most like to be stuck on a deserted island?

Jonah Weissensteiner, such a lovely and warm father figure.

Tell us about your cover art.

I had what I thought was an excellent black and white idea of mountains and clouds, but a friend of mine, Darren Smith, pointed out how amateurish it looked. Amongst other occupations, he runs a design company. We exchanged a few emails about it, and he skillfully uncovered what I really wanted. He went searching in a photo library and suggested a few options; all of which were excellent. In the end I left him to it, as he clearly knew what he was doing more than I did.

What song would you pick to go with your book?

My friends say that I have terrible taste in music, so I would give you a choice:
“Don’t Give Up,” by Kate Bush & Peter Gabriel
“Bulgary Melody,” by Deep Forest
“Only Teardrops,” by Emmilie de Forest

Which author would you most like to invite to dinner, and what would you fix me? I mean, him. Or her.

Definitely you, Amy. I can make a mean vegan salad. Hello…you still there?

Yes, sadly I am. I started to make my way to your house, but then I thought I’d better finish the interview first. What book are you currently reading and in what format?

I just finished Elsie – Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913 – 1916, on my Kindle.

Tell us a book you’re an evangelist for.

Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts
Satan Wants Me, by Robert Irwin
The Slap, by Christos Tsiolkas
The Gift of Rain, by Tan Twan Eng
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
We need to talk about Kevin, by Lionel Shriver

How do you handle criticism of your work?

Surprisingly well. At first, of course, it stings a little, but it is important to hear all opinions on your work. Some of these may well have a point, and that will help me in my further writing. Others are opinions I disagree with and, fortunately only occasionally (so far), someone has a rant and becomes unpleasant, in which case you tell them to redirect their anger where it originally belongs and send them love from the Universe.


I like that attitude. Tell us one weird thing, one nice thing, and one fact about where you live.

Weird: My sleeping pattern is ruled by the moon.
Nice: I have three dogs who I adore and who I always make time for.

Place: I live near a chicken farm and the noise is surprisingly calming.

Hmmm…I think that last one is kind of weird, too. What books have you read recently and would recommend?

The Judas Kiss, by Angella Graff (urban fantasy)
The Spirit Box, by J.H. Glaze (horror)
Daughters of Iraq, by Revital Shiri-Horovitz (historical fiction)
The Lost Pearl, by Lara Zuberi(literary fiction)
The Warrior, by Ty Patterson (thriller)

Are you sure that’s all? Did you maybe forget a great mystery you just read? A humorous southern mystery? I’m sure it was just an oversight. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

California, Arizona, or Capetown.

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

New Zealand.

What are you working on now?


I am proof reading Sebastian, my next book, and I am editing a Scandinavian war drama set in Finland in the last century.

When will Sebastian be published?

I am going live on May 1st. Check out my Goodreads page for it in the meantime.

And I expect to see you back here in June to tell us more about it!

About the author:

Christoph Fischer was born in Germany in 1970 as the son of a Sudeten-German father and a Bavarian mother. Not a full local in the eyes and ears of his peers, he developed an ambiguous sense of belonging and home in Bavaria. He moved to Hamburg in pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few years, he moved on to the UK where he is still resident today. The Luck of The Weissensteiners is his first published work.

Amazon US:
http://www.amazon.com/Weissensteiners-Three-Nations-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00AFQC4QC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361292311&sr=8-2&keywords=luck+of+the+weissensteiners
Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weissensteiners-Three-Nations-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00AFQC4QC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361292346&sr=8-2
Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-luck-of-the-weissensteiners-christoph-fischer/1113932211?ean=9781481130332
My profile on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6590171.Christoph_Fischer
My Facebook links:
http://www.facebook.com/WriterChristophFischer?ref=hl
http://www.facebook.com/TheLuckOfTheWeissensteiners?ref=hl
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sebastian/489427467776001?ref=hl
My writer’s blog:
http://www.christophfischerbooks.com/
My reviewer’s blog:
https://writerchristophfischer.wordpress.com/

“Elsie-Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916” by Barbara Anne Waite

“Elsie-Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916”

-finalist in the New Mexico -Arizona Book Awards- Memoirs AZ 2012

In 1912, the first year of Arizona’s statehood, rural Verde Valley was home to enterprising ranchers and farmers who raised cattle, crops ─ and children. These children needed a school. So just as they mail-ordered supplies from the Sears catalog, the community mail-ordered a teacher. Elsie Hayes, a college graduate, came from a world of concerts and literary clubs. The teacher’s tiny shack in Cornville was a far cry from her family’s lovely home in Long Beach, California. This cultured young woman drank water from an irrigation ditch, bathed in Oak Creek, and taught in a one-room schoolhouse to children first considered “common,” but with whom she soon developed a mutual love. Though she had come to Arizona feeling a bit superior to these “backwoods” folks, her emotions transformed into admiration and respect, and the untamed wilderness became “breathtaking and glorious.” IN THIS TRUE STORY, Elsie’s 100-year-old journals, photographs and detailed letters home paint a picture of a time and place that has since faded, and give insight into the early history of Cornville and Williams, Arizona. Even more than this, they are a vivid portrayal of colorful adventure, tragedy, and a heartbreaking story of lost love.

My review:

“Elsie – Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913 – 1916” by Barbara Anne Waite was recommended to me by a friend, Bernice L. Rocque, author of Until the Robin Walks on Snow (already featured on this blog) , a woman whose literary judgement I trust. This book recommendation was a good reminder why.
“Elsie…” is a cleverly composed annotated memoir by the granddaughter of Elsie, a Schoolteacher in Arizona 1913 – 1916. Having a soft spot for Arizona this was a double treat, as I not only got reminded of many great sights in the beautiful country but also got a chance of a well researched, documented and illustrated insight into that particular period of time in Arizona: The way of living, the type of schools, the fashion, food and clothes supply and distribution, morals and manners of the time. To make the experience even more of a pleasure, Elsie is a great object to study, her diary entries and letters show a very kind and likeable woman with an adventurous spirit.
The main focus of the story seems to be her unfulfilled love affair with Karl, a local farmer four years her junior, who she falls for but with whom a liaison seems impractical and questionable. It was heart breaking to me to read about her heartache.
The concept of this book is truly inspired, the author has taken great care in giving us as much insight and original documentation as possible but knew where to ‘interfere’ and write or explain the story for us directly.
I am much more a fan of fiction than of biography because of the dangers that the object in question might be glorified and I had that reservation on my mind when opening the book, written by a relative of Elsie, but the author did very well in letting Elsie speak enough for herself and including her relative’s letters to ensure credibility.
The writing flew so smooth and easily it was a delight to read. I agree with the overwhelming majority of the so far 202 (!) Amazon voters and award a very heartfelt 5 stars to this gem of a book. A great find for history buffs and readers interested in a good story.

Elsie currently is
No. 1 of 96 books in the Goodreads Listopia list: The Old West in First Person
No. 2 of 196 books in the Goodreads Listopia list: The American Frontier
No. 14 of 130 books in the Goodreads Listopia list: Women’s Journals and Diaries in History

So here are the Author Interview Questions:

Please tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I read my Grandmother Elsie’s diary shortly after she died in 1987. I knew then I wanted to create a book from her notes, letters, diary entries and vintage photos. I loved the idea of taking what Elsie had written and adding the historical research myself. I was amazed when my letter written to the Cottonwood newspaper (asking if anyone remembered Elsie from 75 years before) resulted in 8 letters from former students. Those letters connected me to the then elderly students who had vivid memories of Elsie teaching them so many years before. That confirmed that this book needed to be written.

Did you ever think of writing the story as fiction?

I never considered writing it as fiction. Elsie went on to become a writer for a number of magazines and she had far more talent than I felt I had inherited. Why mess with truth preserved by the very person who lived it?

How difficult was it to draw the balance between original material and annotation?

I did struggle with not wanting to overwhelm the reader with too many footnotes. Yet I knew some of the numerous footnotes created (in a sense) Paul Harvey’s “the rest of the story.” So I began to take my numerous footnotes and add many of them as forwards to each chapter. I hired a man for an editor and that resulted in some interesting discussion about what needed to be “cut.” For example, he suggested it did not need to be noted that the heavy divided riding skirt Elsie asked her mother to send weighed thirty pounds. I told him that every woman needed/wanted to know that their women ancestors, in order to be “proper,” when riding horseback 100 years ago wore skirts that weighed thirty pounds.

Is “Elsie” your first work?

Yes

How long did it take you to write and how many rewrites did it take?

I began editing Elsie’s diary in 1988 and then set it aside for a number of years. When a small publisher read some of what I had compiled and reminded me that Arizona’s Centennial was approaching in 1912 I knew it was time to get back to work. I began to refine and complete my research about a year before Elsie was published. It was published 3 months before Arizona’s Centennial.

What do you like best about writing? What’s your least favorite thing?

I loved doing the research for Elsie. Often I found a hidden “gem” of information from a simple internet search. Elsie, like many women of that time, wrote rather cryptic diary entries. One such note, “Today I heard news worse than death, how can I live with it?” led me to research the local newspaper microfiche files for any news story that might be a clue. When I came upon the story I knew immediately it was what she was referring to. I wept in the library as I read it on microfiche. It is included in the book. I also loved connecting with readers that enjoyed “Elsie.”

My least favorite thing was reading the manuscript over and over looking for mistakes.

Did you have any say in your cover art?

I hired an amazing graphic designer to do my cover and interior design. Diane King exceeded my “dream cover” wishes. I was thrilled with her compilation of photographs and letters (complete with postmark) and thought it was perfect. I wanted a handwritten font for Elsie’s diary & letters in the print version. Diane King worked with me to come up with that. I was sorry the Kindle version could not make use of that font as well. Diane was diligent to give me an interior design that matched the feel of reading someone’s letters and diary of 100 years ago.

Your book has been rather successful. How did you get word out about it?

Originally I had no desire to use Twitter and Facebook and all that I eventually did use in attempting to generate interest. Before I had a print copy in my hands I took a copy of the cover into one of the National Parks in Arizona to ask if they would have any interest. Their questions concerned if any of what I had compiled qualified my book as a novel. I answered that the book contained my grandmother’s edited diary & letters and my historical notes. The gentleman excitedly said, “It’s interpretive history!” I answered, “Yes sir, it is.” Between two National parks in Arizona they have purchased 520 books in less than a year. I also have about 24 other museums and gift shops in Arizona that I approached with a gift copy. Most of those chose to carry the book. One State Park buyer stopped me as I began to give him my sales pitch with, “Lady, stop- the cover ‘pops’ I’ll take a dozen!” I also offered my book Free on Kindle 6 times. Each time it resulted in a large number of sales in the weeks following the free offer. It seemed to have resulted in an increase in print sales as well.

What advice would you give your fellow authors – if you can reveal your ‘secrets’ that is?

I think having a website that I add historical “tidbits” to monthly has helped. I also try to personally answer each person who adds a note to my website. I have sold far more books through the twenty-four Arizona retail locations than I have through Amazon. Probably the greatest revenue has come from the Kindle sales. That saddens me, because I think novels are perfect for Kindle but a book like “Elsie” just works better as a print book, allowing a reader to go back to refer to earlier pages with greater ease.

Did you find it difficult to write about real people in the past?

Enough years had passed that I knew none of the people Elsie referred to were still living. The one exception to that is the newborn niece mentioned in 1915. Dorothy is now 98 years old and she read the book and enjoyed it.

Were you ever worried about publishing personal details?

My family all read the book and approved before it was published.

Is there a code of conduct?

Yes, when referring to actual people I think we must be careful to not dishonor their memory.

What would Elsie and her family say about the book?

Elsie encouraged me to write. I am sure she never imagined I might tell her story. She was still writing in her late 90’s and had considered submitting a story about her Arizona adventures to the magazine “Arizona Highways.” Elsie left handwritten notes that were never completed. I think Elsie would be both astonished and elated.

What books have you read more than once or want to read again?

I have re-read numerous books. I always have at least one book “going.” I enjoy historical fiction, biographies and memoirs. I read Jessica McCann’s “All different Kinds of Free” as I was finishing up on my book. The characters linger in my mind and I am about to re-read that book again. I loved “Cold Sassy Tree” by Olive Burns.

Tell us a book you’re an evangelist for.

“The Bible.”

Which author would you most like to invite to dinner, and what would you fix me?

I would have loved to have met Olive Ann Burns. She had a fabulous sense of humor. Enchiladas are my favorite company meal. I would make a passion fruit cheesecake for dessert.

What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?

Kindle: ”Sixteen Brides” by Stephanie Grace Whitson.

How do you handle criticism of your work?

I read my first one-star review with tears, but my shell is becoming harder as I have now had 200 reviews and the majority are very generous and gracious.

Tell us one weird thing, one nice thing, and one fact about where you live.

I lived for 38 years on the 10×12 mile island of Antigua. The weird thing to me was meeting people who had never gone from one side to the other on that miniscule island. Antigua has the most gorgeous tropical waters surrounding it. I could stare at either the Atlantic or Caribbean Ocean for hours. I now live in San Diego, California and it has an amazing climate that is fabulous most all year round.

What three books have you read recently and would recommend?

“Appetite for America- How visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the West” by Stephen Fried
“In the Absence of the Sun” by Helie Lee
“The Lost Wife” by Alyson Richman

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

San Diego!

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? (Don’t worry about the money. Your publisher is paying.)

I would love to see Wales, where my grandfather was born.

What are you working on now?

I am working on “Elsie’s Mountain Years.” Elsie first went up Palomar Mountain when she was 16 years old in 1904 and her last trip up the mountain was when she was in her late 90’s. Elsie and her husband operated an apple ranch on Palomar from 1918-1924. Her stories about how self-sufficient they were on the apple ranch were my favorite stories she told me as a child. I might even include her recipe for squirrel and quail pie. I will not serve that to any visiting writers.
I suppose I followed “somewhat” in Elsie’s footsteps in becoming an educator. I was a registered nurse, yet due to necessity became an educator. We lived outside the USA and I chose to teach our four children. I did this with almost as much “fear and trembling” as I experienced when I decided to write Elsie’s story. My oldest son eventually graduated from Harvard and has a doctorate in education from UCLA. Our daughter teaches in a University in South Korea. Elsie would be thrilled with my attempts at educating and writing.

Website:www.BarbaraAnneWaite.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elsie-Adventures-of-an-Arizona-School-Teacher-1913-1916/102658029833642?ref=hl
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5320633.Barbara_Anne_Waite
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraAWaite
Publisher: Palomar Mountain Bookworks
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Elsie-Adventures-Arizona-Schoolteacher-1913-1916/dp/0983945209

The author, Barbara Anne Waite

“I love and still love Arizona….” The detailed, well-crafted, handwritten manuscript did not appear to be the work of someone who was almost 97 years old. It was author and educator Elsie Reed Hayes Roberts’ final manuscript, but was a project she unfortunately never completed. A year after Elsie’s death, I discovered this manuscript nestled among her many published short stories and articles. Never before had she written anything that stirred me like this unfinished story of love and adventure in the early state of Arizona. Obviously, these three years in her early twenties had been an unforgettable time for her.
While doing research I came across a tape recording Elsie had made for the Jerome Historical Society. On the tape she said in closing, “I don’t see how people who have lived in Arizona’s Verde Valley or the mountains, even briefly, can bear to live in a real city.” Elsie in fact lived in a “real city” for most of her 71 years after she left Arizona. Perhaps she lived on memories of her time in Oak Creek Canyon and Williams, memories kept fresh by re-reading her daily journals and letters to her family.
I have left her letters and diary in this manuscript as she wrote them, editing out unrelated events. I used additional narrative from her cassette tapes, manuscripts, recollections by her former students, and newspaper accounts.
Arizona from 1913 to 1916 was a wild and wonderful place. For those of you who enjoy a grand sense of adventure I want to give you Elsie’s memories of the fledgling state of Arizona as seen through the eyes of this delightful, spirited, young teacher.

I hope you enjoy her memoirs as much as I have.

Inge H. Borg: “Khamsin, The Devil Wind of the Nile”

“Khamsin, The Devil Wind of The Nile” (Book One of the “Legends of the Winged Scarab” Series)

This historical novel plays out in the colorful settings along the Nile during the reign of Aha, Second King of the First Dynasty of the Old Kingdom in Ancient Egypt (3080 BC). It is an engrossing saga of court intrigue, forbidden love, ferocious battles, betrayal and murder.
The characters in this multi-faceted epic range from compelling to fascinating, from likable to ambitious to suspicious, to plain unsavory. In the fore is Ramose, High Priest of Ptah, mentally exchanging poisoned lances with the vile Vizier Ebu al-Saqqara, as both vie for power over a weak king and his young heiress.
During a forbidden encounter between King Aha’s first Queen Mayet and a nocturnal visitor, a new life is conceived; but its soul, its eternal Ba, is already old. And it is destined yet to live through many other storms.
As the dreaded Khamsin rages over the Valley of the Nile, Ma’at is often breached and it is said that people vanish without a trace. Yet, for the eternal soul, the end is but a new beginning.

My review:

“Khamsin: The Devil Wind of the Nile” by Inge H. Borg is a complex story set in Egypt ca. 3080 B.C. Knowledgeable and armed with plenty of research the author paints a very authentic feeling picture of the Egyptian court with its intrigues and many-fold players: the priests, the generals, the wives and children, the servants and so forth.
The book is full of small and bigger stories involving a huge ensemble cast, making this a great read that gives multiple insight into the life as we have to imagine that it could or would have been. With great insight into human nature and a colourful imagination Borg manages to enrich the reading experience with plenty of ideas and stimulating thoughts. There s a lot to be learned about the priesthood, the weapons, transport and warfare, the religion and life in the desert country.
This was quite a captivating read and a well illustrated work of art. The themes may not be innovative – adultery, questionable paternity, war, competitive men to name a few obvious ones – but that did not stop me from caring for the characters and their fortune during the novel, especially when the title character Khamsin, the devil wind of the Nile, befalls the country.
Although the author claims in the foreword that this is not a work of science but of art, the writing has a confidence and an air of authority that gives this ‘entertainment’ an extra value.
If you like an unusual setting for your books or love ancient history this is a book worth reading.

Author Interview Questions

Please tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

From early on, I was passionate about books and spent a lot of time reading. That led to becoming a good speller. It also nurtured my apparently natural (or maternally inherited) penchant to write. My teachers often made me read my essay to the class (which softened them up when it came to my deplorable Math grades, an inherited trait as well, as my mother bluntly informed the school. I was allowed to graduate).
Being a secretary was not a bad career in my day. Speaking and writing several languages with shorthand (and my willingness to keep my bags packed) provided the springboard that catapulted me out into the world.
Also (in my day), one stayed in touch with family and friends by writing copiously (at least, I did for my part). The recipients always spouted how much they loved my letters; if only they could decipher them. Penmanship was not one of my noteworthy accomplishments.
I loved my IBM Selectric, and when they tried to foist my first computer on me, I balked pressing my typewriter protectively to my bosom (or vice versa). Little did I know how many grateful hours I would spend over my new keyboard. We are on quite familiar terms these days, and my laptop is high on my to-be-saved-in-case-of-tornado list; right after the cat and my pearls.

How did you come up with the idea for your books?

It sounds banal, but someone said “you should write a book.” Oh, wait. That was usually suggested after I had regaled a girlfriend or two with some of my life’s interludes. Seriously though, there was somebody who suggested that “I could write a book,” and rattled off snippets of an Egyptian saga. I laughed. No way.
A couple of weeks later, I showed him the first chapter. However, when he realized what was involved—research, and—oh my—spelling and correct word usage (he was a veritable Mr. Malaprop), he lost interest in this clearly non-get-rich-quick scheme.
But I was hooked. As the time was “B.G.” (Before Google), and I poured over ever-conflicting research material about Egypt’s Old Kingdom. In the end, the 250,000-word manuscript (and its many pink slips and cancelled checks from bogus-agents) rested buried in a drawer for twenty years while I kept writing long letters home.
It was not until Amazon’s e-book swell struck a chord. I re-edited Khamsin, chiselling it down to 150,000 words (with those tossed 100,000 words, “I could have been somebody”). After Khamsin was selected as an “Editor’s Choice” by the Historical Novel Society, the fires were lit—I wrote Sirocco over the following eight months, and published three other minor works.
I now have the time and—one should grant me—the tenacity, to work all day, every day on my writing. That is a great luxury—and I have never been happier (well, not lately anyway).

What is your connection to Egypt?

Pure imagination; possibly arrogance thinking I could write about it. I have no background in Egyptology nor in any other archaeology. Books with exotic settings fascinate me. However, writing about locales I knew nothing about was a bit like walking into a minefield; it took a lot of tiptoeing, and even more research.
Luckily, so far, I was only “admonished” about one supposed mistake, using “Royal Bark” instead of “Barque.” I could prove that I was not wrong. This reader actually did me a great favor because I went back and painstakingly re-edited the book one more time. After which that reviewer graciously changed her ranking from 3 to 5 stars.

What made you think of writing historical fiction? Did you ever consider other genres?

I am too passionate to limit myself to a one-formula-type of style, despite the sad fact that this is what seems to sell an author these days. Even though the pundits tout that it is counter-productive to change genres, I would eventually get bored (though it would save a lot of research).

Actually, the second book in the “Legends of the Winged Scarab” series, Sirocco, Storm over Land and Sea, is a present-day thriller. It does have tie-ins to archaeological treasures from Khamsin, as will the planned Books Three and Four—each will play out during in very different places and times.
I also wrote a non-fiction book about my days as a shelter volunteer—and “the darn cat” that got the better of me.
My WIP, Mountain Shadows, might fit into a new category even though I did not know that’s what I was writing until I saw a Goodreads group that wants to breathe life into Boomer Lit.

Historical Fiction—Too boring, scholarly, irrelevant?

The emphasis here is on fiction. While I don’t write steamy, explicit stuff, there is plenty of action, innuendo and human deviousness in Khamsin. People then as now have their strengths and weaknesses, their foibles, ambitions and desires. It just plays out at a different time, in a different place. We, in our flawed humanity, have not changed for the better—nor will we do so any time soon.

How difficult was it to draw the balance between research and invention/ imagination?

There must be balance. The tendency “to show” what one knows is always there. To keep it from coming through as condescending, or even boring, surroundings, customs, etc. need to be woven into the action unobtrusively. If the reader feels he is there, even if he learns something new, you succeeded. There are plenty of knowledgeable readers—so you had better be accurate.
Particularly for Egypt, debates are being waged regarding the use of current names for cities and deities versus the Greek labels bestowed upon a conquered land. I mostly opted for the old Egyptian names (with an extensive glossary), but kept a couple of familiar gods.

Tell us briefly about all of your books.

Sirocco, Storm over Land and Sea is Book 2 of the “Legends of the Winged Scarab.” It is a present-day thriller with tie-ins to Khamsin, but stands alone in its action.
By the way, I was counseled against using a stolen Rembrandt painting as my cover—but I thought the public domain image portrayed ‘the perfect storm’ and I wove it into my story. Recently, the FBI issued a poster asking the public for help in the recovery of this work of art—something which I had already done in my foreword the prior year (there is a $5 million reward).
Edward, Con Extraordinaire, is a collection of short stories of a charmer’s San Diego escapades; it does have tie-ins to Sirocco, in which Edward turns out to be less gallant.
Pasha, From Animal Shelter to A Sheltered Life – non-fiction mentioned above.
Moments of the Heart, A Book of Poems and Short Prose – an early collection of—yes—poems and short stories.

What do you like best about writing? What’s your least favorite thing?

Although by upbringing, education and travel, I am socially adept and have always had to deal with people, I am basically a solitary creature. This writing life now suits me; I revel in it.
My least favorite things—and I am certain this is echoed by many fellow-authors—are editing and marketing. Trumpeting one’s name and titles onto indifferent ears, flogging unsuspecting readers with burps and blurbs, searching, weeding, hoping, giving away scores of books…it is painful to the artistic soul.
Of course, any day turns aglow when a thoughtful review is posted, a reaffirmation that one might have produced a book worthwhile reading. My hat is off to those dedicated readers who not only read for their own enjoyment but take the time and trouble to post reviews and let especially us “Indies” know how a book resonated with them.

Did you have any say in your cover art? What do you think of it? Tell us about the artist.

When my cover designer, fellow-author Diana Wilder—who also writes about Egyptian history—sent me the cover for Khamsin, she had inserted a small Khepri, a winged scarab, into her wind-swept landscape. ‘How cool,’ I thought. Uploading a corrected copy of the book, I slyly inserted a paragraph for this scarab to become the personal seal of the high priest, chiseled onto the Golden Tablets that serve as the tie-in to Sirocco.
For Sirocco, I again asked Diana to superimpose the small scarab onto that cover. Thanks to her inventive mind, I had my Leitmotif. The Legends of the Winged Scarab series was born (yes, there are two more volumes rattling around in my head).

What books have you read more than once or want to read again?

For sheer delight, I reread Peter Mayle’s Provence series every couple of years. It provides an escape for my earnest soul.

Did you find it difficult to research? How did you research?

Nowadays, the Internet is invaluable. If one takes its offerings with the proverbial grain of salt; and if one realizes what is public domain and what might not be. For instance, I was looking for a harbor on the island of Crete. And there was Loutro, tiny fishing village accessible only by water. Nothing could have been more perfect for my double-dealing yachties in Sirocco.

What would your characters say about the book?

Quite a few would shake their fists at me: “Did you have to kill me off!” (And my answer would be “Yes.”)

Who are your favourite characters and why?

I can’t explain why, from my myriad of characters in Khamsin, I often think of one who occupies barely half a page: Hanni, the Ostrich Egg Gatherer. Bent and battered, he lifts his rheumy eyes up at the High Priest in hopes of reprieve from his arduous tasks. His shriek, as he falls, still echoes.

Which author would you most like to invite to dinner, and what would you fix me? I mean, him. Or her.

Clive Cussler. (Surprised?) He not only writes about adventure, he has lived it. His thrills and technologically futuristic ideas are amazing (or they were before he started to draw on all those co-authors).
We’ll chat around the fireplace, over a Cognac. (I am a lousy cook).

How do you handle criticism of your work?

What criticism? Seriously, at first blush I huff and puff a bit. But then, I correct it, if it’s a glaring mistake, or change it if a better ‘whatever’ is suggested, as I did with the second edition of Sirocco where I was told to ‘for heaven’s sake, have Jonathan get laid already.’… “Oh, my!” I listened …

Tell us one weird thing, one nice thing, and one fact about where you live.

A) It’s a “dry” county—and I don’t mean it lacks for rain.
B) Lots of lakes, woods and hills. Very quiet and peaceful.
C) Tornado-prone area.

What three books have you read recently and would recommend?

Sadly, I am not reading as much as I should or want. But my “to-be-read” list is growing, not in the least from your own writings and recommendations in this blog. High on my list are books by Diana Wilder, James Hockey, and Tui Allen’s Ripple, a dolphin’s tale. Last but not least, Christoph, I have just added your own writings.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

On Kauai, the least crowded of the Hawaian islands.

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? (Don’t worry about the money. Your publisher is paying. )

Oh well, if it’s all paid for, then I would like to take a cruise up the Nile and visit all the sites in Upper Egypt, led by Dr. Zahi Hawass (but only if he is in a benign mood and wears his trade-mark Fedora).

What are you working on now?

A contemporary novel called Mountain Shadows, slated for publication in May (the main character is one of Edward’s former victims). There is also a time-constraint, only noticeable for those who read Sirocco and paid attention to the epilogue.

What else would you like us to know about yourself and your books?

I write what I write with enthusiasm; I care about what I write; I like what I write with the hope that my readers might like it too.

* * *

Christoph, thank you so much for including me in your great blog. You always bring new and interesting works to your followers attention. Count me in from now on.

* * *

Inge H. Borg has a new book out in May, previously named Mountain Meadows it is now called Clouds of the Heart
and it has a slight connection to Edward, Con Extraordinaire, a character from Inge’s book Sirocco.

Look here for an excerpt:

http://devilwinds.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/mountain-shadows-coming-in-may.html

Inge’s other Links:

Website: http://devilwinds.blogspot.com/
Blog: http://ingehborg.blogspot.com/
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomInge_H_Borg
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Inge-H.-Borg/e/B006QYQKUS
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/505050
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/inge-h.-borg

Author bio:

Born and raised in Austria, Inge H. Borg completed language courses in London and Paris. Continuing her study of French, she worked at the French Embassy in Moscow.
Later, Ms. Borg was transferred by a Viennese company to the States, and subsequently worked on both coasts. After several years in sunny San Diego, she became a US citizen.
Ms. Borg now lives in a diversified lake community in Arkansas, where she continues to write fiction.
Her poetry has been published in over twenty anthologies and was chosen for professionally recorded readings. Her hobbies include world literature, opera, sailing and, of course, devising new plots for future novels.

Review of Sirocco:

I read “Sirocco, Storm over Land and Sea” by Inge H. Borg as a follow up to “Khamsin”, her histroical novel set 3080 B.C., since I read that there were some connections between the two books. Having thoroughly enjoyed the first book I was pleasantly surprised to find Borg change direction from one genre to the next.
Set in present day Egypt with its political unrest during the Arab Spring and beyond it tells the story of Archaeologists, Museums, art collectors and their procedures, rivalry and bureaucracy during an expedition to Cairo where ancient golden tablets are to be deciphered.
Borg describes with great detail procedures and technology used in modern Archaeology and I settled in to a great contemporary book about Egyptology where the people and times of the previous book now have become the object of historical study. Just then two of the artefacts are stolen and a hunt through Greece and the Mediterranean Sea ensues.
Thrown into this is also a love triangle and rivalry between several characters, all of which have different interests in the missing artefacts. Borg enriches the plot with themes such as ancient curses to give you one more example of the broad spectrum of what to expect from this novel and thriller.
I enjoyed this book even more than the first in the series and loved when the old turned up in the new. In that it helps to bring to live the first book again and to underline again the bringing to life of the past that good historical fiction can achieve. While we where living with the ancient Priest in the last book, now he is the author of an ancient scroll and a mysterious figure.
The ancient storm, Sirocco, a symbol of the ‘blast from the past’ and the force of nature, which blows everything over, is a brilliant title for a book that has many more layers than I would have expected.
Besides all of this, it has great suspense and intriguing characters. I am glad that I read Khamsin first to appreciate everything the author has put into this book, but for its story alone it does not need the predecessor. A great read.

Fantastic start for my new book “Sebastian” and more praise for “The Luck of the Weissensteiners”

Published in just over a week from today on May 1 2013 “Sebastian” had a great start with a glowing 5 star debut review on Goodreads:

Review:

What a marvelous and well-crafted story Christoph Fischer’s Sebastian is. The story starts with a young sixteen-year-old boy, Sebastian, receiving an amputation to his leg for an infection, from a rusty nail, that went untreated, due to fear of doctors and needles. The reader is instantly drawn in to this protagonist and his mother, Vera, as well as the medical situation that lingers throughout the story that takes twists and turns along with the plots and subplots to help define a character that goes from being weak to growing an inner strength and beauty. Sebastian’s story is the story of his family, the women who enter his life and the war that surrounds and defines them all.

The scenes begin with Sebastian living in a dwelling that houses the grocery store his father Franz works in, that was owned by his father, Oscar, (also Sebastian’s best friend). Also living with them is Oscar’s wife Rebecca who is mostly bed ridden with a bad back, his mother Vera who has a weakened condition. Sebastian is in and out of the hospital with complications from problematic healing leg. Because of the strain on the family workload help is needed and enters a beautiful 18-year-old Ingeborg who becomes infatuated with Franz to complicate matters and ends up with her being replaced by Eva who Sebastian has a crush on as he begins to come into maturity and is sexual hormones awaken. Eva has her own secret that unfolds in a fascinating way opening to a new hire, Margit and her mother, Peroska. When Concurrent with Sebastian becoming involved with Margit his mother, Vera, connects up with friends who play key roles in throwing twists and turns into the story, which involve mystical aspects, séances and connecting with the afterlife. A revelation and slip of communication sends all their lives into chaos and the war in the backdrop takes center stage as the story moves along poignantly and engaging the reader with great depth.

This is a time of great turmoil for people of Jewish faith, where divides are drawn with nations geography being molded and remolded, threatening to unsettle and disrupt millions of peoples. Sebastian’s story is a metaphor for lives thrown into turmoil because of war and what war does to individuals separately and as citizens. It is a story of how the human condition and stresses become heightened and exaggerated when threatened by personal and geographic political evils. This is a story of great compassion and selfishness, of jealousy and love, of loss and risking, of having material and losing it all, of families and finding out what is important, of loyalty and betrayal. It is a story that runs deep in all of us, with emotions displaying what it is to be human. It is a story of every man and every woman with themes and messages that any reader can relate to, right down to the surprise and unexpected ending, which is how we do live our lives, after all is said and done.

This intelligently and sensitively crafted story pulls the reader in, pulls at our heart strings, and keeps us glued to the page, long after the last one is closed, and the memory of Sebastian lingers, one that won’t be easily or readily forgotten. I loved Sebastian.

Thank you Paulette for being the first to write about my book.

Meanwhile “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” has received further 4 and 5 star reviews on Goddreads, where it has an avergae rating of 4.63 from 30 ratings.

It is also No 2 in the Inidetribe Top Ten 14 April 2013

http://www.theindietribe.com/?p=3705

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFQC4QC/?tag=wwwtheindietr-20

thank you everybody for your support and believe in me.

Victoria Dougherty

Through MCV Egan’s blog Bridge of Deaths I came across Victoria Dougherty, a talented writer and blogger.
Here is some great introduction by the artist herself:

I come from the ultimate Cold War family – daring escapes, backyard firing squads, communist snitches, bowlfuls of goulash, gargoyles, gray skies and bone-chilling cold. It’s no wonder I became a writer – and one who inhabits that gray zone: gray politics, gray scruples, gray living.
My stories are true, made up and everything in between. They’re about spies, killers and dangerous pursuits, but they’re also about love. Love served cold. Of getting caught in history’s massive tailwind and blown to the other side of the world, yet despite everything, discovering the meaning of faith and love.
Except of course, in the case of Kosmo Zablov…
Stepping On the Throat of His Own Song
©2013 All Rights Reserved
By Victoria Dougherty

Here is a story Victoria has kindly agreed that I may share with you:

Moscow, 1956
Kosmo Zablov had no grasp of situations in their whole, though he could execute flawlessly against any detail that protected or advanced his own self-interest. He had never questioned his instincts in this regard and certainly never considered any moral implications.
But right at this moment, he would have given anything for the mental agility that could’ve freed him to apply his gifts of self-preservation to the mechanics of his actual job. It seemed like such a small leap and yet somehow he had never mastered it. If only Kosmo could have been more like his brother.
“Lucky Yakov,” the spy bemoaned, as he pulled his overcoat close and descended into the Prospect Mira metro station.
Yakov was a journalist, and one of some repute, who was always writing stories about exemplary Soviet scientists or engineers. It amazed Kosmo how his older brother never failed to convince himself that he possessed the same dexterity as his subjects and could’ve easily – if he had fancied – become, say, a prize-winning physicist, instead of someone who simply interviewed physicists.
But this was a moot point.
Zablov’s problem was made worse by the fact that he had no insight into his one and only talent, either. It wasn’t a skill he had practiced and perfected, the way Yakov had mastered three-act journalistic structure. As a result, he didn’t know how he had come to the decisions he had made or why things had always worked out for him.
And unlike his good brother Yakov, Kosmo Zablov had no inclination towards self-delusion. He knew very well that he had risen in the ranks of the KGB by manufacturing espionage escapades that allowed him to save the day, and passing off the blame for the very real exploits he had overlooked. Politics and intrigue were where Zablov’s core abilities lay, and it was imperative that he rise out of the KGB and into areas of diplomacy. There, his inadequacies could take years to surface.
For the time being, however, he still had to deliver real results and his terror of getting caught “improvising,” as he liked to call it, was starting to wear on him.
The nightmares, the tremble in his pinky finger, the days of insomnia before any meeting with a superior, and the crushing lower back pain that seemed to start at his arches and shoot up to his buttocks before lodging itself at the base of his spine, had all intensified as expectations of him increased and he began to be considered for the very positions he had been striving for, but never seemed to get offered.
Finally, not two weeks before, Comrade General Pushkin had revealed to him that a diplomatic post was indeed in his future, but not for another two to three years. By then, Pasha Tarkhan would be tendered a seat at the big table in Moscow and Zablov could succeed him on the Lobster and Lafite circuit, as it was called.
“Only the ’45. The remainder of the 40s Bordeaux’s are dreadful,” he mimicked Tarkhan’s Georgian accent to himself.
Two to three years was an eternity under his present circumstances! Not only could an associate stumble upon his shortfalls, but a foreign agent could exploit them as well. He’d seen it happen before.
“I’d rather compose romances for you – more profit in it and more charm.
But I subdued myself, setting my heel on the throat of my own song,” he whispered the Mayakovsky poem, almost laughing, as a fat-faced hag turned at the sound of his voice. Zablov elbowed his way past her on the stairwell.
Poetry – Mayakovsky’s – soothed him; it was the way the words pranced from his tongue and out into the ethos as if he’d composed them. If he was Yakov, he would be certain that he could have, had he not turned his eye towards journalism, of course.
It pleased Zablov to remind himself of his brother’s shortcomings. Particularly as he struggled to shake the curly-headed man with the dented face General Pushkin dispatched to follow him. The Neanderthal had made no effort to hide his intentions and strolled around the metro station – hands in his pockets, admiring the Cathedral ceilings and giant Deco chandeliers –until he hopped onto the same coach Zablov had boarded.
“Try this, you box-eyed bastard,” Zablov grunted as he muscled his way out of the train car’s sliding doors just before they squeezed shut, and jumped onto another train bulleting in the opposite direction. Pushkin’s thug was left wedged behind him – stuck on a coach to Oktyabrskaya.
Zablov needed all the time he could steal in order to get in and out of the secret apartment he kept in Leningradsky Prospect. It had been a stroke of genius on his part to secure the place for his own use – genius and blind luck. The one-bedroom flat had been formerly used to spy on a biologist who ended up brain-dead after a drunken skiing accident. Instead of having the flat reassigned, Zablov had burned all files on the ill-fated scientist and transferred the authorization of residency to a man he’d invented.
While the flat was hardly the type of place he would take anyone but an indiscriminating slut, it did possess one critical perk: It had a working telephone.
“Immediately, please. I want to place a call to Heraklion, Greece.” Zablov used his best Belarus accent to disguise his voice. All outgoing and incoming calls were recorded and deliberated upon ad nauseam by young intelligence officers eager to make a name for themselves. Zablov had spent his first two years out of school scribbling just such painstaking notes and exaggerating the significance of mostly banal conversations.
He hung up the phone and waited for the operator to call back, hoping against hope that for once the Moscow switchboard would operate with a modicum of efficiency. There was no food in the cupboards, only a few satchels of tea, so Zablov prepared a cup and sat a few feet away from the window.
“Mother of God!” he yelped, nearly falling off the old piano stool that served as the only chair in the flat. Pushkin’s thug – with his smashed-in face and gait like a rhinoceros – was lumbering down Tverskaya Street, his shape unmistakable under the lamplight. He nodded at an old woman carrying a beehive satchel, and crossed the street, looking up at Zablov’s apartment.
“Bastard!” Zablov cried, crouching to the floor. It would’ve been impossible for the thug to see him, but he was taking no chances. The spy reached up and dialed the phone again, peeking just over the window sill to glimpse the top of the thug’s head as he entered the building.
“International operator,” he begged. It took a little under four minutes for a normal man to walk up to the ninth floor. This allowed time for a half minute rest on the sixth floor and the eighteen paces it took from the top of the staircase to Zablov’s apartment door.
“Operator, I called a few minutes ago regarding a line to Greece. Yes, yes, I know. ” Zablov held his palm over the receiver and took two deep breaths before resuming. “This is an extreme emergency, you see. My mother is very ill. It can be any moment now.”
He nodded his head as the operator explained procedure and ground his knuckle into a groove on the telephone table.
“Yes, I’ll hold.”
He imagined the thug’s breath getting more labored with each stair – taken two at a time at first, but not slowing down.
“Another minute, you say?”
It occurred to him suddenly that he hadn’t devised what he was going to tell the Cretan gangster. He couldn’t reveal the truth for obvious reasons – the bald menace had already pocketed his fee and couldn’t care less about the mess Zablov had stumbled into.
Great news, my friend! You can tell your man I won’t be requiring his services – not this time, anyway. Zablov tried it on, but it was wrong. A man like that – with his pair of thick-fingered hands created for one and one only purpose – would never buy it.
Call it off, unless you want to lose your only advocate in Moscow.
“No,” Zablov murmured. Far too much information, and no guarantee that he was the Cretan’s only advocate.
You’re in danger. Call it off.
“Perfect.”
The message was simple and mysterious – just the right combination to motivate the paranoid mind of a criminal.
“Yes, I’m still holding,” he stuttered. Zablov put the telephone receiver down and crept to the foyer. He held his breath as he put his ear to the door, as if any noise he made could be yet another piece of evidence against him. He could hear, on the seventh floor, the unmistakable thud of a pair of police boots, mounting the stairs at a stoutly pace. The thug was making excellent time, and had clearly foregone the need for a rest. Zablov’s shoulders dropped, surrendering into a slouch. The catalog of his alleged crimes, he realized, was impressive: treason, conspiracy, murder. He could even hear himself listing the evidence against him, as Jarko, his enforcer, stood behind him with a truncheon.
Isn’t it true you met with Pasha Tarkhan in Prague?
Isn’t it true you were his accomplice in treason against the Soviet Union?
Isn’t it true that you hired an assassin to have Pasha Tarkhan murdered before he could corroborate any evidence against you?
“Horrific coincidence,” Zablov wailed.
It was, to Zablov, profoundly unfair that a mere scheme for a promotion had entangled him in much larger events that he had so little control over. If he’d even suspected that Tarkhan was a double agent, he would’ve made other plans! He certainly wouldn’t have had drinks with the man in Prague at the damned Hotel Paris, where everyone and their third cousin could have spotted them.
“Mother,” he cried, his eyes searching the pock-marked plaster of the ceiling. Zablov didn’t know why he called for her. She’d always loved Yakov better.
Tender souls! You play your love on a fiddle, and the crude club their love on a drum. But you cannot turn yourselves inside out, like me, and be just bare lips!
He invoked Mayakovsky – though not out loud this time. Just to himself.
Zablov took a sip of his tea and reached into his wallet, taking out a small, twenty-six year-old newspaper clipping. It showed a picture of Mayakovsky—twenty-two, but looking forty. The article went on to detail his unfortunate end: age thirty-six, playing Russian roulette until he lost.
Both poet laureate and shameless Bolshevik flack, Mayakovsky had always fascinated Kosmo Zablov, and the spy now found disturbing parallels between his own life and that of the young, brooding poet’s. Zablov gazed closely into his imagined counterpart’s eyes. Even then, when he was in the thrall of his Bolshevik hallucinations, Mayakovsky’s eyes looked doomed, and Zablov wondered if his own eyes, at twenty-two, told a similar tale.
The soft rap at the door came in tandem with a voice that was at once kindly and willing to understand. Zablov had heard such a voice a thousand times during various interrogations.
“I’ll be right with you,” Zablov called. “Let me just get a robe.”
Kosmo Zablov gulped the remainder of his tea. It was hot and stung the back of his throat. He flitted to the window, opening it wide and peering all the way down onto the concrete walk spotted with dog feces.
Tucking Mayakovsky’s worn portrait into his breast pocket, he eased his buttocks onto the window ledge.
“Comrade Zablov, are you alright?” the voice called.
“Forgive me, yes,” Kosmo said. “I just wasn’t expecting company.”
He knew not to take a breath or endeavor to think. He had been witness to too many poor saps who had lost their nerve and regretted it. So, in a single, fluid motion, he tipped back into the chilly air.
“Comrade Zablov,” the voice from behind the door proffered. “This can all be very civilized.”

Victoria Dougherty Bio

Victoria Dougherty has for nearly twenty years distinguished herself as a master storyteller, writing fiction, poetry, drama, speeches, essays, and television news segments/video scripts.

In Prague, Ms. Dougherty co-founded the acclaimed Black Box Theater, translating, producing and acting to sold-out audiences in several Czech plays – from Vaclav Havel’s riveting “Protest” to the unintentionally hilarious communist propaganda play “Karhan’s Men.” Black Box Theater was profiled in feature articles in USA Today, International Herald Tribune, and numerous European publications.

Currently, Ms. Dougherty lives with her family in Charlottesville, VA, and has recently completed a thematically linked Cold War thriller series.

Find her on facebook
and follow her blog for reviews, articles and fiction

“The Golden Grave” by David Lawlor

My review:

“Golden Grave” by David Lawlor is a splendid thriller in a very interesting historical setting.
A prologue introduced the title theme with a short and gripping description of a train journey in Flanders in 1917. Loaded with a special “24 carat” cargo the train comes under fire and comes to an unscheduled stop.
Jumping forward in time to 1920 the author ‘returns’ to Liam, hero of his previous book, “Tan”, a man on the run from the law. Wanted by the police in Ireland he fled to Liverpool, where he meets up with Ernie, a soldier friend of his who has plans to go to France to locate the gold lost somewhere on the battlefields in France, asked for help in this matter by the dubious Sabine Durer.
The relationship between Sabine and Liam is complex as they once had an affair that he ended but Sabine needs the soldiers to find her locate the treasure.
This part of the novel is my favourite part, as Lawlor describes in great detail and with a lot of knowledge the aftermath of the war: the recovery of corpses, made difficult by the likely presence of unexploded mines and explosives. It is an interesting aspect of war that is lesser known and handled in literature.
It is made all the more real and emotional by the fact that the soldiers now digging once were on these battle fields and every corpse they find could be one of their old mates. As they are literally and metaphorically digging the relationships, both between the group and with other people in the area become more tense and filled with distrust. If the gold is discovered, who will have their share in it?
Lawlor is a formidable historian who knows and writes well about the weaponry and the way we would have to imagine the battle fields so soon after the war but he also has created a set of intriguing characters that can drive the plot forward easily and at the same time keep the suspense. I found myself quite drawn into the unfolding events and turns, some obvious and others more unexpected.
Having read and enjoyed “Tan”, the first instalment of this series, I found this book a great sequel in that it built cleverly on Liam’s past but took us into an unexpected direction. Lawlor’s command of English is immaculate, resulting in great and realistic dialogue and a descriptive style that brings the scene to the eye like a movie script, in fact, I could easily see this book being made into a very successful film.
This book is great entertainment as a thriller as well as a piece of history and if you like a good treasure hunt or enjoy novels set in the past then this is a must read. It is hugely enjoyable.

Interview with David Lawlor:

Tell us a little about yourself:

My day job is as an editor with a national newspaper, but in the past six or seven years I have been bitten by the writing bug. I love it.
So far, I have written four novels, but have as yet just published one of them. I am now embarking on my fifth. all of my books are set in Ireland, although the first is also set in America in the 1840s.
I live in Co Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland, and am married with four children. When I’m not writing novels I like to add to my blog – historywithatwist.wordpress.com – which celebrates the bit players of history and some of the unusual escapades many of them have got involved in. Drop by for a nose around if you have the time.

How did you come to writing in the first place?

I’ve been writing for about seven years now. I have always been interested in Native Americans and when I came across the story of the Choctaw and how they helped raise money for the Irish Famine in the 1840s, I was hooked. I wanted to tell a story of how that money came to Ireland and that’s how I wrote my first book – a tale spanning two countries and one which was also set in the present. After that book I was on a roll and have since written three more.

What was your connection or fascination with that particular time?

I’ve always been interested in those periods in which life is put on the line. I wonder how I would react if placed in a similar situation. With regards to World War 1, after which The Golden Grave is set, I wondered at what it would be like to face death on a daily basis and what the psychological impact of such an experience would have, particularly if one had to revisit such a place so soon afterwards.

How comfortable do you feel writing about history? How did you research for it?

I’m not daunted by it, mainly because I feel I don’t need to research exhaustively for it. If I have a good hook for my story then I can hone my research to suit. So far, I’ve written two books set during and after World War 1. My next book is set in 1923, so a lot of the previous research I have done regarding clothing etc can be brought to bear again. I also find old photographs hugely useful for helping me describe things.
The first book I wrote (yet to be published) was set on a Native American reservation in the 1840s and the present time, so that took a lot of research as I had never been to that part of America and had to rely on textbooks and internet searches to try to capture the feel of the place. That type of research is time consuming but great fun when it all starts to fit together.

How difficult was it to draw the balance between research and invention/ imagination?

I found in this particular book that I could draw quite a lot on invention. I had already researched a fair bit about World War 1 for my first book, so I could bring that knowledge into play. This time out I had to research the geography of the area. There is one section of the book in which there is a pursuit across Europe. I wanted to find somewhere that could be used for the grand finale. That required looking at lots of maps up close and trying to make sure that the routes and destinations that I was looking at where viable in the 1920s.

When did you first have the idea for this book?

I was looking at a documentary on TV about the excavation of a World War 1 bunker. That got me thinking about what might be down there and of all those who may have died in its vicinity during the war. The documentary itself was a great help in terms of visual clues as to what to write about.
Tell us about the concept. Where is the story going from here? Do you know already? How many instalments are you planning?
It is part of a series. The first book Tan: A Story of Exile, Betrayal and Revenge introduced the reader to Liam Mannion, a former British soldier-turned –IRA officer during the War of Independence in the 1920s.
The Golden Grave gives further insights into Liam’s background and takes him in a very different direction this time – back to the place that haunts his dreams. I’m working on a third book at the moment. I have to say I’ve been struggling with the plot structure on that one. It’s set during the Irish treaty talks with the British around this time, and focuses on a plot to kill the republican leader Michael Collins It’s going to be quite complex in terms of character relationships and motivations. I’ve already started it but decided to stop until I completely iron out the direction it will take. After that, I’m pretty sure there will be a fourth book based around the Irish Civil War, but best to get number three out of the way first.

How long did this book take you to write?

About eight months.

How do you write? What is your writing environment like?

I write on the 50-minute commute into work and back again, and also on my lunch break. I aim for one thousand words a day. Sometimes I don’t reach that figure, but that’s the daily goal when I’m writing. Ironically, I have more time in the evenings but just don’t have the motivation.

How many rewrites did it take you?

I can’t remember. I tend to write the book, then go over it again, then leave it aside before going over it yet again with somewhat fresh eyes. At this point I ask other people to read it and to give me feedback, then I act on what they’ve suggested. After that I’ll go over it once more before calling it a day – you have to stop revising at some stage.

Did you have any input on the cover art?

I work as a production journalist in a national newspaper in Ireland and have a very talented graphic designer close by whom I have known for years. I gathered a series of images and did a sketch of what I had in mind. He made sense of my scrawls and put in his magic. I’m very pleased with the result

What did you find most challenging about this book? What do you like most and what least about writing?

In one regard the book is about the search for a lost treasure. I had to make sure that there was enough meat on the bone of this story other than that search for gold. I worried if there would be enough to sustain the story, so I tried to create characters that would help do that once the basic element of searching was finished. The thing I like least about writing isn’t really about writing at all – it is the promotion required once the book is published (no offence, Christoph!). I’d rather just write and let someone else take care of that end of things, but unfortunately that’s not possible.

Who are your editors and how do you quality control your books?

My fellow authors are my editors and my own eye. I am an editor by profession, so that helps. Having said that, you should NEVER edit your own work. I tend to break that rule when I write, purely for economic reasons. I also use Critique Circle for feedback. It is very helpful.

How do you handle criticism?

I take it on the chin, If it is constructive I may well act on it. However, it depends who is doing the critiquing to be honest. If I respect the writer and know that they can write well, then I will act on their suggestions. If I get feedback from people on CC that I don’t know then I will look at the overall feedback and then make changes.

Who are your favourite authors / influences?

I like quite a few – Robert Harris, Sebastian Faulks, Tom Wolfe, John Connolly. What I like about Connolly is that he has a beautiful turn of phrase and uses it to great effect in the build-up of his scenes. At the same time he grabs the reader and usually keeps the pace right up ‘til the end.

What books have you read more than once or want to read again?

When I was in school I read Wuthering Heights eight times. I loved the mood of the book and the characters. I read a book by Tom Clancy called Without Remorse about four times, because I loved the arc of the story and was fascinated with how he did that. I have read Tom Wolfe’s A Man in Full a couple of times, purely because Wolfe is just a genius when it comes to description.

What would your characters say about the book?

Liam would probably give a bit of a dismissive sniff and then move on to something more important. Others, like Clem Green, would probably not get past the first page. I think Liam’s other half – Kate might enjoy it, though.

Who are your favourite characters and why? Who would play your characters in a movie?

In The Golden Grave. I like Liam’s character, – he’s a decent bloke wrestling with complex memories and trying to do the decent thing in turbulent times.
I had good fun writing the sneakier characters – such as the femme fatale Sabine and her co-conspirator Durer. I also liked the humanity and decency of Ben Sweetman, a gentle giant if ever there was one. To be honest, I never thought who might play the characters if The Golden Grave was made into a film.

What are your next projects and where would we be able to hear about them?

As I mentioned earlier, I’m writing a third book on Liam, with a fourth likely after that. I also would like to see two other novels I have written being published. I need to go through them again and make a few changes first. After that I have a small idea brewing in the back of my head for a modern crime story about a serial killer…as you do.

Website: historywithatwist.wordpress.com
Twitter: @LawlorDavid
Amazon US:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFNEOCU
Amazon UK:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CFNEOCU/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img