Ask the Author: Mark Anthony Sullivan
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Mark Anthony Sullivan
A PRELUDE TO VERSAILLES: Mystery, Suspense and Romance in Post-War Paris
Nothing had prepared Lieutenant George Murphy for Paris. Before he was wounded all he had seen in France were mud, blood and gunfire in the trenches, but then he was sent to a hospital in Paris. After the armistice he was assigned to the American peace conference delegation as one of the few American officers who could speak French. There he faces perils ranging from phony news reports of a crime wave among American troops to being accused of murder himself.
Fiona McDermott was the light of the Irish peace delegation. For someone so young she exhibited fine diplomatic and social skills but would continue to do only so long as she could escape both her past and the fanatics pursuing her. Only time will tell if George and Fiona can save each other?
Nothing had prepared Lieutenant George Murphy for Paris. Before he was wounded all he had seen in France were mud, blood and gunfire in the trenches, but then he was sent to a hospital in Paris. After the armistice he was assigned to the American peace conference delegation as one of the few American officers who could speak French. There he faces perils ranging from phony news reports of a crime wave among American troops to being accused of murder himself.
Fiona McDermott was the light of the Irish peace delegation. For someone so young she exhibited fine diplomatic and social skills but would continue to do only so long as she could escape both her past and the fanatics pursuing her. Only time will tell if George and Fiona can save each other?
Mark Anthony Sullivan
Hi David,
You asked what inspired me to become a writer. I guess the best answer I can give is that it occurred to me that I already was one. In the fifteen years that I was a trial lawyer I wrote numerous briefs trying to convince judges that my versions of cases were correct. More importantly I had to compose opening statements and summations to juries. The former were by far the more difficult. Having to explain to a group of strangers what a case, that they had never heard of, was really about was extremely challenging. I developed the attitude that, if I could open well, the rest of the trial would be much easier.
In the twenty years that I was a trial judge I wrote more opinions that I can count. Some were released in written form, and some of those published, but most were delivered orally. They all involved telling a story about what really happened. I also had to compose jury charges explaining legal issues to non-lawyers. Many were extremely complex as in medical malpractice and racketeering cases.
I had been wondering what I would do when I retired until it occurred to me, just keep writing. My first book was a legal one about consumer fraud. It was published by Gann Law Books and is now in its third edition. I have had another non-fiction book in progress for some time involving pre-Civil War slavery cases. Firebase is my only published work of fiction so far. I had an advantage with that, since I saved all the letters that I received during my soldiering days in Vietnam, and my parents had saved the letters I sent them. I am working now on another novel, set in Paris at the 1919 peace conference.
You asked what inspired me to become a writer. I guess the best answer I can give is that it occurred to me that I already was one. In the fifteen years that I was a trial lawyer I wrote numerous briefs trying to convince judges that my versions of cases were correct. More importantly I had to compose opening statements and summations to juries. The former were by far the more difficult. Having to explain to a group of strangers what a case, that they had never heard of, was really about was extremely challenging. I developed the attitude that, if I could open well, the rest of the trial would be much easier.
In the twenty years that I was a trial judge I wrote more opinions that I can count. Some were released in written form, and some of those published, but most were delivered orally. They all involved telling a story about what really happened. I also had to compose jury charges explaining legal issues to non-lawyers. Many were extremely complex as in medical malpractice and racketeering cases.
I had been wondering what I would do when I retired until it occurred to me, just keep writing. My first book was a legal one about consumer fraud. It was published by Gann Law Books and is now in its third edition. I have had another non-fiction book in progress for some time involving pre-Civil War slavery cases. Firebase is my only published work of fiction so far. I had an advantage with that, since I saved all the letters that I received during my soldiering days in Vietnam, and my parents had saved the letters I sent them. I am working now on another novel, set in Paris at the 1919 peace conference.
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