E.J. Simon's Blog, page 2

Are My Fictional Characters Real?

Are my “fictional” characters based upon real people?

Yes, some more so than others. Many are a blend of more than one individual.

Some are totally fictional products of my imagination. In that case, I feel I have the most freedom, a license to kill, so to speak. After all, I own the character.

My novel’s characters are often at least loosely based upon my memories of a particular person in my life. A few are very closely modeled on a particular individual that I know or knew. In that case, as I insert them in situations that occur in the stories, I do try and place myself in their mindset and see exactly how they might react to situations that occur in the stories. It’s easier, of course, if I knew the person intimately or at least well.

In any case, I try to be kind, in case they recognize themselves.

Novels & Politics

Some fiction writers let their politics bleed into their stories. I don’t.

I have nothing against those that do. I simply don’t see the need to mix politics into my novels. It’s not necessary or relevant to the plots so I’m careful not to create characters that resemble our current politicians or their political leanings. Also, baking a political position into a novel is a good way to lose half of my potential readers.

Mostly, though, I am just tired and fatigued with all the political posturing and I know that a lot of my readers are too. My fiction is meant as an escape from everyday life and when I’m writing, I enjoy getting away from so much that is distressing in this world. I’m not looking to find another way to divide us or to create more angst for myself than I already have, which is significant.

So, I figure a little murder, kidnapping, nuclear missiles gone wild, and missing airliners mysteriously reappearing, are all good ways to find some comfort. Ironic, perhaps. I just want to entertain.

What is fiction, anyway?

 

Another author said, “it’s making something out of nothing.”

I think it’s that and more. For me, it’s taking the world as we know it, the people we have known or observed, the crises, wars, murders, events, the things that happen all around us, a great dinner, a near fatal accident, a plane crash, a love affair, a series of odd coincidences, whether involving world figures and celebrities or the characters who surround us each day, and creating a story that we want to immerse ourselves in, to be a part of—without having to really live through it ourselves. We want the drama, the mystery, the killer on the other side of the door, but without the danger.

I want to be James Bond, but I don’t really want to be swimming with crocodiles and alligators who are circling me for their next meal. I don’t want to be dissected by Goldfinger and his industrial laser. Actually, I like going to bed early.

As a reader, and a writer, I want to experience these things – in a comfy chair, sitting by the fire on a snowy evening. So, writers create a dangerous, mysterious, sometimes catastrophic world, similar to—yet often even more realistic or believable than the one we live in—and we put this creation on paper, on an eReader screen and in audio versions so that we can entertain our readers. If we’re good at what we do, we may also enlighten the reader—and, strangely, the writer himself, too—by creating a greater truth from the fiction or by using the story to communicate our inner feelings, the ones we would never express except in a work of fiction, where everyone knows it’s only make-believe.

Multiple Lives

   

I’ve always wished I could live more than one life at a time: to be able to experience living one life in Manhattan or Durham, NC and another life – at the same time – in say, Paris or Saint Remy; to be a writer and to be an architect . . . or a bartender. Etcetera.

In my novels Michael Nicholas, experiences life –simultaneously - as both a traditional corporate CEO and the head of a major underworld operation. He’s married to his beautiful wife – and has a brief affair with a beautiful professional killer. He has boundaries in one life and virtually none in the other. He lives his second, secret life, in the company of good-natured gangsters, living on the edge.

That’s one of the things that writing a novel (like reading one) allows me to do – experience many different lives, to be inside different characters and, all the while, continuing to live as myself, a writer, residing in the South, married to a terrific woman and, although not living there, at least traveling regularly to Paris and Saint Remy. I live that second life through my writing, with the safety net that fiction provides.

It’s as close as I’m likely going to come to fully experiencing a different life. And, maybe, considering the ill-advised affair Michael had with that bodyguard/professional killer (Sindy Steele), that’s just as well.

Traveling and Writing

Some of my favorite places to travel are the ones I use for scenes in my books: Paris, Florence, Rome, Saint Tropez, Saint Paul de Vence, Venice, Newport, RI, Miami, London, Chicago, the beaches and mountains of North Carolina.

My two favorite places to visit are Paris in the winter and the South of France in the summer – Saint Tropez, Saint Paul de Vence, Gordes, Saint Remy.

In France we usually stay at places that are special to us, and where we try to return each year: Les Mas de Carassins in Saint Remy, where we meet up with same guests each August. The Relaix Saint-Germain in the 6th Arrondissement in Paris which has a great restaurant where we often dine on New Year’s eve. The Hotel Les Boires in Gordes with a gorgeous pool in the midst of the mountains. We also enjoy the Hotel des Lice in fashionable Saint Tropez. Each of these hotels are beautiful, have great wine, food, and service - and yet are relatively low-key. They’re also owned or staffed by really nice people.

I love to be able to write scenes in these places while I’m there. It forces me to think more deeply about my experience, to take in everything around me more carefully. I may be on vacation but I have to be acutely aware of my surroundings: the history, the setting, the food, the wine, the personalities all around me (and often the famous ones who came before me).

Changing the places where I write seems to change my attitude, my perspective, and resets my imagination. The wine helps, too.

#2 on Amazon!

Excited to share that Death Logs In has hit #2on Amazon Kindle Bestsellers.

In appreciation for the support, the e-Book is now available free for this week only. Download your copy now.

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Logs-In-E...

Kirkus: "An action-laden plot that will have the series collecting many more fans."

Reality: More Deadly Than Fiction

Maybe it was always there. Maybe it was because there was no CNN or Internet before to spread the word each time something crazy occurred. Maybe people have always been anxious to kill themselves and other people but it seems like there are so many more now – and they do it in such bizarre and gruesome ways.

I’ve never quite understood the point exactly. It’s not like we’re all not going to die anyway, so what’s the big need to rush things?

The one thing I do know is that fiction can’t hold a candle to reality when it comes to the ways human beings inflict pain and death on others. That’s one reason that fiction will never be as bizarre and strange as reality. Actually, fiction has to be more believable than reality.

When you think about the apparent murder of 149 people in this week’s Germanwings crash, the shooting down of Malaysia Flight 17, the missing Air Asia jet – and then the recent Charlie murders in Paris, and the horrible ways of ISIS, there’s no end to the terror that human beings can conjure up – and it’s worse than any fiction writer can imagine, unfortunately

Despite everything that occurs in my two novels, Death Never Sleeps and Death Logs In, I feel a lot safer inside those stories than I do in the real world. Maybe it’s because in my novels, I’m in control but, once I look up from my computer and my writing, I’m not sure if anyone is.

Book Club- Free Books!

Are you part of a book club? Does its members like to read suspense/thriller novels? Here’s an offer from author E.J. Simon for book clubs.

What the Book Club receives:

Free call in from E.J.
- If you are within 50 miles, he’ll visit your book club for free.
- Book club moderator receives free book.
- Book club moderator gets 10% of sales for book clubs with over 20 members. For book clubs under 20 members, moderator gets a 25$ gift card.
- Book club members receive 20% discount on all books – even additional gift books. After book club meeting, members can gift 5 free e books each. - - - -- Moderator gets unlimited free e-books after book club meeting is held.
- Bookmarks and other promotional materials
- Tag in E.J.’s tweets (38.6 K followers) and social media.

Please email: Media@simonzefpublishing.com for more details.

Giveaway Time!

More than 67,000 people downloaded my debut crime thriller Death Never Sleeps. If you didn't have a chance to read it, you can enter for a chance to win 1 of 10 paperback copies through this Goodreads giveaway: http://bit.ly/1kWOu5J.

I'm currently editing the follow-up - DEATH LOGS IN. Hoping it will be out this summer!