Interview with author M B Zucker
Welcome Readers toanother installment of our author interview series. Today we have the pleasureof chatting with Michael, author of two historical fiction books.
JMR-Welcome to theBooks Delight, Michael. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for funand what does the perfect day look like?
MZ- Thank you forhaving me. I live with my family in Northern Virginia. My favorite hobbies arereading, watching movies, walking the dog (Maggie), and going out to dinnerwith my wife. My perfect day would be to spend several hours writing, then gofor a long walk with Maggie, have dinner and watch a show or movie with my wife,and then read before bed.
JMR-What’s yourfavorite historical time period? Why?
MZ- My favorite periodis the 1940s and 1950s. I view World War II and the early nuclear era as themost dangerous period in world history and so this period is more dramatic thanmost. WWII was my entry point into history when I was 15 and so it has a specialresonance for me.
JMR-Who is yourfavorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what wouldit be?
MZ- Dwight Eisenhoweris my favorite since I think he was the most important person to navigating thedangers of the 1940s and 1950s. I would ask him his opinion on militaryinterventions for humanitarian purposes. He had deeper foreign policy judgmentthat almost anyone and I think his thoughts on that issue could beenlightening, particularly since he both spent his presidency avoiding war butalso witnessed the Nazi camps in 1945.
JMR- How did you cometo be a writer of historical fiction?
MZ- My interest inhistory grew out of my interest in stories. WWII mapped onto adventures likeSpider-Man and Star Wars when I was 15 as good battled evil. Those interests,storytelling and history, then merged and birthed my interest in historicalfiction. Saving Private Ryan was the first film that showed me what thegenre can do.
JMR- We are allaffected by the highs and lows in our lives. How has your lived life informedyour writing?
MZ- The stresses ofwriting precipitated a period of depression when I was in high school. Sincethen, I’ve kept an eye on how my emotions fluctuate and how my subconsciousinstincts influence my thoughts. I have tried to portray this relationshipwithin each of my novels and often design protagonists’ arcs around it.
JMR- Did you visitanyone of the places in your book? Where did you feel closest to yourcharacters?
MZ- Since I live inNorthern Virginia and give tours at the Eisenhower Memorial on the NationalMall, I’ve spent plenty of time in the DC area, which is the main setting forthe novel. I’ve travelled down several of the streets Adams does and I’dvisited Boston and the Adams family’s Braintree estate when I was a teenager.
JMR- Michael, tell us aboutyour book, TheMiddle Generation: A Novel of John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine.
MZ- It’s a novel aboutJohn Quincy Adams when he was Secretary of State. Historians rank him as ourbest Secretary of State but even history buffs seem to know little about thechallenges he confronted in that office. His main challenge was opposingEurope, which sought to prevent South America’s independence from the SpanishEmpire. Adams waged a diplomatic chess match against Prince Metternich, theAustrian diplomat who masterminded Napoleon’s defeat and the Congress ofVienna. Subplots include the Missouri Crisis which triggered the rise ofslavery as a major national issue, the controversial 1824 election againstAndrew Jackson, and the pressure of being John and Abigail Adams’ eldest son.
JMR-What projects doyou have in the pipeline?
MZ- I’ve just startedresearching what will likely be a pair of novels about Karl Haushofer, a Germanacademic who shaped a lot of Nazi foreign policy and is considered Hitler’smentor. I’ve always wanted to write about a villain protagonist and I think Haushoferwill interest readers because he’s an important but little known player in theThird Reich and WWII.
JMR- Tell our readershow to find you on social media and the web.
MZ- I have an authorwebsite at www.mbzucker.comthat has links to my books, a blog, interviews I’ve done, and The EisenhowerEncyclopedia, which has everything I know about Ike.
My Twitter (X) accountis @MichaelZucker1. I tweet about history and historical fiction almost everyday.
JMR- What question wereyou hoping I’d ask but didn’t?
MZ- I’d like to mentionthat The Middle Generation has won three awards so far and all thereviews have commended the book’s character depth and dialogue, so readers whoenjoy historical/political fiction with those elements will find a lot to likein my novel.
JMR- Thank you, Michael,for stopping by. Your books look really great! Readers, I’ve included a link toMichael’s book below. Please be sure to check it out.
