Author Chat with Alexander Rose > Likes and Comments
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Huge fan! Loved your book! Who approached you to option the book? Was it a producer or someone at the network? And how involved were you in the adaptation?
Assuming you did a lot of research on the 1700s when writing your novel, did they keep you on the writing staff as some type of consultant to ensure authenticity and historical accuracy?
Hi Alexander,I read your book and thought it was great. What is your next project?
Thanks!
Hi Alexander! I'm curious to know what book you're currently reading. Also, what is your favorite book?
Alexander, was it hard to come up with an original idea when it comes to the American Revolution?
Hi Alexander,One more question for you. How does it feel to see your novel brought to life for a television show?
Hello Alexander ! I have been inspired by you for quite some time, its great that you are taking time to chat with your followers!
As an aspiring writer, what type of advice would you lend me or anyone else that is choosing to become one as well?
Thank you for your time !
Ashlee
Hi Alexander! I just finished reading your book. What inspired you to write about The Culper Ring?
Hi Alexander! I have always been a spy thriller fan. What draws you to this genre? Which writers inspire you?
Thanks,
Mo
Alexander,What kind of career advice would you give to someone who loves history?
Thanks
Nowthatsimpossible wrote: "Hi Alexander,I read your book and thought it was great. What is your next project?
Thanks!"
Glad you liked it! Right now, I'm finishing up work on a new book -- that I've been writing for a long time now -- that seeks to answer the question: "What's it like being in a battle?" I take three iconic American battles (Bunker Hill in 1775, Gettysburg in 1863, and Iwo Jima in 1945) and examine and describe what it was like for a normal soldier to be in combat. It's tentatively entitled, MEN OF WAR or MAN OF WAR (the publisher and I are going back and forth on the singular/plural thing.)
Brownie wrote: "Hi Alexander! I'm curious to know what book you're currently reading. Also, what is your favorite book?"Good question. I tend to read several at a time, in bits and pieces. Let's see, one is Dark Invasion by Howard Blum; another is Mark Forsyth's Elements of Eloquence (a very interesting look at how to develop writing style).
My favorite book? Hmm, a toughie. I adore the Flashman novels by George MacDonald Fraser, Wodehouse (of course), Joe Haldeman's Forever War; and John Keegan's The Face of Battle -- perhaps the finest military-history book of the last century. You'll notice that there's not a whole lot of literary fiction in there. Don't have time, I'm afraid . . .
Justin wrote: "Alexander, was it hard to come up with an original idea when it comes to the American Revolution?"In a word, Yes! But here's the thing, when I was starting to research the subject of espionage and Washington in the Revolution I assumed that it had been done to death. I mean, it's such an *obvious* subject. But then I dug around and discovered that hardly anything had ever been written on it. There are two reasons, I think, for this weird oversight. The first is that for a very long time Washington was regarded as one might a saint: he could not be seen as being underhanded or devious in any way for fear of subverting his role as Founding Father. So, historians just passed over his intelligence operations. The second is that sometimes the most obvious subjects get ignored because everyone assumes they've already been done!
Nowthatsimpossible wrote: "Hi Alexander,One more question for you. How does it feel to see your novel brought to life for a television show?"
Quite astounding, in short. For an historian to see his characters and world spring to life is a very rare honor. The producers really strove hard to recreate the lost world of 18th-century New York.
Ashlee wrote: "Hello Alexander ! I have been inspired by you for quite some time, its great that you are taking time to chat with your followers!
As an aspiring writer, what type of advice would you lend me or..."
The first piece of advice is: take time to interact with your readers. Without them, you go out of business very quickly! That's why GoodReads is an invaluable tool for connecting with a committed audience. Another is, read read read everything you can in and out of your genre. You pick up ideas, style, structures, facts, everything. Writers who don't read are not going to succeed, it's as simple as that. A third is perserverence. You need to be in this for the long haul and you're going to run into a large number of obstacles, but you need to keep plugging on. Lastly -- and this is something that a lot of people forget -- writing for a living is a business, not exclusively an art.
Oh, one more thing: write write write. Hone hone hone. Polish polish polish. Edit edit edit. I spend more time revising drafts than actually writing them. Someone once told me, easy reading means hard writing. That's a fundamental principle.
Tom wrote: "Hi Alexander! I just finished reading your book. What inspired you to write about The Culper Ring?"Well, I didn't start with the idea. I was originally thinking about doing something on Benedict Arnold but I began wondering whether there was more to the story. What was espionage like during the Revolution, for instance? Arnold didn't start life as a traitor/defector; he was recruited and persuaded and shifted his loyalties. Who did this and how? After that, I became fascinated by this shadow world that had been left out of all the history books but needed a case-example or else I'd end up with some 900-page behemoth about intelligence that nobody would read. So I scouted around for a month or two and eventually settle on my perfect spies: the Culper Ring. One major reason was their entire correspondence with Washington still exists, so I could distill their lives, characters, fears, and so forth from written documents rather than just speculating.
Zooloo wrote: "Huge fan! Loved your book! Who approached you to option the book? Was it a producer or someone at the network? And how involved were you in the adaptation?
Assuming you did a lot of research..."
Basically, I didn't do anything . . . in the sense that the producer Barry Josephson approached me and said, hey, I'd like to option the book. So, obviously, I said yes and we went from there.
In terms of my role, I've been serving as consultant -- on scripts, ideas, and the like. I attend panels and premieres with the crew and staff and try not to make an idiot of myself. If the writers have a question, I do my best to answer it. I may have a larger role in the future.
P.S. One small thing, Washington's Spies isn't a novel, it's non-fiction!
Moha wrote: "Hi Alexander! I have always been a spy thriller fan. What draws you to this genre? Which writers inspire you?
Thanks,
Mo"
I've always been interested in the (fictional) spy genre, though Washington's Spies is non-fiction. I read all of the Ian Fleming's books when I was a teenager, but then moved on to Le Carre and Alan Furst. The best under-rated, underknown spy writer is Charles McCarry, I think.
Matt wrote: "Alexander,What kind of career advice would you give to someone who loves history?
Thanks"
This really depends on what kind of career you're referring to! Generally speaking, read everything history book you can, particularly in fields you're not apparently interested in or that take interesting perspectives. I'm not sure that's very helpful advice, though. Email me through my website (alexrose.com) if you want to offer more specifics.
Alexander wrote: "Nowthatsimpossible wrote: "Hi Alexander,I read your book and thought it was great. What is your next project?
Thanks!"
Glad you liked it! Right now, I'm finishing up work on a new book -- that..."
Hi Alexander,
Thanks for replying! I'm a big fan of yours! When can I get my hands on your new book?
In your book "Washington's Spies", who is your favorite spy agent? Do you have the same favorite character in the tv show?
What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Alexander wrote: "Moha wrote: "Hi Alexander! I have always been a spy thriller fan. What draws you to this genre? Which writers inspire you?
Thanks,
Mo"
I've always been interested in the (fictional) spy genr..."
Hi Alexander,
I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post! Do you find that it is more difficult to write a non-fiction book vs. a fiction novel?
Thank you,
Mo
Alexander wrote: "Zooloo wrote: "Huge fan! Loved your book! Who approached you to option the book? Was it a producer or someone at the network? And how involved were you in the adaptation?
Assuming you did a ..."
Very cool! With this new found exposure to TV writing, is that something you might consider pursuing?
Hello Again Alexander!Are you ever in the situation where you have ideas for several different books you want to write? And how do you choose which one to tackle and which ideas to put on the back burner?
Thank You!
Ashlee
Edie wrote: "In your book "Washington's Spies", who is your favorite spy agent? Do you have the same favorite character in the tv show?"I'm quite fond of Caleb Brewster (both in the book and as played by Daniel Henshall in the show). I think you'll like him, too. It's difficult to have an absolute favorite, though, as each member of the Culper Ring has his (and her) strength and weaknesses. Tallmadge, I do think, is one of the great unsung heroes of the Revolution -- and I believe that Seth Numrich will really bring his virtues to a broad audience.
Lisa wrote: "What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?"Um, let's see. (Let's face it, I don't have that many.) Probably excavating this forgotten story from the dusty archives and turning it into a publishable story, despite a lot of obstacles and setbacks. I think that's something to be proud of.
Thomas wrote: "When did you know you wanted to be a writer?"I'm not sure I ever consciously set out to be a writer. I always liked history, and when I was a kid I read pretty much nothing but history books (and Tintin). I drifted into journalism (editorial side, not reporting) when I was a graduate student and eventually found a job at the Daily Telegraph in London. Even then, I was writing a book on the side (called "Kings in the North"). It was in about 2004 or so that I was getting bored of editorial writing and so I tried my hand (again) at book writing. And that was how Washington's Spies originated. Then in about 2007 I left full-time journalism and set myself up as an "independent historian" (otherwise known as "unemployed"). That's what I do now, but I still review books for some newspapers and write the odd article for magazines.
Moha wrote: "Alexander wrote: "Moha wrote: "Hi Alexander! I have always been a spy thriller fan. What draws you to this genre? Which writers inspire you?
Thanks,
Mo"
I've always been interested in the (f..."
Tricky question, Mo, since I've never written a novel. To tell you the truth, I'd probably find it more difficult to do that than write a history book. I'm at home with footnotes, sources, archives, and bibliographies, not so much with actually having to make things up, create characters, adhere to plot points, etc. At least with true-life history, all that stuff is already done for me . . .
Zooloo wrote: "Alexander wrote: "Zooloo wrote: "Huge fan! Loved your book! Who approached you to option the book? Was it a producer or someone at the network? And how involved were you in the adaptation?
A..."
I can't say anything at this stage, unfortunately -- it's all hush-hush -- but if TURN is renewed for a second season, we'll see what happens. I have to say, I spent a few weeks in the writers' room of TURN and TV-writing is a lot of fun. It gave me an appreciation that scriptwriting (film or TV) really is a specific art, and one completely alien to bookwriting. It's very interesting to see the showrunner and writers deftly sketching out characters and arcs months in advance and summarizing complex historical controversies in just a few lines.
Ashlee wrote: "Hello Again Alexander!Are you ever in the situation where you have ideas for several different books you want to write? And how do you choose which one to tackle and which ideas to put on the b..."
Good question. Basically, I am permanently in that uncomfortable position. I maintain a folder full of ideas for books (and articles). Now, most of those will either be rubbish, or boring, or impossible, or end up being done by someone else (for instance, a book on the history of whaling), so they eventually get nixed, but you only need one really good idea to make everything work. However, an agent long ago told me that if a book is more than five years old then the idea seems "fresh" and you can do again. So, the moral is: if someone else writes a book on one of your possible subjects, don't delete the idea, just put it on the backburner and wait five years.
Nowthatsimpossible wrote: "Alexander wrote: "Nowthatsimpossible wrote: "Hi Alexander,I read your book and thought it was great. What is your next project?
Thanks!"
Glad you liked it! Right now, I'm finishing up work on ..."
Nice to meet you, NowThatsImpossible. The new book, if all works out, should be published sometime this fall (October/November, I think). We're editing now, and I'm in the midst of doing the epilogue, so we're looking good for that schedule. I'll be very happy when it comes out; this book has been ongoing since about 2009. It's a big one and important to me, so I want to make it as good as possible.
Erin wrote: "Join us on Monday, March 31st, for a special discussion with author Alexander Rose! He will be discussing his book "Washington's Spies" as well as AMC's TURN.Alexander will be answering question..."
Since we have a spare moment, I'd like to add that if you have other questions or I don't get to your query -- apologies in advance -- you can always email me through my website at alexrose.com.
Alexander wrote: "Nowthatsimpossible wrote: "Alexander wrote: "Nowthatsimpossible wrote: "Hi Alexander,I read your book and thought it was great. What is your next project?
Thanks!"
Glad you liked it! Right now..."
Good to know! I look forward to reading it.
Hi Alexander, I am an aspiring screenplay writer and often times, I experience writer's block. Do you ever experience writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
Thanks for taking the time to talk with me!
Deb wrote: "Hi Alexander, I am an aspiring screenplay writer and often times, I experience writer's block. Do you ever experience writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
Thanks for taking the time ..."
Hi there. My view about breaking writer's block is that you just need to write. Anything. It could be garbage. But you need to sit down and write, and not think about how to start writing. Eventually, the problem will resolve itself and you'll be on a roll. I've come up with some of my best stuff by just writing and not thinking too hard about it. You may need to do editing later but at least you've got words on the page -- and that's half the battle. Also, it helps if you have a deadline of some kind. When I was in newspapers, you had to write your pieces by 3pm, no matter what. So nobody got writer's block. Basically, pushing past writer's block requires practice. And you acquire practice through writing (it's a kind of chicken-and-egg issue, I guess). Hope this helps.
Join us on Monday, March 31st, for a special discussion with author Alexander Rose! He will be discussing his book "Washington's Spies" as well as AMC's TURN.
Alexander will be answering questions only on March 31st. Submit your questions now in this thread.