Ask the Author: Edward D. Webster
Answered Questions (2)
Edward D. Webster
I love putting myself into the minds of unique characters--be it a man bent on making a point with explosives in The Gentle Bomber's Melody or the historical madmen who perpetrated an inquisition 30 years before the Spanish Inquisition in Soul of Toledo. The trick for me is to write from their heart and their perspective without judging them.
Edward D. Webster
Traveling to Toledo, Spain (with my wife and 17 year old cat), the tourist information spoke of ‘the City of Three Cultures, and I learned that there had been glorious time when Jews, Muslims and Christians created one of the richest cultures in the world—literature, spiritual enlightenment, art—you name it. The architecture, with its Moorish influences drew me in and whispered praises to that past glory. At the same time I knew about the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsions of Jews and Muslims. I had to know how everything had fallen apart.
Back home in California, I discovered the book, Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain, by Benzion Netanyahu (the Israeli Prime Minister’s father). It told the story of a rogue inquisition, thirty years before the church-sponsored version. I was on the path. From there I arranged private lectures with professors in Toledo and Segovia and traveled back to Spain. I learned about the politics and history, the culture and landscape.
The actual historical characters were fascinating—a weak king, manipulated by his Constable, the king's cousins and his own son who plotted against him, those madmen who rounded up converts and sought confessions of blasphemy. All I needed to do was to create a protagonist whose life would be threatened by this true historical conflict and a lovely woman for him to love.
Back home in California, I discovered the book, Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain, by Benzion Netanyahu (the Israeli Prime Minister’s father). It told the story of a rogue inquisition, thirty years before the church-sponsored version. I was on the path. From there I arranged private lectures with professors in Toledo and Segovia and traveled back to Spain. I learned about the politics and history, the culture and landscape.
The actual historical characters were fascinating—a weak king, manipulated by his Constable, the king's cousins and his own son who plotted against him, those madmen who rounded up converts and sought confessions of blasphemy. All I needed to do was to create a protagonist whose life would be threatened by this true historical conflict and a lovely woman for him to love.
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