Ask the Author: Lawrence Pintak
Answered Questions (7)
Lawrence Pintak
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad. I read it in my teens, then saw the movie, which starred Peter O'Toole. Books can trigger karma and synchronicity and boy did that one. Aside from thinking that when I die it would be really cool to have my body consumed in a funeral pyre on the beach of a jungle island (as did Jim), I was left with 1) a strong feeling of being drawn to the Malay archipelago (where I would meet my wife decades later); 2) a desire to live a life of international adventure (and ended up a war correspondent), and 3) an intention to eventually become a writer (and you can see how that panned out).
So...having spent the last few years immersed in books on religion and spirituality as I wrote my new book, Lessons from the Mountaintop (please put it on your TBR!), I wanted to clear my head with something completely unrelated, came across Lord Jim in my browsing, and thought, "Why not reread it!).
So...having spent the last few years immersed in books on religion and spirituality as I wrote my new book, Lessons from the Mountaintop (please put it on your TBR!), I wanted to clear my head with something completely unrelated, came across Lord Jim in my browsing, and thought, "Why not reread it!).
Lawrence Pintak
I look at the world. It is full of ideas. Every day, I see a dozen things I would like to write about, but there are only so many hours in the day.
Lawrence Pintak
I just plow through it. Some people -- like my wife -- get mad at me when they ask how they should deal with writer's block. She'll tell you that I'm just not empathetic, but I genuinely can't give any advice than to just sit down and start writing. About anything! It may be crap at first, but eventually, you break through and get into the flow. Them you just delete all the junk.
Lawrence Pintak
Freedom! I can plot my own path, choose what I focus on, allow my imagination and reportorial instincts to lead me.
Lawrence Pintak
Write. Write. And keep writing until you get it right!
Lawrence Pintak
A complete departure from my new novel, Target: Hollywood, which is about a terrorist attack in the U.S., or my non-fiction books at the intersection of U.S. Middle East policy and Islam. This one focuses on ordinary people who have spent their lives on profoundly spiritual paths.
Lawrence Pintak
Target: Hollywood is the product of my years of CBS News Middle East correspondent in the 1980s. I wrote it 15 years before 9/11, but just released it. Tragically, it was obvious to those of us who knew the region that an attack in the U.S. was inevitable.
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