Ask the Author: Peter Glassman
Answered Questions (8)
Peter Glassman
20 years ago I was in Stockholm Sweden at the time of the Nobel Awards. The weather was light snow on the flat plaza outside with many pedestrians. I looked out my restaurant window and saw two men exchange brief cases. They had Homberg type hats and wore black gloves and long overcoats. No one gave them any notice.
The combination of the Nobel Awards and this incident offered multiple plot possibilities which I have not yet pursued.
The combination of the Nobel Awards and this incident offered multiple plot possibilities which I have not yet pursued.
Peter Glassman
Now finishing my 15th novel, my reason for writing is to impart my life's experiences with lessons learned, feelings understood and how things could've been better. As a fiction writer, I start with a basis of fact and re-write what might've been. My Boston Strangler thriller does all of this in WHO WILL WEEP FOR ME, as I relived my high school days.
Peter Glassman
I learned the major cause of writer's block at one of my first Writer's Workshops. When my plot slows or cannot advance I ask, "Do I need a person, place or thing to happen at this point." Sometimes I need a disposable character to create a scene to get to where my protagonist or antagonist needs to be. In my last 2 novels I used a pet to transition the action. THE HAPPY HAT has a large Maine Coon cat as a catalyst for romantic intervention. In my new book, BLACKWATER FEVER, I use a feisty female cockatoo with a huge vocabulary as an important character.
Peter Glassman
I have a sense of accomplishment at completing a book and seeing it in print. Although my novels are in the Indie publishing world I can point to THE HELIOS RAIN and marvel that I actually have written something over 2000 people have read. I love reviews and so far they've all been favorable.
Peter Glassman
I have yet to experience a best seller. My books sell only 15-20 titles per month. My advice is to new authors is what my first editor told me, "Keep writing even if your book isn't a seller." She also gave examples of other authors who's first big novel was not their first such as Grisham, King and Burke.
Peter Glassman
I met a Navy SEAL two years ago who seemed frustrated that the military was not allowed to operate against known ISIS, Al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists here in the US. He shared what he would do and now I'm almost finished a book about such a fictional SEAL team.
Peter Glassman
I see story lines everywhere. When something really grabs me I immediately create a concept sheet of the story line, temporary title, first chapter and at least 5 milestones in the plot and file it. I have a file of 29 such files waiting to be born into the literary world. My new book BLACKWATER FEVER started that way when I first learned of malaria in Iraq.
Peter Glassman
The most frequent cause of unexplained fever in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom was malaria. The government kept it quiet and spent 2 billion dollars to eradicate the disease in Iraq. I built my story of how malaria could impact the US economy on Wall Street dynamics. Blackwater Fever is now on amazon as an action medical thriller.
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