VBT# James LePore- An Interview Part 2

Today readers I have on behalf of Pump Up Your Books Virtual Book Tours , an interview with author of Anyone Can Die -James LePore.

A review of his book can be found @ http://thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.com/2011/02/vbt-anyone-can-die-james-lepore.html

Interview With James LePore :

1) Tell us about your book Anyone Can Die?

As I was writing and re-writing my first novel, A World I Never Made, I became attached to its central characters in a way that both surprised and intrigued me. I was thinking of a sequel, or perhaps a novel in which the quirky FBI agent in World, Max French, would be the central character. When my publisher suggested I write three short stories to expand on the novel’s world, I was ready. Although there was some revising involved, the three stories that comprise Anyone Can Die came out of my head in bursts that amaze me to this day; bursts that resulted in short dramatic pieces that I am very happy with and that I hope readers will enjoy.


2) What genre stands out more to you as a writer and a reader?


I like high drama linked with insight into the human heart. I don’t know what this genre is, but it exists. Think Graham Greene or John Galsworthy.


3) What gives you the innovation to write a particular genre?


No one innovates when it comes to substance. We borrow from others. I try to write honestly and from the heart, and in a voice that I hope is new and distinct.


4) Have your characters or writing been inspired by friends/ family?


Yes, both. Family and close friends, since they are the closest to our hearts, have the greatest influence, for good or bad, on them. I am constantly drawing upon those influences as I write.


5) Did you experience writers block? If so, what did you do to get rid of it?


I haven’t yet experienced writer’s block, but I have panicked at the thought of writing myself into a corner, of getting deep into a story line only to find it’s going nowhere.


6) What are you working on now?


I am about half way through what will be my fourth novel. It’s the story of a Manhattan assistant district attorney whose son is falsely accused of murder. The plot is thickened, however, by the Byzantine world of Middle East politics and the ugly face of terrorism.


7) What is your favorite scene in your book?


My favorite character in A World I Never Made is Megan Nolan, the cynical American beauty who fakes her suicide in Paris because she is on the run from some very bad people. In the second story in Anyone Can Die, Megan watches helplessly as her gypsy friend, Annabella, is beaten by her alcoholic son. This is the scene, although she doesn’t know it at the time, in which Megan’s heart, broken as a child, begins to mend.


8) Had you previously written anything?


My second novel, Blood of My Brother, came out late in 2010.


9) Were there any scenes that were cut in the editing process you wish had made it into the book?


No, as I said, these stories came out almost whole.


10) How did you get into writing? Did you always want to become a writer?


I have been wanting to write for many years. Finally, twelve years ago, I sold my law practice and went at it.


11) If you were stranded on a desert island, what are three material things you couldn't be without?


1. Large quantities of pens.


2. Large quantities and paper.


3. Something to write on, like a desk or even a clipboard.


12) What are you reading now?


I am reading (rereading actually) Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather.


13) Which author has inspired you most and why?


It’s very hard to pick one. Hemingway wrote with such honesty and clarity that I’d have to choose him.


14) What advice would you give aspiring authors?


Write.


15) As a Quotes Person I always like to ask to finish off, do you have a quote or poem that has stuck with you over the years and what is the story behind it?


I lost a childhood friend once, years ago, and a few days later came across this from King Lear:


“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.”

I knew then that Shakespeare was a genius, and that someday I would build a novel around my dead friend. That novel became Blood of My Brother.