1) What is your novel Blythe about?
Blythe is a story of two lovers separated after an act of betrayal. Blythe is drawn into a dark, despotic and threatening world where the depth of her love and her morals are tested, as her life hangs in the balance. With a crafty turn of phrase, however, readers are suddenly confronted with what the novel Blythe is really about. It is that deeper and surprising allegorical meaning that gives Blythe its punch.
2) What is the genre of Blythe?
As one reader describes it, Blythe “shatters the conventional boundaries of genres.” I think that’s a good description. At its core, the quality of its writing and its timeless, universal themes lend themselves to literary fiction, but it borrows from other genres including mystery, science fiction, detective novels, and even philosophy and public policy.
3) Readers can’t tell for certain when Blythe takes place. Why did you write the novel in that way?
Blythe is purposefully told as a timeless tale—meaning that you can’t tell definitively when this story unfolds—because its themes of faith, freedom and forgiveness, along with the conflict between tyranny and self-determination—are themselves timeless. As such, I wrote Blythe so readers can experience it in such a way that it seems it could take place today, or perhaps 500 years ago—both would be equally accurate ways of reading this novel.
4) Tell us about your characters. What inspired them?
Each character sprang organically from this story; none of them, with the exception of Mab, was based on any real-world person. It all started with Henry, whose impact is seen throughout the story, but who is never seen in the flesh. Henry was the first character I created, and all the other characters flowed from him. Next was Blythe, who would be drawn into Henry’s world, followed by Notté, who would be Henry’s agent to draw in Blythe. He was followed by Aaron, Blythe’s love, who would fight to free her. And the rest of the characters organically grew from those three more tangible characters—Blythe, Notté and Aaron.
5) What makes the character Blythe so special?
Blythe’s appeal lies in her transformation. When you first meet her, she makes for poor company—although she is beautiful, she is completely self-absorbed. By the time the tale is told, she is transformed by circumstances that break her until she has nowhere to go but up—to improve. From that place, she learns to forgive, starting with forgiving herself, and she learns to forgive others from there.
6) A good villain is hard to write. How did you get in touch with your inner villain to write this book?
I think the core of what comprises every villain is a desire to think for others—to take away their self-determination, and to dictate to them their destiny. <spoiler>Notté does that throughout Blythe. He decides other characters’ fates, sometimes for what he sees as a necessity, but often, he does so merely for pleasure, out of spite, and for the sport of it. He sometimes does what he does out of boredom, which might be the worst reason of all. </spoiler> Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” contains the line, “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.” Cash wrote that line because it was the pettiest reason he could conceive of to kill another man. <spoiler> Notté is a vindictive and sadistic predator, and he also has a terrible boredom within him that leads him to make those around him suffer as a result.</spoiler>
7) Do any of your characters represent something deeper or broader than just the characters themselves?
Absolutely. I won’t get too deep into the details with this or other characters, but the character Lucre, for example, represents the marketplace. <spoiler> Though vilified in the novel by others, it is Lucre who amasses his resources through the voluntary exchange of goods and services and then employs them to try to solve the dilemma faced by the entire valley where he lives. </spoiler> By and large I think that’s what the private sector does every single day: take on struggles faced by humanity and tilt the balance toward a better life for men and women around the globe. I have many friends who have survived cancer and other diseases and who enjoy a high quality of life as a result of the work of individuals pursuing this kind of work. Are they and the companies they work for perfect? Certainly not. But we should recognize the good that they do.
8) Why did you decide to become a writer?
I really didn’t have a choice. Once that seed of this story was planted in my mind, I had no choice but to cultivate it until it was ready for others to experience as this novel. I’ve been possessed by this work for more than a decade and a half, and I couldn’t let it go until it was as perfect as I could make it.
9) What makes Blythe stand out from the crowd?
The single most-striking discovery is how Blythe has been so well received by individuals across all walks of life—conservatives and liberals and libertarians, people of faith and those guided by reason, gay and straight individuals, each have found something in Blythe that hits home for them in a deep and true way. In an era when we’re bombarded by others who demand we focus on our divisions, Blythe reminds readers across social divides that we can and should unite to elevate humanity and work together to a better, more caring and nobler destiny for us all.
10) In what forms is Blythe available and where can readers reach you?
Blythe is available at www.Amazon.BlytheBook.com in paperback and as an e-reader. Readers and the media can reach me at [email protected].
Blythe is a story of two lovers separated after an act of betrayal. Blythe is drawn into a dark, despotic and threatening world where the depth of her love and her morals are tested, as her life hangs in the balance. With a crafty turn of phrase, however, readers are suddenly confronted with what the novel Blythe is really about. It is that deeper and surprising allegorical meaning that gives Blythe its punch.
2) What is the genre of Blythe?
As one reader describes it, Blythe “shatters the conventional boundaries of genres.” I think that’s a good description. At its core, the quality of its writing and its timeless, universal themes lend themselves to literary fiction, but it borrows from other genres including mystery, science fiction, detective novels, and even philosophy and public policy.
3) Readers can’t tell for certain when Blythe takes place. Why did you write the novel in that way?
Blythe is purposefully told as a timeless tale—meaning that you can’t tell definitively when this story unfolds—because its themes of faith, freedom and forgiveness, along with the conflict between tyranny and self-determination—are themselves timeless. As such, I wrote Blythe so readers can experience it in such a way that it seems it could take place today, or perhaps 500 years ago—both would be equally accurate ways of reading this novel.
4) Tell us about your characters. What inspired them?
Each character sprang organically from this story; none of them, with the exception of Mab, was based on any real-world person. It all started with Henry, whose impact is seen throughout the story, but who is never seen in the flesh. Henry was the first character I created, and all the other characters flowed from him. Next was Blythe, who would be drawn into Henry’s world, followed by Notté, who would be Henry’s agent to draw in Blythe. He was followed by Aaron, Blythe’s love, who would fight to free her. And the rest of the characters organically grew from those three more tangible characters—Blythe, Notté and Aaron.
5) What makes the character Blythe so special?
Blythe’s appeal lies in her transformation. When you first meet her, she makes for poor company—although she is beautiful, she is completely self-absorbed. By the time the tale is told, she is transformed by circumstances that break her until she has nowhere to go but up—to improve. From that place, she learns to forgive, starting with forgiving herself, and she learns to forgive others from there.
6) A good villain is hard to write. How did you get in touch with your inner villain to write this book?
I think the core of what comprises every villain is a desire to think for others—to take away their self-determination, and to dictate to them their destiny. <spoiler>Notté does that throughout Blythe. He decides other characters’ fates, sometimes for what he sees as a necessity, but often, he does so merely for pleasure, out of spite, and for the sport of it. He sometimes does what he does out of boredom, which might be the worst reason of all. </spoiler> Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” contains the line, “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.” Cash wrote that line because it was the pettiest reason he could conceive of to kill another man. <spoiler> Notté is a vindictive and sadistic predator, and he also has a terrible boredom within him that leads him to make those around him suffer as a result.</spoiler>
7) Do any of your characters represent something deeper or broader than just the characters themselves?
Absolutely. I won’t get too deep into the details with this or other characters, but the character Lucre, for example, represents the marketplace. <spoiler> Though vilified in the novel by others, it is Lucre who amasses his resources through the voluntary exchange of goods and services and then employs them to try to solve the dilemma faced by the entire valley where he lives. </spoiler> By and large I think that’s what the private sector does every single day: take on struggles faced by humanity and tilt the balance toward a better life for men and women around the globe. I have many friends who have survived cancer and other diseases and who enjoy a high quality of life as a result of the work of individuals pursuing this kind of work. Are they and the companies they work for perfect? Certainly not. But we should recognize the good that they do.
8) Why did you decide to become a writer?
I really didn’t have a choice. Once that seed of this story was planted in my mind, I had no choice but to cultivate it until it was ready for others to experience as this novel. I’ve been possessed by this work for more than a decade and a half, and I couldn’t let it go until it was as perfect as I could make it.
9) What makes Blythe stand out from the crowd?
The single most-striking discovery is how Blythe has been so well received by individuals across all walks of life—conservatives and liberals and libertarians, people of faith and those guided by reason, gay and straight individuals, each have found something in Blythe that hits home for them in a deep and true way. In an era when we’re bombarded by others who demand we focus on our divisions, Blythe reminds readers across social divides that we can and should unite to elevate humanity and work together to a better, more caring and nobler destiny for us all.
10) In what forms is Blythe available and where can readers reach you?
Blythe is available at www.Amazon.BlytheBook.com in paperback and as an e-reader. Readers and the media can reach me at [email protected].
