Cheryl Holloway’s interview
This kind lady interviewed me and the result is on her blog.
Title: The Secret and The Secret Lies Where No One Belongs: A Supplement to The Secret
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Terrorism
Synopsis: What does an armed robbery in London’s Charing Cross Road in July 1972 have to do with a meeting held in Vienna thirty-five years earlier?
What connects the wartime survival of a Jewish man who worked in the offices of the Chancellor of Austria to the murder of a Catholic priest some twenty years after the end of the Second World War?
What has the slaughter of three hundred Nama tribe folk at their settlement in Namibia, got to do with the Under-Secretary-General to the United Nations?
Why were the remains of Martin Bormann, Hitler’s personal secretary, not discovered until December 1972 buried near Berlin’s Lehrter station?
Jack Price, a former British spy, knows the answer to all those questions and, if necessary, is willing to die to keep the secret. The trouble is; he’s not the only one who knows.
The Supplement is an analysis of Patrick West, the main protagonist of the Secret.
CH: Today’s Guest Author is Danny Kemp, an international author and creative writer who has learned to live with frustration. Welcome to my blog, Danny.
CH: Can you sum up your book in 20 words or less?
DK: The story of how an impressionable young man’s quest for excitement leaves him disillusioned with the whole morality of life.
CH: One reviewer said that this book is full of lies, deceit, corruption and illusions. So, how did you come up with the premise for this book?
DK: I’ve met a lot of deceitful, corrupt people in my life. Both when I was young around my father (after interrogating Axis troops in Italy when that country surrendered he worked in The War Department in London from 1946 until he died in 1966); and later when I was a police officer attached to criminal intelligence.
CH: Was it hard creating believable situations and issues or did you take them from real life and elaborate?
DK: The Secret is partially based on fact. I did know someone who worked for MI5 and then inside MI6, who told me a story about a Jewish man who survived the war by hiding in churches in Vienna, Austria, whilst that country was occupied by the Nazis. I have elaborated on that story, but I hope I’ve served that man’s memory well.
CH: Since this book involves so many issues, did you have to do a lot of special research to write it?
DK: Some, yes, but not as much as I would normally do. The story is told predominately over one week in July 1972, and as I’ve said it was based on some facts. All I had to do was expand on those. For my other two full novels, the research was extensive and extremely time-consuming. After an outline of the story, I always use a storyboard where I can check dates, locations and the chronological order of the events that I depict. For The Secret, this was not as critical.
CH: Where do you get inspiration for your characters?
DK: Some I’ve known and others have been hiding away in my memory. I have had a varied working career and met some interesting people from all walks of life.
CH: Which character was hardest to write?
DK: I honestly can’t answer this one, as I loved writing them all.
CH: Which character was your favorite to write?
DK: Fianna Redden, my main protagonist, She’s a feisty, fictional Irish sister. She was a joy to write.
CH: Was it hard to decipher all of the lies in the “secret?”
DK: Normally, I let the story tell me an ending. My belief is that if I have no idea how it’s going to end, then nor will any reader. In the novel The Secret the ‘lies’ had to conceal a known ending, until I was ready to reveal ‘it’ at the very end, seated at a table in an exclusive gentleman’s club in London.
CH: Since you have so many characters in this book, do you have anything to share about the main or supporting characters?
DK: I hope they all add the delicate strokes to the canvas of this novel and enhance the importance of the main protagonists.
CH: You recently wrote a supplement to The Secret. Why did this book need a supplement?
DK: It did not need a supplement, but I did it for commercial reasons. There is an abundance of free books on the market all with the aim of attracting readers to buy other books written by the author giving his/her work away. I do not believe that works unless it is part of a series or in a very specific genre and of the highest quality. In my opinion, there is a profusion of readers who will not pay for books, waiting simply for the ‘freebies’ that are offered. My idea was to publish this ‘supplement’ in the hope that the explanation I gave of how the repercussions of killing a man impacted on the rest of Patrick West’s life would capture the attention of those who read it; thereby, buying the already published full novel to discover more about him. I must add that I do not know if this worked.
CH: How long did it take you to write this book?
DK: The Secret took, I think, about three or four months. I had retired from ordinary work by then and had more time than I previously had for my other major novels. The supplement took about a week.
CH: One of your other books, Percy Crow, is about secrets, deceit and lies. Is this your specialty in writing?
DK: I certainly do like to be deceptive and apart from the three children’s stories I’ve written. I hope, I have been!
CH: What kind of feedback are you getting from readers of this book?
DK: I have 3 reviews all of which are 5 stars, but I did hope for more by this stage.
CH: What is your next writing project?
DK: I’m trying to complete another novella. I have written two so far, whilst waiting for those full novels to come back from editing/proofreading and I think three would be an ideal number to finish on.
CH: How to find Danny Kemp:
CH: Can you tell my audience where this book is sold?
DK: Amazon, Amazon.uk, and BookButler.co.uk
CH: Any closing remarks?
