Interview With Author Ib Svane

 

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? Real life experiences. I love telling stories and this story, simply, had to be told.

 

2. What exactly is it about and who is it written for? The story is about a large pearl. The reader follows its history starting in 1508 where the Venetian Republic presented King Francis I with a shell of a giant clam and the pearl to show their respect for his support. The shell is now a holy water fond in the Church of Saint Sulpice in Paris. The pearl disappears during the French revolution, reappear at the battle of Acre in Palestine between the Ottoman and British Empires, but again disappear in Cyprus under the protection of the Guardians of Aphrodite. In 1964 a search starts at a scientific meeting in France. Another pearl is discovered in a ship carrying a pearl to Cyprus as an offering to Aphrodite from Alexandra the Great. Mysterious things happen in the Troodos mountains. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 causes problems. Eventually, the pearl of Saint-Sulpice is brought back to the church in Paris and the pearl of Alexandra the Great is secured by the Guardians of Aphrodite at the bath of Aphrodite. The book is written for a general audience interested in historical fiction, but how much of it which is fiction is for the reader to discover. It is really very little!

 

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? Excitement about giant clams and their origin and the importance of knowing history to get a true perspective of life.

 

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? Simplicity was the key. The title is straight forward because the church became known by the book and movie “The Da Vinci Code”. Nobody took any notice to the holy water fond. I have known its existence from when I worked at a marine lab in Roscoff, France. I did the cover design and took the photo in our garage.

 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? I will prefer to use a quotation (not the exact words) of Dorothy Parker: ‘Give them a copy of “The Elements of Style” and then tell them to go and shoot themselves while they are still happy!”

 

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? Currently it is best described at chaotic. “Indie” publishers are evolving as mushrooms while the conventional publishing industry is fading. However, the “Indie’ publishers appear to be subsidiaries. So, authors will have to pay to get their stories published. Women writers dominate because men rarely read. Out of the chaos, a new publishing world will develop where quality of writing matters.

 

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Absolutely. Changing from science writing to fiction is a challenge. I am educating myself. I met a couple of people who pointed out that science needs to be told as stories. One was a professor in zoology in Alberta. The other was a cabin mate on a research vessel. He introduced me to David Lodge and later developed a carrier in popular science writing.

 

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? Hard one! I write in “Dinglish” (Danish-English). The Vikings introduced that style and pushed Latin-English back. Nobody today speaks English like Rex Harrison in “My Fair Lady” (except for snobs, King Charles, and his mates). In my dreams, I hope to be like Karen Blixen mixed with Ernest Hemingway – I have a long way to go!

 

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? As a soldier in wars, revisiting the memory of people who had passed away, and dealing with a publisher whom I am not likely to use again.

 

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Because there is nothing like it — as far as I know.

 

About The Author: Ib Svane was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was drafted to the Danish army at an age of eighteen and served in the United Nations forces in Cyprus. He has an academic education from the University of Copenhagen and Göteborg, Sweden, graduating with PhDs in zoology and marine biology. In 1998, he migrated to Australia to work at Flinders University and SARDI Aquatic Sciences in Port Lincoln. During his scientific career, he has published extensively in international scientific journals, popular magazines and elsewhere. In fiction, he has published four books. Currently, Ib is living in Port Lincoln, South Australia, with his wife and dog. For more info, please see: https://www.shawlinepublishing.com.au/search/display/356-short-stories-for-the-daring-yachtsman

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.