Interview with novelist David Pereda

Kicking off a new week with me is novelist David Pereda. We’re chatting about his new multicultural thriller, The Wall.

During his virtual book tour, David will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

See special discount details below!

Bio:
David Pereda is the award-winning author of eleven thrillers and mainstream novels. His books have won the Lighthouse Book Awards twice, the Royal Palm Awards, the National Indie Excellence Awards, and the Readers Favorite Awards twice. He has traveled to more than thirty countries around the world and speaks four languages.

Before devoting his time solely to writing and teaching, Pereda had a successful international consulting career with global giant Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Qatar, among others.

A member of MENSA, Pereda earned his MBA from Pepperdine University in California. He earned BA degrees in English literature and mathematics at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He loves sports and has won many prizes competing in track and show-jumping equestrian events.

Pereda lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he teaches mathematics and English at the Asheville-Buncombe Community College.

Welcome, David. Please tell us about your new release.
The Wall is the saga of two families forced to escape murderous gangs in El Salvador and their quest for a better life in America.

Here is a brief synopsis of the novel:

THOMAS BERTRAM is an American living in San Salvador with his fiancée CECILIA. They own a popular neighborhood restaurant and plan to wed soon. Thomas’s dream is to obtain a resident visa for Cecilia and return to the United States.

DOMINGO JIMENEZ and his wife BLANCA own a small repair shop across the street. Domingo’s dream is to move to America as well so that his four-year-old daughter NANCY can grow up speaking English and having a good education and a better life than he and Blanca had.

When armed gang members invade their neighborhood to demand “protection” money and threaten them with death if they don’t pay, Thomas and Domingo’s dreams for the future take on a new perspective. They decide to flee the country with their families through Guatemala and Mexico to seek asylum in the United States.

But their journey is more challenging than expected, and they face a myriad of difficulties and must overcome multiple obstacles that put their dreams and their lives at risk.

What inspired you to write this book?
It’s not what inspired me, but who inspired me to write this book: my students did.

During the past decade, I’ve taught English to students from all over the world. They shared their sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but always poignant and courageous stories of coming to America. Over the years of listening to their stories, I felt the need to write a meaningful but entertaining novel that would address controversial immigration problems in our country but wouldn’t preach. THE WALL is that novel, and many of the most dramatic episodes described in the book actually happened.

 

Excerpt from The Wall:
“You are surrounded by the Mexican police! You’re all under arrest!”

Screaming intensified inside the trailer as people started shoving and pushing each other, trying to be the first to jump out of the trailer and run away from the police. Domingo watched as they divided into smaller groups and scattered in different directions, the law running half-heartedly after them.

“Don’t move!” José said. “Do what I do. Get your wife and daughter. Let’s wait.”

Domingo pushed his way to the front of the trailer, grabbed Nancy, and told Blanca to follow him. José was waiting by the door of the trailer; Octavio was with him.

“You run when I tell you,” José said. “Don’t pay attention to anybody or anything. We are too many, and the police are too few. I only counted five or six cruisers. They’ll catch some of the people, but they won’t be able to catch all of us. Mexican police aren’t going to shoot either. They’ll shoot in the air, but they won’t shoot at us.”

“You sure?”

“I am.”

“Why blue lights, Papi?” Nancy asked Domingo. “Why are people yelling? Running? I’m scared, Papi.”

“Don’t be scared, mi amor. We’re playing a game.”

“Game? I love games. What’s the name of the game, Papi?”

“Now!” José screamed, jumping out of the trailer. “Follow me!”

Domingo jumped out with Nancy clinging to his neck. Octavio and Blanca stumbled to the ground behind him next—and so did a multitude of others who had stayed in the trailer to follow José. Ahead of him, Domingo saw crowds of people racing in different directions, some chased by police. He heard gunshots behind him, but he didn’t look back. Out of the corner of his eye, Domingo saw the flashes illuminate the night. Rain streamed down his face and got in his eyes, blurring his vision and making it hard for him to see. He kept his eyes fixed on José, who slogged in the rain ahead of him. Behind him, he heard Blanca’s labored breathing as she tried to keep up with him.

“Policias y bandidos,” Domingo said to his daughter as he ran.

“Who are we, Papi?”

“The bandidos, mi amor.”

‘Then corre, Papi. Run! Run!”

Domingo ran in the dark, the heavy rain pelting him, the sound of gunshots reverberating in his ears. Holding his daughter tight to his chest, he pumped his legs as fast as they could go. No broken-down truck, no police, no bullets, no rain is going to stop me from reaching America, he thought. His daughter Nancy would be raised there, speaking English, attending a good school, getting the best education possible. She was going to have the opportunity he and Blanca never had. She would grow up to be a beautiful woman, free of crime and maras, and maybe even marry an American man. His grandchildren would be Americans.

Domingo raced with Nancy clinging to his neck, her still baby smell filling his nostrils.

“Love you, Papi,” Nancy whispered in his ear. “Run! Run!”

Domingo didn’t answer, but his chest burst with warm and inexpressible emotion as he held Nancy tighter and ran. He didn’t run away from the police, chasing after them in the dark and the rain.

Domingo ran toward the dream he had in his mind; he ran toward America.

 

What exciting story are you working on next?
I’m halfway through writing another novel with the main characters of The Wall, a thriller titled Golden, already scheduled for publication in 2022. The first chapter of Golden is included at the end of The Wall.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I considered myself a writer when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was a voracious reader and loved westerns. I was 9 when I wrote my first novel, a western called David Patterson, El Temerario. I wrote it by hand, and an uncle typed it for me. I remember thinking in my ignorant youth that I could write better than most western authors, which motivated me to write the novel. My favorite authors at the time were Zane Grey and Max Brand (I still have all of my Max Brand books). From 9 on, I considered myself a writer. That’s what I wanted to be.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I don’t write full time, at least not on paper. I teach Mathematics and English at a community college.

My workday begins between 2:00-2:30 every morning. I do my best work when everyone is asleep, and there are no distractions. I write, answer emails, prepare my lesson plans for the day, etc. (It is 4:18 right now, by the way). At 7:00 am, I go upstairs to take a shower, and at 8:00 am, I’m on Zoom teaching math or English, depending on the day. At around 2:00 pm or so, I take a lunch break followed by a short nap. At 6:00 pm, I’m back on Zoom, teaching until 9:00 pm plus. I relax then for a while, maybe watch a ball game. I usually go to sleep around midnight. Somewhere between awakening and going to sleep, I find an hour four times a week to exercise.

I find time to write in the early morning when I’m fresh and full of creativity. I believe that you can always find time to do anything you want to do.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Probably, that I like to write at 2:00 in the morning when everything is quiet and everyone is asleep.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer. As I mentioned before, I thought I was a writer when I was nine years old. Now, decades later, I realize how foolish I was at that age. I’m still learning how to write.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
There are tons of things I could tell your readers about myself since I’ve had a peripatetic, adventurous life—but I think you have enough for this blog. So let’s allow your readers to ask me questions. I always answer questions, regardless of what they are.

Links:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | YouTube | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Thanks for being here today, David.

Special discount available!

Followers of the GoddessFish Tour can now receive an exclusive and hefty discount on the ebook price of The Wall – from $6.99 to only $2.99. Here are the details:

1) Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1084282
2) Choose to Buy the book
3) Select the format when prompted.
4) When checking out, enter this discount: TV96K
5) Follow directions to check out and download the book and pay only $2.99 instead of $6.99.

–> The coupon expires on December 31, 2021.

This discount will also become available at Barnes & Noble, Apple Store, and other ebook retailers but it may take up to 72 hours for the price to be updated on those platforms. Meanwhile, ordering it from Smashwords will work on any ebook platform and device.

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