Interview with thriller author Michael R. French

Thriller author Michael R. French is chatting with me today about his new intercultural love story, Ghost with Two Hearts.

Welcome, Michael. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Born and grew up in Southern California, graduated from Stanford and Northwestern, married to Patricia Goodkind French and together raised a son and daughter. Moved from Brooklyn to Santa Fe to Santa Barbara over 50 fun, episodic years. I collect rare books, like adventure travel, and lately my wife and spend time with our two grandchildren.

Please tell us about your current release.
It’s a page turner that, ironically, shouldn’t be read too quickly. There’s more in GWTH than interesting characters put to unexpected tests. Their conflicts can’t be understood without a reader entering the labyrinths of Japanese history and culture, through the eyes of both an American software engineer and a Japanese ghost. A lot to puzzle over, including the emotions raised throughout the novel. This is a ghost story that has nothing to do with horror, and a lot to do about different kinds of love.

What inspired you to write this book?
In addition to reading about Japan, my wife and I have traveled there several times and probably will again. The social and political values are often antithetical to American society. I wanted the novel to capture some of the magic of the Japanese sensibility. There’s a lot to contemplate and learn from.

What exciting project are you working on next?
For self-preservation I prefer not to talk about what’s still in my imagination. I get focused on giving birth to a healthy, vital entity, a day-to-day process that thrives best without distractions.  

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
My need for self expression, coupled with an already-active imagination, occurred in my mid-teens.  Jumping from the need to write to calling myself a writer was a longer process. In grad school I was published in a literary journal and began writing book reviews for the Kansas City Star. In the Army I was editor in chief of the Fort Ord newspaper. But I was slow to say in public I was a writer until I published my first novel a few years later.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I’ve never written full-time because it was impossible for me to sustain a living.  My careers included  public relations, real estate, and entrepreneurial pursuits.  At the same time, I never stopped writing, even if for only an hour a day. I’m pretty disciplined. On a good day, I write 3,000 words, which almost inevitably are rewritten at some point. Over time, I published 24 books, including several best sellers and two novels warmly reviewed in the The New York Times. I write both fiction and nonfiction.  Because I like to explore in all aspects of my life, I don’t focus on a single genre in my fiction.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Getting into a character’s head and heart by talking to them even when they’re off the page.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I didn’t think much about that. I always wanted to stay a child. That being said, what boy growing up in America in the Fifties didn’t fantasize about being an authority figure in a uniform? Firemen and policemen predated the digital age of Super Heroes.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Think hard about why you want to be a writer. If your subject matter isn’t popular enough to insure making a living, will you change what you write about, or stay the course of your imagination and emotions?

Links:
Website | Goodreads | Amazon

Thanks for being here today, Michael.