Jan 04 2010
Ernesto Patino – Web of Secrets
Q: What excites you most about your book’s topic? Why did you choose it?
Author: The subject of race and mixed race adoptions is timely given the fact that we have a bi-racial president. I chose the topic because I wanted readers to think about race and why it continues to be a hot button issue.
Q: How long did the book take you from start to finish?
Author: It took me about two years to write my novel, usually between the hours of 10 p.m and midnight.
Q: What aspect of writing the book did you find particularly challenging?
Author: Sustaining the intrigue and suspense throughout the entire novel was particularly challenging for me. I worried that I might lose the reader if I strayed from the plot of the novel. I purposely cut out narrative sections that were either too long or did not help to move the story forward.
Q: What surprised you the most about the book writing process?
Author: The biggest surprise was that writing is a slow process, much slower than I had imagined before starting my first book. Words and sentences did not come to me easily and I had to struggle to put my thoughts and ideas into readable paragraphs. The struggle did not end when I finished the book. Editing my work would prove to be even more challenging, though more satisfying because I could see the finished product would be a well-crafted novel.
Q: Did you have any favorite experiences when writing your book?
Author: I can’t say that I had a favorite experience when writing my novel. But on more than one occasion I noticed that the P.I. in my novel was beginning to act and sound like me. By the way, I happen to be a private investigator. When I wrote the book, my fictional P.I. was a widower with a limited social life. After my wife died unexpectedly, I suddenly realized that my fictional P.I. and I had more things in common than I had intended.
Q: What do you hope your readers will gain from reading your book?
Author: First of all, I hope my readers enjoy the book for what it is: a fast-paced mystery with many twists and turns and an unexpected ending. Beyond that I know that because it deals with mixed race adoptions many readers may question their own attitudes about race. Perhaps racial tolerance would be something they might grasp, as well as a better understanding of racial differences and mixed race adoptions.
Q: What projects are you currently working on?
Author: I’m doing the final editing for a mystery novel titled The Last of the Good Guys—about four ex-cops who commit suicide, one by one, exactly fifteen years after rescuing a young boy from a burning house. I’m also working on a love story set in the world of ballroom dancing. It begins in Florida and ends in Arizona. I happen to be a ballroom dancer and it gives me an opportunity to share my passion for dancing with a variety of readers.
Q: Is writing your sole career? If not, what else do you do?
Author: I divide my time between writing and working as a private investigator.
Q: Did you do any research for your books, or did you write from experience?
Author: Most of what I write about comes from experience. The characters in my novels are loosely based on people I have met during the course of my life as an FBI agent and private investigator.
Q: How did you come up with your title?
Author: I knew that I wanted the word secrets in the title because the plot deals with the secrecy that surrounds illegal adoptions, especially back in the sixties. The title Web of Secrets seemed appropriate for a story about secrets that were never meant to be revealed.
Q: What books have influenced you the most?
Author: There have many books that influenced me in one way or another. A few that stand out in my mind are: Anne Frank-The Diary of a Young Girl, The Prophet, and One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Q: Who was your publisher and why did you choose them?
Author: My publisher is L&L Dreamspell. I had done some research and found out they were a new press with a strong desire to publish new authors.
Thank you for taking the time to be part of this interview!
To learn more about the book and Author, please visit – http://www.erniepatino.com/
