Author: Steven Nedelton
ISBN: 978-1-934337-56-1
Publisher: Asylett Press

Click Here To Purchase Crossroads

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest first time novelist, Steven Nedelton's Crossroads.

 Good day Steven and thanks for participating in our interview

Norm:

How did you get started in writing? What keeps you going?

Steven:

Thank you, Norm, for this opportunity.  I began writing in my mid teens, together with my best school friend. I got this Gogol’s book of short stories and got fascinated by their beauty.

Norm:

Would you say that the publication of your first novel, Crossroads is the culmination of a life long dream?

Steven:

It was a life long dream for sure. I tried publishing a short story while I was still in the undergrad program.  That did not work and so I gave up…

Norm:

Did you know the end of Crossroads at the beginning? As a follow up, was Crossroads improvisational or did you have a set plan?

Steven:

I did a lot of research for this novel. Sometimes in the early nineties, I read an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer; it was a serious full page item. A political discussion related to Gorbachev’s temporary fall  and there was this single sentence hinting at the secret paranormal CIA work. I thought that I could use it in a novel. This idea formed the basis for the story. Obviously, this was not enough and so I resorted to my experiences in France, etc., to make a complete novel.

Norm:

Where do you get your information or ideas for Crossroads? 

Steven:

Subsequently, I did a lot of research about the psychic phenomena, as evaluated by the well known universities here and abroad. After getting a confirmation that such mental processes were real, even in every day people, I researched various journals/articles found Online. They provided me with interesting quotes to add to the beginning of each chapter. Not in all cases, of course.

Norm:

You include some very detailed dialogues in the book. Where did that dialogue come from? 

Steven:

All of the book is my creation. I lived in France and England, and I knew Russians pretty well, too. Most of the characters described in the novel are based on real people. I doubt they had anything to do with espionage. Dialogues and the story are fiction, of course.

Norm:

What is the most favorite part of your book?

Steven:

There are several, maybe most of the novel. The most interesting parts were about the French spy woman and, of course, the spy action. Sokolov and Tatiana. The super spy woman and her sickness. I wrote the book in parts and then moved the parts around.   

Norm:

How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

Steven:

My life in different countries helped me portray the characters. There would be no Crossroads without such experiences.

Norm:

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in Crossroads?

Steven:

No. I like the book the way it is.

Norm:

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Steven:

Yes, and it came from a lot of writing and rewriting…a lot of effort, for sure. However, Crossroads was my second or third book. It was not my first novel.

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your book? Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

Steven:

I tried agents first, alphabetically, mostly the low cost ones. I tried a publisher that turned out to be a self-publish affair, and left it after three months. That did not work. Yet, I knew I had a very good novel and that helped me persevere. I decided to get an editor and make the novel as error free as possible. After the novel was truly ready for serious competition, I tried several publishers. One of them wondered why the MS was getting rejections. I wondered too. And then, I came across my present publisher.

Norm:

What are you upcoming projects?

Steven:

My third novel, The Raven Affair, was published this month. It is in the Ebook format and should be available Online soon. The print is due sometimes in March. It is an action/suspense novel about the infamous Nazi murderer, the butcher of Serbs and Jews in Croatia during the WWII, though there is much more to the story. As in Crossroads, I used a tragic fact to create a much more entertaining read.

My first novel, Dawn for the Fearless/Fear Factor, is a partly historical novel too. It is in edit. This novel was almost ready in 2000 but needed some more work. My fourth novel, Tunnel, is still in its early stage.

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered and where can our readers find out more about you and Crossroads?

Steven:

I read a number of well known thriller authors prior to writing my novels. Forsyth and LeCarre were and still are my favorites. I like Grisham too. Chekhov and Turgeniev were my early reading days favorites.

Interested readers can find excerpts from my novels on my website, SNEDELTON.com. The novels’ progress is provided there and my very brief bio too.

Thank you again, Norm, for this opportunity.

Norm:

Thanks once again and good luck with Crossroads.

Click Here To Purchase Crossroads