Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!
Today we are welcoming David Pereda to the blog! He is the author of However Long the Night. He’s dropping by today as part of VBT put on by Goddessfish Promotions. He is offering a $20.00 Amazon GC to one lucky commenter. To find more blogs to leave a comment (and increase your chances of winning!) click HERE. Make sure you leave a comment to be entered to win the GC!
Find a comfy chair and sit back and enjoy!
Barb – Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.
David – I always feel self-conscious talking about myself. If I say too much, it sounds like I’m bragging; if I say too little, it sounds like I have a boring life. A writer should never have a boring life, right? So, let me thread the needle.
I was born in Cuba. English is my second language. Like Cid, the main character in my novel, I came to the United States when I was nineteen years old. Also like Cid, I left a girlfriend behind in Cuba, although hopefully not pregnant, since I have never seen her again.
What else can I tell you?
I enjoy crafting political thrillers and mainstream novels. My novels have won the Lighthouse Book Awards twice, the Royal Palm Awards, the National Indie Excellence Awards, and the Readers Favorite Awards. I have traveled extensively around the world and speak four languages – English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. I’m trying to learn my fifth language now, Russian. It’s hard because some of the sounds are so different. Before devoting my time solely to writing and teaching college-level courses, I had an exciting and successful international consulting career with global giant Booz Allen Hamilton, where I worked with the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Qatar, among others.
I’m a member of MENSA, the regional director of the Florida Writers Association in Western North Carolina and the co-founder of AWE (Asheville Writing Enthusiasts). I love horses, and spent years competing in show-jumping equestrian events. I don’t compete anymore. Nowadays, I mostly ride western with my 9-year old daughter Sophia. We ride at the ranch of a friend who taught Sophia how to ride and is now perfecting her riding style.
I live with my family in Asheville, North Carolina.
I believe that’s enough for now, isn’t it? I don’t know if your readers would like to hear about my adventures around the world or my five marriages. Even if they do, let’s move on to something else, please.
Barb – Tell us about However Long the Night.
David – However Long the Night is a romantic tale with a major dose of suspense, a tense love triangle, family secrets, corporate shenanigans and a historical background.
The main character is a successful award-winning Miami Architect and real estate developer who suddenly finds out that his success has been built on a lie told by his dying father twenty-five years ago that has done serious damage to the lives of people once dear to him. His conundrum is what should he do? So he does the elegant thing to do: he returns to the land he abandoned in search of the woman he left behind and the son he never knew. In the process, he learns a great lesson about love, forgiveness and redemption.
Barb – What were the challenges, if any, bringing this story to print?
David – That question merits an answer of at least 400 pages. I’ll try to be succinct.
Writing is not mathematics where an equation will always give you a specific answer. The process of bringing a story to print is complex, but I’ll try to break it down into finite steps in order to attempt to answer your question.
First, you have to come up with something interesting to write about – and that’s a big challenge. Then you have to write that story, which will take two years, and that’s another challenge. A huge challenge.
Assuming you did that, you have to find an agent to represent you or a publisher to publish your book, or both. That’s another challenge. Let’s bypass all that and assume you have a publisher ready to publish your book.
The process of publication is another challenge. First of all, an acquisitions editor has to read your manuscript and accept it for publication; then you have to wait on a queue with other authors until you’re assigned an editor to work with, a designer for your cover, a copy editor and ultimately a layout and book production specialist. Each of those steps is a challenge. From the time you thought up your idea to the moment of publication, consider that probably 4-5 years will have elapsed.
Did I put you to sleep already with so many challenges and steps?
The biggest challenge of all comes after the book is published. For me, it’s now. It’s the challenge of marketing and selling the book. After five years devoted to your baby, you have a window of opportunity of maybe three months to make it a success in the marketplace.
And that’s why I’m giving you this interview, so I can sell my book.
Does that answer your question?
Barb – What is your favorite part about writing?
David – My favorite part is coming up with the idea and then writing that first sentence, that first paragraph and that first page.
Barb – What is your least favorite part about writing?
David – The drudgery of writing the middle of the book where the plot and all the subplots have to be weaved into the tapestry of what is your novel. It’s like the middle-game in chess. You have to be careful and you have to pay attention to all the details. Otherwise, you get check-mated.
Barb – What type of scenes do you find to be the hardest to write?
David – I don’t believe I have a scene that is hardest than any others to write. What I find hard to do with any scene is to maintain the proper balance among narrative, description and dialogue, so I can achieve the exact pace and progression required.
Think of that blend of narrative, description and dialogue as a smoothie of words, where narrative is the orange juice, description is the banana and dialogue is the handful of strawberries. Get the idea?
Barb – Do you start your story with an outline or do you just set the characters free to tell their story?
David – I outline the book in detail and define my characters and my story line before I start writing. After I start writing, my characters sometimes take over…to a point. In my mind, I am the coach and my characters are the players. I set the game strategy; they play the game, and improvise within my game plan.
Barb – Do you have a favorite character in However Long the Night? If so who is it and why?
David – I guess if I had to pick a character, I’d pick Colonel Milan, Cid’s father. He is the perfect tragic hero described by Aristotle. He’s honest, loyal, and courageous with one tragic flaw, his love of Cid. In the end, that love makes him betray all his principles and lose the love and respect of his son.
Barb – Who encourages you to continue writing?
David – Writing to me is like making love. Excuse me, almost like making love. There’s nothing like making love; but writing comes a close second to me. I don’t need encouragement. If I were in a prison without paper and pen, I’d write books in my mind. I couldn’t help it.
Barb – How can your fans follow you to keep up to date with your writing?
David – They can Google my name to see what I’m up to, read my blog, or, visit my website: www.davidpereda.com
Barb – Where are your books available?
David – My books are available online at Amazon, Eternal Press , and other outlets. They are also available at selected bookstores in North Carolina and Florida.
Barb – Anything else you’d like to add?
David – Thank you for having me over as your guest. Next time, could you ask me some easier questions, please? J
Author Biography:
David Pereda is an award-winning author who enjoys crafting political 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. He has traveled extensively around the world and speaks several languages. Before devoting his time solely to writing and teaching college-level courses, Pereda had a rich and 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 is the regional director of the Florida Writers Association and the co-founder of AWE (Asheville Writing Enthusiasts). He loves sports and has won many prizes competing in track and show-jumping equestrian events.
Pereda lives with his family in Asheville, North Carolina.
Please visit him at…
www.twitter.com/DavidPeredaAVL
ISBN: However Long the Night
978-1-61572-598-4 E-Book
978-1-61572-599-1 Print Book
Excerpt:
Cid’s mother leaned on the rail next to him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and 
hugged him tenderly. “How are you doing, Son?”
Cid looked into her soft brown eyes. “Fine, Mama.”
“I know you. You’re not fine at all. You always try to be so tough, but you’re not. Manny is like your father. They see life one way, like bulls. You’re like me. We feel every little emotion, because we care. So I know you’re not fine. You’re hurt.”
His eyes filled with tears. “She doesn’t love me, Mama. She didn’t come.”
“Maybe she had a reason for not coming, Son.”
“No, Mama. I tried talking to her for days, and she disappeared on me. It was as if she was angry about something. It was her way of breaking up with me.”
“Give her a chance. Call her from Tampa and listen to her explanation. You can always send for her. Maybe even come to get her.”
“I will, Mama. But deep down I know she doesn’t love me anymore.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I remembered something she said to me once. She told me, looking at me with those beautiful hazel eyes of hers, ‘Cid, the day you don’t love me anymore, don’t tell me. I don’t want to be hurt. Just go away and disappear. I’ll understand.’” A tear rolled down Cid’s cheek, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. “And that’s what Sandra did, Mama, you see? She disappeared.”
They watched the Cuban coast in silence, gold and green and blue. A cool breeze replaced the strong wharf odor with the briny smell of the open sea.
After a while, Cid noticed his mother was crying. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t mind me. Just an old lady’s tears.” Her gaze was fixed on the receding coastline. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Si.”
“I’ll miss her.”
“Me, too.”
Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny just came out in mid-December. This story is about Gastien’s life as an artist and features the “big” romance of his life…but don’t expect it to be predictable in any sense of the word! Nor is it categorized as a romance. It is still historical fiction and a saga. It is also a very powerful love story. You will have to read it to find out if he turned his back on love, or loved the best that he could, after all of the abuse he went through. If he did love, was it enough to keep that love alive?
Subject: Max St. James, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class