Photo by Emma McGowan
Gary Fields is the author of the new novel The Book of Judges. Also an attorney and a computer scientist, he lives in the Los Angeles area.
Q: What inspired you to write The Book of Judges?
A: Historical fiction and thrillers are two of my favorite genres. When those are combined well (Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and Katherine Neville’s The Eight are great examples) you get the best of both worlds. I’ve also had a lifelong interest in human rights issues.
One day, after my wife had just finished reading a book in this mixed genre, she looked over at me and said the four words we all need to hear from time to time from our significant other: “You could do this.”
Three days later, I had the kernel of an idea for my novel. That kernel? What if there were some powerful secret that judges across history discovered—a secret that could change our world for the better today?
Q: The writer Jacqueline Friedland said of the book, “Spanning continents and centuries, The Book of Judges invites readers to consider the weight of justice and the enduring impact of the past on the present.” What do you think of that description?
A: Nailed it! (No wonder she’s a bestselling novelist). The eight historical stories woven into my modern-day thriller are about judges from different cultures across the past 2,000 years who heroically seek justice in life-and-death human rights trials.
Not only are the issues they face still extremely relevant today (as forces continue to conspire to crush human rights) but they each uncover a startling secret that has the potential to radically change our modern-day world.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it?
A: Absolutely. I had the beginning and the end of the main story, and the basics of each of the historical stories. But the middle was a muddle. Leaving room there, both in the main story and in each of the historical stories, allowed me to more fully develop my plots, scenes, and characters as I went along.
Q: How did you create your characters Josh, Sammi, and Mark?
A: Write what you know. That’s what they pound into our debut writers’ skulls. So I drew on my background as a lawyer and computer systems analyst in constructing the book’s plotlines. I drew on that same background, as well as my family, in creating Josh, Sammi, and Mark.
Besides the lawyer and systems analyst part, Josh has some of me and some of my two sons mixed into his personality. There’s some strongheadedness, some logical thinking to avoid heavy emotions, but a caring heart and a powerful sense of right and wrong. His past, however, is nothing like ours.
Sammi is definitely an amalgam of my wife and daughter. Eternal student, empath, sweet, sharp, and with endless grit. No matter where she is, a part of her is always somehow back in Brooklyn.
Mark draws from some of the lovable, quirky personalities I worked with back in my days in the tech world. He’s geek level 10, but definitely not to be underestimated.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m well into a sequel to The Book of Judges. It will be Book Two of The Words series.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: For more on The Book of Judges and me (plus an opportunity to read an extended version of one of the historical stories from the book, in which you’ll get an introduction to The Words), please check out my website: www.garyfields.com.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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