Soldier, Lily, Peace and Pearls

1. What types of books do you write?
I write literary fiction set against contemporary political developments. My work focuses on the human dimension of contemporary history and I explore human nature through adventure, love, suffering and simple but unexpected acts of kindness.

2. What is the latest book you have written?
My first novel Soldier, Lily, Peace and Pearls was published in 2011 and has now reached its third edition. The story traces the lives of
three individuals who suffered tremendous personal trauma because of political upheavals. There is Minh Chau, a young girl imprisoned with
her mother and older sister, after the Communists take over South Vietnam in 1975, Then comes Quan, the son of a rich Chinese-Vietnamese
merchant family in Cambodia. His life changes radically when the family is sent by the Khmer Rouge to an isolated collective farm along
the Thai border. When Quan and Minh Chau later meet in a refugee camp in Malaysia, Quan becomes the young girl’s protector. In Canada,
Mathieu Hibou enters the story. He plays a major role in helping Minh Chau and her family integrate into Canadian society before leaving to
work as a development worker in Africa. Several years later, Mathieu suffers an unimaginable loss during the Rwandan genocide, a loss that
Minh Chau will help to heal. The lives of these three characters intersect in a very intricate plot. Through friendship and love, they help one another overcome the pain of their pasts and live life to its fullest. Soldier, Lily, Peace and Pearls is available through many on-line vendors, e.g., Amazon, Barnes and Noble, the Book Depository, Lulu.com Smashwords, etc. in both a trade paperback and e-book
editions. In Canada, it is sold to independent bookstores and public libraries through Red Tuque Books.
On Sale, at Red Tuque Books
On Sale, at Amazon

3. Is it part of a series, if so which one?
Soldier, Lily, Peace and Pearls is not part of a series per se, but I intend to re-introduce some of the primary and secondary characters in
my new novel, The Photos, much along the lines of Marcel Pagnol’s novels. There will be a certain continuity of themes between the first and the second novels to further explore the human condition in the face of adversity and injustice. The Photos is only the working title
for the new novel and may well change. I have now quite a detailed outline ready and am continuing with my research of the Lebanese Civil War—the with one central character, Marc Taragon, a French journalist and expert on the Middle East. A major element of the story will be Taragon’s love of a young Palestinian woman in the 1970s in a world collapsing around them.


4. When did you start writing?
As a political analyst and a diplomat, I have been earning my living by writing for decades. Early on, I wrote poetry – some of which, I
may publish one day although that can wait. My decision to write a novel came about eighteen months ago when I was very moved by a
Vietnamese-Canadian friend’s story about being imprisoned as a child in Vietnam and then fleeing Vietnam by boat. I subsequently
discovered that a friend of my mother had spent three years in a collective farm in Cambodia under the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge.
These individuals became the inspiration for two of the characters in the novel. After writing Soldier, Lily, Peace and Pearls, I set up a
small micropress to publish other novelists. I named the micropress Deux Voiliers Publishing after a beautiful painting by Quebec artist
Sacha Barrette. I have now published four other authors and are looking for new contributors. Interested authors can contact me at
deuxvoilers@gmail.com. DVP’s website is www.deuxvoiliers.com.

5. Why did you start writing?
I believe that writing fiction with authentic and meaning messages is good for the human soul. In life, we all learn from our unique experiences and from the experiences of others. Fiction provides a vehicle to transmit this learning while entertaining the reader. Like art, it allows us to transcend the mundane and harness our imagination in beautiful and creative ways.

6. Who are your influences?
I lived for four years in Berlin where I fell under the influence of contemporary German literature and film. In one chapter of Soldier,
Lily, Peace and Pearls, I take the character Minh Chau, then 22 years old, on an adventure to Berlin where she discovers the recent past and contemporary reality of the city several years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. My own travels and work abroad, especially in the Middle
East, have encouraged me to relate the human dimension of historical events – something which is sorrowfully missing in contemporary journalism.

7. What can we expect from you in the near future? Book signing
events, other details.
Deux Voiliers Publishing launched a major and very successful Open House at the Collected Works Bookstore in Ottawa on June 1, and our
latest author, Paul Duong, launched his novel Bidong on October 6 in Toronto. We have participated in one book fair and will be part of the
Ottawa Independent Writers Book Fair on December 2. In July, I did three book signings in British Columbia. However, my main focus in the
coming months will be to finish The Photos.