Happy Monday, readers! I’ve got a treat for you today, especially if you love reading mysteries and adventure thrillers. E. William Podojil is an author I met this year and I knew once we started chatting, I had to have him on Book Heaven for an author interview. He’s lived quite the interesting life and his recent release is a page-turner. So, grab your favorite beverage and join us. E. William, take it away…
If you could cast your characters in the Hollywood adaptation of your book, who would play your characters?
Taylor Pastore- Theo James, Lukas Halloran – Jonathan Bailey, Molly Halloran – Judi Dench and I would trust casting agents for the rest of the characters.
What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?
My biggest and most impactful accomplishment has been my family. As a gay teenager growing up in Connecticut, I never could have imagined having a family – it was so out of the realm of possibility then, but I never gave up. Today, my husband of 25 years and I have three grown sons, adopted internationally and off building their own lives. Now we are looking at the next phase of our life as empty-nesters. We have a typical family life that has evolved through many years. This accomplishment eclipses all my professional ones by a longshot.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Professionally, I hope to be actively writing books and screenplays for at least a decade from now. Seeing one of my stories come to life as a movie is a goal of mine, so hopefully that will happen within the next several years. I also enjoy helping other writers throughout the writing/publishing process.
Have you always liked to write?
I’ve wanted to be an author since I was a young boy. I love to read and to write and express myself best with the written word. It’s a passion I have, regardless of whether I get paid.
What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
My advice is to write and write and write. Get your thoughts down, record ideas in your smartphone, get inspiration from nature and take a lot of walks. Building notes, thoughts and experiences gives you a multitude of stories to tell. Don’t worry about being perfect or creating a masterpiece. Create something genuine and unique. You can always polish it up later. Seek out feedback and have the courage to hear both positive and negative comments on what you created. I value the negative/constructive feedback most, as it makes me strive to be better.
Do you read your reviews?
Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you have any advice on how to deal with the bad? I read every review I find, good or bad. I have not actually responded to a review, unless the reviewer reaches out to me directly. Some people can be harsh and some will be praiseworthy. A book is incredibly personal to a writer and represents a huge investment in time, energy, hopes and effort. It’s difficult not to take a bad review personally, but it’s our job to do that.
What is your best marketing tip?
Remember that your story is unique and will mean something different to each reader. Find the genres you love and learn how other writers market their works. Get your name out there. Find your tribe and build from there.
Is this your first book? How many books have you written prior (if any?)
The Poseidon Project is my second novel. My first book is titled, The Tenth Man, and was published in 2004.
What are you working on now? What is your next project?
I am finishing Archipelago, the second book in The Herb Society series and sketching out the third book of the series. Each book stands alone, but the stories and characters are interrelated.
What is your biggest fear?
Poverty.
What do you want your tombstone to say?
He wrote stories we loved.
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
The ability to fly.
What secret talents do you have?
I’m a good cook and I have perfect color vision.
Where is one place you want to visit that you haven’t been before?
I love to travel and have been to 65 countries. Top on my list to visit next are Iceland, Namibia and The Maldives.
If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
A Dolphin.
What’s on your bucket list (things to do before you die)?
I want to have one of my novels adapted into a film, visit the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island and Antarctica.
What were you like as a child? Your favorite toy?
I was very curious and read a lot. I read the entire set of encyclopedias from A-Z when I was 11. I had a great imagination and wasn’t into toys that much.
Thank you, E. William, for the insightful interview. Readers, scroll down to learn more about his recent release.
Title. The Poseidon Project
Author E. William Podojil
Genre Suspense, Thriller, Adventure
Publisher The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb
Molly Halloran and her friends have a secret past. Their bucolic retirement is suddenly upended when Molly’s husband is abducted and held for a steep ransom. Now she, her friends, her tech executive son, Lukas and his Air Force pilot boyfriend must race against the clock and travel halfway around the world to meet the kidnappers’ demands. But when they learn why her husband has been abducted, they realize how high the stakes truly are. Molly and her friends now must face their past in order to save the future. But not only their futures; the world’s.
Excerpt
It was a map of currents in the Persian Gulf. Taylor studied the map and asked everyone to move closer so they could see the screen. “Okay, so this is the northeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. There’s Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and up here toward the point is Dubai,” Taylor explained.
“That’s the Strait of Hormuz, right?” Donna asked.
“Yep, and right next door is Oman. Dubai is closer to Oman than it is to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE,” Lukas pointed out.
“So what does this have to do with John?” Linda asked. “Other than showing us where Dubai is located, what are you suggesting?”
“Not suggesting anything right now, but wanted to show you something,” Taylor replied. “Lukas, can you click the animation on this map?”
Suddenly the arrows within the map started to move as Taylor studied it. “See how the currents churn counterclockwise? That’s pretty consistent from what I remember. The current is affected by salinity and water temperature, so as it churns, it creates a system of lower pressure in the middle…more or less a gyre.”
Lukas pointed his finger to follow the current. “So if Dad’s boat was found off the coast of Palm Jumeirah, his paddle and life vest would have likely circled this gyre and ended up right back where they started.” Taylor nodded.
Molly jumped in. “The search is supposedly focused on where they found the kayak, but Taylor, you’re saying the boat had probably traveled a bit. John would have only been missing hours by this point, not days. How could his kayak still be relatively close to Dubai?”
“I’m going to take a stab here,” Taylor jumped in. “If currents were relatively predictable and there were no storms, which I don’t imagine there were since John probably wouldn’t have ventured out. But let’s assume it was normal, in thirty-six hours, John’s boat would have been closer to the coast of Iran than to Dubai.”
“The search was focused on the waters off Dubai. That’s what the embassy told me,” Molly responded.
“Mom, add that question to your list when you call the embassy. Ask them where the search has been conducted and where it will go next.”
Molly jotted that down. A question had been on her mind. “Isn’t the Persian Gulf pretty crowded with ships? I read there are traffic jams going through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Taylor nodded. “You have hundreds of oil tankers from the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia going in and out of the gulf every day. It’s a prime target for terrorists and also disputes between Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Iran. Iran has threatened to shut off the Strait due to sanctions imposed by the Americans.”
“So it’s a pretty busy place,” Molly confirmed.
“And a disaster waiting to happen,” Donna commented.
“Which is why it’s so heavily patrolled,” Lukas added. “I read that about twenty five percent of the world’s oil passes through the Strait and Persian Gulf every day.”
“Molly,” Taylor asked, “Lukas said the kayak was found by a pleasure boat out on a fishing trip, correct?”
Molly nodded. “That’s what the embassy told me.”
“Fishing areas usually begin about forty miles offshore. I wonder why the boat that found the kayak was closer to shore…five miles wasn’t it?” Taylor asked.
“Maybe it was more like a booze cruise,” Linda commented.
“Mom, I think that could be another question for your call tomorrow,” Lukas added.
It was already ten p.m. and Molly and her guests were fading. “I’ve got my alarm set for three a.m. tomorrow so I can speak with the embassy during their business day. We spent so much time talking we didn’t have time to check flights.”
“We can do that tomorrow,” Linda answered. “I’m way past my bedtime.”
After cleaning up, Linda and Betty boarded Donna’s golf cart. “No way I’m walking home tonight,” Betty said. “Too many coyotes out. We’ll see you tomorrow, Molly. I hope the embassy has some good news.”
Lukas walked Taylor to the door. Molly gave him a big hug. “Thank you for talking to us tonight. You sure know a lot about the world. I feel more informed, but there is something that doesn’t add up. You touched on it, Taylor, and it’s been nagging at me.”
“And what part was that?” Taylor asked.
“The paddle and the life vest. Why wouldn’t everything be in roughly the same place; the kayak, paddle, and the life vest, regardless of whether John’s body was in it,” Molly pointed out. “I can’t understand why search and rescue has not turned up anything else.
“I don’t know, Molly. I thought about that, too. The search and rescue part of me is wired into my DNA.”
“Well, good night and I hope to see you again, Taylor.” Molly returned back into the house leaving Lukas and Taylor alone on the front porch.
“Well, you are a bountiful supply of information,” Lukas thanked him. “Thanks for engaging my mom and her friends. That was sweet of you. I think you gave my mom a bit of hope.”
Buy Links
Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-poseidon-project-e-william-podojil/1145692104?ean=9781509256846
Author Biography:
E. William Podojil is an international business executive and novelist. He has traveled extensively and visited over sixty countries while living in Europe and the United States. Podojil works as an executive business advisor, and strategist while also pursuing his love of storytelling and writing. Podojil's first novel, The Tenth Man, was published in 2004. His second novel, The Poseidon Project, will be released in August, 2024 by The Wild Rose Press, and is the first in The Herb Society Mysteries, a series of adventure thrillers. His novels and other writing are showcased on his website www.ewpodojil.com. Here he also writes a personal blog with humorous stories of his life and travels with his husband and three sons. He and his family currently reside in Northeast Ohio.
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