What is your book about?
A
trusted member of her ultra-Orthodox Jewish community rapes fifteen-year-old Hannah in the back room of a Brooklyn kosher butcher shop. Unwilling to succumb to her parents’ demand that she blame a homeless black man, she runs away. Alone on unfamiliar New York City streets and armed only with an indomitable spirit, quirky sense of humor, and unyielding intolerance for hypocrisy and injustice, she confronts adversity after adversity.
Blaming herself for having been raped and bent on avoiding emotional intimacy, she becomes involved with an enforcer for a Serbian mobster and embarks on a life of prostitution and hard drugs. Then comes unexpected motherhood and a son she treasures. When he is arrested on trumped up charges and almost killed in prison, her wide-ranging client base, including hoods and feds, comes in handy. But her plan backfires, her son is forever lost, and she is banished to an Appalachian backwater as a protected witness. Depressed and alone, she rediscovers her childhood dream of tikkun olam, repairing the world, and charts a path to justice and redemption. All she has to do now is emerge from witness protection, outwit vengeful hit men, and run for Congress in Tea Party country as a New York Jewish former whore. Too bad about that quirky sense of humor and unyielding intolerance for hypocrisy and injustice.
What inspired you to write this particular story?
People who’d read my novel, To Gain the Whole World told me the main character’s mother was a terrific character whom I shouldn’t have killed off early in the book. So I decided to write the same story from her point of view. That didn’t work, but I had as a starting point the main character, an ultra-orthodox girl who is raped and turned out by that very conservative closed community and forced to make her way in an alien world for which she is totally unprepared.
What about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The insights into the world of the Brooklyn ultra-orthodox, the main character’s struggles and triumphs, and the quality of writing which has already received eight glowing reviews on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/girl-Robert-Chan/dp/1630660957
Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?
I allow my main character to take the story where she wants it to go.
What is your goal for the book, ie: what do you want people to take with them after they finish reading the story?
Mostly I want them to enjoy an exciting, inspiring, well-written story.
Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?
Extremism of all types is soul destroying and the human spirit can overcome almost all adversity.
What was the most difficult part about writing the book?
Writing about rape in a sensitive and searching way.
Are you writing to reach a particular kind of reader?
One who truly enjoys reading and has many friends he or she can suggest my book to.
Does writing come easy for you?
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
What one book, written by someone else, do you wish you’d written yourself?
Fifty Shades of Gray. I could put up with the criticism of the bad writing, phony eroticism, and worship of materialism for the huge amount of money. I’m not looking to sell out but for the right price…
Which is more important to your story, character or plot?
Each element is crucial as is the quality of the writing.
Where can people learn more about your books?
Second Wind Publishing: http://www.secondwindpublishing.com/#!robert-chan/c1ltt
Website: http://www.robertnchan.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.chan.7568596
Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=60336546&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile_pic
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/chan5642/
Pat Bertram Introduces . . . 