It is Christmas Season when stores' windows display holiday
lights and every where you look bring the most glamorous view in the world.
It's the Season you will wonder how to spend your holidays
with family and friends, know which shows to see together and all.
Whichever way you choose to celebrate this Season of love,
whether you buy into the whole Christmas racket or not - have fun wisely
bringing the year to an end.
Talking of Christmas gifts, ideas for loved ones, and
holiday treats, with me here today, is Robert Craven a WW2 / Action adventure / espionage author of the novel Get Leni. He is here to talk to us about his
Christmas.
Interview Highlights
Robert Craven is glad to be on I Am Darmie Orem and Authors'
Curtilage with Darmie Orem blogspots.
"Many thanks for inviting me on to your blogs Damilola."
Your Favorite Christmas Carol.
"Okay, my favorite Christmas carol is ‘Silent night’, why?,
because it’s simply perfect"
How He Feels About Christmas.
"Christmas has mixed emotions for me, my father passed over
Christmas 14years ago, so he’s in my thoughts this season. I love Christmas,
where family get together, but to be honest, I’m more of a New Year’s Eve sort
of guy. I like the idea of a blank page to start all over again."
I'm Sorry About Dad's Pass away.
"Thank you Damilola."
I Know A Lot Of Men Don't Like Going Into The Kitchen. I
Hope You Are Not One Of Them?
"I’ve cooked two Christmas dinners in my time, but the
washing up is murder!!!, I do cook, but should do more I think."
I Found Out There Are Traditional Dishes For Christmas,
However, People Have Devices Different Ways Of Preparing Their Own Special
Delicacies For The Festive. Robert Tells Us His Most Favorite Dish For The Season
And The Recipes To Make It.
"My most favorite dish for Christmas is Turkey & ham,
but alas have no secret recipe for making it. I par boil the potatoes before
roasting them is about the only trick I can think of!"
You Have Age On Your Side, Obviously I'm One Of The Younger
Generation. Robert Tells Us How Christmas Was Celebrated In His Younger Days.
"God the one thing I remember about growing up in Manchester
as a child was Christmas day started with Church, back home for the afternoon
film and then the Queen’s speech – something to this day I turn off. Then the
Morecambe & Wise Christmas special, I still watch the repeats these
days – they were and still are, absolute
classics."
Look Back To Your Early Days And This Generation, Do You
Think Any Good Tradition Has Been Altered From The Celebration Of Christmas? If
Any, Tell Us How We May Bring Back This Tradition To Make Christmas The Festive
It Is Supposed To Be.
"When we moved to Ireland in 1979, Christmas meant some of
the families on the road invited us into their homes and the latest ‘video’
would be played - good old VHS! And off to call in on friends and neighbours,
the part of Dublin I lived in then, Drimnagh, actually had a good community and
everyone was pretty much on speaking terms."
O.K
"It has to be said, Ireland always does Christmas, the
decorations usually go up on our road the first week of December, and in one
house’s case, never. What I have noticed since the economic collapse here,
people are friendlier and more helpful – we had the Celtic Tiger years where
every second person was an asshole, nothing like monetary collapse to bring the
good back out in people. I think Christmas has got better over the years,
though the commercialism never goes away."
He Tells Us His Best Christmas Sweets And Holiday Treats.
"My favorite sweet – my wife’s brandy butter – it rocks."
The English Folks In Those Days, I Don't Know About Now,
Have Christmas Games. Is There Any In Your Native Land Which You Have Favored?
"We don’t really go for games to be honest, usually a board
game is brought out, though the Wii is usually on now to burn the calories off
after dinner!"
The holidays are traditionally a time of giving and giving
to those most in need brings others joy. Are There Charitable Organizations Or
Individuals You Know That Cater To People With Low Income Or Those That Don't
Have At All Which You Would Want People To Extend Help To This Season Of Love?
"The only charities I donate to are Dublin Simon Community
and Threshold – as one campaign goes ‘You are only two pay checks away from the
street"
Any Pictures From From Previous Holidays?
"Would you believe the cameras were forgotten & we didn’t
take any holiday snaps!!"
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
Message In His Post Card This Season For His Lovely Readers.
"I hope everyone has a safe& peaceful Christmas is my
only message for this season."
What Shoes And Shirts Designs Would You Suggest To People
Short On Cash But Would Love To Have A Change Of Wardrobe For The Season?
"As for sartorial elegance, I’m a T-shirt & jeans guy, I
might put a shirt on for Christmas dinner – my advice for any Christmas Day
wardrobe, is wear something comfortable, it’s going to be stressful enough, so
informal clothes help!"
He Mentions The Brand Name For His Choice Of Wines,
Perfumes, Cosmetics, Shoes, Shirts, Pants.
"My tipple over Christmas is red wine, a nice merlot, as for
a brand, I don’t have a particular favorite, that an aged Bushmills whiskey!"
Funny. *Giggling*
You Are The Author Of Get Lenin, What's The Inspiration
Behind Writing This Book?
"Get Lenin was inspired by a piece I read in the Sunday Times
15 years ago; it was a review of Ilya Zbarsky’s ‘Lenin’s embalmers’, the story
of how Lenin’s mausoleum was moved from Moscow to the Urals in the face of the
German advance in 1941. I thought it would make a great story if a crack unit
was sent in to steal it."
What's The Moral Message Behind This Book That You Want Your
Readers To Grasp?
"The moral message of Get Lenin, is how the media can be
twisted to suit a political agenda. The prime ‘villian’ is an American media
mogul Donald T Kincaid who uses his power and influence to fund and film the
operation. We should always double-check a government’s reasons for waging war,
and question it without fear of reprisal."
He Tells Us The Challenges He Faced To Bring This Book To
completion.
"Get Lenin took 5 years to write and get published – I kept a
track of my submissions – in the end, before Taylor Street published the book,
I had pitched the manuscript to 280 agents and publishers, of which 71 bothered
to respond with a rejection, the more rejections I got, the more determined I
became to get the novel published. Never at any point did I consider vanity or
self-publishing; I really believed Get Lenin was good enough. I have since
completed the sequel ‘Zinnman’ which was released in August 2012."
Dealing with the constant flow of rejection: when you finish
writing and no agencies, contests and publishers would identify with your work
for a long while, don't start to question your writing skills and your time.
This is life after creative writing. Some writers are purely lucky some are
fairly lucky. You have to keep your head high for the silver reward to meet you in one piece because it will always come.
On Robert Craven Story Generation Techniques.
"Story generation: I don’t have a formula to be honest, I
write long hand and type it up, I do keep a large ‘map’ with the plot as the
trunk of a tree, with the subplots and characters on the branches; the key is
never to lose sight of the plot."
On How He Discovers His Writing Skills.
"I think every writer has his / her own voice, the only way
to ‘discover’ it is to keep at it. I have noticed that Zinnman for me, is a
technically better book and I’ve established a style / voice that works for me."
On His Up-Coming Books
"I have the third instalment of the series almost completed
for launch in 2013, provisionally titled ‘A finger of night’ and exploring a
fourth, but that’s for next year!"
Book Blurb
As the German troops approach Moscow during the Russian
offensive of World War II, encountering ever more determined resistance as they
go, what if they could snatch the greatest and most heroic symbol of the Soviet
Revolution, the body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin?Would Soviet morale collapse?
Would Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union be defeated? Would Nazi Germany conquer the
world?This is the intriguing premise of Robert Craven's 'Get LENIN' which pits
the academic British spymaster Henry Chainbridge and the seductive Polish
infiltrator Eva Molenaar against the elite of the German Third Reich and the
wealth and ambition of American movie mogul Donald T. Kincaid who will amass
yet another fortune for himself recording the Nazis' triumphal seizure of Lenin
himself.The race is on, and if the Nazi plot succeeds the war and humanity
itself may be lost.
If You Haven't Grab The Copy Of Get Lenin Then, You Are
Missing. I Tell You This Book Have The Turning Pages Effects You Would Find
With A Spontaneously Written Novel.
To those of you living in affluence, don't forget to provide
holiday gifts, toys, winter jackets and food to those God giving children which
their parents has no money.
Merry Christmas In Advance To All And to Mr. Robert Craven.
It was a great honor to have you come by my blogs.
"Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2013"
