JMR-Welcome to the Books Delight,
Michael. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun and what does the
perfect day look like?
ML- I’ve lived in the Middle East
for the past decade, with a years’ sojourn in Penang, Malaysia. We’re in Dubai
at the moment. Fun sometimes seems like a distant memory in the times we’re all
living through, but I like to run and travel. At the moment the travel is all
in the planning stage but we’re hoping to get back to the UK to see family
later this year and maybe return to Malaysia and Singapore. The perfect writing
day at the moment is getting a thousand words finished of the next book in The
Isaac Alvarez series, ‘The Apothecary’. It’s going well and I’m about a quarter
of the way through and hoping to publish in July. The perfect non-writing day
would be spent eating nasi lemak, char kuey teow, and satay in Penang with
friends and family.
JMR-What’s your favorite
historical time period? Why?
ML- It would be a choice between
Andalusia at the turn of the 15th century, when ‘Blood Libel’ is set,
or the Mughal period in India which lasted from 1526 to 1857. Both periods are
characterized by multicultural exchange and economic dynamism powered by
globalization. I find the stories of individuals and families living through
such times fascinating. This fascination is the one of the main drivers of my
writing.
JMR-Who is your favorite
historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?
ML- At the moment it’s Avicenna.
He lived at the turn of the 11th century and was a key figure in the
Islamic Golden Age. He’s regarded as the forefather of early modern medicine,
but he was much more than that. He was a polymath and published 450 books. He
made significant contributions to astronomy, medicine, mathematics, theology
and poetry. He’d memorized the Holy Qu’ran by the age of ten and was a fully
qualified physician at eighteen. He’s the inspiration for Ali Abu Sina, the
apothecary of Book Two of The Isaac Alvarez Mysteries. Considering how much he
achieved in his life I’d like to ask him what he believed was his most
significant discovery or contribution to humanity.
JMR- How did you come to be a
writer of historical fiction?
ML- By accident! Like a lot of
people, I’ve always wanted to write but real life kept getting in the way. Then
in 2013 I visited Andalusia and spent time with Moises Hassan, a scholar, who
shared with me the little-known stories of Jewish Seville. My imagination was
fired by his knowledge and his passion. And only (!) seven years later ‘Blood
Libel’ was published.
JMR- Michael you are both a
teacher and a world traveler, how have your life choices shaped you as a
writer?
ML- As an English teacher I’m
endlessly interested in language; how it shapes us and how we use it to
communicate our thoughts and feelings. I was fortunate to begin travelling to
various parts of the world when I was eighteen. Since then, I’ve visited many
countries in Europe, the Middle East and South-east Asia. Jordan and Nepal are
real highlights. The furthest I’ve travelled from the UK is Perth, Australia,
to see a Bruce Springsteen concert. I think travelling has enabled me to see
the world from many different angles and to develop greater empathy. The
ability to think and feel your way into a character’s perspective is invaluable
for any writer.
JMR- Michael, tell us about
your new book, Blood Libel.
ML- It was launched at the end of
January 2021 at the Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai, having been awarded
a prize at the 2020 event. It’s set in Seville in 1495 during the Spanish
Inquisition and is, on the surface, a murder mystery. A child is brutally murdered,
and the Jewish community is accused of using the blood ritually – the ‘blood
libel.’ Isaac, a Jewish convert to Catholicism, reluctantly investigates in
order to protect his family and his faith. But what exactly is he prepared to
do as the Inquisition closes in? I hope that readers will enjoy the mystery but
also see the parallels with contemporary events: the rise of anti-Semitism, the
difficulty in discovering what’s really true, and holding onto your faith in
troubled times.
JMR-What projects do you have
in the pipeline?
ML- I’m working on the next
volume in the series, ‘The Apothecary,’ and also Book Three. I hope to publish
both by April 2022. This will be a complete trilogy. I’ve got ideas for further
books that will take the same characters through to the Spanish Empire, but
we’ll see.
JMR- Tell our readers how to
find you on social media and the web.
ML- A good way into the series is
to go to www.michaellynes.com where
you can sign up for my newsletter and receive a free short story, ‘The Lost
Book of Hours’. This makes a really good introduction as it’s a little ‘cozier’
than ‘Blood Libel’. Feel free to email me any questions at: michael@michaellynes.com and you can
find me on Twitter: @MLynesAuthor and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelLynesAuthor.
JMR- What question were you
hoping I’d ask but didn’t?
ML- This is a pretty comprehensive list of
questions but I guess you could have asked me about which writers I admire. In
terms of style and voice it has to be Richard Ford. I constantly return to The
Bascombe novels. I always look forward to the new Donna Leon every year – I’m
halfway through ‘Transient Desires’ and it’s very good. I admire Abir
Mukherjee’s Sam Wyndham series set in Raj era India. The book I’m most looking
forward to reading is ‘Klara and the Sun’ by Kazuo Ishiguro.
JMR- Thank you, Michael for stopping by. Readers, if you'd like to check out Michael's book, Blood Libel, I've include a link below.
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