1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Jan Orlinsky, a fighter pilot in training and pianist at large, watches as his home country, Poland, is devastated by the German blitzkrieg in 1939. Anxious to do his part in The Great War, Jan makes his way to England where, during a particularly heavy day of combat, he crashes into the English Channel and is captured by the Germans.
Driven by his desire to return to his first love, newspaper reporter Sophie Gordon, Jan escapes from his captors and makes his way back to England via Spain, where he is again captured and imprisoned, this time for the duration of the war.
Once free of bondage, Jan learns he has been betrayed in ways that will forever change his life. Feeling lost he finds his way to Paris to start life anew and finds his future is not at all like he envisioned.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The location was determined by historic events.
4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Of course, I always create main characters who keep you guessing.
5–What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Brash, immature, talented
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
The effect of war on those people directly engaged.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Both, but my drafts tend to be close to the finished product.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Peanuts
9–Describe your writing space/office!
Large screen computer surrounded by dozens of reference books stacked up on both sides.
10–Who is an author you admire?
This may sound corny, but I love every word Ernest Hemingway ever wrote.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
The answer to this question is a very short story. I’m a retired engineer and one day my wife was going out to play golf and as she walked out, she asked me what I was going to do that day. Flippantly, I said that I was going to write a book. After she left, I started to think about what I would say when she returned and asked about “the new book”. So I went to my office, pulled up a blank screen on my computer, and stared at it for a long time. Then I typed. The words flew onto the page and sometime later, I hit “print” and then read what I had written. In that very short time, my life changed. All Is Fair is my sixth novel.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
From the very first novel, I knew I would self-publish. Why? When I finished that first book, I was 70 years young. The time it would take to write a query letter, find an agent, and then sell the book to a publisher was much, much too long. Self-publishing takes very little time and then I’m on to the next one.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
Historic fiction is why I like to write it. A reader can be entertained while reading and finish hopefully knowing something he/she did not know before.
14–What’s your favorite movie?
Grease
15–What is your favorite season?
Fall
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Quietly with friends.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Not so recent, but Foyle’s War comes to mind.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Thai
19–What do you do when you have free time?
Write. Now that I have this new vocation, I’m the editor of a local newsletter.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
A sequel to All Is Fair
ALL IS FAIR by Michael Kenneth Smith
Jan Orlinski, fighter pilot in training and pianist at large, watches as his country is devastated by the German blitzkrieg of 1939. Anxious to do his part in The Great War, Jan makes his way to England where, during a particularly heavy day of combat, he crashes into the English Channel and is captured by the Germans.
Driven by his desire to return to his first love, newspaper reporter Sophie Gordon, Jan escapes from the German prison and begins making his way back to England, via Spain, where he is, again, captured and imprisoned—this time, for the remainder of the war.
Once liberated, Jan soon learns he has been betrayed in ways that will forever change his life. Feeling lost, he escapes to Paris to start life anew—and finds his future is not at all what he envisioned.
Historical | Fiction [Independently Published, On Sale: October 25, 2022, e-Book, ISBN: 9798353656456 / eISBN: 9798353656456]
Buy ALL IS FAIR: Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Michael Kenneth Smith
MICHAEL KENNETH SMITH trained as a mechanical engineer and began a successful auto parts business in the 1980’s. He sold his business in 2000 and retired. Since then, he spent time fishing, golfing, cooking, and playing bridge. He’s become an oenophile, socialized, and even edited a local newspaper.
Throughout his journey, Mike had one thing that always came easy to him; telling stories. And so, in 2013, Mike decided to share his stories with the world.
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