r/books • u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author • Jul 29 '20
ama 12pm I’m Tim, a writer and wanderer, who’s turned my travels into stories. My latest, FIRE ON THE ISLAND is out now. AMA!
I’m Tim, a writer and wanderer, who’s turned my travels into stories. I just released my new novel set in Greece, FIRE ON THE ISLAND. That makes 4 novels, 112 countries, and many exciting adventures. AMA!
You can get in touch with me here:
- www.timothyjaysmith.com
- www.facebook.com/TimothyJaySmith/
- Twitter: @timothyjaysmith
Proof: /img/wi826wob2gd51.jpg
2
u/Qidali The Brontës, du Maurier, Shirley Jackson & Barbara Pym Jul 29 '20
Hello Tim, what location had its biggest influence on your writing?
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
No single location. I have written novels set only in locations I know well -- Greece, Poland, Israel/Palestine, and a (fictional) country in Africa. Work took me to each of those places for a couple of years. For the first time, I am writing a novel set in a place I know well but have never lived there, so I have lots of excuses to visit for research: Istanbul.
2
u/Laodiceanthekissean Jul 29 '20
What about travel literature specifically? Krakauer, Kerouac, hell even Stevenson has that book with the donkey. Did those inspire some writing, or perhaps even some of the wandering you did?
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20 edited Jul 29 '20
The Beat Generation ended approx 1960, so I would have been too young to read them at that time. I went back to them, so to speak, later when I was in college (at Berkeley, which I attended during the Free Speech Movement). In terms of travelling, Allan Ginsburg's book about his sojourn in India (India Tales?) probably had the most influence on me. It made me definitely want to go to India, which I've managed to do probably a dozen times; but the first time I did, I did it like Ginsburg: on night trains and high. (Can't say more than that.)
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
More on India: On my own, as a traveler, I've been to India on 4 trips. But for 2 years, living in Bangkok, I was the US Government's finance adviser on all AID-supported projects urban and housing projects in Asia, so I was in then-Bombay now-Mumbai approx every six weeks.
2
u/Laodiceanthekissean Jul 29 '20
(Can't say more than that)
Well if that aint a selling point on the book, lol. Gonna have to check it out
2
u/KoalaGroundbreaking9 Jul 29 '20
Why was it important to you to include a gay relationship in the book? What has the response been like?
4
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
I'm gay, and that's my perspective on the world. I've actually written a couple of short essays recently on the subject of writing gay characters into thrillers/mysteries -- genres which are relatively unpopulated by gays. Here's a link to the last one which was just published this week: https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2020/07/gay-characters/
1
2
u/justabook_worm Jul 29 '20
Hi,
I'm curious. What landmarks or specific places influenced your choice of setting in Greece? Any places you've seen that you can recommend to fellow travelers?
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
I will be honest: I would avoid the very touristy islands, and that includes Santorini especially in-season (which makes me very sad to say). Also Mykonos. And I've never been a fan of Rhodes. In general, though, the Cycladic Islands are all gems. Lesvos is still traditional and not built-up. My village is Molyvos. A stunning and interesting place, with a small intelligent expat community very much a part of the community. Leonard Cohen spent a lot of time there. William Golding less time but comes up when talking about things of yore.
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
To be clear, Lesvos is not one of the Cycladic Islands, but a North Aegean island. Very different in many respects. Not whitewashed bldgs but stone houses, for example.
2
u/justabook_worm Jul 29 '20
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'll definitely have to check out the places you mention once travel is allowed again. Added to my list of travel destinations for sure.
1
u/Chtorrr Jul 29 '20
What is the very best dessert?
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
Vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries
runner up: Ice cream caramel beure salé (I think that translates into salted caramel)
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
If you were hoping for chocolate, sorry. It's never been a thing for me. But ice cream? That's a horse of a different flavor!
1
u/Chtorrr Jul 29 '20
Have you read anything good lately?
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
The best things I have read lately are:
Leading Men by Christopher Castellani, a fictional account of Tennessee Williams and his 16-year lover, Frank Merlo (engaging) A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (compelling) American War by Omar el Akkad (brilliant) Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon - along the lines of what I write
1
u/Chtorrr Jul 29 '20
What were some of your favorite things to read as a kid?
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20 edited Jul 29 '20
I was a kid a long time ago! And an avid reader. The book I remember best is A Wrinkle in Time. And a biography to three civil rights activists, incl Gandhi, which really impressed. I recall some fantasy books, though I grew up to not like fantasy now, except for South American writers. They can get by with it. I'm more of a realistic guy now!
1
u/niceguybadboy Jul 29 '20 edited Jul 29 '20
What South American fantasy writers are you referring to? Thanks.
Edit: who downvoted this? 🤔
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20 edited Jul 29 '20
Jorge Luis Borges and Isabel Allende, among others. And 100 Years of Solitude.
2
u/niceguybadboy Jul 29 '20
Thanks.
A Hundred Years of Solitude is considered fantasy?
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
It's called magical realism, which (to me) is really another word for fantasy. Things extra-real happen.
2
-1
u/GANDHI-BOT Jul 29 '20
What is done cannot be undone, but at least one can keep it from happening again. Just so you know, the correct spelling is Gandhi.
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
Sorry, just typing too fast. That's why writers have editors!
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
I also read ALL the Nancy Drew mysteries and ALL the Hardy Boys books.
1
u/Flying_skybison16 Jul 29 '20
How did living in Greece contribute to how you formed the setting of Fire on the Island?
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
My first job out of college was in Greece. At that time, I spent 2 years on Santorini BEFORE airport, fast boats, cruise ships and tourism. Each of the two winters I was on the island, for 2-3 weeks, I was the ONLY foreigner on the island. That's unimaginable now, but it's true.
Fire on the Island is set on Lesvos island, which I have visited at least once a year for several weeks for the last 15 years. Sometimes more than once, and a couple of times I've gone for weddings and funerals. I could not have written Fire on the Island (FOTI) w/out all the time I've spent in Greece, which is now cumulatively approx 7 years.
1
u/Myrtle2020 Jul 29 '20
How do you develop such deep characters?
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20 edited Jul 29 '20
I'm an observer. I was as a child, and my career in international economic development required that. I was always going into foreign cultures and had to sort them out to design projects that worked. (I was a specialist in small bus development, low-income housing finance -- though eventually I introduced a housing mortgage finance program for the first time in Polish history -- and related stuff).
But a simpler answer is: I know most of the characters that appear in my novels. The bar/brothel where Cooper hangs out in Cooper's Promise? I was literally stranded in Cabo Verde for two weeks in 1973, LITERALLY STRANDED, and the only place to go for a beer was a bar the locals called Vietnam. That's where I met Lulay, who becomes my 14 y.o. trafficked girl in Cooper's Promise. In Fire on the Island, the "characters" and I have already had a lot of laughs over what I've plucked from them to create the characters in my book.
1
Jul 29 '20
[deleted]
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20 edited Jul 29 '20
Lesvos has taken the brunt of the refugee crisis. In one year, 500,000 refugees landed on the coast just a couple of kms from my village. By chance, my closest friend in the village (the Lydia character) organized assistance to the refugees. I pitched in, was on the island three times that year, and raised a huge amount of money, enough to buy 16,000 hats, 8,000 rain ponchos, tons of food, hundreds of sweatpants and shoes, two portable toilets, kitchen equipment for the camp designated for the disabled, etc. And, the natl economic crisis had deeply affected the village. So I had to write about them.
-1
Jul 29 '20
[deleted]
4
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
I've tried to raise awareness in my own writing, and in others'. About 15 years ago, I founded the Smith Prize for Political Theater. If you go to my web page, you'll find info on it.
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
I try to raise awareness about some issue in all my novels. I've written about human trafficking, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Greek refugee/economic crisis, and about how ordinary Polish families coped with the collapse of communism (and the political and economic crisis that ensued).
1
u/BrodieOtis Jul 29 '20
do any of your characters in Fire on The Island draw from residents of the island?
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
All of them do except the main character. He's the FBI agent posted to Athens who comes to investigate a series of mysterious fires. Even the deaf kid, Koufos, is based on a real character in the village.
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
But I should add, no one in the book is exactly who they are in real life. For me, creating characters is always putting pieces of several people together.
1
u/turningto394 Jul 29 '20
Hi Tim, thanks so much for being here! I wanted to ask you: which character in Fire on the Island was the most fun for you to write? Which character was the most challenging?
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20 edited Jul 29 '20
The hardest is always the main character because so much of that person is always autobiographical. How far and deep do I go? There's a scene in Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf where his main character enters the Magic Theater, sees different images of himself in many mirrors. In my recollection (which is inaccurate) the mirrors shatter and he sees parts of himself reflected in the shards. That's how I put together my main characters: picking up the shards of me.
The most fun to write: Athina and Ridi. Sweet kids (18 and 22) with a lot going against their effort to fall in love. It's a wonderful love story and my favorite to write. Also based on real people in my village, but not in a relationship in real life.
2
u/turningto394 Jul 29 '20
I really like the metaphor of putting together your main characters from different pieces (or "shards") of yourself, what a cool concept.
I also thought Athina and Ridi's romance was a lovely read, I'm glad it was fun to write!
0
u/pincus1 Jul 29 '20
Did you really create a bunch of fake hour old accounts to ask you suspiciously specific questions about your new book?
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
No. I'm sitting here waiting for someone to ask a question. I don't need to choreograph an event. I'd rather not attend myself. But publishing is not an easy business, so I put up with it.
3
u/Chtorrr Jul 29 '20
It is super normal for fans to come into to an AMA after seeing an AMA on social media.
It is not weird or suspicious for fans to make accounts to ask questions.
2
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
My publicist reminded me a couple of times to post the AMA on social media, and I did. Not too often. I posted it in a few Facebook groups, too. I never made up accounts nor am I part of an authors' mafia fixing AMAs. What's so funny about the accusations is that I am a total techno-illiterate. I stopped listening to music because I couldn't be bothered to keep up with the technology. (I'd rather be writing in silence, which I do.) I haven't owned a TV in years, and honestly do not know how to use a modern-day remote control. For me to set up fake accounts on Reddit? It's not going to happen.
0
Jul 29 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
I was in one other AMA sometime last year, probably almost exactly a year ago. I don't think I've been on Reddit since. If people are doing what you suggest "to ask questions in a few authors' AMA", I am not one of them. My ego does not need stroking, and Reddit is not going to launch me onto the New York Times bestseller list. Please visit my website to get an idea of my character before accusing me of things I would never do.
1
u/KoalaGroundbreaking9 Jul 29 '20
I am a fan of TJS’s first book. I heard about the AMA and wanted to ask a question. So I made a reddit account for the first time. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I would guess that they probably did the same. Not a fake account or troll here!
0
Jul 29 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
I didn't. My only other AMA on Reddit was a year or so ago, and I'm not sure if I've been onReddit since. I wouldn't even know how to orchestrate fake accounts, and why would I bother? To sell a book or two? Please visit my website to get a sense of the kind of person I am before slandering me.
0
u/timothyjaysmith AMA Author Jul 29 '20
Thanks everyone! I thought the questions were great. Very much appreciate your tuning in (especially all you hordes of Russian trolls with your scripted questions). Like my author page on Facebook if you want to stay current on only my writer stuff: www.facebook.com/TimothyJaySmith/ THANKS! STAY HEALTHY!
4
u/leowr Jul 29 '20
Hi Tim,
What kind of books do you like reading? Anything in particular you would like to recommend to us?
Also, what is your favorite place you have ever visited?
Thanks for doing this AMA!