Legacy of Atonement received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Stephen Maitland-Lewis.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Legacy of Atonement. – published June 13, 2023
What’s the book’s first line?”
“Damn it!”
What’s the book about? Give us “the pitch.”
In the spring of 1959, a seemingly minor mistake in a wire transfer at a Swiss bank leads to the discovery of a plot by the CIA to launch a nuclear attack on he leaders of the USSR and China and to install Hitler, who is still alive and hiding in South America, as the leader of Western Europe.
What inspired you to write the book/ A particular person? An event?
A combination of many things: –
The Cold War; Fascism; Anti Semitism; The Deep State; Nazis who fled Europe after the Second World War and how close we were to World War Three.
What’s the main reason why someone should read this book?
A realization that even the most heinous individuals may never be able to escape justice; and acceptance that we cannot always take for gospel that historical facts that are presented to us may be far from accurate.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional – would you say the character reminds you of?
As for the main character: – Tenacity, Commitment; Courage and Loyalty.
Reminded of:- James Bond (Sean Connery); Simon Templar (Roger Moore).
And generally, all unnamed independent and fearless maverick-sleuths
When did you decide to become an author?
I began to write when I was a teenager but I became a full-time writer twenty years ago.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
No. This is the seventh book.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing.
I’m an active board member of a not-for profit foundation.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
A minimum of five hours daily but it can easily extend to double that when I consider writing, revising, re-write, research and editing.
What’s the best and hardest part of being an indie?
The best – speed and fewer layers of supervision. The hardest – post publication marketing.
What’s a great piece of advice you can give to a writer?
Revise and rewrite and have an experienced editor and a public relations/marketing guru in your corner. And importantly, do not ignore the editor’s advice. Remember that a printed first draft, beautifully-typed and formatted by no means indicate that one has a finished manuscript ready for submission.
Would you go traditional if a major publisher came calling. If so, why?
I am very content with my present publisher. There would have to be a whopping advance, a speedy launch date and a good marketing strategy on the table before I would devote any time to considering making a move.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (Fame? Fortune?)?
A legacy for my children and grandchildren to demonstrate that I am not the philandering playboy and dilettante that they perceive me as being and that I am both dedicated to the craft with a good work ethic.
Which writer, living or dead do you most admire?
I cannot single out one author. I would have to name four – Philip Roth, Ernest Hemingway, W. Somerset Maugham and Harold Robbins.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Again, I would have to pick five: –
Somerset Maugham’s “Of Human Bondage”, Hemingway’s “Old Man and The Sea” Harold Robbins’ “The Carpetbaggers,” J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” and Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America.”