Hey guys! I know I don't update my blog very often. But this is an interview I made for the publication of The Sum of All Our Fears, the second opus of Free Expensive Lies published in the 12th of February 2024, for the sixth anniversary of the death of my father, as a tribute.
So there it is. If you want to read it straight from the source, please follow the link here: https://emwigstersbookshelf.com/author-spotlight-interview-with-taylor-holcroft/
What was your inspiration for The Sum of All Our Fears?
Several events, basically I mostly set my books on events that I lived, as I did in the first opus when I talked about sexual abuse. In this one, it was another trauma, the loss of my father, who died in prison back in 2018, in Montpellier, the city where I grew up. This book is my longest as it’s certainly the most personal, and Charlotte Kominsky, the character I write now for the past 10 years, has been following me in this adventure.
I think Charlotte was definitely the best and since, of course, she’s a master manipulator, I’ve always liked everything that relates to psychology, and I thought, what would I have done if I were her? In this book she loses someone very dear to her in a challenging period, and she faces the man who killed the person, but I wanted to make it, now, I won, know what I mean?
I also had another important character in this one, Vasara, who is quite a backbone to Charlotte since she’s the one who will be like, yeah, I get what you mean, and I’ll fight with you. Initially I planned to call this book Allegiance since, it’s the good fighting against the evil, and this is also a tribute to my father. Since he died I became a pilot, a manager, I fought for him, and I was thinking that, he needed a tribute. And this book is his tribute.
What drew you to writing?
I think, as a pilot, I’d compare writing to my autopilot. It’s like, I needed it to express myself. You’d say, nothing really new when you’re an artist, but… let me put it this way: in my books, I can say things that I’d never say in normal life. With Charlotte especially, and Elizabeth soon as well as her story is to be published for the summer, i reflect how sarcastic I am. And sharing things that could frustrate me, things that could make me happy… so writing is like flying. My dose of independence. And it’s far cheaper than an hour on my Cessna, I’m not gonna lie.
How did you choose which character to centre the story around?
Charlotte Kominsky has always been my character. You know, she’s the one who stayed when the others were already gone. And I’ve been working with Charlotte for over ten years, and she’s my version in a freer, darker version. Whilst I still have to contain myself when I’m in public, she openly doesn’t care, and she always seeks the truth. And that’s what I love with her.
After, it’s not only about Charlotte. Jean-Marie Duval, the nemesis, impersonates pretty much everything I hate in a human being: the newly-promoted guy who thinks he knows everything better than anyone, who lacks accountability, who is like, talk to my staff if you want something from me, like the perfect piece of work. He’s a deputy-prosecutor but also responsible of a branch of the network that blackmailed Charlotte and Claire, her girlfriend, and this time he faces the person he has to give answers to. So this will lead to some sort of Die Hard ending. In a completely surrealistic way. I mean I’m not gonna say much.
Vasara Romeka is also interesting. She’s a Lithuanian, Russian-background former CIA operative, and she understands the fact that, Charlotte is right but if they proceed by the book, Duval is gonna have his hands free from the network and girls are gonna be blackmailed too, so she becomes the one helping Charlotte to this quest because, both are seeking to destroy Duval no matter what. The character of Vasara has been deeply inspired by someone I knew, who had a fabulous personality and, yeah, I believe it’s also a kind of a tribute I made to the real Vasara. The real respect I had for her.
But I also wanted to show Claire, who is my wife in real life. Claire is a fantastic character, she’s Charlotte “other presence”, the soulmate and, despite the events depicted in the 1st opus, in the second she’s more present, like my wife has been when she arrived in the most troubled period of my life.
What was your process for writing The Sum of All Our Fears?
Well, I’ve been on this book for nearly ten years, but I readapted the story following the 2018 events. At the beginning, the Act I and the Act II were supposed to be a single story, but in the end it would have been far too long. So I split the story.
And as many things changed in ten years, I mean I’m no longer the young eighteen but I’m now twenty-nine, so everything changed. I wrote the main story between 2014 and 2016, but I set the stage even though it was a mere big draft. I let the manuscript to focus on other stories, like the Act I, All the Battles I Have Lost, but also He Fell from Venus, a book about my transition process, where I wanted to explain my transition to those who wondered and asked me questions. Even though this isn’t a subject I like to talk about much.
In the wake of the 2018 events, my wife and I returned to the UK, moving away from Montpellier, and my life changed: I became the manager of a coffee shop, I started my PPL, so Private Pilot Licence, and I’m still learning to fly even though, considering my busy calendar, I’ve got a busy calendar. And two years ago, I took the manuscript back. I kept the main story but in there, first, I relocated the book (it was initially set to take place in Paris but I moved it to Montpellier) and I started developing the events accordingly to draw the story that I will publish on the 12th of February 2024, the anniversary of the six years of my father’s death, to commemorate his early departure.
What is your approach to world and character building?
It’s basically a bit of a strange approach.
You certainly heard the thing “everything you say could and will be used against you in a court of law”. Well, same, everything someone say could be used as an anecdote in Free Expensive Lies.
Vasara is basically the most flagrant example. I had this person I knew and she inspired me. So I was thinking, in real life, she was my manager. But what if, in my story, she’s my sidekick? It’s a bit strange to think this way but I think, it’s quite fun.
Building Charlotte took me nearly eleven years and she’s still the one always changing and growing. For example I’m writing the Act III now, and she’s gonna know some new things, as she had the experience of the Act I and II. What I strive to find with Charlotte is, the truth. The absolute truth. And that’s what Charlotte and I are literally “a match” and that’s why we love each other so much and we can’t get away from one another.
Duval, the nemesis, was largely inspired from the prosecutor who sentenced my father to prison. I’d say he’s like Vasara, another flagrant example. I remember the real prosecutor saying to my father when he was on the 9th of February 2018 in that court in Montpellier, when my father was crying for the tribunal for clemence because he had mental health issues and he needed to follow a treatment, the real guy came to him and said, “yes sir, but welcome to the prison, we’re not a hospital here”. I remember the court laughing at the sarcasm of this guy and… little did he know that my father would die three days later. So all the hate I had for this prosecutor, I reflected it into Jean-Marie Duval. But in the book he’s this time holding accountable for the crimes he did.
How would you describe The Sum of All Our Fears in five words?
Personal, adventurous, revengeful, daring, and hopeful.
Did you have a favourite moment in the book to write?
Well, the chapter when Charlotte finally faces Duval in the Part 3, which is the second part of the book as I want the Free Expensive Lies series to have all chapters following each others regardless of what book they’re into. It was my favourite, but I can’t say more about that here otherwise I’m gonna spoil the story.
I think the chapter I loved writing the most was when Charlotte and Claire are in the Jardins du Peyrou and she asks her to become her wife. I think that was my favourite moment. I also loved writing the moment when Charlotte is in her dream and she faces the mysterious man, or when she interrogates Kelly in the second part. There are so many moments that it’s hard to catch one in particular.
What was your favourite book growing up?
I think my favourite book when I was younger was The Art of War, of Sun Tzu. Okay, it’s short, non fiction, but this book taught me a lot to become the person I am today and, I think every teenagers must read this book. The Prince of Machiavelli is also one of my favourite.
I also loved The Little Prince, more like a children reading but… yeah, one of my favourites book.
Yeah I know. I’m a bit the boring kind.
Do you have a favourite genre to read?
I mostly read non-fiction. I’m not reading fiction because, from what I read, nothing in what is published now is really deeply moving me so, it’s mostly non-fiction.
And to be honest my reading time is considerably reduced considering my other activities.
The Sum of All Our Fears, available now!
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