Steve: Today I have the honor of interviewing author Geza Tatrallyay. This man of the world, scholar, and gentleman writes thrillers, memoirs, poetry, and children’s picture storybooks. Readers can visit his website https://www.gezatatrallyay.com/, but this interview will provide even more insight about this talented and versatile writer.

Geza’s essential data:

Steve: Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Geza? You’ve had an interesting life!

Geza: I was born in Budapest, Hungary, and escaped with my family in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution, immigrating to Canada that same year. I grew up in Toronto, attending the University of Toronto Schools, where I was School Captain.

I graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Human Ecology in 1972 (after taking a break in my studies to work as a host in the Ontario Pavilion at Expo’70 in Osaka, Japan). I was selected as a Rhodes Scholar from Ontario, attending Oxford University and graduating with a BA/MA in Human Sciences in 1974; I completed my studies with a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Politics in 1975. I represented Canada as an epée fencer in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

My professional experience has included stints in government, international organizations, finance, and environmental entrepreneurship. Since 2004, I have been semi-retired, managing a few investments mainly in the clean energy sector and devoting himself to my family and my writing.

I am a citizen of both Canada and Hungary, a green card holder with an American wife, a daughter living in San Francisco, and a son in Nairobi. I currently divide my time between Barnard, Vermont, and San Francisco.

Steve: Wow! Impressive. You have a lot to write about. Can you describe some of that writing?

Geza: Sure. My first novel was Arctic Meltdown (2011), a political/environmental thriller. My “Twisted” trilogy is comprised of the international crime thrillers Twisted Reasons (Deux Voiliers, 2014), Twisted Traffick (Black Opal Books, 2017), and Twisted Fates (Black Opal Books, 2018). Rainbow Vintner is an international thriller about the rise of jihadist terrorism and the extreme far right in France (to be published by Black Opal Books in late 2018).

The first book in “The Cold War Escape Trilogy,” For the Children, is the narrative memoir of my escape from Hungary and immigration to Canada (Editions Dedicaces, 2015).  Other books in that series are The Expo Affair, a memoir of three Czechoslovak girls who approached me during Expo70, the world’s fair in Osaka, Japan, to help them defect to Canada (Guernica Editions, 2016); and The Fencers, a memoir of a Romanian-Hungarian fencer who approached me to help him defect at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where I represented Canada as an epee fencer (currently under consideration by several publishers).

My poetry collections are: Cello’s Tears (P.R.A. Publishing, 2015), Sighs and Murmurs (P.R.A. Publishing, 2018), and Extinction (a collection of poems under consideration by several publishers).

My two children’s picture storybooks are The Waffle and the Pancake (to be published by Bayeux Arts in September 2018), and How Rudolf’s Nose Turned Red (looking for a publisher).

Geza on Reading and Writing:

Steve: Why, how, and when did you start writing?

Geza: I started writing poetry in my teens, actually first in Hungarian and then in English. I wrote down the story of my family’s escape from Hungary in my late twenties, but only really polished it into a publishable memoir in 2014-15. I began writing thrillers after we moved to Vienna in 2004, where I started Twisted Reasons (much inspired by The Third Man, Graham Greene’s novella and the eponymous movie set in Vienna), but it took me ten years to get it published. Along the way I self-published Arctic Meltdown in 2011 because I got impatient with the publishing industry and felt the story had to get out.

Steve: Did you publish the first book you wrote?

Geza: I self-published Arctic Meltdown, but I had actually started working on other books earlier.

Steve: What is your biggest problem with the writing process? How do you tackle it?

Geza: Polishing, until the writing is perfect. I get bored with continual editing but know it has to be done.

Steve: Do you feel writing is something you need to do or want to do?

Geza: I love the creative process—it is really a passion, more than anything else.

Steve: Have your personal experiences or situations influenced you creatively? If so, how?

Geza: Absolutely. I write memoirs, which are based on personal experiences. Also, I weave a lot of experiences in my life into my thrillers, base my characters on people I know, and set episodes in places I have lived in or visited. My poetry was significantly influenced by my year in Japan—I experimented with Japanese forms such as haiku and tanka and still love writing in these poetic forms.

Steve: How much of your creative ability do you think is innate and how much is learned?

Geza: I don’t think you can really separate the two. What is innate is enhanced by experience and learning.

Steve: What is the last book you read? What are you reading now?

Geza: The last book I finished was The Honest Spy, a terrific book based on a true story. Highly recommend it. I am currently reading Mine, a book by J.L. Butler coming out soon that I am reviewing for the New York Journal of Books.

Steve: Who are your favorite authors?  Whose writing inspires you the most and why?

Geza: Graham Greene. John Le Carré. Stieg Larsson. Philip Kerr. Their plots are well-crafted; difficult to stop reading them. I love Kerr partly because of the research that goes into his novels—there is always some learning—but also the plots are thrilling and suspenseful.

Steve: What’s the last book to make you laugh?  Cry?

Geza: Laugh: Carl Hiaasen’s Skinny Dip. Cry: Anne Applebaum’s Red Famine.

Steve: Should writers read in their genre?  Should they be avid readers?

Geza: Yes to both.

Steve: How do you find (discover) your plots?

Geza: For my memoirs, they are real experiences. For my thrillers, the plots often come to me when I am pondering current global situations. Thus Arctic Meltdown arose out of thoughts on the melting of the polar ice cap and the possible ensuing conflict, Twisted Reasons and the other books in the trilogy came out of the perception that nuclear material would be very easy to steal from one of the sites in Russia where international efforts are underway to stockpile it, and The Rainbow Vintner came from the perception that a right-wing plot might very well overthrow an inept leftist government in France.

Steve: Are your characters based on real people?

Geza: Yes. If not totally, they are often composites.

Steve: How do you name your characters?

Geza: Names just come to me.

Steve: Which comes first for you, plot or characters?

Geza: Usually, the plot. But often the characters I create will influence the plot.

Steve: Any comments about writing dialog?

Geza: Read it out loud several times after you put it on paper.

Steve: How do you handle POV?

Geza: I usually write in the third person, except for the memoirs, of course.  Where I have several main characters, I do switch POV, but I try to restrict this to different chapters.

Steve: Do you do fact-finding for (AKA research) your books?  If so, how? What sources do you use?

Geza: I do a lot of research. I find my sources via Google. When I can, I visit locations I write about, especially if I am unfamiliar with them. When not possible, Google maps can take me there visually.

Geza on the Writing Business:

Steve: Do you use a formatter?  Editor?  Agent?

Geza: I have used an editor, but generally my publishers provide both a structural and copy editor for editing. I have given up on agents.

Steve: Do you self-publish or traditionally publish?

Geza: I self-published one thriller (Arctic Meltdown) because I got fed up with the slowness of the publishing process, but the rest of my books are traditionally published by small and medium-sized presses.

Steve: What are your most effective marketing techniques?  Where would you like to improve?  Do you go it alone or seek professional help (outside what your publisher provides, if appropriate).

Geza: Best is direct marketing at book fairs, especially when you can get a slot as a speaker. I continue to use social media but find it a muddle and impossible to track its effectiveness. I do not fork out money for ads, reviews, readers—the only thing I have paid for are contest entry fees.

Steve: Do you release trade paperbacks or ebooks or both?

Geza: Both.

Steve: What do you think of publishing services like Amazon, Smashwords, etc?  What about small presses v. large, traditional publishers?

Geza: They all serve a need in the evolving publishing industry. Large, traditional publishers will not even respond to authors unless they have a proven bestselling track record. I am trying to move up the scale from small to medium presses.

Geza answering personal questions:

Steve: What is your favorite place to eat out?  Favorite food?  Drink?

Geza: Favorite food: poppy seed strudel. Drink: red wine.

Steve: What are your favorite other places, either here or abroad? What places would you like to visit?

Geza: I love Vienna, where I lived for five years. Italy for its food and wine. Traveling in South America. Chile, Argentina, Peru, etc. are terrific. I want to go back. Guatemala is a gorgeous little country, as is Bhutan. Greenland was also an amazing trip when I went there to do research for Arctic Meltdown. I would like to go to Tibet.

Steve: What other interests and activities do you have besides writing?

Geza: Travel. We hike a lot and generally exercise to stay fit. I used to fence a lot but gave it up after the Olympics, but I still like big international sporting events. I also read a lot. Good food and wine. My family, now the grandchildren.

Steve: What was the last movie you went to see?  If your book(s) were to be made into a movie, who would you want to play your main characters?

Geza: Red Sparrow. George Clooney would do a good job as Greg Martens in the Twisted trilogy.

Steve: What would I find in your refrigerator right now?

Geza: Lots of rosé and white wine. Cherries. Berries. Vegetables. Cheeses. Milk. Kefir. Juices. Probably fish for dinner. Condiments that need to be refrigerated.

Steve: If you could trade places with someone for a week, famous or not, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Geza: Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis).

Steve: What is your favorite (song) and why?  Piece of music?  Theater work? Movie?  Piece of art?

Geza: Song: Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, but I guess also the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.” The first for its sublime tragic beauty, the second for the fun memories it brings back. Music: Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde; Franz Liszt’s piano concertos. Theater: Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen. Movie: The Third Man, with Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, etc. Piece of art: Vermeer’s The Guitar Player.

Steve: I want to thank you, Geza, for being so informative and candid with your answers. You certainly have had an interesting life and been around the world and back.  I’m sure readers of this interview will want to read some of your books and poems. I know I do.  (Again, Geza’s website is https://www.gezatatrallyay.com/)

***

Comments are welcome!

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In libris libertas!

 

 

 

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