You are a full-time writer and producer for TV series,
most recently the Fox TV series Lie to Me. Clearly you love
writing. How are you able to write both for work and fun?
I'm sure a few years of therapy might answer it more
accurately than I can answer it here, but the short answer
is fairly simple: Everything, including our lives, as Anne
points out in the book, is just a story "in the mind of God."
What better way to live a varied and interesting life than
to research and invent characters and places? I have the
unique opportunity to create worlds that I would like to live
in and explore without actually going through the trouble of
changing the one I was born into.
There is a definite cinematic feel to the novel. If your
book is made into a movie, which actors could you see
playing the main characters Sean and Michael?
As a screenwriter and producer, I might answer that
question very differently than I would as an audience member.
I would also answer it differently from an authentic Irish
perspective as opposed to a Hollywood financial perspective.
Fortunately, Michael and Sean can be Irish-American, so
Hollywood can have their stars in those roles without losing
credibility. The best possible version I can think of at this
moment, that combines the ability of the actors, authenticity,
and bankability would be: as Michael, either Johnny Depp
or Leonardo DiCaprio, as both can pull off Irish looks and
the inherent leading man/New York cop attitude; Sean, being
the younger role, is a bit more difficult, but obviously Daniel
Radcliffe can both act and draw a crowd, and Skander Keynes
and William Mosley convey the right combination of naïve
vulnerability and idealism.
What do you hope readers will take away from
Until the Next Time?
I truly hope that anything I write, especially Until the Next
Time, will make people think, question their underlying
beliefs, and develop a perspective on the way they live that is
not fundamentally rigid. I would hope to open their eyes to the
inherent mystery and beauty that surrounds us every day but
we often don't notice, focused as we are on this one moment
in time. As this may be asking for a bit much from most
readers, I'd be satisfied if they take away enough enjoyment
to recommend it to others and to re-read the novel in order
to find the other layers and themes that I tried to establish.
If they can see the novel itself as a literary "Celtic knot" and
unravel it strand by strand, following where they lead, to other
works, ideas, and philosophies, I would be more than satisfied. <next page> |