Interview With Samuel Endicott Author of Molly Lake

Author: Samuel Endicott

ISBN: 0741424207

The following interview was conducted by: NORM GOLDMAN: Editor of Bookpleasures &CLICK TO VIEW Norm Goldman's Reviews

To read Norm's  review of the book CLICK HERE

Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Samuel Endicott, author ofMolly Lake.

Good day Samuel and thank you for agreeing to participate in our interview.

Norm:

How did you get the inspiration for Molly Lake and how did you come up with ideas for the book? What methods did you use to flesh out your ideas?

Samuel:

The inspiration for the novel came from several sources. The first was my professional responsibility to teach terrain analysis and integration to students at the Command and General Officer Staff Course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

When answering a fellow faculty member’s concerns about the technique, I decided to illustrate my lesson plan (and argument) by looking for a battle whereby the victor surprised his adversary… and had the defeated general used the techniques we were teaching at CGSOC, he wouldn’t have been surprised.

I wrote an article for publication that argued that very point. I immediately chose the battle on the Plains of Abraham that pitted the English & American army under James Wolfe against the French & Canadian army under Montcalm.  That was how I became interested in Quebec.

After finishing the article and the teaching assignment, I didn’t think about Quebec again for a couple of years.  When I started to pick up books about Wolfe’s siege again I began to realize the many difficulties Montcalm faced with the Canadian authorities.

Louis Bougainville’s Wilderness Journal laid out the myriad criminal activity of the corrupt colonial administration. After reading the wonderful historian Robert Leckie’s musings that treachery may have been involved in Wolfe’s surprise attack, I decided to incorporate the theory into a fictional avenue to layout who had the motive, means, and opportunity to betray New France.

Another source of inspiration was a two-year coaching stint with a private high school girls’ tennis team. I found myself coaching eight outstanding young women and got to know them pretty well from spending untold hours on the practice court and during their matches.  Molly Lake’s personality and determination is based on those eight athletes. 

I used numerous methods to flesh out the plot, scenes, descriptions, and characters. For example, I used an easel-sized calendar and color coded blue the actual historical events during that dramatic summer of 1759. In red, I penned in the fictional events. In this way I could plan my characters movements and have them in the right place and time.  I also researched the weather using many books and official accounts, and in the novel, if it is raining on a Tuesday night, it actually rained in 1759 on that Tuesday night.

While I did not outline the book (other than knowing how it would begin and end), I employed a technique called Mind Mapping for many scenes. An example that springs to mind is Molly’s visit to the French assassin in the ship’s brig in Part I. I was careful to get Molly asking the right questions and Captain d’Alquier providing her (and the reader) important information about her mother’s location and captors.

Finally, at times I allowed the story to take me in unexpected directions. An example is Putty Gordon’s confrontation with Molly’s cannon team after he lashes Molly for dropping the training charge. I had intended for Putty to be a villain throughout, but when he showed me that he had sense of self-deprecating humor I decided then and there that Molly would try to turn Putty’s life around.

Norm:

What challenges or obstacles did you encounter while writing your book? How did you overcome these challenges?       

Samuel:

There were three challenges to writing Molly Lake.

The first was my editor… she is top notch, but when I took her Part I to read and edit, her response was underwhelming. “Don’t quit your day job,” was her reaction.  She was sure I would go away at that point, but I surprised her by doggedly doing rewrites and returning to her doorstep like a bad penny.

After I fixed her concerns and demonstrated some writing skill her opinion of me as a writer did a ‘one eighty’ and she became my strongest advocate. On my behalf, she contacted literary agents she knew.  In fact, she and I had an on-going debate over whether to publish Molly as four novellas or combining them into one novel. My sense said to go with one book.

The next challenge came in the form of life threatening Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. During the writing of Part II, I was diagnosed in stage 3-B. I don’t want to become syrupy on you, but my immediate and extended family (my wife, siblings, and first cousins) wrapped their loving arms about me and refused to let me go quietly into the night. But fighting cancer did set me back for about ten months. That was four years ago and now just a bad memory.        

Finally, and many writers struggle with this, I had to overcome self-doubt. Could I tell my story in an entertaining way? Would others care about events 246 years ago as much as I do?

Norm:

Did the writing of Molly Lake have a broader mission than simply entertaining or storytelling? If so, can you tell us more about that mission?

Samuel:          

I started writing to simply entertain. Of course, if a reader soaked up some history that was a bonus. But as my research showed the possibility of treachery, a sense of indignation swelled in my breast, and when I heard a Canadian ask, “Was Montcalm a bad general or simply unlucky?” I thought to myself that I must include the treason angle… well, the novel’s subplot is about Intendant Bigot’s slide into the government’s criminal circle.  I think historical fiction is the appropriate venue for delving into the treason issue.

Norm:

How did you approach writing the character of Molly? Did you plan her out or did she evolve as you wrote the book?

Samuel:

Molly evolved as did my entire approach. As I just stated, I began writing simply to entertain by creating an epic tale of an action hero. But during the writing process, the novel grew into a celebration of the bond of loyalty among fighting men and women. My respect and reverence for the soldiers I served beside in the U.S. Army made it impossible to describe violence in cartoon terms. So Molly Lake has an edgy reality that one doesn’t associate with young adult literature.

Norm:

What would you say is Molly’s biggest strength? Her greatest weakness?

Samuel:

Clearly Molly’s greatest strengths are her ability to think on her feet and the determination to reunite her fractured family. By focusing on the reunification of her family with laser-like concentration, Molly triumphs over adversity.  Her greatest weakness is her allowing her personal preference for spending time with Jean-Luc to overshadow her mission.

Norm:

You include some very detailed dialogues in the book, between Molly and General Wolfe as well as others. Where did that dialogue come from?

Samuel:          

The dialogue came from my twenty years of associating with professional soldiers… from knowing what they care about… how they behave, and since your question specifically deals with dialogue, how they speak to each other.  The novel’s realistic dialogue is one of its strengths.

Norm:

Did you have a particular audience in mind when you wrote Molly Lake?

Samuel:

I did. I wanted to write a novel for young adult women. However, I am finding that adults as well as teens are enjoying Molly’s adventures in colonial Quebec.

Norm:

Who are your favorite authors, and why do they inspire you?

Samuel:

Three authors spring to mind.  Because my mother loved mysteries and detective stories, she got me hooked on Agatha Christie when I was about ten years old. Whenever I reread one of her books, I focus on her characters’ dialogue. Of course, Robert Louis Stevenson continues to influence me. In fact, I included illustrations in Molly Lake because Stevenson had such beautiful drawings in Treasure Island and they added to my enjoyment of his book.  Finally, I have to include Al Avery. If he isn’t a familiar name, he wrote a series of patriotic books during WW II about American fighter pilots… the Yankee Flier series. I was a boy in the 1950’s and that war was more recent than the first Gulf War is today. Avery inspired me to think of writing and he got me daydreaming about being a soldier. I would like to have that kind of impact on a young person. Today’s military is an outstanding career path.

Norm:

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

Samuel:

I’d like your readers to know that I’m researching Molly’s next adventure.  I intend to do a Molly Lake epilog to give some closure to the Canadian criminals that fled to France after New France fell. I think readers will want to know if Molly and Jean-Luc reunite. And I am starting work on a Molly Lake adventure in New York City society that will find her assisting General Washington army while mingling with Tory socialites and British General Clinton.           

Thanks once again and good luck with your book.