After a successful career in mathematics and computer
science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, and
being listed in Who’s Who in Computer
Science and Two Thousand Notable
Americans, James R. Callan turned to his first love—writing. He wrote a monthly column for a national
magazine for two years and published several non-fiction books. He now concentrates on his favorite genre,
mystery/suspense, with his fourth book released in February, 2013.
Can long forgotten, old folk
tales affect the lives of people today? In A Ton of Gold, one certainly
affected young, brilliant Crystal Moore. Two people are killed, others threatened, a house burned and an office
fire-bombed – all because of an old folk tale, greed and ignorance.
On top of that, the man who
nearly destroyed Crystal emotionally is coming back. This time he can destroy her career. She’ll need all the help she can get from a
former bull rider, her streetwise housemate and her feisty 76 year-old
grandmother.
A Ton of Gold
By James R. Callan
From Oak Tree Press, Feb.
2013
Jim, what inspired you to write A
Ton of Gold?
I had long thought about writing a book where the
protagonist was involved in information retrieval. I had done a little research in that area
while working on a Ph.D. and have a son who is a professor directing research
in the area of information retrieval. I thought it might be fun to incorporate
some of that in a novel.
Two years ago, I read an old Texas folk tale about a wagon
load of precious metal being pushed into a lake to avoid having it captured by
the Mexican army. It was an interesting
tale, and I began to wonder, how such a folk tale could affect the lives of
people today.
For some months, these two ideas mulled around in my head and
eventually they merged. I would let
information retrieval bring up the folk tale and people would take action based
on a belief that the story was true. It
is a contemporary novel, but the old folk tale does play a role.
Next, I wanted a bright young woman with some baggage to
take the role of the protagonist. And
her problems of the past come back to attack her once more. Crystal Moore has to overcome these problems,
while confronting the life and death problems brought on by the folk tale.
Clearly, she would need some help to deal with all this. I gave her a former bull rider, a street wise
friend, and a very feisty seventy-six year old grandmother who takes no guff
from anybody. Yes, of course, the
grandmother has a tender heart. Crystal has to grow in the novel, or else she
doesn’t survive.
It was a fun novel to write. Crystal is brilliant in her
chosen field, but naive in many ways. Her street-wise friend, with little
book-learning, provides valuable help to Crystal.
Crystal learns a lot from these three. So did I. In developing these characters, I found myself immersed in their view of
the world. Each of the three has a different point of reference, a different
attitude, a different reaction to the events occurring. In looking at the
situations from varying angles, I broadened my view of the situations. So, I learned as I wrote.
Fascinating plot line, Jim! Isn't it fun to learn and grow along with our characters!
What fun thing might my readers not know about you?
My wife and I like to travel. Our mode is to decide to visit some place and
two weeks later, we are there. We don’t
plan ahead, usually having no reservations except for our air tickets. We rent a car and just see where our fancy
takes us. When we lived in Connecticut,
we often got in the car, drove to a major highway and flipped a coin to decide
whether we went east or west, or perhaps whether we drove north or south. This unplanned mode allows for unexpected
events, most of them a delight. It is
like a good mystery. You don’t know the
outcome, but you enjoy the ride, and are often surprised by the ending.
Yes, I can see how this fun mode of travel fits nicely with your interest in writing mysteries.
Thanks for sharing with my readers today, Jim!
For more information about Jim and his books, visit the following locations:
Website: www.jamesrcallan.com
Blog site: www.jamesrcallan.com/blog
Book website: www.atonofgold.com
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