Beside a Burning Sea (43 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Without question, writing a novel is one of the hardest and most enjoyable processes that I have experienced. The joy stems from a profound sense of discovery and creation. The struggle is akin to being lost and alone in a forest and trying to emerge into a light that exists miles away.

I think most novelists would say that writing is a solitary affair. Characters and themes are constant musings that are rarely shared. Not surprising, the struggle to breathe life into such elements is often void of the camaraderie found in so many other occupations.

And yet writers wouldn’t be able to write if not for the support of family, friends, readers, and colleagues. I certainly couldn’t.

My parents, Patsy and John, inspired my love of reading and travel, for which I will be forever grateful. Equally significant, they taught me of the importance of giving and goodwill. My brothers, Tom, Matt, and Luke, are a wonderful source of pride and happiness. My wife, Allison, has always believed in my dreams and has done her best to make those dreams become realities. And our children, Sophie and Jack, remind me of why the world remains a beautiful place.

My sincere thanks go out to my fantastic editor, Kara Cesare, and everyone else at Penguin. I’m delighted and honored to have such a fine publishing house behind my works. My agent, Laura Dail, has been a marvelous blessing and, as far as I’m concerned, is the best in the business.

In one way or another, the following people have been of immense support: Mary and Doug Barakat, Bruce McPherson, Laura Love, Tracey Zeeck, Pete Kotz, Denise McNamee, Marjorie Weber, Eriq La-Salle, Terri Lubaroff, Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Amy Tan, Wendy Art-man, Sandra Dallas, Kara Welsh, Dustin O’Regan, Hank Nerwin, and Donna Gritzo.

And, of course, I would be terribly remiss not to thank all of the readers, librarians, reviewers, and booksellers who have been so kind as to champion
Beneath a Marble Sky
and
Beside a Burning Sea
. I’m forever indebted to such friends.

DEAR READER

When my first novel,
Beneath a Marble Sky
, was published as a paperback in 2006, I decided that I wanted to try and give something back to readers. After all, if people were going to buy my novel, tell their friends about it, and lend me their support, the least I could do was to be supportive in return. I opted to place a letter at the end of
Beneath a Marble Sky
that invited book clubs to invite me to participate in their discussions. I included my e-mail address. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how my proposal would be received, though I had a hunch that readers wished for such interaction.

I was fortunate in that over the following few months,
Newsweek
magazine and the
CBS Evening News
did stories on my book club program. And as a result of this publicity, I was inundated with requests to talk with book clubs. In fact, over the course of the ensuing year, I spoke (usually via speakerphone) with more than one thousand book clubs. Most of these clubs were based in the United States, though I spoke with groups from Canada to Zambia. And while most clubs were fairly traditional in their approach, others decided to wear saris, cook Indian food, hire henna painters—thereby getting into the spirit of
Beneath a Marble Sky
.

Chatting with more than one thousand book clubs gave me a true appreciation for how carefully people read books. Time and time again, readers greatly impressed me with their insightful questions. As a result, I learned to never take the reader for granted. If people are going to invest hard-earned money into a book, and then take the time to read it, they deserve to experience something memorable.

I hope that
Beside a Burning Sea
moved you. I certainly tried to create a lasting story. I remain delighted to receive and respond to e-mail. Just drop me a line at [email protected].

I’d like to end this note by expressing my profound gratitude to readers. Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

Beside A Burning Sea

JOHN SHORS

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN SHORS

Q. During your conversations with more than one thousand book clubs, what have been some of your more memorable moments?

A. The conversations were fantastic, of course. But even more so have been the letters and e-mails that I received afterward. These contained wonderful messages, as well as photos of the groups (oftentimes with members wearing saris and covered in henna paintings).

Q. What’s something that you learned about book clubs during your many visits with them?

A. I was quite surprised at the diversity of the book clubs I encountered. Not in terms of race or religion or political orientation, but in their approach to discussing
Beneath a Marble Sky
. For instance, some book clubs would take a rather studious approach, and come prepared with a variety of insightful questions. Other groups would be well into their third round of margaritas. I was never really sure what kind of group I’d be talking with.

Q. Why did you decide to write a novel set in World War II?

A. I’ve always been fascinated by World War II. And I’ve felt that in the West we’ve tended to focus on the war in Europe. Having lived in

Asia for several years, I’ve been intrigued by the intricacies of the war in that part of the world.

Q. Was it hard to go from writing about the Taj Mahal in
Beneath a Marble Sky
to World War II in
Beside a Burning Sea
?

A. I think that transitioning from one book to another is a difficult process. After spending such a long time writing
Beneath a Marble Sky
, I became quite connected to its characters. And having to create a batch of new characters for
Beside a Burning Sea
felt somewhat like learning a new language. The voices in both novels are fairly unique, I believe, and giving life to such voices was a time-consuming process.

Q. Your first novel took place in India, and your second novel occurred in the South Pacific. Why do you like to write novels set overseas?

A. I was lucky enough to grow up reading, and have consumed a couple of books a week for most of my life. I have always most enjoyed novels that took me to a new place, and that taught me something. Such novels prompted me to explore much of the world, in fact. And after visiting so many wonderful places, I decided that I wanted to share such locales with my readers.

Q. To that end, where will your next novel be set?

A. It will take place in modern-day Saigon, and will involve a variety of characters from different parts of the world. The story is quite close to my heart, and I’m excited to see it unfold.

Q. What did you most enjoy about writing
Beside a Burning Sea
?

A. The challenge of creating a setting—of fashioning a time and place of my own design—is immensely gratifying to me. I want my readers to feel as if they’ve visited the environs that I describe, and giving my novels the necessary richness to achieve that goal is a rewarding challenge. Of course, I also greatly enjoy the process of creating the overall story, and then of sitting down and actually bringing that story to life.

Q. For you, what is the hardest thing about writing?

A. I tend to edit my novels a lot, as I want them to be as good as possible. And sometimes it takes a great deal of willpower to try and focus on rereading my novel for, say, the twentieth time. I console myself with the knowledge that each edit makes the book better, but that doesn’t make each edit any easier.

Q. Poetry plays a prominent role in
Beside a Burning Sea.
Why did you decide to add this element to your novel?

A. Having lived in Japan, I’ve long had an appreciation for the simple beauty of haikus. Starting each chapter of
Beside a Burning Sea
with a haiku (written from Akira’s perspective) was fun for me as a writer. I hope readers enjoy these musings. Additionally, I felt that poetry—or a love of such inward exploration—was a thread that could be used to connect Annie and Akira.

Q. How much of your success do you attribute to the book club program that you launched with your first novel?

A. Publishing is an extremely competitive industry. A great number of good books exist, but many simply don’t sell. The fact that
Beneath a Marble Sky
is available in fifteen languages and is selling briskly throughout much of the world is due in large part to all of the wonderful book clubs that I spoke with. These clubs (as well as individual readers, of course) have been tremendously supportive of me, and have really championed my novel.

Q. Are there any other thoughts that you’d like to share with your readers?

A. Simply that I continue to be grateful for their support.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the significance of the title
Beside a Burning Sea
. Additionally, the original title was
The Poet Makers
. Which title do you prefer? Why?

2. Did
Beside a Burning Sea
provide you with a better understanding of World War II? If so, how?

3. Would you consider
Beside a Burning Sea
an antiwar novel?

4. Who was your favorite character and why?

5. Are you interested in learning more about haikus?

6. Is this a novel that would lend itself well to the silver screen? If so, who would you imagine playing the various characters?

7. Are you more interested in reading a novel set somewhere you haven’t been, or would you prefer a locale that you’re familiar with?

8. What do you think was the biggest challenge that John Shors faced when writing
Beside a Burning Sea
?

9. Did you connect more with Annie or Isabelle? Why?

10. Of the three main relationships in the novel (Annie and Akira, Isabelle and Joshua, Ratu and Jake), which did you most enjoy? For what reasons?

11. How effective was the character Roger as a villain?

12. What was your favorite scene within
Beside a Burning Sea
?

Watch for the next poignant, provocative novel from bestselling author John Shors

In the Footsteps of Dragons

Coming from New American Library in September 2009

Set in modern-day Vietnam,
In the Footsteps of Dragons
tells the tale of two Americans who, as a way of healing their own painful pasts, open a center to support and educate Vietnamese street children. Learning from the poorest of the poor, the most silent of the unheard, the Americans find themselves reborn in an exotic land filled with corruption and chaos, sacrifice and beauty. Resounding with powerful themes of suffering, love, and redemption,
In the Footsteps of Dragons
brings together East and West, war and peace, and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.

After graduating from Colorado College,
John Shors
lived for several years in Kyoto, Japan, where he taught English. On a shoestring budget, he later trekked across Asia, visiting ten countries and climbing the Himalayas. After returning to the United States, he became a newspaper reporter in his hometown, Des Moines, Iowa, winning several statewide awards in journalism. John then moved to Boulder, Colorado, and helped launch GroundFloor Media, now one of the state’s largest public-relations firms. John’s first novel,
Beneath a Marble Sky
, was a
Fore Word
magazine “Book of the Year” and is available in fifteen languages.

John has been lucky enough to spend much of his life abroad, traveling in Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, Africa, and North America. Recently achieving his lifelong dream of becoming a full-time novelist, John spends his days writing and going on family outings with his wife, Allison, and their two young children, Sophie and Jack.
Beside a Burning Sea
is his second novel.