Noel Hynd Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.  

A.  I’m from New York City originally, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. I’ve written three movies, twenty-four books and hundreds of magazine articles. I wrote for Sports Illustrated for a while, for example. Aside from the current series for Zondervan, my best known books are Flowers From Berlin (a spy thriller) and Ghosts (a supernatural thriller.)

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

A.  When I was a kid. My father, Alan Hynd, was a well-known true-crime writer. One of his books, Brutes, Beast and Human Fiends, is still available on Amazon, e-book and paper. Writing has always had a stronger appeal for me than honest work. 😉 In the course of my father’s career, he was poisoned once, kidnapped once, and threatened constantly by people he wrote about. So I decided writing fiction might be a little less nerve-wracking.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?  

A. Sure. The biggest highlight was probably that first contract, then 18 months later walking down 5^th Avenue in New York City and seeing my first novel, Revenge, in a bookstore window.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release. 

A. Payback in Panama is the 3^rd book in the second trilogy based on Alex LaDuca. She’s my heroine, works against financial crimes around the world, and has a strong Christian sense of values to rely on.  Her values are not something she exhibits to the world, or even to people around her. She is, in fact, quiet about them. But they are there and they are what enables her to make wise decisions, survive and live with herself.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for Payback in Panama?

A:  I’m not sure inspiration is the word, but it’s a continuing story, following Alex. I merely brought this chapter of her life to its conclusion….I suppose I should say here, that I don’t write novels in the traditional way. A tiny event in Book 2 of a trilogy might mushroom into a huge event in Book 3. But life is like that, isn’t it? Something that happens when you’re, say 27, something you do, someone you meet, might not be important until you’re maybe 32. That’s what I try to reflect in my Christian fiction: stay with your beliefs, keep moving forward, keep an eye on the big picture. We all live in a continuing story, so to speak…..

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?

A:  Tenacity, perseverance and a strong moral compass do no one any harm.

Q: What is your favorite scene/chapter from the book?

A:  Oh, there’s a nice wedding, but I’m not going to spoil anything.

Q: What inspires you to write?  

A.   I just like doing it. I have more ideas than I have time to write. Someone asked me what I planned to do when I retired. I said, “write a book.” J

Q: How has being a published novelist differed from your expectations of the profession?  

A:   I’ve been doing this for 35 years, so there aren’t many surprises any more……..I guess what I never knew in advance was how it’s just as hard to remain published as to get published for the first time.

Q: What advice or tips do you have for writers who are just getting started?

A:  They’d probably do best publishing themselves, but with some editorial guidance. Build a following, don’t feel you have to make a ton of $$$$. And write what interests you….

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?  

A: You dare to ask?….. 😉 Okay. You’ll be sorry…..I’ve started my own small publishing imprint, Red Cat Tales, and am acquiring a list of fiction and graphic novels to publish, some of which I’ve translated from French or Spanish into English. Red Cat also publishes my early backlist of books from 1975 to 2004. There’s a wonderful French language series titled Djinn created by two friends, Ana Miralles, a brilliant Spanish artist and illustrator and Jean Dufaux, a fabulous Belgian writer of graphic novels. I’ve visited both of them in France and Spain in the last 12 months and they inspire me. I’m adapting Djinn as a novel and their publisher, an excellent French-Belgian house named Les Editions Dargaud, has hired me to translate the graphic novel into English…….I’m also working with a wonderful young French artist named Karine Stader to create a couple of illustrated books, one of which will contain a new ghost story written by me, based on the poems of Charles Baudelaire. Karine is creating 20 original drawings which will illustrate 20 (newly translated) poems from Les Fleurs du Mal. I’m also intent on continuing the Alex LaDuca trilogies. Then, also on the radar screen, I’m working on a sequel to my biggest seller Flowers From Berlin, which has more than 1,000,000 copies sold since its original publication in 1987. It’s called Return to Berlin, follows the same main character from Flowers From Berlin and is a World War II thriller, set in late 1942.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?  

A: After that, you think I have extra time? Just kidding. I read, watch baseball, cook, feed my four cats, swim, run, watch Spanish soccer on cable (I’m a fan of Atleti de Madrid), travel and hang out with my beautiful wife. I am, in other words, blessed and extremely fortunate. I also go to Honduras for one week every year where I’m part of a medical missionary team. It’s a project very close to my heart. We visit four isolated underserved villages and bring doctors, nurses and one ton of medicines and medical equipment. The work is organized through the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, CA, and organized by All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, CA. We see about 1200 patients in 4 clincs. We make a difference in their lives and the trip makes a difference in mine.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet? 

A.  On Facebook, where I love to meet my readers. I’m easy to find. How many people are named “Noel Hynd.” Also, anyone can write to me at NH1212f@yahoo.com. I answer everything personally.

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?

A.  I’d probably get in some sort of trouble answering that. 😉 Nope. But thanks for the chance to be part of The Suspense Zone.