Interviewing Leon Kastel was not an easy task because of his insistence on anonymity.
I was warned that he would not answer any biographical questions whatsoever.
Mr.
Kastel did agree to talk about his new ebook and about the creative process involved in it's creation.
This new fiction release is a novellette titled "Love or Die Jewel Spa" and is available in Kindle format on Amazon.
I had more reactions to this short piece of crime fiction than I usually have to full novels.
Those reactions, from the surprising incorporation of erotic scenes into the progress of a mystery thriller to the night and day philosophy of principled truth versus practical reality made me read it a second time - much more slowly.
Leon Kastel has introduced himself with "Love or Die Jewel Spa" as a story teller of considerable interest.
Arthur Browning: Mr.
Kastel please tell me where you draw material for your characters in this crime action piece.
Leon Kastel: Arthur, please call me Leon.
All of my characters are composites.
Seldom would I use a single specific personality to inhabit the dynamics of any plot.
I have an affinity for quirky and powerful people who do the right thing in bad situations.
I like to explore why one person draws the line on their thoughts and actions in one area while another person chooses a different line for different reasons.
The idea that believable characters always make normal or socially correct choices is not true.
It's also less interesting.
Normal people doing normal things in normal situations doesn't even work in children's books.
AB: Leon, how did you choose your pen name? LK: A name is a name.
My real name, Leon Kastel, is a chosen name.
Who chose it or why is not important.
I put my name on my books but I like anonymity.
And I think if an author does his or her job that that should be enough.
I don't go for this constant feeding of the media with bits of people's lives - that's why I write fiction.
I am not interested in writing biographies and I don't want to be a living biography either.
AB: Ebooks are a relatively new format, why did you choose to write for Amazon? LK: I have written as a ghost writer in several media venues and I enjoyed that work.
But electronic media is today.
I read ebooks almost exclusively now for fiction and non-fiction - Kindle to PC from Amazon in my case.
I would do television or fictional bit writing for movies before I would do hard copy under a different name.
AB: Leon, one of the cardinal rules for writers is to write what you know.
So the question is, how do you know this material? LK: Okay, Arthur, it's from real life.
My experiences with real people in real situations.
I am not a criminal recounting my memoirs however.
I use pieces of direct experience and interactions with real people.
I am not trying to imitate another genre writer or just meet the expectations of any school of writers with "Love or Die Jewel Spa.
" I am trying to tell a story in my own way.
What ever style I have in that storytelling comes more from life than publishing success formulas.
AB: So who are the authors you read? LK: I like Hemingway, Twain, Steinbeck.
From more contemporary authors I like LeCarre', Puzo, and some of Stephen King.
AB: What kind of writing are you doing now? LK: I will stay with fiction in novellas and novelettes for now.
I still want to work in the crime action genre, but the erotic and sci-fi themes are influencing me too.
I like the sensate and future worlds.
I think a lot about writing books that find humans acting out their anthropological stories in modern and future worlds.
And the balance between sensual, erotic drives and philosophical themes works right into the whole good versus evil thing.
Drawing lines.
Where do people draw their lines? It's different for everyone.
Why they do it is the stuff of psychological mystery.
There are drives, urges, fears and morals to every interaction, wherever the lines are drawn.
AB: How do you handle romance themes in your work? "Love or Die Jewel Spa" was not a romance novel but there are elements of admiration, attraction, mutual respect, erotic sensuality, competition, etc.
LK: Nobody will ever call "Love or Die Jewel Spa" a romance.
I like romantic dynamics - and I want to write more in some different Amazon ebook titles, but I'll never be writing purely romantic stories, especially by the romance formalist rules of creation.
AB: When you talk about mystery in your writing it seems there is less mystery than crime or action in this thriller.
How do you create a crime mystery in "Love or Die Jewel Spa" especially when you as an author, mystery writer in this case, announce major events in your novelette before they happen? LK: I think the mystery here is how and when could those crimes occur.
How a quirky, powerful character could accomplish a crime within a given context.
Why does one character see a crime one way and another character draw the line in a different place.
Sometimes it creates more suspense to tell the reader what will happen, but leave them the questions of why? how? when? who? AB: Leon when will you attempt a heavyweight novel? LK: I'm not sure that I will.
My predisposition is to get in and deliver the story and the moral quickly, as in a novella or novelette.
And the short story isn't interesting for me right now, but I do enjoy writing short stories.
I would be ready to write a series of related novellas before I orchestrate a major novel.
My interest now is to work in the erotic and sci-fi themes to these thrillers.
AB: I hope to see more of crime and action thrillers by author Leon Kastel.
The read was great - that's "Love or Die Jewel Spa".
It's good to have your voice available in the fiction section at Amazon Kindle for ebooks - with sci-fi and erotic themes soon to come.