Title: Backlash: A War of 1812 Novel
Author: Mike Klaassen
Publisher: Bookbaby
ISBN: 9781682229712
Pages: 554
Genre: Historical Fiction
Interviewed by: Lisa Brown-Gilbert
Today we are talking with Mike Klaassen author of “Backlash: A War of 1812 Novel.”
PBR: What factors precipitated your personal journey to becoming a published author?
My inspiration for writing fiction was my wife Carol, who started writing fiction when our sons were very young. Later, when our boys were in middle school, I felt the need to write novels that would interest adolescent males.
PBR: Do you have a favorite genre that you prefer to read?
Purely for pleasure, I read historical fiction. I love being transported back in time with a story that both entertains and puts history into perspective.
PBR: Every writer has a preferred author that they enjoy reading. Who, if anyone, is yours and why?
My favorite authors are Bernard Cornwell and Dewey Lambdin, both of whom write great tales about war in the nineteenth century.
PBR: With your success as a young-adult-fiction author what led you to making the departure from Y.A. to historical fiction?
I had just finished writing my first two young-adult novels, The Brute and Cracks, and was struggling to find a new idea. My sons were grown by then, and it was natural for me to lean toward my favorite genre: historical fiction.
PBR: How did you come up with the idea for writing Backlash: A War of 1812 Novel?
While in New Orleans for a convention, I visited the site of the Battle of New Orleans and realized how little I knew about the War of 1812. I wondered if I could tell the story of the war as a single novel. Fortunately, I had just finished a Tom Clancy novel that served as a model of how to structure an expansive novel with multiple viewpoint characters separated by vast distances. The characters in Backlash are all young adults (or new adults), so the transition from young-adult fiction was minimal.
PBR: What was the greatest challenge to writing Backlash?
Writing Backlash was a much bigger project than I ever imagined. The research spanned over thirty books about the War of 1812, and I visited each of the battle sites depicted in the novel.
PBR: Your characters are both authentic and appealing in Backlash. What process did you use to create these rich characters?
I limited the number of viewpoint characters to the minimum that I could and still cover the geographic breadth of the war. Then I assigned to each whatever characteristics they needed to fill their intended roles, while trying to make each as different as possible. To create an internal plot, I gave each a weakness that needed to be overcome by the end of the story.
PBR: Your book includes great historical detailing, particularly the scenes of wartime violence. How much time went into to researching that period in history?
This was a very time-consuming project, that involved reading, studying, and travel. I also have a daytime job, and I was working on other manuscripts, so writing Backlash was spread over many years. I also learned a lot about writing during that period, and now I write much more efficiently.
PBR: What would be your best advice to up-and-coming authors looking to publish?
Brainstorm for a dozen or more story ideas, then use Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method to develop each idea in to a workable story concept. Pick your favorite and start writing. As rapidly as you can, write a first draft, no matter how bad you think it is (assume all first drafts are junk). Select a book about the craft of writing fiction, study it, then rewrite your manuscript. Keep studying and rewriting until the manuscript is as good as you can get it. Then hire a developmental editor to critique it (try Writer’s Digest 2nd Draft).
PBR: Do you have any new projects that you are currently working on and would like to share?
I’ve found that I can work on one fiction manuscript and one nonfiction manuscript more or less at the same time (each seems to require a different type of energy). I’m currently polishing my third book about the craft of writing fiction and the third in Klaassen’s Classic Folktales, in which I retell fairytales as a novella.
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