W. L. Liberman - Action Packed Sleuth Stories From the Sixties

W. L. Liberman - Action Packed Sleuth Stories From the Sixties
author of the day

W.L. Liberman is a man with many talents. He has published nine novels, five graphic novels and a children’s storybook. Liberman is also the founding editor and publisher of TEACH Magazine; www.teachmag.com, and has worked as a television producer and on-air commentator. As our author of the day, Liberman reveals the inspiration behind Looking for Henry Turner, why he has a soft spot for the 1960s and talks about why family ties and loyalty to friends are so important in life.

Please give us a short introduction to what Looking For Henry Turner is about:

Setting: Toronto, 1960.

Mo Gold and Arthur Birdwell aka Birdie, are fish out of water.   Mo—Jewish and sardonic. Birdie—Black, thoughtful and gargantuan—a Caribbean prince. Private detectives. Henry Turner disappeared eight years ago. Without a trace. His mother wants him back. Mo and Birdie try to find him. They search high and low.  Henry has become the invisible man.

Mo has family issues. His brother, Eli, is a rotten gambler and in hock to John Fat Gai—the city’s most notorious Chinese gangster.  

Mo’s father, Jake, is in prison on a manslaughter beef. When Jake breaks out of the Don jail, all hell breaks loose. 

Two women, Adele Rosewell and Evelyn Scott, beguile Mo. His heart and body suffer. 

The city is known as Toronto the Good. Mo never sees that side.

Why 1960 Toronto? What is it about the time period that fascinates you?

I came of age in the 60’s and it is a nostalgic period for me. It was a period of transition certainly with much social upheaval as norms changed, culture changed, music and art etc. I’m attracted to the turbulence of that time and naturally the tragedies that helped define the period. The two main characters in the book, however, remain constant, buffeted by change but steadfast in who they are.

How much research did you have to do to make the history for this piece ring true? And what was the most interesting aspect of your research?

Actually, the research was fairly basic, almost minimal as I grew up in the city and am familiar with the environment. Research consisted mostly of fact checking. I would say that is unusual, however, but in this case, the closeness of the time and place allowed me to focus primarily on telling the story.

What inspired your two main characters, Mo and Birdie? Do they resemble any persons you know in real life? Why do you think they work so well together?

The character of Mo is reminiscent of a number of guys I knew growing up, so he became a kind of composite of them. As for Birdie, he is modelled somewhat on a fellow I worked with some years back. He was and is a gentle giant, wickedly intelligent with a great sense of humor. The bond between the characters is forged in the back story that explores their experiences during the Second World War. At some point, more of that story will be told in a subsequent book or books. 

Family ties and loyalty to friends are important themes in your book. Why?

Family informs and shapes us, makes us who we are. I’m attracted to characters that work against adversity or are forged out of conflict. Mo may not care much for his father, for example, but he can’t dismiss him entirely either. His father has some kind of hold on him. In human relationships, loyalty is one of the most important values and characteristics. The reassurance of knowing that at least one person will support you regardless of any circumstance, is vitally important. It affirms your place in the world.

What is your favorite line from the book? What does it mean to you?

"Those in the know assumed one of Pinky’s deals had come back to haunt him in a terminal manner."

This isn’t my favorite line but one of a number. I like the use of irony here as well as some sarcasm. Mo tends to be sarcastic but it also shields a certain vulnerability. His use of language is a defence mechanism.

What do you hope readers will take from the book?

I hope readers will enjoy the story, that they’ll keep turning the pages and by the end, want to read more. I hope they come away with some insight into what Toronto might have been like back in 1960 and I hope they are attracted to the main characters.

You also write graphic novels. How different is it from doing something like looking for henry turner?

Graphic novels start from a completely different place. The visual is all-important and the text or dialogue supports the illustration. The vast majority of the story is told through the images. Rather than going from line to line, word to word, you are thinking about images, perspective, angle, lighting and so on. Conceptually, the two processes diverge pretty dramatically. Paring text to the bare minimum, to its essence is vital and quite difficult when you are used to writing long form text more regularly. Having said that, graphic novels are fun and challenging in a different way. It’s a great feeling to see what you’ve conceived come to life through the illustrations.

What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

Show, don’t tell.

What is it like to be an author?

I believe in the power of story telling but am not a fan of the often excruciating psychic pain required to bring stories to life. Truthfully, years of effort and of pure, unadulterated toil is demanded. Not to sugar coat it, of course, writing is a serious endeavor. It is plain, hard work. If you’ve slogged away at construction work, at lumber jacking, delivery work, forest rangering, sandwich making, truck driving, house painting, among other things, as I have, writing is far and beyond more rigorous and exhausting. At the end of a long, often tedious, usually mind cracking process, some individual you don’t know pronounces judgment and that judgment is usually a resounding ‘No’. This business of writing is about perseverance and stick-to-it-iveness. When you get knocked down and for most of us, this happens frequently, you take a moment to reflect, to self-pity, then get back at it. You need dogged determination and a thick skin to survive. And an alternate source of income.

Do you consider yourself a disciplined writer? Do you have a schedule that you stick to, or is it more in the moment?

I have had long periods of discipline that have come and gone. During those periods, I would write every morning for a few hours and it is remarkable how much progress and consistency you may achieve that way. Much of looking for henry turner came to be during one of those periods. So it is something to strive for but not always possible in the frenetic lives most of us lead.

Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day? 

I don’t try to set limits because you may end up chastising yourself unnecessarily if you fall short. I tend to go by instinct. There seems a natural start and end point and you know intuitively, I think, if you’ve done enough during a particular session. There are as many methods as there are writers. Everyone has to find what works best for them. I also have a full time job running a publishing company so I need to organize and juggle time constantly.

Are you thinking about making this into a series?

Looking for Henry Turner and the characters of Mo and Birdie were always conceived as a series. The concept, and hopefully, this will work, is to write one novel for each year in the decade, beginning with 1960 of course, and working through each year in order. That is the grand scheme at any rate.

What are you working on right now?

As mentioned above, I am working on the sequel for looking for Henry Turner and yes, it is set in 1961. I am finalizing another novel, entitled, Das Vidaniya, that will be published, likely, in first quarter 2017. This is  what I call an anti-holocaust story where the protagonist is a Polish soldier who never gives in or gives up yet ends up saying goodbye to everyone and everything he cherishes. It is based on a true story and an actual character. I am also currently working on three graphic novel projects, all of which will be completed and released in fall 2017.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I’m happy to connect with people through my website: http://www.wlliberman.com  and they can check out some of the graphic novel projects I’ve completed through my company, teach magazine, at:  http://teachmag.com/dystopia . And of course, other titles I’ve written can be found on Amazon, Google Play and all the requisite distributors out there.

This deal has ended but you can read more about the book here.