AUTHOR INTERVIEW - MARK STEPHEN LEVY

Here is an interview with Mark Stephen Levy, the author of novel - Overland. 

It was a pleasure interviewing him. Here goes:

 1. Tell us something about your upcoming romantic adventure novel - Overland

Overland is loosely based on my true adventures on my first travel to India and Nepal in 1985. It's about a guy who is rejected by his wandering girlfriend, who goes off and travels overland from Europe to Asia and Danny, the main character goes off in search of her.

 

2. Why did you choose to write about this genre? What lead you to it?

I love adventure travel and so much happens during a time like this when you do travel and turns out it is what I write about the best...What lead me to it was the drama that occured when I met my now wife in India and my own pursuit of her.

3. Tell us something about yourself.

I'm just a regular guy who can't always have yet needs some adventure in life from time to time. I was born in the US in Los Angeles, California and moved to Denver, Colorado 15 years. My day job has been in technology sales. I have my wife originally from France and a 19 year old daughter.

Mark Stephen Levy

4. What are your thoughts on life – The one thing that it takes to live it.

You cant always settle for the routine, you need some spice in your life no matter what you do to get it..for me it is adventure travel.

5. What do you think of India as a country based on your experience? 

    What did you think of it before visiting and writing this book?

I love India, I love the charm, the spirituality, the drive for ambition and how a country of over a billion people manages to make it work. I love the scenery and diversity of all the world's languages and cultures that harmoniously blend together.

6. American vs. Indian culture- Whats your say?

I like how India and America have been great allies and partners, the two largest democracies working together.

7. Has Mark as a person changed after all the globe trotting? If yes, then how?

YES! India changed me as a person the moment I set my foot on this soil in 1985. It made me more spiritual and increased my awareness of how others live and I was just fascinated by that, and always used to think of India daily for the past 26 years until I was able to come here again.

8. How did the love for travelling evolve or it was there since childhood? 

    Any book on travelling you love reading?

My family always took me and my two sisters to different places inside and outside of the US and I loved every minute of it. Then when I was 22, I gave myself a present on graduating college and went to Europe, on my own for 8 weeks and had the time of my life (smiles) and it helped me to prepare for more serious traveling...India.

A book on traveling I loved reading is my own- Overland. However, there are numerous books including Gullivers Travels.

Mark (1985)

9. Top 5 All-time favourite books.

    

    1. Lord of the Flies

    2. Lord of the Rings

    3. Eat, Pray, Love

    4. To Kill a Mockingbird

    5. Dr. Zhivago

10. So how did it feel when you finally finished writing the book?

Great, excited...and then the challenging part came, marketing it!

11. Your advice to both writers and readers.

      

To writers, make sure you rewrite and go through your book over and over, and when you think you're done, find an editor to get a fresh pair of eyes to edit it to where literally it is letter perfect.

To readers, don't be shy to say the truth on what you read, a good writer should be open to learn from critism, even if it hurts, you can learn a lot from readers.

12. What is your dream project? What other tfrom the things are you working on right now?

Well, I would love to see Overland as a film. I was originally wanting to write the screenplay for it. But, movie producers love to adapt books into films and thought I had a greater chance to make it into a film from the book.

What I'm working on now is enjoying my  current time in India and hoping to gain enough new experiences to assist in creating new material for the sequel to Overland. Overland ends with a very nice fariy tale ending but does leave the door open for the sequel.

13. How has been your experience so far in the literary world? Any highs or lows being a part of this space, that you would like to share here?

Good question...be persistent in your passion and believe in your book's story. Everybody seems to be publising these days whether it is a tradtional publisher or self publishing. 

If you don't have patience, self publish, as it will be out there and with all the social media such as Facebook, a free way to get the word out and to self promote to create word of mouth from readers.


Get in touch with Mark via facebook by visiting his profile
and if you're a twitterholic then follow him here - http://twitter.com/TheRealMarkLevy