GHOSTS OF GUATEMALA by Collin Glavac
I am happy to say that I finished writing
my first book, Ghosts of Guatemala, a spy thriller that follows a
cold-blooded assassin on a kill mission in Antigua for the CIA. It’s the first
in a trilogy and readers have been giving me really great reviews!
Have you always wanted to be a
writer?
Pretty much. I’ve wanted to be a lot of
things, but I had gotten compliments on my writing when I was younger which
helped fuel my desire, and I’ve also just had a burning love for stories and
imaginary worlds for the better part of my life. I’ve been working at writing
fiction since I was twelve. Every time I heard a good story or read a bad book,
it only wanted me to write something of my own.
How did this book get started?
Years ago my dad took me on a road trip to
Chicago. Amidst our father-son shenanigans, he proposed I write a stage play for
him. I thought he was joking. Turns out he wasn’t. Once he confirmed he’d
finance the whole project (he’s a retired teacher who wants to do stuff) I
agreed. We had a blast producing two stage plays, and I got to write, direct,
and act in both. Both were comedies; the first was about quirky college kids
and their relationships revolving around a video game in In Real Life, and
the second play was a reverse romcom with a magical twist in LoveSpell. I
was happy to cut my teeth on this creative work but I’d been working on
long-form fiction since elementary school, though nothing that would stick or
be appropriate to send off to an agent. Dad suggested we tackle a novel
together – his idea, my writing, his marketing. And bam! A couple years of
arguing later we’ve got a sweet sweet book up for sale. I wrote the entire
thing in a single night of a fevered sweat
…
Actually though?
No. It took me about two months to write
the bulk of it (three if you count the third month I spent procrastinating to
write a single chapter). Then waiting on beta readers, and back and forth
editing, and more procrastinating…my parents sat me down and threatened to
publish the thing in a week whether it was ready or not. So I made sure it was
ready. The word count is around 75k, which is a little longer than the first
Harry Potter book. I’m really happy with the length – I wanted something with
substance but still a quick read.
Did you have any objectives when
writing the book?
Yes. My first and foremost objective is to
try to create a cohesive story. I forget where I read it, but a comic book
creator was talking about telling stories, and they said that if the reader
can’t tell what’s going on in the frame it doesn’t matter how good your story
is. The most important thing is making sure the reader knows what’s going on.
That’s not to say we can’t play around with mysteries, clever reveals, or
unreliable narrators, but it still rings strong in my mind as the first thing I
have to do as a writer. And I find it a lot harder to do that than I’d like to
admit. It is a difficult thing to write a story that makes sense throughout
multiple perspectives, keeping track of a timeline and time zone shifts,
knowing which secrets some characters know that others don’t and what the
reader knows and doesn’t, and so on. My second objective, after I think I am
meeting the first, is to make a compelling story, a story that is interesting,
and something that I hope readers would enjoy reading. If I complete those two
things, I feel very accomplished. If I had a third objective, it would try and
be unique and put enough originality into the piece that makes readers really
impressed. And although I tried to do that, I was still very much invested in
the first and second objectives.
Speaking of which, what makes your
book unique?
I do think the book enjoys a bit of a
unique spin. The most unique part about Ghosts of Guatemala is that it
takes place in Antigua, Guatemala, and this setting acts as a vibrant part of
the story. Most of the book is fairly typical of the thriller genre – I’ve got
the CIA doing shady stuff, a cool and collected protagonist, and a bad guy we
can’t help but love - which was my aim in telling a story in this genre. But Antigua
gives a great opportunity to inject a ton of culture, language, geography, and
history that not too many are familiar with. I try to make sure it’s not just a
simple paint-job over the story. I really wanted Antigua and the city’s
personality to help impact and shape the plot. Full disclosure; I’ve never been
to Latin America, but my father has (for months at a time) and this is where he
was integral to the creation-process. I would send him chapters and he would
edit my poorly worded Spanish, or point out that buildings weren’t as high as I
had written and so on. One of my favourite parts had to be completely cut from
the story because I had written an awesome fight scene taking place on a beach.
Unfortunately, Antigua is landlocked in the mountains – yikes.
What was it like writing this book?
If I’m being perfectly honest, Ghosts
of Guatemala isn’t my kind of genre. I’m a sci-fi/fantasy guy; I’ve been
reading almost nothing but swords, dragons, and spaceships for the better part
of thirteen years. I’m a nerd! But I also take pride in being a chameleon in my
craft. If I’m required to write in a different style, or about a different
topic than I am used to, I best be prepared to do it. Simple as that. My
approach was one of mimicry. I thought of every stereotype and cliché in the
genre, then tweaked them or made them my own. I’m constantly reminded how hard
it is to write a true cliché. By the time you spend some time with something
you think is unoriginal, it’s usually become your own. I also altered my
default writing technique a bit more toward something that fit this genre
better – shorter, terse sentences and more exposition than I usually prefer.
Book Blurb
Who can you trust when corruption and danger are a way of life?
The CIA never left Latin America, and is facing catastrophic blackmail at the hands of an erratic Guatemalan drug lord: the infamous patrón of Antigua – Pablo Puentes. Desperate for a swift solution, the agency calls in their black operative fixer: John Carpenter.
John is a cold-blooded professional ready for the job. But the mission doesn’t have a simple fix. Pablo has a disastrous kill switch in place. John is still haunted by the mysterious death of his best friend who died on a far too similar mission, and now is uncertain about how much he can trust his handler or his sensual partner.
Back at the agency, tensions are running hot as the stench of corruption is growing to a boiling point. If things aren’t put to rights – and soon – the entire mission will go up in flames and take the CIA down with it. Only John Carpenter can bring this drug lord to justice and get the answers he deserves.
Because this mission is personal…
“If you like the relentless tension of Daniel Silva and the gritty reality of Lee Child then you’ll love this first book in the John Carpenter Trilogy!”
About Collin Glavac:
Collin Glavac is a Canadian born actor and writer who lives in the Niagara region. He has written, directed and acted in two original stage plays, In Real Life, and LoveSpell. He completed his Dramatic and Liberal Arts B.A. and M.A at Brock University.
Ghosts of Guatemala is his first novel.
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Ghosts of Guatemala is now available on
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