About
Within minutes of arriving in the exotic, enigmatic,
sweltering city of Marrakech, renowned author Jaspar Wills is kidnapped,
blindfolded, bound, and beaten. As Wills struggles to survive the ordeal, he
recounts his rise to fame and the tragic events that led him to Morocco. With
the kidnapper’s demands left unmet, Wills faces death with fear, grief…and
guilt. Is what happened in the past tied to his abduction? Is someone he loves
responsible? Or is this payback for his sins? Living with a loss far greater
than his own death, Jaspar yearns to be set free. But do some kinds of freedom
come at too high a cost?
Six months later, struggling reporter Katie Edwards travels to Morocco to stake
her claim on the story with everything—international intrigue, mystery,
celebrity, violence, sex, heartbreak, betrayal. Once there, she discovers a
shocking truth. As the young journalist’s career soars, Jaspar Wills’ is
destroyed…until an act of revenge leads to a stunning revelation that will
change everything.
Editorial Review
"A writer,
tormented over his daughter's kidnapping, becomes an abductee himself while
traveling to Morocco in Bidulka's thriller. The countless plot twists are
exhilarating, with gasp-inducing drama and flatly startling story turns. An
intoxicating story that examines the elusive nature of truth." - Kirkus
Reviews
Biography of
Author Anthony
Bidulka
In 1999 Anthony Bidulka, BA, BEd, BComm, CPA left a decade long professional
accounting career—more exciting than it sounds—to pursue writing and never
looked back.
In 2003, Quill & Quire described Bidulka’s first book, Amuse Bouche: A
Russell Quant Mystery, as “…an effervescent first novel that is much like the
tasty French hors d’oeuvres from which it takes its name”, earning Bidulka a
nomination for the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award.
In addition to his long-running Quant mystery series, Bidulka wrote two
books following the adventures of man of action Adam Saint, a tough-as-nails,
luxury loving, Disaster Recovery Agent. In 2016 Bidulka published his first
stand-alone suspense novel, Set Free, with Kirkus Reviews saying: “
The countless plot twists are
exhilarating, with gasp-inducing drama and flatly startling story turns.”
Bidulka’s books have been nominated for Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis
Awards, Saskatchewan Book Awards, a ReLit award, Lambda Literary Awards, with
Flight of Aquavit awarded the Lambda
Literary Award for Best Men’s Mystery, making Bidulka the first Canadian to win
in that category.
A great believer in community involvement, Anthony has been on the boards of
local, national and international organizations. He was recently inducted to
his local university’s Wall of Honour and named his home city’s Citizen of the
Year. When he isn’t writing, Bidulka loves to travel the world, collect art,
walk his dogs and throw a good party.
Please visit Anthony at www.anthonybidulka.com, Facebook,
and Twitter (@abidulka).
Interview
Welcome
to my blog Tony. Thank you for taking the time to answer a few
questions about yourself and your latest book. We appreciate your work
and views, particularly in these times of uncertainty.
Q:
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Tell us about your latest work—title, genre, etc. — and why you wrote it?
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A:
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Set Free is a stand-alone suspense novel.
Previous to Set Free, I published two series, one mystery, one thriller. As a reader, I really like series books. You really get to know
characters, and even the writer, over the course of several books. As a writer,
however, writing a stand-alone was a challenge I was excited to take on. The
story starts on page 1 and ends 270 pages later. Everything you want to say
has to be in there. There are no follow up books to add stuff or fix stuff or
develop your characters.
My hope is that this is a book that can
be read purely for enjoyment, or, depending on what type of reader you are,
can put you to work. In ways, both subtle and not, this is a book that delves
into the different means by which we can be imprisoned, not just physically,
but emotionally, spiritually. It addresses the costs of freedom, the illusive
nature of truth. On the book’s back cover, the byline plays with a well-known
verse, it reads: The truth will set you free. Can lies do the same?
Partially set in Morocco, Set Free is
also a bit of an exotic adventure story, which appeals to the traveler in
me.
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Q:
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What
draws you to your genre(s)? Why is this type of story compelling to you?
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A:
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Although some might think the difference between
mystery, thriller and suspense is slight, I don’t find that to be the case.
After writing mystery for so long, I found it endlessly interesting to
discover those differences and work with them to create something interesting
for me and compelling for readers.
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Q:
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What is your writing process like? Do you map the
whole thing out or do you just let it unfold?
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A:
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I am a planner. I suppose that may come from my
former life as a CPA. But I also feel that creative writing needs room to
breathe, room to travel down paths not seen or even imagined, room to make
mistakes and backtrack. So how do I make the two sides of this coin work?
Well, I always begin with an outline of the book and a dossier on my main
characters. The outline can be detailed in some areas, very sketchy in
others. At a minimum, I know where I’m starting, I know where I hope to end
up, and I know some key spots in between. It’s a little like undertaking a
long road trip with your final destination and a few important sights and
fuel/food stops planned on the way. Some of the most fun I’ve had as a
writer, and perhaps some of the best writing I’ve done, have been on the
unexpected side trips.
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Q:
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What
kind of research was involved?
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A:
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I traveled to Morocco. Much of the detail in Set
Free in terms of the food, the souks, the Atlas Mountains were taken from my
own experiences. Not so much the mayhem.
I also did research by reading documented
experiences of being kidnapped, being beaten, being in extreme states of
grief. Not always a cheery pursuit.
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Q:
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How much of YOU makes it into your characters?
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A:
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I would be telling a fib to say there is nothing
in me in my characters. I think every good character has a bit of his or her
creator in them. The key is to know what parts to leave in and what parts to
take out for the benefit of the character and the story. The main character
of my mystery series, Russell Quant, had a fair chunk of me in him. The main
character in Set Free, Jaspar Wills, even though he is a writer, less so.
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Q:
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How do you balance the need to have time to write
with the needs of family, society, etc.?
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A:
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This was key to me fifteen years ago when I first
left my long time career as a CPA to pursue writing. I treat writing the same
as I would any other career. I write Monday to Friday, 9-5 (well, actually,
more like 7-2), rarely weekends. I only work overtime if I’m facing a
deadline. When I am on holiday or involved in some other activity, whether
it’s community involvement or attending a party, I do my best to give my
dedicated attention and not be distracted by what I’ve left behind on my
desk. I love writing, but I love other things too. My motto has always been, “life
is short, but it can be wide”. It’s up to us to make it wide.
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Q:
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Have
there been any authors in particular, that inspired your writing?
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A:
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Another Canadian mystery writer from my province,
Gail Bowen, was a great influence on me. Not only in terms of writing, but allowing
me to think that it was possible to make a career out of it. I stand by the
idea that during the writing phase a writer should always read writers who
are better than they are. It elevates your game. For me right now it is
Louise Penny and Ian Hamilton.
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Q:
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What other projects are you currently working on
or about to start?
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A:
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I’ve just spend a couple of weeks at the beach
working on a new suspense novel tentatively called Lone Cay. I had my outline
and dossier prepared, and this was time to begin the journey and take a few
side trips. Lone Cay’s setting, in part, is inspired by my love of the Turks
and Caicos islands. As you can see, travel is a constant inspiration for me.
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Q:
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Could
you share some of your marketing strategies? Which ones are the most
effective in your opinion?
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A:
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I used to give a talk called The 5 C’s of
Marketing. You can read about it at: goo.gl/dWqma3
I’d say the most important
things to remember are that (1) marketing is
vitally important, (2) collect a variety of marketing tools in your tool box
because what works is constantly changing, and, (3) if something doesn’t
work, try something else.
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Q:
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What would be the top five, (or 3 or 1 or however
many) things you would tell aspiring authors?
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A:
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1. Get involved – meet other writers, join writing organizations, find
‘your people’, the ones who have the same dreams, worries, and passions as
yourself.
2. If you can make writing a viable career, great. But if you can’t, or
can’t quite yet, don’t just ignore it. Find a way to make it part of your
life – as a hobby, or volunteer pursuit, or that thing you do on Saturday
mornings when everyone else is off shopping.
3. Be prepared to be a different kind of writer than you imagined you’d be. Don’t be afraid to play with different styles,
genres.
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