About Davis Bunn
Davis Bunn
is an award-winning novelist whose audience spans reading genres from high
drama and action thrillers to heartwarming relationship stories, in both
contemporary and historical settings. He and his wife, Isabella, make their
home in Florida for some of each year, and spend the rest near Oxford, England,
where they each teach and write. Visit Davis at
www.davisbunn.com.
A Conversation with Davis Bunn
Q: How much research did you have to
conduct to write this intriguing story?
A: In a way, I suppose you could say I’ve been researching this story all my
adult life. I did my studies in international economics and finance. Observing
the difficulties our nation and economy has faced over the past three years, as
well as what we personally have endured, has been tough. It really was great to
have this chance to give voice to what we increasingly hear, that the people at
fault need to be brought to justice, and the risk of another economic collapse
needs to be halted.
Q: Why
is it important for you to write about such timely themes?
A: Economic uncertainty defines the
world we live in. I feel it is important to show how the timeless and eternal
messages are applicable to every aspect of our world and our lives. And how the
gift of peace and wisdom can be used in every circumstance we face.
Q: When you wrote Book of Dreams, did you
have plans for this sequel, Hidden in
Dreams?
A: Two
months after Book of Dreams was
released, I had the call every author dreams about and yearns for—a vice
president of NBC/Universal suggested we discuss the possibility of turning it
into a television series. I was put in touch with one of their producers and
over the next six months began working up the basic structure of what this
program might look like. One of the ideas I found most appealing became the
basis for Hidden in Dreams. There is as yet no firm decision about the television project. But it has
been a blast to even be considered.
Q: In writing a sequel it’s always a
challenge to include enough back story to satisfy those who haven’t read the
first book while still making sure the book stands alone. How do you approach
this dilemma?
A: You’re right, it can indeed be troublesome, but this time it all fell
together very easily. The structure just flowed. That sometimes happens, where
the story seems to create itself. I wish it was true all the time. I can’t even
say why it was such a smooth process with Hidden in
Dreams. But there was a sense of
impatience about the back story, as though I needed to fit in just a few
paragraphs, but I couldn’t allow myself or the reader to be drawn too far from
this new story’s flow.
Q: Why did you choose to end Elena's relationship with Antonio? They
seemed like a good couple.
A: For this story to work, Elena needed to enter into
the dilemma as vulnerable as all the other people who shared the recurring
dreams. She was isolated in a new place and forced to be dependent upon her
faith and newfound friends.
Antonio (from Book of Dreams) belonged to a different
universe, far from what was happening here. I had to make a choice at the
outset. Would she remain with Antonio, and the two of them experience this
together? Or would she be isolated?
Writing a new story
is all about two things: facing the empty page, and choices. It is kind of fun
to go back and revisit decisions I made eighteen months ago, when first
outlining this concept.
Q: You’re writing about two women in this
novel. Is it ever a challenge to write from the female point of view?
A: Learning to write from a woman’s point of view is very difficult for a
male writer, as it usually is for a woman author writing a man’s story. Before
I was published, I became friends with a husband and wife team who were both
opera stars. The woman often sang a male role in a Mozart opera that was
originally designed for a young boy, but which nowadays is usually sung by a
woman with a slightly lower range, called a coloratura.
I
discussed my difficulty with her, of trying to make my women sound real. She
told me that my trouble stemmed from working on a woman character from the
outside. It wasn’t about making women ’sound’ anything. It was all about making
the character live from the inside-out.
As I
worked on the point of view issue, trying to put my friend’s challenge into
practice, I also began going into any meeting with a woman carrying a secret
tape recorder, and taping everything that was said. I then went back and wrote
out every word. It was perhaps the most boring month of my entire writing
career.
But
gradually I found that I could ‘hear’ the speech patterns of these women, and
reshape them into structures that fitted around what was happening in my
stories. And through this exercise, the emotional content that lay behind the
dialogue, the person who was expressing herself, became more real, more solid.
And then I
met my wife, Isabella. And the process of instruction at the intimate level of
a God-centered marriage began to unfold.
Q: In Hidden, Elena and her colleagues are
attacked in Miami. After the attack, why did Elena not take more
precautions?
A: Elena had a choice
to make, and so did I. Either she could play the delicate flower – fearing
everything and going nowhere – or she could go on the hunt. I liked the balance
between her internal fears and uncertainties, and her quest as a professional
psychologist. She is, in effect, trained to look for clues – to go on the
quest of drawing out the hidden. I felt the actions she took, despite the
dangers, to be her natural response.
Q: Is there another Elena Burroughs book planned?
A: I have another idea.
The question is, what do the readers want, and how positive is the reaction to
this story?
Q: Why
do you write fiction?
A: I became a believer at age 28. Up to that time, ever since graduating, I
had been working in international business. I came to faith while working as a
consultant in Germany. I started writing two weeks later. Up to that point, I
had never picked up a pen in my life to write anything longer than a business
report. But I had always been an avid reader. And the moment I started, that
very first instant, I had the sense of invitation. It was the first time I had ever experienced that incredible sense of
being drawn in a new, divinely inspired direction.
I wrote
for nine years and finished seven novels before my first was accepted for
publication. Simply because I had received a sense of calling did not mean I
was ready to serve. First the diamond had to be polished. Hard and painful as
that was.
Q: While
you are a prolific writer, you also get out there and live too! What’s been
your most exciting real life adventure?
A: It would probably be better to ask, what has been the most exciting
real-life event so far this year.
Undoubtedly that would be working on the set of a film being shot from a
screenplay I wrote last year.
Unlimited has now
‘wrapped’, that is, filming has been completed. The producer and director are
now deep into the editing process. The film is due for release in September, 2013. I am
currently working on the novel, which comes out a couple of months before then.
I had the whole thing backwards here, doing the script first, but it
has been a lot of fun, and the concept remains very fresh. So hopefully Unlimited will come alive on the page as
well as the screen.
Q: What is your goal as a novelist?
A: I want to combine a truly entertaining read with a powerful after-effect.
My dream is that long after the book is set down with a satisfied sigh, there
are still images that surface, lessons that can be drawn, genuine hope and
healing and challenges and inspirations. I want my writing to be worthy of the
gift.
Q: How can readers find you on the
Internet?
WIN A FREE BOOK!
The publisher has provided us the opportunity to give away one copy of the paperback edition of Hidden in Dreams by Davis Bunn.
Here are the rules:
1. The winner must have a non-P.O. Box address in the United States
2. To enter the contest, leave a comment below, answering this question: If you had a recurring dream, who would you ask to help you interpret it?
3. You will get a second entry if you sign up for Davis Bunn's newsletter (http://www.davisbunn.com/news.htm) Leave a comment here stating you have done this.
4. You will get a third entry if you LIKE Davis Bunn's Facebook page (facebook.com/davisbunnauthor) Leave a comment here stating you have done this.
The contest will close August 7, 2012 and a winner will be selected randomly from those who entered.
To read more about the book, go to http://christianbookmobile.blogspot.com/2012/07/book-review-hidden-in-dreams-novel-by.html.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Howard
Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. I was not required to write a
positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this
in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.
