It’s a formula that sounds almost too simple: a unique work about a unique individual, capturing the feel of that individual’s time, some of the mysteries surrounding his life, and providing readers with a crackerjack current-day mystery.
D. Allen Henry has tackled some wonderful projects of historical fiction, focusing on bigger-than-life figures like Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo and Dante. In this recent BookTrib Q&A, he gives readers further insight into his processes and personalities.
Q: Your books, including Killing Genius, The Starry Message, Resurrection and Hawk’s Tale, delve into complex and thought-provoking themes. What central idea or philosophy connects your works, and how has it evolved across your writing?
A: Whenever I write a novel, I have three primary goals: hold the reader’s interest via an engaging and intricate plot line; provide a moral position and outcome to the story; and embed the story within a historically accurate and enlightening place and time. The fabric that binds my novels is the last of these, driven by my own interest in history, especially that of historical icons whose personal histories are not widely known or understood. While this approach is stable throughout my literary career, my focus on personality development of the main fictional characters has matured, in my view becoming more detailed, encouraging readers to feel themselves participating within the storyline.
Q: You explore Galileo’s life and Da Vinci’s life, among other topics, through a fictional lens. How do you strike the balance between historical accuracy and creative storytelling, and what liberties do you feel are essential to bring historical figures to life?
A: I do exhaustive research to minimize factual errors and/or inconsistencies. On the other hand, I intentionally pursue and develop a fictional storyline as a means of holding the reader’s attention. Where I violate historical accuracy, I do so on purpose, the ultimate goal being to produce an entirely plausible and intricate storyline that simply jumps off the pages. This, to me, is the very hallmark of successful historical fiction — the subtle interweaving of oftentimes abstruse yet accurate history into a whopping good page-turning yarn. When I am successful, the reader comes away both satisfied and enlightened, the latter more or less subliminally. This is a tricky process that requires my total immersion within my writer’s enclave.
Q: Your works demonstrate a deep understanding of historical, philosophical, and scientific contexts. What does your research process look like, and how do you decide what to include in the narrative versus what to leave out?
A: I am a lifelong student of history. When I choose a story, I commence by assiduously reading the available history related to the storyline. I then travel to the location for the story. Thus, when I write about a certain icon, I envision myself within their physical location. I have a cardinal rule: don’t include history that is not essential to the storyline, for this can be a killer within the genre of historical fiction. When I feel a deep commitment to impart a particular historical event, I instill that event within the storyline in such a way as to amplify rather than detract from the underlying plot. This then requires tenacious attentiveness to this interplay between plot and history.
Q: Whether exploring historical figures or fictional characters, how do you approach character development to reflect the complexities of human nature and the moral dilemmas they face?
A: I do not normally start to write a novel with preconceived traits of the main characters in mind. Rather, I commence with a predetermined plot line, especially the labyrinthine mystery I intend to elucidate. In a certain sense, the story then writes itself, and the personalities of the main characters emerge as a natural byproduct of my self-perception as a fly on the wall observing as the story unfolds. This requires me to read, write, reread, and rewrite, thereby becoming totally immersed within the story. I call them my epiphanies, and my wife can tell when one occurs, because I am prone to hop out of bed late at night and scribble something on a post-it, subsequently announcing inanely, “Epiphany!”
Q: Across your novels, what do you hope readers take away from your stories? Is there a specific reaction or reflection you aim to evoke in your audience?
A: My primary goal never waivers from imparting knowledge and wisdom. I find that this goal is optimized when the reader acquires both of these passively, so that on completion of my offering, they have intangibly added something tangible to their lives, something that will stay within them, hopefully forever, and of course, for their own betterment. My two favorite reactions are: “Cool! That’s a plot twist I didn’t see coming!” and, “Wow! I didn’t know that!” The first reaction, while not particularly essential to my primary goal, subliminally provides for the reader the mastic that allows the second more fundamental reaction to remain with them indefinitely. If the reader also experiences palpable pleasure, I consider that frosting on the cake.
Q: What is your next project?
A: What a timely question! I have just returned home recently from my thirty-second trip to Italy, my favorite place on earth. I’ve spent nearly two cumulative years of my life within “Lo Stivale,” much of that time teaching college students on study abroad. On this particular trip, I was engrossed with gathering information for my newest novel entitled And the Glory Forever, a fictional account of the life of Michelangelo, and while I’ve only just completed the first draft, I can say this: it is a labyrinthine mystery, one that I believe is an apt exposition of both the goals and interests that I have imparted within this interview.
D. Allen Henry’s books are available for purchase on Barnes & Noble, with select books on Amazon.
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