Author
CM Palov speaks about her journey towards writing novels with esoteric themes
and the process of writing an esoteric novel to reckon with.
While many have made religious conspiracy
theories best-seller, few do justice to books on such esoteric topics or obscure religious & spiritual topics, which too can have a commercial
angle. CM Palov is an author who comes with a heavy background to write esoteric-themed
novels with a biblical conspiracy theory successfully. This Washington native, whose first name is Chloe, comes with a degree in Art History in arm. Ark of Fire, The Templar’s Code, The Isis
Agenda, The Templar’s Quest and The
Templar’s Secret are the novels, which have made her an esoteric writer to
reckon with. Her books are a combination of well-done research and good writing
skills. Racy yet revealing is how one describes them. In between writing, she
has gone off on odd journeys, best described as quirky yet appealing. She
speaks about her novels and the works in between.
The
brief about you in books on internet does intrigue me. A degree in Art
History, Museum Guide, English teacher in Korea, bookshop manager, a writer,
someone obsessed with biblical conspiracy theories … how would you describe
yourself?
I’m disinclined to divulge too much as I
rather like being a woman of mystery. Although, joking aside, I do think of
myself as being equal parts Right Brain/Left Brain due to the fact that my
mother was a computer systems engineer and my father is an artist. And while
it’s rather prosaic, given that I’m a writer, I am an avid bibliophile,
continually adding to my book collection. Hoping to break my habit, two years
ago I bought an e-reader. However, I’ve yet to take it out of the box.
What
made you decide – hey, how about becoming a writer of esoteric thrillers?
When I was at university studying art
history, I became intrigued with the preponderance of symbols found in European
art & architecture, beginning in the Middle Ages. Clearly, these were
secrets hidden in plain sight. However, what was the nature of the secret? Moreover,
who was it intended for? Curious to know the answers, and dissatisfied with the
official explanation for all of this encoded artwork, I delved into the world
of medieval occultism and esoteric studies. I’ve been studying it ever since, a
decades’ long love affair. As for making the decision to write esoteric
thrillers, since I grew up reading Robert Ludlum and John Le Carré, I was naturally
drawn to the thriller genre.
With
quite a few writers also into writing such books, is it a bother? How do you
rate
 |
| C.M. Palov |
competition?
Actually, I can’t rate the competition for
the simple reason that while I write esoteric thrillers, I don’t read them (other
than my own, of course). Moreover, I suspect that were I to follow the progress
of other writers in my genre, it might stymie my creativity. For that reason, I
find it best to work in a vacuum.
Your
protagonist, Caedmon Aisquith, is not a regular hero. How did
he come about?
I knew from the onset that I wanted my
protagonist to be a medieval scholar with an Oxford background – the droll,
professorial type. However, given the nature of the thriller genre – action
scenes are de rigueur – Caedmon would need to have the skills necessary to
extricate himself from a dangerous situation. Because he spent ten years as an
intelligence officer at MI5, he has the requisite ‘kill skills’. In that
regard, I suppose you could say he’s the thinking man’s action hero. Though
Caedmon has both brains and brawn, he’s rather self-effacing. I do like a
modest man.
Do
tell us of how each book was created, thought about & written. Trying to
offer something new & exciting must be tough, considering the genre you are
writing.
It’s said that there are two types of
fiction writers: plotters and those that write ‘by the seat of their pants, aka
‘pantsers.’ I fall into the former camp, being a methodical plotter. Each book
begins in the same manner – with only the germ of an idea (i.e., ‘I think I
want to write a book about the Ark of the Covenant.’). After this initial spark
of an idea, the next step is to do as much research as I can about the subject,
which, in turn, leads to other topics and avenues of exploration. Usually, I
spend 5 months, 10 hours a day, researching each book. It’s from this vast
compendium of research that the plot begins to emerge.
Then, before I begin to
write the novel, I create a detailed storyboard, outlining every chapter,
scene, plot point, and character arc. Using this storyboard, I organize all of
my plot notes and research, a process that can take upwards of two months as I
typically have hundreds of pages to sort through. When everything is organized,
I then commence to writing the book, which usually takes me about 5 months. From initial concept to being able to type ‘the end’, it’s a full year.
As for coming up with something ‘new and
exciting’, I trust my instincts and my creative muse. Luckily, they’ve yet to
let me down.
Esoteric
thrillers – the fun & difficult parts of writing them.
I’ll start with the difficult bits –
devising the hidden codes. In my books, arcane secrets are revealed and fabled
treasures uncovered. However, before that can happen, my protagonist must
follow a veritable labyrinth of clues hidden in artwork, architecture, stained
glass, ancient manuscripts, and even embedded in the very landscape itself. All
of these cryptic puzzles must not only present a challenge for Caedmon, but
must give my readers a brain tease as well.
As for the fun part, in each book I set
myself up with an intellectual challenge. For instance, in my first book, Stones of Fire, I had to write four
quatrains in fourteenth-century Middle English, the language of Chaucer. In my
most recent book, The Templar’s Secret,
the challenge was to write a complete ‘lost gospel’ from beginning to end.
How
are books like the one you have written accepted by the audience? Based on
biblical conspiracy theories, some opposition must have come about.
I have some avid fans, which is quite nice.
And to keep things in balance, I also have some avid critics who have accused
me of being a religious heretic. I’m always mildly amused by those readers who
mistake a fictional story for non-fiction.
How
much belief do you have in the themes of your books?
By ‘belief,’ I assume you mean religious or
philosophical conviction. Because I consider myself a spiritual seeker, my
books explore ideas that intrigue me in that regard. For example, in the New
Testament, there are eighteen missing years in the life of Jesus between the
ages of twelve and thirty. What was he doing during that time? Did he travel?
And if so, where did he go? Egypt? India? Britain? But even as my characters
attempt to answer these sorts of questions, they are by no means my mouthpiece.
As a thriller writer, I need to create conflict between my characters that is
set against the dynamic, forward momentum of the plot. To accomplish that, my
characters oftentimes express viewpoints or beliefs that are contrary to my
own.
Whom
do you read with gusto?
I think Hilary Mantel is absolutely
brilliant. She has such a way with language, with passages that are so pithy,
so witty, that I find myself savoring each & every line. Another favorite
of mine, also a writer of historical fiction, is Geraldine Brooks. While
Mantel’s prose is lean, Brooks is full-figured, her sentences crafted in a
lush, lyrical style.
What’s
next from you?
I’ve recently returned from an extended
sabbatical. Having written four books, back-to-back, I was physically and
mentally exhausted. But I’m now back in the fray and have begun the fifth book
in the Templar series, tentatively titled The
Templar’s Cross. Without giving too much away, there’s a tantalizingly
brief mention in the Old Testament (Book of Genesis) about the sons of God
leaving the divine realm and coming to Earth to take human wives. This
narrative about divine beings inhabiting our world, and helping and/or
hindering mankind, can be found in myths & legends the world over. Just my
kind of story. If all goes well, my next book will be released summer 2016.
