Co-Autor Paul Kemprecos (NUMA Files)

Alles um den CO-Autor von Cussler aus den NUMA-Files

Paul Kemprecos

Paul Kemprecos, Co-Autor von Clive Cussler, war früher als Journalist, Kolumnist und Herausgeber tätig. Er schrieb zahlreiche Unterwasser-Thriller und lebt in seinem Haus auf Cape Cod.

Er ist ein amerikanischer Autor, der sich auf mystische und abenteuerische Stories spezialisiert hat. Er hat einen Award gewonnen für seine Unterwasser-detektiv-Thriller Serie

Werke:

Aristotle Socarides

1. The Cool Blue Tomb (1991)
2. Neptune's Eye (1991)
3. Death in Deep Water (1992)
4. Feeding Frenzy (1993)
5. The Mayflower Murder (1996)
6. Bluefin Blues (1997)

NUMA Files

(co-written with Clive Cussler)

* Serpent (1999)
* Blue Gold (2000)
* Fire Ice (2002)
* White Death (2003)
* Lost City (2004)
* Polar Shift (2005)

[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.masonicangelfund.com/images/Copy_of_P3280029.jpg]

Interview mit Paul Kemprecos

-leider nur in Englisch.

Looking at Dennis writer Paul Kemprecos, you'd never think all that murder and mayhem could be created between those ears. On the contrary, you'd buy a used car from a guy like Kemprecos, loan him your boat, or maybe let him date your sister (before he married his wife Christi, of course). He's that affable a guy.

You'd even be willing to write a few books with him, which is exactly what the internationally bestselling thriller writer Clive Cussler proposed and here we are four books later and well into a fifth. Is that a cash register we hear ringing?

For backstory, after graduating from the Boston University School of Journalism, Kemprecos washed ashore in 1961 and began working for the old Cape Cod Standard Times. He eventually worked at The Cape Codder and, in sum, put 25 years into newspaper work here on the Cape.

But there were mysteries lurking in Kemprecos's pen that emerged with the first in an ongoing series of Cape-based Aristotle Socarides books.The initial book, Cool Blue Tomb, was well received and gained Kemprecos many fans who could hardly wait for the next "Soc" mystery to roll off the presses. Before he was through and ready to move on to more lucrative pastures, Kemprecos had penned six mysteries in the series. Then Clive Cussler came along and changed everything.

"Cussler gave me a jacket quote for Cool Blue Tomb," Kemprecos recalls. "It was very favorable and he gave me another on my second book, Neptune's Eye. Then he called me up one night and we chatted. We kept in touch through the years, and then I sent him my last book in the series, Bluefin Blues, with an inscription saying, 'Rumors of my literary demise have been greatly exaggerated.' Six months later, Cussler called up and said he was doing a spin-off on his bestselling Dirk Pitt series and wanted to know if I was interested. And I said, 'Sure, I'll give it a go.'"

That was four bestsellers ago and he's working on the fifth with a contract to do another after that. In his own humorous and self-deprecating way, Kemprecos grudgingly allows he's a smashing success as a writer. He's also more than capable of collaborating on fiction that sells well internationally.

"All my books have been difficult for me," Kemprecos admits, "even the old Soc books, but these are a little more involved and complicated. But the rewards are greater than the Soc books, where I really wasn't making a living."

The ways collaborations work are reinvented every time one is forged. Out of the Fog has shown thus far that the collaboration of authors works, but it has its own unique parameters. With the Clive Cussler connection, Kemprecos has found it to be relatively easy, despite nearly a continent separating thetwo authors.

"Generally, we work out a concept together," Kemprecos says of his well-known partner, "and I'll start writing, trying to get pieces of the manuscript off to him. Theoretically, it's supposed to be about a third at a time. Then we'll get together and just talk over what I've done and where it's going from there - I've usually gotten into trouble by the time I'm two thirds of the way through - and I need his guidance and suggestions. Then I write more and it goes off to him and he adds anything that he wants to or edits what he wants. We correspond by snail mail, mostly, and I have a lot of leeway. He's great to work with because he has such a firm grasp of the underwater thriller. I've learned a lot, but still not enough so that it's easy for me. But eventually we come up with a book."

Kemprecos enjoys the process with Cussler, and Cussler is still churning out his own series of Dirk Pitt books. But what of Aristotle Socarides? Is he going to be left hanging in the abyss of series characters?

"I have a lot of people ask me about it," Kemprecos says, "and I tell them that, one, I can't afford to and, two, no publisher has come up and asked me to do one of those things. I think in some respects they're a little more literate than the thrillers I'm doing now. A little more character development. The stuff I'm doing now is pure formula, pure escapism."

Despite his busy schedule, Kemprecos eventually agreed to contribute a chapter for the series novel, Out of the Fog. He began with some trepidation, but now Kemprecos is one of the hardier serial novelists, appearing frequently at Fog-based public events.

"Dan Adams called me up one day," Kemprecos says. "I wasn't sure who he was, so I checked with a couple of people who said he was legitimate. When he called, I had some down-time - I had just finished a book - and I didn't want to work on writing for a little bit. So I put him off until the summer. As it turned out, it was a little more difficult writing in the middle of the book. But the major characters were all developed and it was just a question of doing something to move the plot along."

Kemprecos is yet another Anne LeClaire recruit into the serial novel, and his approach was a bit roundabout. He put off writing the chapter because he became involved in another Cussler project. It took a trip to Las Vegas to bring Kemprecos around to coming Out of the Fog.

"I went back and read some of the chapters," Kemprecos says, "and then we went out to Las Vegas for a wedding and I took the thing with me and read all of the chapters. I sat by the motel pool out there, making notes of characters and so on, and reading it over and over again until I had familiarized myself. I read it again on the plane when I came back, then essentially wrote it in two days."

Kemprecos admits to some skepticism at first, especially trying to integrate all the different styles of eight dissimilar authors. Now, after reading the completed chapters several times, he's very enthusiastic.

"I've already figured out - in my own mind - who the murder or murderers are," Kemprecos says. "It will be interesting to me to see how that differs from the final chapter."

However different that chapter and his version will be, only time will tell. One thing we know about Paul Kemprecos, however, is that he understands the fine art of collaboration.

Wie entsteht eigentlich ein NUMA Files Buch?

Cussler meinte zu diesem Thema:

Cussler und Paul Kemprecos sitzen gemeinsam zusammen und erfinden ein Buchthema. Jeder sagt, was sie gerne im Buch haben möchten und sie entscheiden sich dann für eine Geschichte. Sobald dieser Prozess fertig ist, gehts in die nächste Phase und Paul Kemprecos schreibt die Geschichte alleine (aber Ideen stammen von Beiden). Am Schluss sitzen sie nochmals zusammen und korrigieren und ändern die Geschichten ab. Und ein weiteres Buch ist entstanden.

gruss DP

Zitat von "Zek"

Zu Zweit zu schreiben ist auch schwierig, denke ich.

Co-Autor ist dann aber eigentlich nicht mehr der richtige Begriff, aber unter dem Namen Cussler verkauft es sich einfach besser.

Zusammenarbeit, wobei der eine schreibt, der andere gibt Ideen, passt doch gut

Zitat von "Zek"

Ja, das meine ich ja auch. Nur ist da ja CC eher der Co-Autor, wenn der andere alles schreibt.

Das stimmt. Soviel Zeit zum schreiben hat Cussler gar nicht, denn er hat vieles um die Ohren.

Kemprecos hat nun eine eigene Page:

Tolle Infos

http://www.paulkemprecos.com/Home_Page.html

Kemprecos wird keine NUMA Files mehr schreiben:

Zitat

Wayne Valero to chat
show details 9:45 AM (14 hours ago)

It saddens me to announce that Paul Kemprecos has been dropped as the writer for The NUMA Files. I think Paul's done a terrific job with the series but I guess the powers that be want another writer to take over the reins.

As a result Paul and his wife Christi will not be attending the Cussler Convention this year in Scottsdale. That is their wishes and I will respect that. I also think that with this major change in their lives, they would prefer some privacy right now. So if you correspond with them on a regular basis, I ask that you leave them alone for a while.

Also, I really don't know much more than what's in this email, so please don't ask me specific things regarding Paul's future. I do know he is planning to continue writing.

Wayne

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Zitat

Dear Friends:

As everyone on the Chat must know by now, I will no longer be writing the NUMA Files with Clive. Some of you have already contacted me. Thanks again for your kind words. I told Christi yesterday that the toughest part of this development is seeing how much it has upset people. You are all simply the best of the best!

But it became evident with the most recent manuscript that while Clive and I remain friends, our collaboration simply wasn’t working as well as it had with the previous books. It was a ground-breaking experiment and I am sure some people are surprised that it worked at all. I had been thinking of phasing out after this book, or possibly going for #10 if all went well, but it was not to be. The publishing business is a tough one these days, and with editors and writers pushed to turn out best-sellers, there is little margin for error, and someone else will be doing the series.

Thanks for making the NUMA Files such a success. I wasn’t sure where it was going at first, especially with the grumbling from readers who thought Dirk Pitt was retiring. But the series brought some vitality into NUMA, I think, and we gained new readers and regained some of the old. I’m pretty proud of the record: eight New York Times best-sellers, including the time we finally beat out Dan Brown for the first spot. The paperback of Medusa has been on the list for at least five weeks.

All this was pretty heady stuff for a mystery writer with a regional series, but the best part of the job has been the chance to make new friends. Not many writers get to know the people who actually read our words. I never felt comfortable with the role of the best-selling author, so I was happy to see that the people I met became friends rather than adoring fans. The CusslerCons were always great fun-sometimes too much fun. Christi and I hope to see many of you again, so please keep in touch.

As my financial advisor, Christi has advised me that I can’t retire yet. I don’t have an agent, so I am looking to hook up with one and will keep you posted as things move along. In the meantime, you will have Dirk, Jack, Grant and Justin to fill your shelves.

With warmest regards,

Paul Kemprecos

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Paul Kemprecos ist übrigens momentan in der Schweiz in den Ferien. Er hat mir geschrieben, dass er Verwandte hat, welche in Zürich wohnen. Jetzt besucht er diese mit seiner Familie. Er geniesst Zürich und macht Ausflüge in die Berge.

Zitat von "Lobo"

Kein Treffen vereinbart?

Ich habe leider keine Zeit :mrgreen:

Zitat von "Zek"

Hehe, das hättest du doch wirklich machen können.
Aber trotzdem cool. Hast du ihn aktuell angeschrieben oder hat er dich angemailt, weil er weiß, dass du aus der Gegend bist?

Ich habe ihm geschrieben, dass ich aus der Schweiz komme und seine Bücher toll finde. Dann hat er sich entschuldigt, dass er so lange nicht geantwortet habe, er verstehe eben das Facebook nicht so ganz. Dann hat er erzählt, dass er nach Zürich komme, um Verwandte zu besuchen.