Peter Verinder
Interviewed by: Lauretta Pierce
A. I am a settled resident of Sydney, Australia. I work full time in the
consulting engineering and building areas, helping to solve ongoing
building
problems and contractual issues throughout the country. I am also
someone
who likes to write, which is something I do for self-expression. I also
write in an effort to share my thoughts through fiction on aspects life
and
the world in general. Writing is probably what I would prefer to do
full
time these days if there is a demand and appreciation of my work.
A. A few years ago, I came to a crossroad in my working life that allowed
me
time to evaluate several aspects of my life. When I considered what was
really important to me it inspired the story and my underlying desire
to
write. I also felt that my experiences with different types people and
several aspects of business over the preceding twenty-five years would
gave
me a strong base from which to write a unique story. I should also add
that
the real estate and related building industries are experienced by
nearly
everyone at some stage of their lives, so I felt that this would allow
me a
common platform upon which to base my story.
A. Like many writers, I had several "working" titles during the evolution
of
the book, but I wanted a one-word title that captured the essence of
the
book. "Ambition" stuck out as a such a title and became a good fit with
the
story and the premise of the book as it evolved.
A. Marc Braddon's character developed quite naturally during the evolution
book. To a great extent he responded the way I expect many people would
in a
similar situation, particularly if they had his burning desire to
succeed. I
wanted Marc's character to be driven, but I also wanted him to maintain
a
moral and ethical sense in all of his dealings. To some extent Marc was
an
innocent when he started in business, encountering new people and
learning
and developing his character traits along the way in response to the
world
around him. I wanted to show the readers his growth so that they could
understand how he became the man he was, allowing them to relate this
understanding to his desire to get control of his life. To do that, I
put
the Marc's character into several situations and his natural responses
allowed me to form his particular character as he progressed through
the
book.
A. The simple answer is yes.
When I was younger I was also very ambitious and always seemed to be
striving to achieve against the odds. Like Marc, I have also tried to
maintain my standards during this process. I have never wanted to climb
over
dead bodies to achieve my goals--for my achievements to be worth
anything to
me they had to be reached without damaging anyone else, so to that
extent I
think Marc and I are very similar.
A. A few years. Ambition took me about a year to write part-time, but I
then
spent the next couple of years editing and polishing the manuscript,
first
to get a publisher to pick up the book and then later to meet the
editorial
requirements for publication.
A. My business career has included starting and running my own building
and
development businesses over a ten year period. I have done hundreds of
deals
to buy, develop and build real estate. Over the years, I have bought
plenty
of land that I have then subdivided and sold off for home sites or
built on
prior to selling off the finished house and land package.
A. Ambition is my first book.
A. Yes. I have another novel about the intrigues and internal working of a
multi-national resource company on the drawing board at the moment.
A. I would like my readers to appreciate that although life is a struggle
for
all of us, it is still worthwhile striving to achieve those things that
define us as a person. They should also see that there is value in
achieving
goals while also maintaining one's dignity and standards in the face of
great temptation to take an easier and less virtuous path. I also want
my
readers to see that Ambition is a good thing in that it can save one
from
self-destruction, but too much Ambition can also steal your life away
by
making you blind to all the other aspects of life.
"Ambitions"
February 11, 2005
Q. What inspired you to write a story about a young man's experience
in the real estate business?
Q. How did you come about the title?
Q. How did you come about Marc's character?
Q. Do you have any of Marc's personalities?
Q. How long have you been writing?
Q. How is it that you know so much about negotiating and purchasing
properties for speculative homes and the like?
Q. How many books have you written?
Q. Are you currently working on another novel?
Q. What message would you like readers to receive from reading
Ambition?