by David Khara
Last week we had the pleasure of chatting with David Khara about the first book in his "Consortium Thriller" series, The Bleiberg Project (Le French Book, April 2013 ebook formats), which was recently translated into English from his native French.
Today we are pleased to welcome back David, who titles his guest post "Breakfast in America".
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I don't know exactly what happens in the US, but, in France, tell anyone that you have written a novel, and you'll get the same answer, "Wow, good for you, but getting published is almost impossible."
Photo provided courtesy of
David Khara
This is not just a warning. It's a fact, because publishers receive an astronomical number of manuscripts. The sad truth is that there are too many manuscripts, and not enough readers, hence a very limited number of writers get published. It's not even related to the quality of the manuscripts, it's just an economic and statistical fact. Still, statistics and pragmatism set aside, some pretty nice stories exist and I'm going to tell you one: mine. And not just because I want to talk about myself — something I'm actually not interested in — but because what happened to me proves that the impossible can come true.
It all started four years ago. I was about to turn 40, and after almost 20 years as an entrepreneur, I got sick of business. I wanted to do something else with my life, something that could prove useful, something for other people than just myself. At that time, I had written a novel. Well, not exactly a novel. It was a story for a friend of mine who suffered a terrible experience. The aim was to entertain him, and send him messages of hope and friendship. I did that through a half-supernatural, half-crime fiction story. The plot involved two men who had both lost wife and child to atrocity. The problem? One went through this during the World Trade Center tragedy and the other one during the Civil War. Whenever I could, I'd sent my friend an e-mail with a chapter. Of course, since I had a day job, it took me a while to write the whole story. Later, I discovered he was sending the chapters to other people and one day, one of them asked me for a new chapter. I can't describe how happy it made me feel. I was entertaining a few people, and it really made me proud of myself.
So, I had this novel, my friend was doing much better and I started wondering, "What is worth?" I never meant to be published, I just wanted to know what the difference was between my humble attempt and that of recognized authors. Fate then interfered in a funny way. By that time, I was a shareholder in a bar in the town I live in. Do not get excited, it's a pretty quiet chocolate and Jazz bar. My associate knew about my book and told me a lot of local writers and librarians were coming everyday at lunchtime. "So, he told me, let's ask a few of them to read your novel." Two authors actually agreed to take a peak. I gave them a copy, and took a well-deserved holiday. When I came back, they both asked to see me. On the way to the meeting, I felt like a high-school teenager sure he was going to get a C or D on his paper. Unexpectedly, they enjoyed the novel, and one of them even told me to send the manuscript to his publisher. Three months later, the contract was signed, and Dawn's Early Lights (it's only available in French for now. It's called Les Vestiges de l'Aube) was scheduled to be released six months later.
The publisher, Rivière Blanche, was a small company, which didn't plan on making money. They mainly reprint famous authors from the 1960s and 1970s who wrote sci-fi novels. They only sell their books in books a dozen or so bookstores in France. Though confidential, they are quite praised for their work. There was no hope for glory or high sales, but hey, who cares? They taught me what a writer's work really was, and they gave me an opportunity.
By the time we signed the contract, I was invited to a party for the release of the new book of the author who introduced me to Rivière Blanche. It was a fantasy novel published by Critic, a local bookstore that had decided to publish two or three books a year, just for the love of it. As I was standing in a corner of the shop, I saw the way they looked at their book and I found their adventure beautiful. I wanted to be part of it. At that time, I had written 20 pages of The Bleiberg Project, so I send them to Critic. Though they had not planned to publish thrillers, it took them less than a day to accept the book. One again, no big time sales or fame expected, just pleasure.
Dawn's Early Lights was released in French in March 2010 and sold much better than expected. I started giving interviews, going to book signings, and seeing my name on the web. It was fun but I didn't have time to enjoy it since I was still working on The Bleiberg Project. The latter was released in France in October 2010. They printed a thousand copies and I really wondered if we were going to sell them. But, sometimes, miracles happen.
Then, Gerard Collard, a famous French TV host and successful bookstore owner, read Bleiberg and loved it. He presented the book on his show, praising the book so much I still do not understand exactly what he said. Though I was told it might have some effect, the results were beyond any expectations: It reached number one on Amazon and other online bookstores for months, there were 7 reprints needed, each bigger than the previous one. Movie producers, paperback publishers, foreign countries started showing up from all over the place.
A lot of huge publishers asked me to leave Critic and write The Shiro Project (the second in the series) for them. I refused because I had a commitment for three books, and I am a man of my word, as old-fashioned as it seems. Only one, Michel Lafon, a very famous publisher in France, asked me if we could work together on a new version of Dawn's Early Lights. With Rivière Blanche's agreement, I accepted and started writing an enhanced version of the novel, which was released a few months later and proved quite successful too.
And now, three years after the confidential release of Dawn's Early Lights, The Bleiberg Project has just been released in the United States. Had you told me so when I wrote the book, I would never have believed you.
Well, this is my story. Does it mean I'm talented? Probably not. It just means I'm lucky, that's all. But it shows something: never let anyone tell you it is impossible. Do what you like, as you like it, don't shoot for the stars, be humble, and see what happens. If all you do is dream, then nothing will happen. It can't get any simpler.
The truth is, my books have taken me to a lot of places, I have met extraordinary people, be they readers, bookstores owners, publishers, or authors. My novels have already traveled, they will be published in Korea next, there is a movie in the making, and a graphic novel will be released next year. I personally am overly fond of the United States. I may be French, but I was raised with the American dream, with American actors and directors, singers and writers. I fell in love with Manhattan when I first went there at the age of 17, and I've been to many other towns, from east to west, north to south, always with the same pleasure. The Project Bleiberg and the whole Consortium series is part of my American dream. And since anything can happen, who knows, maybe the United States will take to my books, and, maybe because of them, I will fly to that country I love so much and share with some of you a breakfast in America.
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David Khara studied law, worked as a reporter for Agence France Press, was a top-level athlete, and ran his own business for a number of years. Now, he is a full-time writer. Khara wrote his first novel — a vampire thriller — in 2010, before starting his Consortium thriller series. To learn more about the author and his work, visit his author page on the Le French Book website.
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The Bleiberg Project
David Khara
A Consortium Thriller (1st in series)
First published in France in 2010 as Le Projet Bleiberg; translated into English by Simon John
Are Hitler's atrocities really over? For depressive Wall Street trader Jeremy Corbin, absolute truths become undeniable lies overnight. He finds out his long-lost father is dead, he discovers his boss's real identity, and he ends up boarding a plane to Zurich. He has a Nazi medallion in his pocket, a hot CIA bodyguard next to him, and a clearly dangerous Mossad agent on his tail.
What was his father investigating? Why was his mother assassinated? Why are unknown sides fighting over him with automatic weapons? Can the conspiracy be stopped?
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