I have always followed a creative life; and, as a result, never seem to have followed a usual route or done anything in a usual manner.How I got published is no exception.
Because I have an encompassing business career, which always has more work than hours in the day … and, for that matter, does not even have a regular day because I work simultaneously in many different times zones, I suppose I have not felt the same need to publish as many other writers.
Yet I have always sought to maintain my integrity in a struggle with questions that have no answers ... who am I … why am I here … what comes after this life.
And, because of that, I have always written.
Following the adage of writing from what you know best, I wrote from my first hand-hand experience accumulated as a director of an international investment firm. I wrote as truthfully as possible of the world of international finance — not with the over dramatization so common in film and television, but with an intimate telling through a first-person narrative ... of what it can be like to labour in the world of money spinning ... of how the money’s immense leverage for triumph or disaster doesn’t so much corrupt people as corrupt the way they treat each other ... of how the relentless demands of the money so often deprive you of sufficient time and energy to live through the events of your emotional and interior life.
The plot advances along questions arising from how we relate to our careers: How much money is too much? And how fast is too fast in life? And the central character advances along deeper questions in his own life: How do we cope with love and loss?
The story follows Paris Smith. As he steps onto the top rungs of the corporate ladder, he is caught between his need for fulfillment and his need for understanding; between his drive for power and his inability to cope with his growing emptiness where there was once love. When his wife disappears from the core of his life, his loneliness and sense of disconnection threaten to overwhelm him. When he tries to compensate by losing himself in his work, he stumbles off the treadmill of his own success, and is entangled in the web of a fraudulent bond deal that threatens to derail his career and his life.
Forced to put his personal life on hold while he travels nonstop between Toronto, Singapore and Bangkok to salvage his career, he is deprived of the time and space to mourn the absence of his wife and regain his equilibrium.
In the heat and turmoil and fast money of Southeast Asia, half a world from home, and half a life from his last remembered smile, he finds duplicity, friendship and power --- and a special woman who might heal his heart.
Overall, it is a deeply felt story about the isolation of today’s society, the prices great and small paid for success and the damages resulting from the ruthless exercise of financial power.
Yet, although it is a literary novel, it is also fast-paced and highly readable. By the time I had finished writing it, I recognized that readers would find the details fascinating, and would find the characters real, and not easily forgotten.
Because of this, it is the first writing that I have wanted to publish for wide circulation.
Prior to this, my primary fans have been editors who have followed my writing, always been supportive and encouraging, and always patiently promoted that I bring a book to print.
Finding a publisher was not as difficult as I thought it would be.
I retained a professional editor for final proofreading; the editor showed the manuscript to a publisher, Blue Butterfly Books; and the publisher accepted it on first reading.
As incredulous as it may seem, I would not have published with them simply because they offered me a contract.
Upon introduction, I was greatly impressed.
The company is founded on the mission statement of the publisher, Dr. Patrick Boyer, to bring to the market "interesting and important stories that are well-written for a wide audience."
All facets of the organization are entrepreneurial, and the people have great energy and dedication.
They publish some engaging and thought provoking non-fiction, especially in politics, history, public policy and biography; and they are building a selective list of high quality fiction. Their books have been very well received.
The website is: www.bluebutterflybooks.ca
Coming For Money has just been released, and is starting to attract a lot of attention.
As usual, in not following a usual path as with so many other parts of my life, I jumped straight from keyboard to published novel without an agent.
But I am looking for a high quality film production deal.
So I would be interested in hearing from an agent who would like to take on this initiative.
F. W. vom Scheidt is a director of an international investment firm. He works and travels in the world’s capital markets, and makes his home in Toronto, Canada. He is also the author of a new book, Coming for Money (Blue Butterfly Book Publishing), a remarkable and provocative novel about the world of international finance and the human quests for success, understanding and love. You can find out more about his book at http://www.bluebutterflybooks.ca/titles/money.html.
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