CQ Scafidi Time Couriers and a Q&A

[Giovanni Gelati]

 

Happy Monday to all and thanks for checking in. We have a monster week ahead of us and we are going to start the week off with a bang, the works of CQ Scafidi. Today I am going to do two things: I am going to revisit a post I had popped in back in the day when I first started this blog, and then a Q&A that is certified fresh off the virtual press from this morning. CQ will be our guest today on our blogtalk radio show, The G-ZONE, @ 5pm EST. Check it out, call in; be part of the process. If you can’t and are going to listen to it from the archives, email me your questions and I will read them on air and give you full credit for them. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we have Richard Doetsch on as or guest; he is the author of The 13^th Hour and The Thieves series of novels. I am running a piece of my old blog post here. I was new back in the day; be kind when you are reading.  CQ Scafidi also has a new digital series out called The Commissary, check our archives from Digital short Saturday for the post on that. Here it is, the old post, followed by the new Q&A:

“This review is from: Time Couriers (Paperback)

Time Couriers is a very unique book from the cover art to the back page. The cover art is very detailed and busy; I guess you could say that it is a bit of foreshadowing for what lies inside for us, the reader. There are many different layers of plot lines in Time Couriers, but for me the enjoyment was in the amount of detail that Scafidi provides us with in addition to the well-crafted story lines.

I have yet to have the pleasure of traveling to New Orleans, Christopher Quintin Scafidi made me feel right at home there. Throughout the Time Couriers story, he was able to weave the fabric to what makes New Orleans, New Orleans and convey the atmosphere of the town and its inhabitants. The people, the streets, the restaurants all came to life for me as his in depth descriptions and incredible sense of detail put me right there.

As complex as the plot is, Scafidi makes Time Couriers compelling and ties all the ends together in a nice neat package. The pace is fast and furious; Couriers is a major page turner. My suggestion is to have a block of time put aside so you can just sit down and totally enjoy this novel. Take a break from the norm, time travel New Orleans style.

Great location, international intrigue; I know I left out a few things out here. This book is chock full of action and adventure from cover to cover, but why should I spoil anything? Give this novel a try, put it in your Goodreads -to read list at the very least. What are some of your favorite time travel novels?”

Done chuckling now , thanks. The novel is now available as an ebook, there is no reason not to check this out.  Here is the Q&A:

‘Giovanni:  Will you please share a short bio with us?

C.Q.: I currently reside in the New Orleans area. My lifelong pursuits in international business, transportation, journalism and communications have provided him with a wealth of information to craft this novel, where arcane ritual enables global domination for a select few.  I am originally from Corpus Christi, Texas, but have lived all over the Gulf Coast.  My father served as the Maritime Attache for the U.S. Embassies in Rome and Athens and we lived there briefly. I returned home to New Orleans to attend Loyola University where I studied Accounting after which I began my career Journalism.  I gravitated toward International Marketing due to my business acumen and language skills.  I spent 15 years as International Sales Manager for United Parcel Service as well as a long-time member of the World Trade Center of New Orleans.

 

Giovanni:  Tell us about Time Couriers and where it's available.

C.Q.: Time Couriers is a suspense thriller available online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and dozens of online booksellers.  It was just recently released under the cover of Trestle Press for Kindle Readers

 

A short synopsis of my novel...New Orleans, June 1997. The city's dying of heat and dying on its feet as the port business shrinks and the powers that be carve up a vanishing pie. Steve Gorman, an executive for the APEX courier corporation, sees his colleague Andrew Sinclair disappear, carrying a high-value package containing a stone with miraculous powers...   Steve gets the blame, quits APEX and loses his place on the city's Trade Council.  Suddenly he's a "non-person", but with the aid of glamorous Creole journalist Monique Chauvin and fey historian Louis Duplantier, he unearths an astonishing conspiracy involving time travel, the Templars, Freemasonry and Voodoo. If this "Brotherhood" can forecast events like Hurricane Katrina, millions of dollars could be saved-for the elect few, of course.   C Q Scafidi's murder story is in fact a stunning exposé of globalism,  greed and ritualized gangsterism. His background in journalism and business at the World Trade Center give him a unique insight into the workings of mankind... and how human nature can be corrupted overnight by the allure of power. Read Time Couriers and you'll see world events in an entirely different light.

I began Time Couriers on 8/8/04 and coincidentally, it was released four years later on 8/8/08.  It was a four year odyssey that was interrupted by Hurricane Katrina.  I had 35,000 words completed and then shelved the project for 9 months until I could dig out from under the Hurricane Debris and put my life back together.  Since I was the only family member who did not lose a home, I housed my entire family, making it impossible to write. Nine months later, I dusted it off and found I had a suspense thriller with no mention of the biggest news story ever in New Orleans.  I had to get creative to work it in, but it fit just perfectly.    

 

Giovanni:  At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published?  Tell us your call story.

 C.Q.: I was awarded a first-place prize from the American Legion for an essay I wrote in the 3rd grade entitled, What Freedom Means to Me.  I sailed through my English classes while I struggled with Mathematics.  I was first published as a publicist for Oil Mop, Inc. during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill when, my press release regarding the cleanup operations was picked up by the Associated Press. I have served as a journalist for several publications and editor for an official NFL Weekly Publication, Gridweek.  I made the leap to fiction writing in 2004.  I had to place my writing career on hold during Hurricane Katrina for nine months.  I then had to find a way to work the biggest news story concerning New Orleans into my story about New Orleans...it made a very nice fit.    

 

Giovanni:  Are there any other writers, published or not, in your family?

C.Q.: My mother is an unpublished writer and bibliophile who can quote obscure Oscar Wilde references.

 

Giovanni: How does your family feel about your career?

C.Q.: They are extremely supportive and provide much-needed constructive criticism, when others are not available. My mother assisted me with my first six revisions.  The final four were conducted by the editor at the publishing house. 

 

Giovanni: Describe your writing in three words.

C.Q.: Historical, Suspenseful, Conspiratorial

 

Giovanni: How do you approach your writing?  Do you plot or go with the flow?

C.Q.: I am extremely organized about my approach.  I write in three acts. I typically use Third-Person Omniscient (God s view according to Alfred Hitchcock).  I begin with plot concepts, characterizations (primary, secondary, and tertiary), a synopsis, and then an outline.  After completing the outline I flesh it out, making each line item into a paragraph. These are the bases for my chapters.

I fully develop plot complications, conflict, and theme.  I ensure every question posed in the first chapters is answered by the final line of the novel.  I will also use a flow chart for my characters showing links and indicating characterizations.  

 

Giovanni: What kind of research did you do for this book?

C.Q.: I spent four years conducting research for this novel.  The City of New Orleans has a vast array of resources for conducting research on the 300-year shadow history of the city.  I actually included a chapter where I describe my research at the Historic New Orleans Collection, through the actions of the main character.

 

Giovanni: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write?  Do they haunt your dreams?

C.Q.: Absolultely.   I feel as if I am taking dictation rather than writing when I get in the zone.

 

Giovanni: If Time Couriers was made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the hero and heroine?

C.Q.: Hero: Steve Gorman- Shia LeBeouf

         Heroine: Monique Chauvin - Marion Cotillard

 

Giovanni: What is the most interesting comment you have received about your books?

C.Q.:  The story stuck in my mind for days after finishing it. I wasn’t sure what were real history and what fiction was.  

 

Giovanni: Who are some of your favorite authors and books?  What are you reading now?

C.Q.: Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte...the finest example of the novel as an artform.

Just finished, The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton,  just starting the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

            I enjoy the female-penned classics.  I also love historical fiction, in the vein of Dan Brown.  I realize that these are opposite ends of the literary spectrum, but that’s what I like.

 

Giovanni: What's next for you?

C.Q.: I have multiple irons in the fire.  I am, of course, working on a sequel for Time Couriers

I have a short series entitled the Commissary for which I am drafting my second installment and as a long-term research project, I am delving into the religious mystery.

Osir IS RA EL ohim, a narrative that delineates the direct connection between Abrahamic religions (Judeo-Christianity and Islam) with Egyptian Pharonic Religion.  Like Time Couriers it will be a fictional narrative set against the backdrop of Western Religious dogmatic evolution.  

 

Giovanni: Where can you be found on the web?

 C.Q.: Time Couriers was the recent recipient of two awards, Amazonclicks Authors  Choice Award for March of 2009... http://amazonclicks.com/Authorschoice.html.  Also, Time Couriers was the recipient of The NEW Covey Coverart Award for  Most Eye-Catching Cover  for June of 2009.

http://thenewcoveycoverawards.blogspot.com/2009/06/june2009newcoveycoveraward.html

I am also a featured writer on the Red Room, Authors Den, and have links on various social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, The Meadows, the Novel Spot, and several other purchasing sites available by searching Title and Author together in your search criteria.

 

Giovanni: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?

C.Q.: If you have the time, would you kindly befriend me on Facebook, Christopher Quintin Scafidi?

 Also, if you can tag Time Couriers in Amazon, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks to you Giovanni for having me today and thanks to your readers.

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