A Word on Words; 4114; Steve Berry

these are delicious i stood in the way of celebrating all things literature and ideas for more than three decades but this is a word weren't jobs you know i'm john sepulvado welcome once again to award on words or stiletto my guest is steve berry is a new york times and the more one internationally bestselling author of garden alone series that includes the jefferson tv and his tomb and the parrots and other austen's novels have a recurring theme of history it's a passionate in his wife share his new book the columbus affairs no exception it poses a single

puzzling possibility of great historical significance what if everything we know about the discovery of america was a lot he welcomed the word on words going to be a great dad you talk about the columbus affairs then i should say at the outset that i looked as i went through to see your phone so will pass books were going to creep in a little bit below i mean the president stayed around for cameo appearance of that and then as now from from the magellan dillard shows are blatantly the books are due to begin with a bust well not surprisingly have to keep the world a little connected a little connected be but there's a new character and it is a new set of characters and knew motivations that was tough one for may after a seven car brooks let's talk about this new hero tom tom is a journalist a disgraced journalist a journalist was who has disgraced an outrageous set up and the wrong you have foreigners pose

draws taken away from him is an expert on the middle east turns out those legally go into it that he was a victim he was a victim and it i'd i'd i always wondered one idea read about how the book will equate with the ethics of the profession that i was in for over fifty years how deeply did you delve into what tom was supposed to do we shouldn't do what we should take sources off the record which he did there really should rely on on documents that might have been tampered with the majority are much only of god we're looking for in terms of journalistic ethics quite a bit actually i did a lot of that i read about five or six instances of journalist who were disgraced

one in particular was very detailed so i was able to get a lot of information from that particular one tunnel whether lose your well given that one arm jack pelton telling case was very interesting because it was so documentary and whether it's a new revival of those involved in this additional but it i am i have the term is quite a different persona different guys keep it originally i was gonna have tom not necessarily set up and then i realize will who would feel sorry for him i mean you know who would carry you know if he was a fake or fraud some had been change around to make it where he was set up and it always encouraging always am interested me you know if you wanted to take someone out you have to kill you can just disgrace that we can just absolutely destroyed and so they dangled the bait the right bait for a mini took it any get set up but i looked at a lot of the the ethics about what wonderful sources how those things are done and the inner connection between tom is former editor

when they have a conversation about that and then you're talking about that that was all kind of based on reality well when you begin at the outset it is so bad and leave it in the know used it literally is literally got a gun out there was that and then married his marriage collapsed he's got a dollar she describes him but the man at the window for them at the window says this is a picture your daughter and she's in trouble and love did you know when you sat down to write this book that in that opening scene you already knew that she was part of a scam to receive him yes yes i mean i wanted her i wanted it to set up see time as a win win at when it driving a lot of times i always talk about this that yet have conflicts no snow comfort no story than exist were the greatest conflict evolves the conflict of the human heart

if you get the human heart in conflict with itself even really got something good because everyone can identify with this one here we have a guy who hates his daughter historically two he's about to kill himself a man shows up and says i have your daughter i'm going to harm or an issue did this dramatic story has against a dilemma do i boy getting killed myself which is what i plan to do anyway or do i believe that to go help this woman he despises be sold was that conflict of the human heart but what tam doesn't know of course is that she has an ulterior motives going on in here too and that that sets up a change in our waking hours and the daughter allie as she changes in evolved over the course of this book and as tom changes and evolves through the courses book in a novel your characters have to change if they don't change from page one to the end there's a problem so in this case tom and allie go through quite a transformation as they rediscover each other over the course of this quest with christopher columbus well that brings me

to the past and to your pension for history you know your wife and an awful lot to rediscover history know both people rediscovered history yet but i am let's talk about the blob of them we wasn't really wasn't surprised when a lot about and we think we know we did we think we know it has been in and there's an awful lot about him that's all guesswork why'd you focus on farmers are you know just and to us i'm with were fascinating gripping or now you can pay that common stock contract that's even more reading you are an end it involves his jewish heritage and our man and revisiting the time of kilometers in jamaica although best city iowa we know nothing of christopher columbus' which really

don't recall was at two sons one legitimate when illegitimate one was italian mama spanish when columbus died they both wrote differ history's everything got really modeled up in columbus himself never spoke of his background when he was alive and when he did speak of that he contradicted himself is really at remark whatever relies on this that we don't know where i was born where was raised to his parents where we don't even know his name we don't know what he looks like because the aid portraits have survived were done long after he was dead we don't know how he got to america the charge he's disappear we don't know what happened when he got here because the journal of columbus has a copy of a copy we know nothing about the man and then simon wiesenthal wrote a book in nineteen securely nineteen seventies car sales of hope and i stumbled onto one day in an old book shop and it they have an interesting idea that columbus may well have been a conversion of a jew forced to convert to christianity or you know an end in spain during this time period and you write a compelling case you write an extremely compelling case for it and i was

fascinated by that time period is in prison inquisition inquisition was set up to ferret out false converts else that's what it was designed to do was designed to basically the inquisition was directed at the jews who had converted who had been suppose we had not convert and that's what was after columbus avoided all that up by pretending to be a christian now the we hear all the time you know say about isabel sold the jewels to buy the ship so completely false lead for granted bail but that did not have five cents to deny they had just gotten through throwing the moors out of the iberian peninsula they were bank or they had nothing they certainly want to waste money on this foolish voyage across the ocean which is what they considered so what happened was this for converse those who are very close to furman one his chief advisor it was a jew got together and paid for the voyage now it begs the question why do they pay for the voyage they had a reason that they paid for the vote and it was done they're now what i did in the novel since it's a mom why had twisted just a taste i had to add an element to the story to make

it relevant to day and make you do it but i tried to keep it about ninety percent right on target you know to do because what we don't know about columbus is significant thomas says sound is jewish but he met erin bacci meet the married a christian mom gave up his faith his followers not just to issue has a unique leader and then in the end in the jewish party his grandfather had been they had a secret grand all of those investors father's father because he had to left jewish faith has a father and he fought for dave they don't believe that sad thing tom has no relation to the fallen i've gotten along with its doors really a lonely

individual bodies soccer is the pares that day with the gunman then from that point on hank stuff is related that's exactly right hand of the other known anybody just like tom who were the that's almost a lover and then it face of absolute destruction a lawyer for thirty years now so i did an enormous amount of divorces maybe you about ten thousand horses in a lot a lot a criminal defense work and a lot of stuff so i saw a lot of people at their worst in and i saw i saw folks like that who had that ability to survive and could he could put it together to do it how we sell the time the worst thing a warrior has a house if ever wrote a legal thriller my opening line would be i hate innocent clients that the earth is the worst thing in the world when you have an innocent client because the vast majority of carter not that they may not be guilty of what they're charged with the truth but

they get to something you know they've done some degree of it but when you get one every once awhile who is truly absolutely falsely accused and is innocent of all the charges and i had about ten incidents in my life that frightening and some of those guys were like that they've they had survived that someone was trying to take their freedom what some would try to take everything they had away from when they had hunkered down and they had to survive and go through it and a villain for a moment rich powerful he won severe trigger locks and many years was about to set the next day and he has managed to let out on college coach tomlin and a little and managed to convince her it should be part of his effort to draw some leaves him alone you create some interesting characters

they may use unaware of the mekong where it was the rosengarten on you use the worst of the worse he adds but he but he also has a streak of love and i don't want i guess the word decency is not the best word but he also has a streak of he believes he's doing the right thing for the right calls unfortunately we know that it's crazy but believes that that calls that he's after that's my little twist that i had it to the story to make it relevant to day is what zachariah is actually after an he is at least is that when a guy's a guy that just has this from medical believe that the medics are that way they'd they've convinced themselves lehr absolutely core position a character named after my age my age you really envy of my age you want to be the bad guy so one of the worst and a book and so is anna simon lips garside took his middle lane zachariah made zacharias simon so it this was named after an exact i was it was very

fascinating to deal with because of his finances because of his focus that he has he'll do anything to get it done but he thinks he's doing it all for the right reason which of course is now for those of you just joining us i'm talking with the very about his new book the promise of their latest and in a book you've left of the left alone and moved on not every year every year year yukon and that yes that will be banished here i'm really great adventure in england it's a mystery i came across dealing with elizabeth the first couple of years ago and he'll be back next year's called the team's deception or so should be gone by then i hope you come back on and now let's go on to the world to just pursue zachariah for another moment on there are moments in the book when i think la is the most naive in some ways just

don't really own she can see through this force on this show means i go and puts off and she is so convinced that her father was a girl journalist on top of that what did that on purpose and emails just like what you just said people would say it i guess i lost interest in her because she was so naive to see the reader has information she doesn't have a say she do that this is a young girl she's in her mid twenties she's fascinated by this guy she's obsessed by his image with her new religion and her faith and she's trying to do the right thing she's issues like many twenty year olds that we all know i myself was one wants to do so when the readers say that he's in a marriage that had all kinds of maybelle atlanta bad mistakes she is very much like her father and doesn't know it yet and as the book progresses she begins to realize and then when she

actually commits the greatest sin of all the sand that she actually accused her father of doing that sour rye lying ins and being deceitful she realizes that i'm just like you mind just like him and there's a moment when he's in a huge huge way now that the white why do you judge me just like me you lied to your mother is like your mother who's dead now and he didn't tell her the truth but yet you a cost in the fields saying i didn't do it and that's what happened the reader has a little more information then allie dutson that's why we can see through it began to put yourself in her shoes now she did progress and in and change and that act advantage we started her off a little more naive she got smarter as the book went on those indigenous rights martyrs she began to piece it together and when she begins to interact with or follow if you know you gave me all that she sees the revelation comes understand hill good fellow than that of other units that and is that moment there's a moment in the book is what we would call the

crisis point where her life is in jeopardy and she has to trust her father to save her life and fortunately you know the numbers here what i would want to go down that road but i do want to say about the other bill did it is what it is in the book takes us a bump on sojourner is falling we're indiana and we're in prague we're in jamaica and then these characters but nate is so unique well let's talk about the name for just a moment i don't really know where is he was actually not in the book when i started writing i had written about forty thousand words and i realized i needed another character only had three only had saccharine out an alley and talk and i realized i needed someone else and so i went back and created you know and it came about when we were in jamaica aspen sometime down there

i was with them rooms which are the group are the only group of slaves in the western hemisphere successfully fought and won their freedom and they figure very early carolyn the store they're still they're in aspen sometime down with him and once i was down there with old i realized i needed a character with his background the island of jamaica has a great connection with christopher columbus because his family got control of that island in the early part of the seventeenth century under the sixteenth century and kept control of a four hundred and fifty years and they kept the inquisition off jamaica and there is a legend dealing with columbus that still exist out there and so that's incorporated into the story but billy's there to the show that jamaican angle to show what's going on down there you never quite sure where babies diets you never quite sure i really enjoy him in fact that would mind revisiting him one day he was critical britain's vote to end the end he did ok and india stands up he did ok we learned something too about himself he learned what he really was let's talk about what i

might called jewish mysticism that finds its way into the book the lawyer where does all that come from was fascinated because i didn't know anything about it judaism was a subject that i knew zero about one asteroid is bookish is something i'd never really studied much after studying it for a year and a half the i realize the complexity of that and i wanted the reader to get some appreciation for of the jewish faith and there's a top us a touch of it as enough of an entity to get fuel for it to get a handle on it i had about five different folks read it three sephardic jews to ashton it jews to read it and know afford to identify different opinions on a lot of things and i'm bob learned that's kind of happens in that regard because the be a big pier six where they're isolated in so they'd they develop their own little ways of doing things but eventually came together and try to get the information as best we could to

someone a good accurate as i could so far i haven't got many emails from love the jewish readers saying and i messed up much well let me just ask about about though one concert the concept of bullied right yes which is that which is that all of the titles that is press down for rainfall that to son to son or daughter bummed i thought about and you write that what ideas at the peak actual concept to leave office which are the with a tent pole custodians and they took care of things that's their that this or function and i adapted it to my treasure i am made the lead bite the holder of the secret and that really worked well it was just such a connection there because they were the keeper of secrets after the temple and since the temples of gold ms gall now there's no detectable called they don't have that function so i adapted o'malley worked well it was something where i could be a deal with some of the jewish concepts of the levi and the indigo inland

typically the gravestones and those symbols of gold of gravestones due to work to us to say that your levi and i put all those together it was just a way for the reader to get familiar with this concept tom in the us as are a lot that we were like oh yeah he has realized it has a real i see is what i'm actually and then when he gets that note any reads it from his father he realizes what he has to do an end you know here's to progress as he begins to realize what he is what his duty as with his responsibility is unless everything about how he was a good guy he just got set up the deck destroy us throughout i'm riding with the tough reality of iran his followers a letter to him from the grave in a bohemian so you see the relationship will win for you in the words of tom and never heard

from in the flotilla i love you audie the little bit about that concert the coast it's here that tom begins to understand what this whole concept being believe it and yet he realizes that his father was at this this cold aloof individual in fact his father harbored a great secret a very very important secret something very critical to the entire jewish fact that he harbored that any any ms akhtar i was a ceo he was a berrigan is african everyone's after it but forgave her reasons they're all activity for reasons but tom wants it simply because now it becomes a point of i wanna see what this was what was going on here what's this connection to my family you know was i wrong about my father and i did something very intentional in this book spawned never calls his father his father he

never uses the word father day because it buys first day all the way through the book and to one moment and i did it on purpose that what they did but all the way through that he did not use those words and that reading of that letter from his father is the first indication we're competition on may have had this all wrong i'm a big role here you know i've i misjudged all this and and i and i think oh this guy did to do this because it takes a lot of the july fifth own study or so the story takes is around the world boil it leads us to this scene this life for death competition are in a hole you know indicate the energy making cajun and gov you don't know for sure how

zucker i didn't come out you know you've got some faith that tom is going to make it even though he won the killings of the us senate bum knee got that beautiful young girl out there the painting on him how come from a new zealand numbers we've given her when she takes those steps were those life or death steps in that city is pretty comparable word but is not exactly one hundred percent sure he thinks he has it figured out now the whole point is that she has to trust that she has to trust this man who she hates now she's not quite sure she hates scene but she still doesn't trust in that her life is on the line she has no choice to do and he's not exactly sure either but he says within a day and asked that moment is that moment where father and daughter actually a combat once again there's a moment when that happens and i built it to that moment on purpose coming out that that

ending i thought through a long time because i had to have that moment when father and daughter in a crisis point have to trust each other for the first time for an indian who will say the words out of the toyota way it works out edwards alto your child and i'm sure i'm sure you knew that was gonna work out when you saw the butcher but let's assess doing it when you write how to write i mean it's a professional low wage or profession naive at these bestsellers the blockbusters onlooker all of the world how do you separate your cell phone in her daily life but the sunni opponents of the senior chair and oh what the hell and then your right eye morning person when i was writing to be published in the new deal for me it was a long road to publish you know i was twelve years from the day a woman first word the vessel my first

word it forever objections over five different range fifteen or two of your peers a very long process for me and while i was learning the craft of writing i taught myself to write a book a year and i figured if i ever got to do this set up to do a book a year and i worked in the morning six thirty denying and then i practiced all the rest of that so i still continue that to this day after a six thirty seven vote about eleven now and then i'll take an hour off and our been our two after lunch and then paste them done by about two o'clock about five six hours rattle my brain to take or there that's a lot for each day and then they do the business of riding during the day marketing and all kinds of things has to be dealt with that i do research and i do get ready for the next day and i did that five days a week now if i don't feel like riding during a weight that is a matter that right it's a job on the weekends i write about feel like it only ever feel like did it feel like it i do have a bill using the family stuff and children to do stuff to do on the weekend but if i feel like it our all right some of the weekend was a little less because the king's deception couple will be backing an imam and he said to us

its own adventure set in england scored a deal with gary his son a very interesting interesting industry that is going to get caught up with with the tudors run out and thank you so much for coming by to have a caller you for watching and dancing a lot warlords keep reading