Can you, for those who don't
know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
As a teenager
growing up in the island of Mauritius, I was fascinated by the adventures of
Tintin and Asterix, as well as the Marvel or DC Comics superheroes. There were
unfortunately no opportunities whatsoever at the time for me to even get
interest for potential publication at the time. Years went by and the usual
events of life happen (boy meets girl, courting, marriage, kids are born…
etcetera) until that unforgettable day in 2008. It was one of those lousy
Canadian winter days in Montreal, cold, ice-rain while there was already over a
foot of snow on the ground. Some colleagues and I had agreed to meet for lunch
at a restaurant outside our workplace. First to get to the restaurant, I step
out of the car, slip on the ice and fracture my ankle in three places. Two days
later, with ten titanium screws as well as a titanium plate inside my right
ankle, I was set for seven weeks of recovery at home. Stuck mostly on the sofa,
but grateful for my wife’s care and patience, I realized that if there was any
writing to be done, it was then or never. It still took me almost two years
before I finished my first book, ‘The Storyteller’s Nights’. Feedback was great
as can be seen from readers’ comments on Amazon.ca. There was even some
beginning of interest from ‘Principal Entertainment’ to consider financing for
the movie, but it never materialized. I am lucky enough to have been brought up
in a fully bilingual environment (French and English), and decided that my next
step would be to translate the book myself. I spent a lot of time enquiring
about translation services but when I found out that the best deal I could get
was at six cents per word, and that one hundred and twenty thousand words would
cost me $7200, I figured that there was a good reason why I was bilingual. In
addition, I have read quite a few books in both languages, as I wanted to
evaluate for myself how well books were translated. Although professional
translators do a great job, I found that sometimes some essential elements of
the story would get lost in translation. So, I translated the story myself and
the French version ‘Les Nuits du Conteur’ was published in 2015. From then on,
I had started to build confidence and better understand the writing industry
and trade. ‘Fantasy Man’ was published in 2017 and ‘Revanche’ (Revenge), the
follow-up to ‘Les Nuits du Conteur’ was published in June 2019. Within the next
few months, I will complete my fourth book, ‘The Miracle Ladies’ and hope to
get it published by early 2020. For the year 2020, my goal is to complete the
translation into English of ‘Revanche (Revenge)’ and also the translation into
French of ‘Fantasy Man (Monsieur Fantaisie)’.
What is something unique/quirky about you?
I tend to be a bit of a recluse, a hermit at
times, especially when I’m at home. Yet, in my work environment, I am seen as
being the go-to guy for a laugh, and this has given me the reputation of ‘the
Joker’ at work. So, this duality is sometimes questioned and even if I try to
explain that at work, although it is still facets of my true-self that come
out, I am also faced with a multitude of people and characters within a short
space of time and whether I like it or not, in the end and for the good of all,
I have to be a team player. While this reasoning is also true of me at home and
surrounded by my loved ones, I find that this part of my life requires a whole
lot more understanding and patience for me to properly support the needs of the
family. As such, it is less of a joker’s environment and more one of great
responsibility. It goes without saying that despite this adapted approach, we
still have incredible moments of laughter at home.
The
world nations are suddenly faced with terrorism in an unprecedented
simultaneous attack worldwide. An urgent secret meeting is held with
religious and political authorities of all nations to discuss the
ensuing message from a ghostly character by the name of Fantasy Man,
who not only claims full responsibility, but challenges all with a
precise ultimatum. General Timothy Powell is assigned to the
leadership of the taskforce with mission to find and stop Fantasy
Man, but this assignment could not come at a worse time for the
General who faces some very personal and delicate problems.
A
British archeologist sets up an elaborate scheme to select a group of
civilians to accompany him through a paranormal adventure never
before attempted, an adventure that he has nicknamed ‘The war to
end all wars’. Fascinated at the prospects of this paranormal
adventure, the civilians will soon find themselves in a web of deceit
while truly embarking in the unknown world of the supernatural. By
the time the hidden agenda of the archeologist is understood, deepest
and darkest secrets will have been revealed and only friendship and
love will provide a slim chance for the civilians to come out alive.
But who has deceived who?
A
mastermind engineer disillusioned with the lethargy and inertia of
the corporate world seizes an unexpected opportunity to start his own
business, an entertainment outfit unlike any other. How could he
possibly have known that he would become entangled with the taskforce
against Fantasy Man?
Racing
around the globe as well as around the clock to piece the challenging
puzzle laid out by Fantasy Man will prove to be a quasi-impossible
task for the authorities… until fate does what it does best,
bringing together the most unlikely group of people to solve the
riddle. But Fantasy Man had one last defiant act up his sleeve,
another simultaneous worldwide show of force with a fatal outcome…
What
would you do faced with the enormity of Fantasy Man’s challenge and
a deadline to stop him?
If
you were selected for the archeologist’s paranormal adventure,
would you willingly take on the challenge of ‘war to end all wars’?
Would
you give up your dream of a highly successful self-made career in the
entertainment domain, to save the world, or simply to ease the burden
of a troubled soul?
Fantasy
Man will change your world forever, if you dare take his challenge…
Jean-Michel
Désiré was born on the magnificent tropical island of Mauritius,
where he completed his primary and secondary studies in compulsory
bilingual French and English languages. An acute love of reading
combined with a great interest in art (drawing and painting) pushed
Jean-Michel from a young age to want to write his own comic books,
but a lack of opportunity blocked his efforts. It was this same lack
of opportunity of the time that triggered a need to perform further
studies. At age 22, Jean-Michel left Mauritius for North London,
England, where he completed a bachelor of Engineering in Electronics
followed by a Master of Philosophy in Microelectronics.
While
concluding his Master’s degree, Jean-Michel met the lady who became
his wife a year later, year during which they also moved to Montreal
Canada where Jean-Michel had been offered an engineering position in
the Aerospace industry. Life had its own agenda, and within the first
eighteen months, their daughter was born in the middle of a snow
storm in Montreal. Six years later, their son came into the world and
the obvious demands of family life became the main priorities.
During
the winter of 2008, Jean-Michel slipped on the ice during a storm and
fractured his ankle in multiple locations. Recovering at home after
surgery, Jean-Michel decided that the time had come to revive his
passion for writing. Within two years, his first book ‘The
Storyteller’s Nights’ was published. The positive feedback from
readers fueled Jean-Michel to exploit his bilingualism and he
translated the story into French, ‘Les Nuits du Conteur’ being
published in 2015. He then felt the wind in his sails and published
‘Fantasy Man’ in 2017, and recently, ‘Revanche (Revenge)’
(the follow-up to ‘Les Nuits du Conteur’) in 2019. ‘Fantasy
Man’ is presently nominated for an award, top ten finalist to be
announced on 22 August 2019. He has just completed the first draft to
his next English book, entitled ‘The Miracle Ladies’, which he
plans to send to the publisher within the next few months, after the
essential rounds of self-editing.
Engineer
by day, writer by night, Jean-Michel plans to keep letting his
imagination go wild while capturing it all on paper. Surrounded by a
great family, he plans to write a whole lot more. When he is not
writing, he spends quality time with his family and travels yearly
back to Mauritius to visit his Mom and brothers.
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