Sunday, September 1, 2019

A chat with Fantasy Man author Jean-Michel Desire Genre: Fantasy

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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