I welcome J. H. Bográn to my Travels today. His book, FIREFALL, takes us across the US to Central America on a wild ride. His first statement below is that Spanish is his first language. Don't let this fool you! His English writing reads like an American-born speaker.
Straddling two
cultures
My native language is
Spanish. I began learning English halfway through high school. I fell in love
with thrillers in my first year in college when a friend of mine presented me
with a box of old paperbacks where I discovered Ken Follett, Robert Ludlum, and
Clive Cussler among others.
So why am I writing
novels in English? Easy, because my mind began phrasing stories in that
language way before I thought of writing in English. I believe I recognized
English as the language to tell stories in a subconscious level.
Now, don’t think I
forgot Spanish. I’d never do that. Perusing my website you’d find that I have
several projects—screenplays, flash fiction, even novels—that are in Spanish.
In the writing of
Firefall, I incorporated bits from the two cultures as I have two main
characters, one from each nation, who must learn to work together, not unlike
an odd couple of sorts.
Research plays an
important role when I’m developing characters that live, and have grown up, in
the U.S. For instance, Sebastian Martin from Firefall was born and raised in
New York, then moved to Dallas. I had the opportunity to interview people from
the two cities, both natives and late-arrivals. I got wonderful material from a
newcomer’s perspective of Dallas, as my main character is, thus I was able to
add some Yankee flavor to his descriptions. Although I’ve visited New York a
couple of times, I must admit I still have yet the pleasure to be in Dallas.
I’ve come as far as Houston, where I bought a few state maps and fridge magnets
with the Lone Star logo. Hopefully that is enough until I can make a proper
visit.
We’ve all heard about
how people like to visit exotic locations in novels. Then in hit me, I live in
what can be very exotic to people in other parts of the world. Proud as I am of
my heritage, and of course, also a bit of “write what you know,” I made a few
places in Honduras the main locations for the novel.
The action of Firefall
takes place in Dallas, where the main character Sebastian Martin works, but
also in San Pedro Sula and most important the port city of Tela. A few scenes take
place in New York, Guatemala and Puerto Cortés. Oh, and let’s not forget the
erupting volcano of Masaya in Nicaragua!
These days I write in
both languages, hoping that they complement each other instead of running
parallel, or worse, run interference.
Author Bio and links:
J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist.
He ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José’s genre of choice
is thrillers, but he likes to throw in a twist of romance into the mix. His
works include novels and short stories in both English and Spanish. He’s a member of the Short
Fiction Writers Guild and the International Thriller
Writers where he also serves as the Thriller Roundtable Coordinator
and contributor editor their official e-zine The Big Thrill.
You can find this book at:
You can find this book at:
Rebel E Publishers: http://rebelepublishers.com/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/
Follow J. H. here:
Website at: www.jhbogran.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jhbogran
Twitter: @JHBogran
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4307673.J_H_Bogran
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/jhbogran
