1--What is the title of your latest release?
LEGACY OF ATONEMENT
2—What’s the elevator pitch for your new book?
In the spring of 1959, a seemingly minor mistake in a wire transfer at a Swiss bank leads to the discovery of a plot by the CIA to launch a nuclear attack on the leaders of the USSR and China to install Hitler, who is still alive and hiding in South America, as the leader of Western Europe.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
It had to begin in Switzerland, and specifically Geneva, on account of it having the most established and sophisticated secret banking facilities at that time.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes, but he was so obsessed with business, which cost him his marriage, and the quest on which my book focuses, that I doubt mere hanging out would interest him unless there was a legitimate reason to justify spending time together.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Energetic, loyal and fearless.
6—What’s something you learned while writing this book?
To persevere and not to give up despite constant edits and re-writes.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wait until entirely done and then I prepare myself for endless edits, cuts and re-writes and the challenge is to remain upbeat and focused.
8—What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Dark chocolate.
9--Describe your writing space/office.
A room with floor to ceiling bookshelves, a desk and comfortable office chair. A computer in front of me a printer at my side and to my left a pad and pen and a mug of coffee that gets refilled throughout my working day. A Bose Stereo system sits on one of the shelves.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Philip Roth
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
The Collected Stories of O’Henry
12--Tell us about when you got the call.?(when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Anticlimactic and Fear. Anticlimactic because I have lived with this latest book for several years and my head is spinning about the next book, and fear because I have no idea how it will be received.
13—What’s your favorite genre to read?
I don’t have one particular favorite genre, but I do concentrate on Biographies, Alternate History and Espionage.
14—What’s your favorite movie?
Inherit the Wind
15--What is your favorite season?
Summer
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
A quiet dinner at home with close friends, fine food and wine and great and soft background music. As my birthday is always close to Thanksgiving and as I watch my weight, I have to go easy and not overindulge.
17—What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The movie Where the Crawdads Sing. Spectacular.
18—What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Greek, Mediterranean and Indian
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Read, browse bookshops and art galleries, and listen to jazz.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Ideas are still percolating but probably a family drama replete with intrigue and bitter conflict, criminality, and overall mischief.
In the spring of 1959, a seemingly minor mistake in a wire transfer at a Swiss bank leads to the discovery of a plot by the CIA to launch a nuclear attack on the leaders of the USSR and China and to install Hitler, who is still alive and hiding in South America, as the leader of Western Europe.
Thriller | Thriller Political [Hildebrand Books, an imprint of W. Brand, On Sale: June 13, 2023, e-Book, ISBN: 9781956906523 / eISBN: 9781956906547]
Stephen Maitland-Lewis is an award-winning author, a British attorney, and a former international investment banker. He has held senior executive positions in London, Kuwait, Paris, Munich, and on Wall Street prior to moving to California in 1991. He has owned a luxury hotel and a world-renowned restaurant and was also Director of Marketing of a Los Angeles daily newspaper. Maitland-Lewis is a jazz aficionado and a Board Trustee of the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York. In 2014, he received the Museum’s prestigious Louie Award. A member of PEN, The Authors Guild and The Dramatists Guild of America, Maitland-Lewis is also on the Executive Committee of the International Mystery Writers Festival. In addition, he is on the Advisory Board of the California Jazz Foundation and is a former Board member. His short stories have appeared in various magazines and his first collection, Mr. Simpson and Other Short Stories, was recently published. His novels, including the current suspense thriller Duped, have received numerous accolades. His new upcoming novel, Legacy of Atonement, will be published June, 2023. His other novels include Hero on Three Continents; Emeralds Never Fade; Ambition; and Botticelli’s Bastard. Maitland-Lewis’ short story, Mr. Simpson, was developed as a play and has been performed by various theatre companies. He divides his time between Beverly Hills, CA and New Orleans, LA.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2026