Delphine Pontvieux is the author of - ETA: Estimated Time of Arrest. Rated 4.8 stars on 40 reviews, ETA was the winner of th Indie Excellence Book Award 2011 – thriller category. Before we get to her interview, here is a description of this excellent book: WRONG PLACE… After participating in a pro-separatist march that turned violent in January of 1992, 21-year-old Lorenzo Lartaun Izcoa is wrongly charged with the fatal bombing of a police station in his home town. Irun is a small city located in the heart of the Basque country, trapped between France and Spain, and struggling for independence. Lartaun finds himself on the Spanish Secret Service’s “most wanted” list, branded an active member of the Basque terrorist group ETA. He has no choice but to flee his country. Two years later, Lartaun’s childhood friend bursts back into his life. In exchange for a “small favor,” he offers him a passport and the chance to return to Europe under a new identity. Lartaun seizes the opportunity. WRONG TIME… Back in Europe, hiding away in a commune in the French Pyrenees Mountains, Lartaun meets Faustine, a young French environmentalist. As their relationship renews his belief in a future worth fighting for, Lartaun realizes, albeit too late, that the favor he owes his friend is not so “small” after all. Freedom comes at a steep price. How far would you go to protect yours? Interview with Delphine Pontvieux.
Tell us something about yourself.
My name is Delphine Pontvieux. I was born in Versailles and grew up in France. I have lived, studied and/or worked in Australia, the USA, Spain and the Netherlands and traveled to many more countries before I moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1998 where I still live today. As far as my professional career goes, I’ve worked for 10 years in the music industry. Three years ago, I moved on to writing full time and created my book publishing company, called Miss Nyet Publishing, in the summer of 2009. I’m also a scuba diving instructor and I regularly write articles for various diving magazines.
As far as hobbies and interests go, I love any extreme/outdoors sports such as rock climbing, snow skiing, boating, waterskiing, wake boarding, long distance swimming, triathlons, skydiving and more. I’m also a cave and technical diver, and an ocean conservation advocate.
I love music and the arts. I’m curious about everything I have not had a chance to experience so far. You can also see me on the big screen soon in the upcoming motion picture Laughing Out Loud, starring Demi Moore and Miley Cyrus.
How did you wind up a writer?
I always enjoyed writing, and I am also an avid reader. When I was a teenager, I used to write short stories on an electronic IBM typewriter my dad gave me (to replace my mechanic typewriter in the mid 80s.) Then, after university, I started working. Other than writing marketing plans, I did not get much creative writing done. Then, a few years ago, I was asked to write a series of articles for a scuba diving publication. i realized how much i enjoyed writing them, thus i started writing more articles for other magazines. Then one day I woke up from a dream I definitely needed to put down on paper, which i did. That’s how I realized, four chapters in, that I was writing a novel…and that was how it happened.
Was the road to being a writer what you expected? Why or why not?
Yes, for the most part. It’s a solitary road. It eats up all of your free time. Forget trying to quit smoking while writing a novel. But you also meet awesome people you would have never met otherwise. It is a very tough, yet, rewarding, adventure in the end.
What genre do you write in?
Fiction. “ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest” is a fast-paced action thriller combining politics, romance, suspense and police drama.
Can you tell us a bit about your novel ‘ETA – Estimated Time of Arrest’?
“ETA-Estimated Time of Arrest” is the first novel I have written and published in December 2009. (The digital version was released December 2010)
ETA takes place in the French Pyrenees and the Basque country.
After participating in a pro-separatist march that turned violent in January of 1992, 21-year-old Lorenzo Lartaun Izcoa is wrongly charged with the fatal bombing of a police station in Irun and finds himself on the Spanish Secret Service’s “most wanted” list, branded an active member of the Basque terrorist group ETA. He has no choice but to flee his country until two years later, Lartaun’s childhood friend, Patxi, offers him the chance to return to Europe under a new identity in exchange for a “small favor.” Lartaun seizes the opportunity, yet soon realizes that the favor he owes his friend is not so “small” after all, as Patxi is secretly planning a brutal event that will shake Spanish politics.
The novel’s title is a “double” play on words. Not only it is a variation of the common abbreviation “Estimated Time of Arrival” (I used ‘Arrest’ instead of ‘Arrival’), but also because ETA is the name of the Basque terrorist group that’s been active for over 50 years in the Basque country and Spain. ETA means “Euskadi Ta Askatasuna,” which means “Basque country and freedom” in Euskara, the language of the Basque people.
While I have no roots or family originating from the Basque country, I have always been fascinated by the language, the culture and the social and political history of the Basque people, not to mention that it is a beautiful place with its mountainous landscapes, green pastures and rugged coastline. When I was a teenager in the mid-eighties, the Basque struggle for independence was in full swing. The terrorist group ETA was very active and they often made the news on national television. Looking back today, I guess these times marked me more than I thought they did, because they inspired me to write this book.
While a work of fiction, the action of my novel is intimately set within the current political situation in Euskal Herria. I strived to keep the story in check and weave it within the actual historical context to give it more substance and credibility. What happens to the characters could indeed have happened in the real world, even though their particular adventures are entirely a product of my imagination. None of the characters were based on one particular person (public figure or not) I have ever known or read about in my life. They are rather the result of an interesting patchwork of bits and pieces of people’s minds, lives, struggles and beliefs I weaved together inside my head to create each one of these characters. I find there is part of me in all of them, even though their personalities are very different one from another. My intentions were to not express my own opinion about the situation, but rather to let the characters expose all sides to the conflict, and to give us a better understanding of their beliefs and actions by being who they are. Each character thus plays an important part by letting the reader know why the Basque conflict is such a complex situation, with no ready answer to end it anytime soon. I tried to put myself in their respective shoes, and to talk their talk and walk their walk the way they would according to their respective beliefs and the events that shaped their lives to become either police officers, secret agents, fascists, non-violent activists, disabused militants or even terrorists. And yes, I feel particularly close to Lartaun, the protagonist, because I can relate to his complex personality which causes him to get often misunderstood by his peers.
How do you come up with the names for your characters?
I make up the last names as I go, yet I give much thought to the characters’ first names. In my book many characters have Basque names. I made a point to link the meaning of a name and its etymology with a personality trait of the character it belongs to. For example, one of my characters is named Otsoa (wolf in Basque). He’s a strong, brawny man with bushy eyebrows, willing and able to kill, but who is also able to be compassionate and nurturing when the time comes. One of my main characters is called Faustine. It is the female version of Faust, which means ‘Fortunate’ in Latin, and yet the name brings forthcoming tragedy to mind (like in Goethe’s tragic play, ‘Faust’).
While not trying to excuse violence, you also try to give voice to those who become militants, try to give a voice from the other side. Was it hard to achieve a balance between these?
My intentions were to not express my own opinion about the situation, but rather to let the characters expose all sides to the conflict, and to give us a better understanding of their beliefs and actions by being who they are. Each character thus plays an important part by letting the reader know why the Basque conflict is such a complex situation, with no ready answer to end it anytime soon. I tried to put myself in their respective shoes, and to talk their talk and walk their walk the way they would according to their respective beliefs and the events that shaped their lives to become either police officers, secret agents, fascists, non-violent activists, disabused militants or even terrorists.
Is it difficult bringing a novel to the stage of publication?
Every writer will tell you that as far as the publishing process goes, writing the actual book IS the easy part! I can’t really tell you too much about the traditional quest of finding a publisher because I did not query my book to agents or publishers.
I have worked for 10+ years for very successful, 100% independently-owned record labels in the past. As a result, the independent model of doing business has always been very much engrained in me, especially when working for an industry largely dominated by ‘major’ companies. I always took it upon myself to get the work done. It can be risky at times but also very rewarding. Thus, when my novel was nearing completion, I never really thought about shopping my manuscript to agents and so forth. My editor, who used to work for a big publishing company in New York, advised me to try the ‘traditional route’ first, because she thought I had a good chance of finding an agent. So she presented my book to four of her prominent agent friends in LA, which is seldom heard of. I got a reply the very next day from one of them. She liked my writing, but thought the story was too political for her audience. I did not hear back from the other three. I told myself, ‘OK, so we tried that. Now it’s time to really get to work.’
While I was putting the finishing touches on my novel, I contacted a lawyer and laid the foundations for Miss Nyet Publishing, LLC. It made all the sense in the world to me. I WANTED to create my company, just as much as I wanted my book to be read.
My motto is don’t wait around for someone to discover your worth. It may take years, or it may never even happen. Be proactive about the goals you set out to achieve!
Where does the name “Miss Nyet” come from?
Miss Nyet means “Miss No” in Russian. It was the nickname my grandfather and godfather gave to me when I was a child. (even though we are 100% French). Like every other kid, I was in that phase of saying ‘no’ to everything, and so they came up with that monicker. It did not stuck as I grew up, but when came the time to find a name for my company, I suddenly thought of that again and I thought,
“Don’t publishers say ‘no’ to 99% of the queries and submissions they get? How appropriate would ‘Miss Nyet’ be for a publishing company?”
Really, it is just a facetious reference, plus I like the way the name rings. It sounds cool, in a tough, yet inviting, sort of a way. As for the company logo, it is a swimming mermaid, because I am deeply in love with the oceans and the underwater world at large.
Thank you Delphine for a wonderful and informative inteview.
