Critical Mick

Reviews Free of Rules.

Reviews by the Clown that All Other Critics Want to Strangle with a Black Turtleneck

Appreciating the Gift and Searching for the Truth

The Bard of Bethlehem author David James Trapp chats with unruly reviewer Critical Mick about Pathos and Poetry, TBOB and Tarsus, Hard Lives and Harpists, POD and Passion. Email interview, March. '07.

Critical Mick: The use of the term "Bard" springs one name immediately to mind - I gather from your own reviews that you are a Shakespeare fan.

David James Trapp: Absolutely! What I most enjoy about Shakespeare is that his plays have so many astonishing facets to them (poetry, pathos, plot, humor, etc.), each brilliant. Great literature flourishes over time while mediocrity fades away. Shakespeare is literature that has flourished for 400 years. Wow!

CM: OK, other than Shakespeare Buff - list for the criticalmick.com good readership ten bullet points about David James Trapp.

CM: Is there something that you are not that you desperately wished you were?

DJT: I can't write poetry. I tried writing some poetry as part of The Bard of Bethlehem [Ed. Note: henceforth referred to as TBOB], but then quickly discovered that I was hopeless. I managed to write a soldier's marching song, "Boots for Caesar," but that's the extent of it. That's one reason I made Terentius "a mere minstrel." I knew that I could never write the poems necessary to make him a true bard.

CM: Have you visited Bethlehem?

DJT: No, but I hope to someday, Jerusalem too. But part of me fears that I'd be heartbroken by the passionate hatred and cold-blooded violence.

CM: TBOB's protagonist is a harpist living in the city of Tarsus (what is now Turkey) at the time of Caesar Augustus' census. The novel includes descriptions of what it is like to play the harp. For instance: "Once ready, he played a melody of his own, a lively reel. Terentius was a gifted showman. He improvised, added an occasional grace note, an arpeggio, a repeated base line ... The sound of the harp echoed throughout the courtyard. Terentius ended the melody with a treble glissando." (page 30) Is this from first-hand knowledge or research?

DJT: This is first hand knowledge. The use of some of those musical terms are historical anachronisms, but I left them in to better give Terentius' music a Celtic feel. Anyway, I took up the Celtic harp as an instrument (my first) almost 6 years ago. I'm not that good, but so what? I love to play it, and it is great therapy. One nice thing about the harp is that it is a wonderfully forgiving instrument. This is something the harpist Kim Robertson once said to me, and I liked that quote so much I included it in TBOB (page 193)!

CM: This Terentius is an ethnic Celt whose father was from Gaul. I'm familiar with Loreena McKennitt and Deborah Henson-Conant, but those are modern harpists. What Celtic harpists would you recommend? Does their style of music reflect what might have been played 2000 years ago?

DJT: No one really knows how harpists played 2000 years ago. We have no musical scores (written music had not yet been invented). I suspect they were limited by their instruments, fewer and weaker strings. Yet I'm convinced that the ancient harpists played lively, complex melodies.

DJT: As far as contemporary harpists, I have a lot of favorites, including the previously mentioned Kim Robertson, Grainne Hambly, Patrick Ball, [the late] Derek Bell, Maire Ni Chathasaigh, and Cheryl Ann Fulton, among others.

CM: I was surprised to see descriptions of steel blades, shackles, hinges and doors in TBOB. A little research has revealed that the Romans (and the Chinese before them) actually did have knowledge of steel. Huh! How much historical research did you complete for TBOB?

DJT: Quite a bit. But a writer has to use it selectively. Too much use can sidetrack the story. Sometimes the research might come through as an obscure little detail, such as how the slave girl Suha was "scraped" before she was sold at auction. She was scraped because soap had not yet been invented. Few people might see such details, but they help give the book atmosphere. Another detail worth noting was that the ancient Celts were highly skilled metal workers. And they predated the Romans and the Greeks by hundreds of years!

CM: What research sources would you recommend for those who are interested in learning more about the day-to-day reality of people in the Holy Land at the time of Christ?

DJT: One thing I found helpful was to read about archaeological digs such as at Pompeii. It helped me visualize their lives. Beyond that I tried to remember that in many ways the ancients were just like people of today, with similar desires and fears. And back then life was hard. People lived short, hard lives.

CM: What about the Celts and Druids? Before reading TBOB I had not even been aware that Celts formed a notable minority of the population in what's now called The Middle East.

DJT: Remember the Galatians from the Bible? They were Celts who settled in what is now central Turkey. Galatia was a well-established province, and one of the first to embrace Christianity. And one curiosity that I learned was that Cleopatra really did have a 300 man Celtic bodyguard that Caesar later gave to Herod the Great. Facts like these make history fun! As for the Druids so much about them is shrouded in mystery. Julius Caesar's Commentaries are interesting but biased. I mainly tried to remember that the Druids were the intellectual elite for the Celts. I think the character Anluan is a good example for them.

CM: For the past few years I've been intending to look into the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Worth a read or no?

DJT: I found Josephus to be an excellent source. His writings are readable, and generally reliable. He was one of my main sources for the politics and personalities of Herod's reign. You might also read Chaim Potok's Wanderings, an eloquent book about Jewish history.

CM: The DaVinci Code has brought an increased interest in the Gnostic texts and other writings contemporary to the Gospels. Have you looked into these at all? What's your opinion?

DJT: I've read a few of them such as the Gospel of Thomas. I'm unsure how much weight to give these texts. Some are clearly spurious.

CM: You've described Dan Brown as "an excellent craftsman of words." Come on! You're joking!

DJT: Well ... sort of! He's a good storyteller. He keeps the reader engrossed in the plot. That is the goal of a writer, isn't it? That makes him, to me, a good craftsman. He lacks grace and eloquence perhaps, but his story is told with economy. Like many I find his blatant rewriting of Christian history to be disturbing and blasphemous. But he's clever. He knows how to pander to his select audience with a standard formula..

CM: Whose writing do you admire?

DJT: I'm trying to catch up on all those books I should have read but never actually read, the classics. Among those I like are Orwell, Conan Doyle, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Fitzgerald, Hemingway (especially the short stories), Salinger, Bruce Catton (the Civil War historian), among others. I don't read as many contemporary writers as I should. I need to remedy this. I fear it will limit me as a writer.

CM: What's your opinion of the legion of sword-and-sandal movies of the last few years? 300, Alexander, Troy, Gladiator, The Scorpion King, etc etc etc.

DJT: I don't watch that many movies, but I thought Gladiator was excellent. It had character, plot, and atmosphere. I haven't seen 300 yet. I have a fondness for biblical movies like The Passion and Jesus of Nazareth.

CM: When, where and how was TBOB written?

DJT: I started TBOB in January 2005 and finished it about a year later. I gave myself the goal of writing a chapter a week, and amazingly I kept to it.

DJT: The book began when I had the idea that other peoples beside those in Judea would have seen the Star of Bethlehem and would have wondered about it. And then I thought of a Celtic harpist somewhere who plays songs to it, and maybe even goes to Bethlehem. I rejected him being a fourth wise man, but what if he played to the Christ child? Nah, too cute, but what if he consoled the grieving families of Bethlehem after Herod's slaughter? That appealed to me. And I wanted politics, a Druid, a lovely lady, and music. Slowly it took shape.

CM: What is you opinion of new technologies and developments in publishing? (Podcasting, blogging, webzines, Printing on Demand)

DJT: Very egalitarian! These technologies bring fresh writers into the fold. But readers seem to be drowned in a flood of such works, including the words of quacks. So it's a mixed blessing.

CM: What resources for writers would you recommend?

DJT: I'll answer that in three ways. First, a writer must learn about the business of publishing and publicity. Read everything you can (the Midwest Book Review is a good start). This is critical if you hope to have any success. Writers cannot afford to be business neophytes.

DJT: Second, work at your craft. Write. Rewrite. Edit. Take your craft seriously, yet don't take yourself too seriously. Have fun. Appreciate the gift, and search for the truth that it can reveal.

DJT: Finally, don't give up your day job!

CM: Critical Mick has featured books published by Lulu, iUniverse, and VirtualBookworm. TBOB is the first PublishAmerica title featured. In an interview with writingshow.com, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing: The Contracts and Services of Forty-Eight Self-Publishing Companies Analyzed, Ranked and Exposed author Mark Levine highlighted the company due for irregularities in their contract. What's your opinion on PublishAmerica?

DJT: I am aware of the many critics of PublishAmerica and the company's rebuttals. Let me begin with my own experience. I found their contract to be fair. They do a competent and timely job in preparing galleys, in artwork, and in shipping. They do little if any editing, and minimal publicity, but I didn't expect much. It's worth noting that other "mainstream" publishers do similar minimal publicity for most of their writers unless they are a professional celebrity or a mega-author. So what's the real difference? PublishAmerica isn't perfect, but I'm mostly satisfied.

CM: Any advice or recommendations that you would like to offer to aspiring authors who are considering self-publishing/PODing?

DJT: Sure. Have realistic expectations. Expect the publisher to print and distribute but little else. Hire an editor/proofreader. Expect to do most if not all of the publicity. Hire a publicist if you can. And as I said before, keep your day job!

CM: Tell me a little about how you are promoting/marketing TBOB.

DJT: I send out a lot of e-mails and free copies to reviewers. I chat with clerks at bookstores. I expect to hire a publicist soon to arrange radio interviews and such. I've received some good reviews so I'm using those reviews to build more momentum for the book. I'm also starting to arrange some local appearances. People love to meet an author!

CM: What project are you working on now?

DJT: I'm considering a sequel to TBOB, perhaps a story about daughter Brigid. This is all in the early stages; I don't even have anything on paper yet. I find it takes me many months to let an idea blossom before I devote the time to writing. But when I do start writing, I keep at it until it's finished.

CM: What's on your nightstand at the moment?

DJT: It's Lent so I'm reading scripture. And I thought I would read something totally escapist and fun so I'll read Jurassic Park!

CM: Who's gonna win the White House in 2008?

DJT: If I knew that I'd be an obscenely paid consultant! Alas no. Seriously, it's way too early to tell. This is an unusual election. Both parties have a wide open field. And the increase in early primaries are structured in a way that will give both parties plenty of time to regret their choices! Plus the mainstream media's anointed front runners are all showing their warts. The voters will care deeply about this election because the issues such as the war on terror are really important. People want to win the war and do so with minimal cost. But that's a contradiction. Minimal cost is a pipedream. Wars are bloody, messy and unpredictable. Anyway, a candidate who is clearheaded, and who has character and force of personality will strike a nerve.

CM: Anything else I have not mentioned that you would like to bring up?

DJT: Readers who like historical fiction might also read a prior book of mine, Dog Days in Bedlam. It's an antediluvian tale about young lovers fleeing from a brutal, hedonistic king. It's a martyr's tale, and thus a bit sad, but a story with many ironies about the "truths" of history. I'm proud of it.

CM: Many thanks, David!!!!

DJT: My pleasure, Mick!

Imagine Pop songs in 5BC. Hansonicus on the harp: T-BOB, mm-mm T-BOB....

Yo! This interview transcript and all content on the DFA Guide site are copyright 2007 Mick Halpin. All links to other sites and documents are copyright to whatever source wrote something cool enough for Mick to give it a referral. Try to claim them as your own work and bad karma will catch up with you, baby. Believe it.

Irate, huh? Managed to piss off another one? Direct your hatemail to mick @ mickhalpin dot com.

This Page Was Last Updated On 29 March, 2007.