This week, we're welcoming author William Burton McCormick, whose latest title is Lenin's Harem. Bill is offering a free copy of the book to a lucky blog visitor. Here's the blurb:
Lenin’s Harem is the story of Wiktor Rooks, a ruined aristocrat swept up in the chaos of World War I, who by twist of fate finds himself a member of the elite guard of the Russian Revolution, a group of Latvian soldiers known colloquially as “Lenin’s Harem” for their loyalty to the Bolshevik cause. Concealing his aristocratic past from his enemies, Wiktor hides in plain sight from his enemies while the Russian Empire crumbles around him. But where does he go when the revolutionaries win?
“Broad, ambitious, and plenty good.”- The Providence Sunday Journal
**Q&A with William
Burton McCormick**
What made you a writer?
I think I was a storyteller first, as a boy, a young man, and the
writing came later as means to deliver those stories. From Homer on down the
best writing, for me, has always followed the cadences of speech. I think if I
were a more confident speaker, I’d be on the stage telling my tales before an
audience. But I’m not so outgoing. Instead, I write them down in my study,
trying to choose my words down to the syllable to affect timing and delivery. I
really come at the work from a tradition of oral storytelling. I read of
course, but a lot of my inspirations come from listening. And from writers
whose narrative voice mimics real speech - such as Twain.
Nearly all your writing has an historical setting. Why historical
fiction?
History has so many fascinating tales and so many odd
corners and places with wonderfully shadowy characters worth exploring. There
are numerous names referred to in the history books for which we really have
only bits of information. Frustrating to the historian, I’m sure, but we
fiction writers need not be so strict in our work. We can flesh out these characters, pluck them from the mists of time, put them
in the light and tell the stories that the history books only hint at.
More seriously, of course, historical fiction allows us
the leeway to make connections between our past and our present in an
entertaining, and sometimes thought provoking way. The genre, at its best, comments on who we
are by showing us who we were.
Do you find it difficult to write dialogue from a century ago?
Well, I don’t write dialogue from a century ago. I write dialogue for a
modern audience in a style that is natural to them. Of course, I eliminate modern slang and
trendy euphemisms, but I think deliberately trying to ape an archaic style
usually makes the dialogue seem stilted and takes the reader out of the story.
You always end up with some sort of stiff, faux-Shakespearean conversations.
For example, the characters in my novel “Lenin’s Harem” are speaking in
Latvian, Russian and German. It would be counterproductive for me to try to
emulate the grammatical structures and rhythms of those languages. As a writer
my first priority is to create character. To do so, I must use all the tools of
English as properly as I can. Trying to make English sound like German, for
effect, I feel, is only a distraction to the reader. I want them thinking about
the characters and their emotions, not the intrusive writer.
You mention “Lenin’s Harem.” Who or what exactly was this group?
“Lenin’s Harem” was a nickname given to the elite Red Riflemen of the
Russian Revolution. They were a regiment of Latvians who survived the trenches
of World War I to become the Bolsheviks’ most dependable soldiers in the early
years of their revolution. When Lenin had really no one else to depend upon, he
called the Latvian Riflemen.
And then Stalin murdered them.
This is what my novel of the same name is about. I find the title a bit
ironic. The Latvian
Riflemen were called “Lenin’s Harem” because of their loyalty to Lenin. But, of course, a harem has a dubious
relationship with their master. He may profess love, but they are enslaved to him, and
ultimately will be discarded. Such was the case with Latvia’s greatest soldiers and the first
heroes of the Soviet Union.
The novel spans thirty-five years including both World Wars and the
Russian Revolution. With so grand a historical sweep, how were you able to keep
the narrative manageable and engaging?
Lenin’s Harem does have a large scope, but I tried very hard to keep the
narrative fixed to my protagonist, Wiktor Rooks, his personal story and those
of his immediate comrades and family. The book is written in first person, so
all of the events are filtered through his eyes alone. This point of view keeps
me from cheating in my storytelling or “head-hopping” from character to
character as they say. It locks in and
focuses the narrative.
I think the most important thing in any historical novel is to remember
it is indeed a novel first and an historical snapshot second. There’s a love
story here and family saga set against the birth and death of nations. The first responsibility of a writer is to
character and storytelling. I think too many historical novelists become so
proud of their hard-earned research that they sometimes bury their story under
facts and digressions. I know I’ve felt the temptation to slow the pace and
warble on about what I’ve learned or to slip in those wonderful nuggets of
information that are fascinating but not really relevant to the story. Cutting
them out is one of the most excruciating parts of editing, but an engaging
narrative with well-realized characters must be paramount. Your research can be
spot on, your themes relevant, but it won’t matter if the audience has closed
the book.
What sort of reader do you feel will be drawn to Lenin’s Harem?
Well, certainly those interested in the Russian
Revolution, World War I and World War
II, or the Baltic States, but really anyone who appreciate a character-driven
story set against the backdrop of those turbulent times, from classics such as Dr.
Zhivago and All Quiet on the Western Front, to modern works such as White
Blood, Birdsong, and The People’s Act
of Love.
The Latvian Riflemen are controversial figures in their homeland to this
day. What view of them did you take in your novel?
Yes, they are
polarizing figures in Latvia.
Some see the Red Latvian Riflemen as heroes, local boys who defied all odds just to survive, helped
to create the largest nation on earth, and to some degree played kingmakers. Others view
them as one of the great symbols of the Red Army, an army that subjugated the Latvian
people for decades. In my book, I try to portray them first as people, young men swept up the
great conflicts of their time. History wasn’t on their minds, simple survival was. As to their
legacy, I’ll let the reader decide.
Connect with William Burton McCormick
Author Events Page
William Burton McCormick was born in
Maryland and raised in Nevada. He holds a
degree in Ancient Studies from Brown University and an MA in Novel Writing from
the University of Manchester. His historical mini-thrillers have appeared or
are forthcoming in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Sherlock
Holmes Mystery Magazine and the anthology “Blood Promises and Other
Commitments.” A world traveler, William has lived in seven countries including
three years spent in Latvia and Russia to research and write his debut novel
“Lenin’s Harem.”
“McCormick takes us inside lives
that would otherwise be not simply invisible to us but unimaginable." --Suzannah Dunn, author of “The Queen of Subtleties.”
