Author Philip Chen

January Author of the Month Philip Chen

Philip Chen Interview

1. I have a few questions to ask you to get our buggie4book to know more about you

O.K.

2. When did you start writing?

Falling Star is my first novel. Prior to writing this novel, my writing was centered on my work as an engineer, attorney, and investment banker. Some of my financial papers were done in a narrative to catch the audience's attention, so in a sense I did write some fiction before trying my hand at actually writing a novel.

3. What do you like about being an author?

The creative process. The ability to knit together a cogent story from life's experiences and to have people enjoy the story is thrilling.

4. What kind of books do you like to read, who are your favorite authors?

I have a lot of favorite authors from Franz Kafka to modern writers like Tom Clancy. Because of my varied background, I am comfortable reading a technical or legal document as I am reading fiction. I prefer factually based literature the best, but thoroughly enjoyed the Harry Potter series. I suppose the authors who have influenced me most are Ernest Hemmingway, John McPhee, Michael Crichton, H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Franz Kafka, and Arthur C. Clarke, to name a few. I was really pleased when at least two reviewers compared Falling Star to the works of Arthur C. Clarke.

5. What made you become a writer?

I never thought of myself as an author. However, in 1990, I suffered a series of horrifying nightmares about gangs of ordinary Americans wreaking apocalyptic horror against other citizens. In these dreams, I saw people dying horrible deaths and majestic skyscrapers burning and crashing to the ground. As I was carrying one of the world's first lightweight laptops for business, I started typing away on red-eye flights to England and in London hotel rooms at night. Augmented by weekend long sessions at home, I had a 560 page manuscript in about one and one-half months. The story wrote itself. It seemed that the characters were lined up and one-by-one dictated their story for me to transcribe. I finished the novel in 1991. I could not get any publishers or even literary agents to take a look for twenty years.

On September 11, 2001, I watched in horror as the World Trade Center in New York was destroyed by terrorists who, as it turned out, had lived amongst us; some for decades. One of the immediate things that I did was to modify Falling Star to take out all references to the World Trade Center. I had originally placed my principal character, Mike Liu, in an office on the 100th floor of One World Trade Center. I did not want people to think that I was trying to inappropriately use this senseless tragedy. I moved Mike into a nondescript office in lower Manhattan.

When the Russian spy ring was uncovered in 2010, I decided enough was enough and decided to self-publish Falling Star. The reason that I did this was that the Russians had been living in the United States for decades marrying innocent Americans, having children, buying houses, holding down jobs, and stealing the identities of innocent dead babies. Just like my fictional spies had done twenty years before. One of my fictional spies was a glamour female who posed as a financial consultant. About the only difference between the real Russians and my spies was that my spies did not grown hydrangeas. I did not want any more of my story to get played out on prime time news, so I released my novel as a Kindle book in August 2010. And none too soon, because in 2011, Swedish explorers have discovered an enormous circular object buried deep in the Baltic Sea.

Since its release, Falling Star has sold nearly 4,600 copies (including about 230 gifts). It has gotten 53 four and five star reviews over the several platforms on which it is available.

Now, for the scary part. The reason I could describe Mike Liu's office in such detail is because I patterned it to my office as a managing director of Lehman Brothers. I had different offices on floors between 100 and 106 of Two World Trade Center from about 1986 to 1990. If I had stayed with Lehman and had been in that office on September 11, 2001, I would not be here today. I only recently realized that the nightmares that I had in 1990 were about the collapse of the very building that my office was in at that time, Two World Trade.

6. Now about your drawings

O.K.

7. When did you start drawing?

In 2007 at age 63, I was told by my cardiologist to sit quietly over a weekend and not lift anything heavier that a pencil (slight exaggeration) as he scrambled to line up an angiogram. He thought that I was about ready to burst a pipe or two. So, as I sat bored out of my skull, I surfed the Internet and came up with an astronomical theory that a parallel universe filled with strange matter had to exist in order for our own cosmos to remain in harmony. I got to thinking and as anyone who knows me will say, "That is a dangerous thing." I asked myself what manner of life would live in such a strange universe. So I picked up a number 2 pencil and without any formal training in art or cartooning started sketching out what I thought life would look like there. That is literally how "There is Strangeness in the Universe" got started.

8. What made you want to be an artist?

Boredom.

9. Who told you that you could write and draw?

Truth be told, no one. In fact, when people found out that I had written a novel and had started drawing cartoons, they were mostly amazed and, in some cases, derisive.

10. What do you like about drawing?

It is a lot quicker than writing a novel. The timeframe from initial idea to finished work is about one hour. I draw my cartoons by hand and finish them on my computer. Cartooning is story telling. It is just more of a snapshot than a voyage.

11. I must say you’re a great artist as I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler lol

Thank you. You should give it a try. I can't draw a straight line either.

Here is the link to Philip's books on Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3APhilip+Chen&keywords=Philip+Chen&ie=UTF8&qid=1328329506&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B0045PMAH2Bio
Philip Chen has been an ocean research engineer, a trial lawyer, an investment banker, and an all around eclectic.  He is an author and cartoonist.His first novel, Falling Star, is a very realistic science fiction thriller about mysterious objects buried deep in the ocean and what happened when they woke up and started sending signals to outer space.  It has received over 50 four and five star reviews in the various p-laces where it is available for sale, including 45 in Amazon US and UK, alone. http://amzn.to/Falling-StarAt age sixty-three as he sat quietly over a weekend following his cardiologist's strict instructions to not pick up anything heavier than a pencil, he surfed the web and came across an astronomical theory that there has to be a parallel universe filled with strange matter in order for our cosmos to remain in balance.  He started wondering what life in this parallel universe would be like.  Would leaves seek help for their pending autumnal demise, would whales sue for damages, and just what do those stone statues on Easter Island think as they look over the Pacific Ocean for centuries.  So with a number 2 pencil in hand, he started cartooning with no formal training in art or cartooning.Since then his cartoons have entertained hundreds (perhaps thousands) on the various boards and forums that he has posted them. He was a regular contributor to the New York Times eNewspaper, The Local, and had one of his cartoons featured in the Metropolitan Section of the print edition. It would be nice to say that his cartoons are award winning, but he hasn't submitted any cartoons to any contests and, frankly, the Pulitzer people have been kept busy handing out prizes to others.  One of his cartoons was featured as an official iReport on CNN.He has two cartoon collections available.  The first is There is Strangeness in the Universe™ which has been favorably compared to The Far Side.  http://amzn.to/KindleStrangeness.  His second book, Happy Holidaze and Other Tragedies of Life is a wry look at Santa Inc. and other icons of life.  http://amzn.to/HappyHolidazeKindle.

Falling Star Review
Where do you want to go? Bottom of the ocean? Beautiful desert of the southwest? Washington, D.C.?

Do you want to meet Mike who goes from Ensign in the Navy to a defender of the U.S.? In between stopping to be a Wall Street biggie. His boss who is someone that would die for his friends and that is what the people under him are. Grandma Mildred who is a real shocker. Even the President who has an adversarial relationship with his speaker of the house.

Adventure, intrigue, and even some learning is all in this novel. Philip Chen takes you to places you would never think to go.

I am not a big science fiction fan, my extent of science fiction is Star Wars when my youngest was in the theater shooting down the Empire. Not any longer.  This is a real grabber. I have to admit I read the book in one day as I couldn't put it down. Had to know who, what, when and why. Can't wait until the next one comes out.  Hurry up Phil.

Great book!
Reviewed by Mellisa and JoAnn
Here is the link to a video about the book which Philip just shared with me very good video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drPa1EBQthg