Author Charles B. Neff Interviewed at TheBookInsider.com.

TheBookInsider.com recently interviewed author Charles B. Neff about his action/thriller novel 'Hidden Impact.' In this novel, Jim Nordberg returns to Nicaragua where he was once a Peace Corps Volunteer, and discovers that a diary survived an old plane crash. The diary reveals secret activities during the Iran-Contra affair. People who were involved in those events will kill to keep the diary burried. Caught in the middle, Jim locates Luci Fuentes, whose own past is tied to the danger around them, and the two of them find strength - and much more - in each other.

(PRWEB) September 25, 2005 -- TheBookInsider.com recently interviewed author Charles B. Neff about his action/thriller novel 'Hidden Impact.'

In this novel, Jim Nordberg returns to Nicaragua where he was once a Peace Corps Volunteer, and discovers that a diary survived an old plane crash. The diary reveals secret activities during the Iran-Contra affair. People who were involved in those events will kill to keep the diary burried. Caught in the middle, Jim locates Luci Fuentes, whose own past is tied to the danger around them, and the two of them find strength - and much more - in each other.

** An excerpt from the interview with Charles B. Neff:

THEBOOKINSIDER.COM: Where did the plot for your novel "Hidden Impact" come from? How much of your own personal travels and experiences went into "Hidden Impact?"

CHARLES B. NEFF:I met a person who participated in discussions that led up to what became know as the Iran-Contra affair, and who told me the details of a particular planning meeting. I wondered: what if someone had taken notes? Almost immediately, the plot of Hidden Impact began to form in my mind, though it would take several years for me to start writing. My experience in Colombia, and with development work in other countries, gave me additional ideas. But, except for references to a few real persons (Ronald Reagan, for example), the action and characters in Hidden Impact are pure fiction. I looked for immediacy in setting, plot, and characters to take the place of literal reality.

THEBOOKINSIDER.COM: How much of the author is in Jim Nordberg, the main character of "Hidden Impact?"

CHARLES B. NEFF:Jim Nordberg and I have lived in Wisconsin, worked in Colombia, and speak Spanish. But thats about it. The rest of him is a combination of characteristics of people I met doing international development work, and of two persons in particular. One, for instance, actually lived through the experience with hoof and mouth disease in Mexico that I recount in Hidden Impact.

THEBOOKINSIDER.COM: How is "Hidden Impact" different from other books in the action/thriller genre?

CHARLES B. NEFF: I hope that in one respect, its not different from the best in action/thrillers: I try, at least, to reach for the level of writing of, say, Len Deighton, John Le Carre or Charles McCarry. But I hope Hidden Impact does depart from a pure, slam-bang, action-first-plot-later, sensation-over-characterization style that is in so much of that genre. I wanted characters who could develop and action that was gripping, sure, but was also plausible. I also thought of writing a story that would appeal to men and women.

Read the entire interview with the author at http://thebookinsider.com/Interviews/CNeff.htm.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: In my secret heart - secret even from me - I must have had a yearning to become a fiction writer. I'd seen my mother sit in front of her old portable every day without fail, writing children's books. I'd produced numerous professional articles and two books. But fiction and poetry? Did I have that gift? First, I needed time to find out, and that came with my retirement. Could I come up with an idea to start me writing? Curiously, one had been with me for more than a decade, a fragment of a conversation with a former U.S. diplomat. What if someone had taken notes in secret meetings leading to Iran-Contra (an affair of the 1980s that ended in scandal and Congressional hearings)? One day I suddenly knew the identity of the main character, Jim Nordberg, and I found a location: Nicaragua. I started to write Hidden Impact. In four months, I finished. Or so I thought. In fact, I had just begun. After three years, Hidden Impact finally appeared. Now a second novel is in the works, a third born in concept. Turns out I had more than just a yearning, after all.

"Hidden Impact"
Paperback: 316 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing
Language: English
ISBN: 1594579423

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