Antwyn Price discusses his latest work, “Colonies in Ruins”

Antwyn Price tells us about Colonies in Ruins, the second book in his “Ruins” trilogy.

Although many fictional tales are included, my book, Colonies in Ruins is basically a history of Southeast Asia during the decade preceding and the one following World War Two.

Before the war erupted, well-entrenched colonies in the Pacific region generated fabulous wealth from mining and agriculture for their British, French, Dutch, and American masters.

Colonial life came to an end on 7 December 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  After the war, the colonies were replaced by new sovereign nation-states—the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore.  Some of these were more successful than others.

A TRILOGY OF “RUINS”

Sounds like a pretty dismal topic for historical novels, but think about it:

Paradise in Ruins (2016) is set during World War Two in the Pacific, 1941-45.  It is about the war’s impact upon the civilians of the region, including the islanders who lost their paradise.

Colonies in Ruins (2018) covers the prewar colonial period and the postwar emergence of new nation-states, focusing on the downfall of European and American colonizers and the emergence of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Cultures in Ruins (a work in progress for 2020) covers the Iberian invasions of the Americas and Southeast Asia, as Portuguese navigators and Spanish conquistadors discover new sources of wealth and power in both regions and overwhelm the native populations in their path.  The timespan is roughly 1500 to 1900.

MYSELF AS AN AUTHOR

I grew up in the Asia-Pacific region before coming to Texas during high school.  After University and the Marines, I was fortunate to live and work in two great cities in the US (Boston and Los Angeles), Latin America (Mexico City and San Juan, Puerto Rico), the Far East (Taipei and Singapore), and Europe (Brussels and London).  Before writing commercially, I spent several years crafting memoirs for our children about the places they had grown up, which developed the necessary momentum and discipline to create stories based on my love of history and geography.

MY GENRE (historical novels)

I was greatly influenced in my youth by Somerset Maugham and the early works of James Mitchener, which is to say international adventures in unusual settings.  My stories are not action-packed fast-paced dramas, however, but reflect a real-world balance between excitement and tedium, danger and comfort, the mysterious and the familiar.  I guess that’s because my life was always like that.

A MESSAGE FOR MY READERS

My one message is probably this: “Go see the world and you will surely find your share of excitement and adventure.”

[A corollary is this well-known Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”]

THE NEXT BOOK

The new work, Cultures in Ruins, is the final part of a trilogy.  Almost every English-speaker knows that the Portuguese and Spanish colonized what is now called Latin America, but not so many know the fascinating details.  Fewer still know about their Pacific Colonies and the inter-connection between the two regions – for example Acapulco and Manila.

MARKETING

Colonies in Ruins is scheduled for the 2018 Miami Book Fair.

FAVORITE PUBLISHING EXPERIENCE WITH IUNIVERSE

I like the talented illustrators that the company has available.

FOR ASPIRING AUTHORS

Practice writing short articles for a while, then gradually longer ones until you are certain you can tackle 250-400 words without giving up.  Get feedback from friends and colleagues where possible.

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