Wanting to meet other authors and discover other books where the setting is important to the story, I’ve decided to do blog posts where I interview authors – just a few questions turning around the setting of their book and France. I’ll also pin them and their books to a map, which you can find here.
For this very first post, I’m thrilled to introduce Alexander Hartung, the author of Until the Debt is Paid.
How is the setting important to who your character is?
Berlin is the biggest city in Germany. Life in Berlin is much faster than in a smaller town or in the countryside. Berlin has (compared to other German cities) a high crime rate. Being a policemen in Berlin is much rougher than anywhere else in Germany. This has a big impact on the characters.
Which location did you enjoy writing the most in your story? Why this one?
I like the “Brandenburg Gate”. It’s the heart of Berlin and a place of big historical meaning. This beautiful gate suffered under the separation of Germany. Now it’s a symbol of our reunification.
When you visited France, which location did you prefer? Why?
Paris. This is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with a great variety of culture and history. It doesn’t matter how often you visit Paris, it’s not enough to discover everything.
What do you think would be the greatest cultural shock for a Frenchman who visited your home town?
The German love for their cars. For a Frenchman a car is an object to drive from A to B. For most Germans the car is part of their family.
I just love that comment about the cars. I didn’t even realize it, but it’s completely true – and it comes through in my writing in the sense that all my French characters have really crappy cars… Looks like we agree on the cultural difference 🙂
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