Meet the Author | Fiction, Nonfiction Books, C W Irwin

Q. When did you start writing?

I wrote my first short story when I was 12. Later I had science fiction stories published in Galaxy Magazine and have been writing ever since.

Q. Who are your favorite writers?

John Updike had an amazing talent for depicting everyday life from a cosmic perspective. John Le Carré is an unequaled master of the English language and insightful characterization; in the field of science fiction, the mind-bending novels of Philip K. Dick are diamonds in the rough; for thrills, Lee Child and Daniel Silva never disappoint, and it’s always fun when a Haruki Murakami novel comes out. For verse, the brilliance of the Tang and Sung Dynasty poets of China has never been surpassed.

Q. Your novels are set in a number of locations. What are your favorite cities?

That’s tough … there are so many cool places in the world. I love the cosmopolitan vibe in London. Berlin has an edgy music and art scene, and the tolerance you find in Amsterdam is a model for the world. The collision of Future and Past in Shanghai is something to see, and I’ve always thought that New York was one of the most exciting cities in the world. Of course, Paris has always been a romantic favorite.

Q. You lived in Asia for several years. What took you to the other side of the world?

I studied Mandarin Chinese off and on for years. When I got an MBA in finance and international business from NYU and became an analyst at Standard & Poor’s, I eventually worked for S&P in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Q. Where have you been happiest?

The sparkling light in the Sonoran Desert has always made be feel good.

Q. What is your greatest extravagance?

International travel.

Q. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

Bad Italian horror movies from the 60s & 70s.

Q. What qualities in people do you dislike the most?

I hate hatred and will not tolerate intolerance.

Q. What is the quality you most admire?

The courage to question authority.

Q. What is your greatest fear?

That our country may be going insane.

Q. If you were to die and come back as another person, who would it be?

I would like to be a physicist who finally unifies Relativity and Quantum Physics.

Q. What projects are you working on now?

Soon I will be publishing a sequel to Society of the Morning Star, and am close to completing what I would describe as a techno-surrealistic novel.