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Jan
2007 - Jan Feb Mar
Featured Writer for Winter  2007

Mark Osmun : Trouble In Paradise

Interview Conducted by Andrew Angus
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Note: The interview is cut short because the full interview will be published in the print edition of Muses Review.
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Mark Hazard Osmun
Writer from California
(Born in Hawaii)
Buy My Book : After The Bones
by Mark Osmun
Mark Osmun's  books:

Buy:
After the Bones
by Mark Hazard Osmun

Writer's Interview: Mark Osmun's 3rd Book = After the Bones
Bold Letters: Muses Review, Non-bold Letters: Mark Osmun.

1. Tell us some interesting story about yourself. (State your name. Give some interesting info about yourself.)

I, Mark Osmun, am not all that interesting. I have, however, met many interesting people, for example: a ex-patriate CIA spy, a Beatle, a heavyweight champion, a 90-year-old whisky maker, a rock musician-turned-elementary teacher, a mystic, a groupie, a hippie-turned-millionaire, those sort of encounters that make life interesting.  

2. What is the title of your book and why did you choose the title of your book? 

My latest novel is "After the Bones." The title references both the competitive search for some literal bones and also poses the question: what comes after our bones? 

3. Tell us something about your latest book (Question.No.2).

"After the Bones" is a novel of historical intrigue set in 1866 Honolulu. At that time paradise teeters on the verge of great change as world powers vie  for strategic dominance in Hawai`i. Rogue agents, working within the British  Consulate, initiate a conspiracy involving murder and deception to draw Great  Britain into a forceful coup of the Hawaiian monarchy. Enter the menacing British  assassin, Mr. Brown; two fugitives, Mac Ducain and Delaware Flinn; young  American reporter, Mark Twain; and the venerated, old priestess, `Ike Kiwalao? all of whom become players in the intricate schemes threatening the island nation.  But every plan is subject to mana?the mystical, spirit-power residing in the bones  of the dead?and mana itself will determine the outcome.  

4. How long did it take to write your latest book?

Four years. Two years reseach; two years writing. 

5. Who designed the cover of your book and why choose the design?

The book cover design incorporates the art of 19th century landscape painter Jules Tavernier, who happened to paint a stunning panorama of the Hawaii volcanos around the time this novel's setting. The background colors of the cover, graduating from a dark purple to a light orange, pick up the tones of the painting and suggest the course of an eruption. 

6. Name the major characters in your book and briefly describe them. 


Delaware Flinn and Mac Ducain, two actors wrongly implicated in the Lincoln assassination. As fugitives, they use various cons to get by. While trying to lay low, they are nonetheless swept into political intrigues.  Brown, a British assassin with ties to Hawaii. His mission is to subvert a plot by rogue agents to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy. 

7. How do you classify your book - romance, adventure, suspense, comedy, horror, a combination of each?

Historical intrigue. 

8. What inspired you to write your latest book?

Mark Twain's letters from Hawaii to the Sacramento Union newspaper in 1866, while not a totally reliable piece of journalism, suggested many opportunities for a between-the-lines story that intertwines with his chronicles. 

9. Who is your zodiac sign? When is your birthdate?
  Leo. July 1952 

10. What is your official website? 
www.markosmun.com 

11. Where can people buy your latest book? (Specify online bookstores or concrete bookstores.) 
Online bookstore: www.lulu.com 

12. How do you promote your books? 

Promotion has been via newspaper features, radio talk shows, television guest spots, internet reviews, email announcements. 

13. Do you dream that your book will be made into a film?
There is already a deal in the works. 

14. What do you do in your leisure time when you are not writing?
I favor reading and sports. 

15. Name your favorite movies last year (2006). 
Crash, Love Actually, Stranger than Fiction. 

16. Name the fiction books you read within the last six months.
Thirteen Moons, Empire Falls, Gap Creek, Life of Pi, Time Traveler's Wife, Carter Cheats the Devil.

17. Do you read and write poetry? If yes, what poetrybooks have you read.


I used to but not now. I like John Logan and Longfellow. 

18. What is your favorite sport? 
Surfing, followed by golf. 

19. Do you keep pets? If yes, what type and what are their names.

No. 

20. Who are your favorite writers? 


Charles Frazier, John Gardner, Gregory Maguire, Tobias Wolfe. 

21. Who are your favorite actors (male or female)?

Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson 

22. What are your literary plans in the future?

Keep writing; keep it fun.  
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