Jack L. Brody, author of the latest suspense thriller, The Moroni Deception, is a writer, ex-military, and an avid traveler. After his Army stint, and then deciding to pass on law school, he went to film school, wrote screenplays, and held a number of jobs which ran from everything to working for a newspaper for one day, to film production, to then going into real estate (with at least five others along the way). He's fascinated by history, politics, and architecture, all of which play a part in his novels (yes, he already has a couple more in the works). Prior to The Moroni Deception he had attempted one other novel, Lost in America, that was more along the lines of--if he had to think of a comparison--Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated. But after a rough start he thought it might be best if he got more novel writing experience under his belt with a genre that he was more comfortable with and had read more extensively. In this interview, Brody talks about his personal background, who his favorite authors are, and what inspired him to write his debut book.
Tell us a few things about yourself.
I'm originally from North Carolina, but have lived in several places across the country, mostly moving around while I was still in the military. After that I attended film programs at the University of Washington and then NYU and continued to work on my screenplays which I first started writing while I was still an undergrad. I still love movies, but find myself reading a great deal more now that I seem to have "aged out" of the demographic that most movies appear to be made for. The Moroni Deception is the first novel I've completed, although there were a couple others that I'd made attempts at.
What is your favourite book?
That would have to be the one I reread every couple of years-- John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. Not only is it brilliant, but it makes me laugh out loud, which not many books or movies, or even comedians can make me do.
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