I have accumulated a lot of writer friends since I started writing commercial fiction in 2010, but today I have one of my dearest of friends. Besides being a wonderful writer and an experienced eye surgeon, he is a great friend. Nick is one of those guys you can always go to when you need something done, or someone to listen. H e won’t make excuses why he can’t be there, or ever say he doesn’t have time for you (i.e. me). And in spite of his age, he can run circles around most of the other people I know. So, without further, ado, I present to you, Dr. Nick Kalvin.
Nick, Sexual Jihad is a large book in most people’s thoughts. You and I have compared it to Moby Dick or Gone with the Wind. How long did it take to write and publish Sexual Jihad?
It took about six months to write it, and three or four months to edit, review two printed proofs, then, even with help, upload and make design decisions. It was humbling and amazing to correct a couple hundred typos, punctuation and word-order glitches, to get the proof back to find things I missed. Then to restart the process, of course uploading to Create Space, each version. There is a good argument for professional proof readers.
And of all that, what was the hardest part?
One would think that the hardest part was writing it out on paper and, then retyping into the computer. The major stumbling block, which made things tough for me, turned out to be that much of Sexual Jihadwas in an older program, Microsoft Works. This did not have the bells and whistles of newer Word programs to catch mistakes as one typed. So, I could not even see all the mistakes. The latter portion of the book went easier, no doubt. Once, about 2/3 through, I did something on the keyboard that deleted the entire manuscript. Lucky for me, I got it back on a Go-flex recovery I had installed. After that, I made about a dozen DVDRW external copies and also saved copies into Docs.You got me into external devices, neater and smaller. But, the smaller the easier to misplace they become as some in MIW found out.
As we all learn, staying up to date on technology really helps. I’ve known you through our local writers group. What has belonging to MIW (Marco Island Writers) done for you?
I was inspired by the published authors, listened carefully to invited speakers. I heard the dissatisfactions of experienced authors, with traditional publishing houses, and the POD companies that charge outrageous fees. Plus, they want the lion’s share of any profit and any offerings which might follow. I speak of rights for TV, film, art work, overseas sales, merchandise, and so on. Most importantly, MIW led me to you. Without your generosity, enthusiasm and self-acquired skills, I would never have succeeded on Create Space and Kindle. Your flying fingers dazzled me. I did learn to do some of the tasks, but will still need help again, for the sequel, CHAOS vs. THE CALIPHATE. Much of the computer and trade terminology was like a foreign language. Now I understand some of it.
You are too kind. That’s what we do. “Writers Helping Writers” as our logo says. Now that your book is out in print, how does it feel?
Yes, it’s intoxicating to see one’s name in print. That’s why most folks write letters to the editor. For me, my first time was at Lakewood High, in Lakewood Ohio. I was one of the sports editors of the High Times. I was so proud, when the advisor used an editorial cartoon I had drawn. Unlike other kids, I actually enjoyed doing required reports and theme papers. Mom told me when I was about three, I used to take paper and pencil, then used a low magazine rack, with a flat side as my desk, scribbling and sketching. She said it was hard to get me away from it, and that when she called, I complained “I busy!”
After she died, one of my sisters found a poem Mom wrote about me after I was born in 1933. She and Dad loved to sing. My maternal grandmother authored little Slavic musical plays for the church with my Dad.He was a cantor, wrote some of his own church music. Mom was in his choir. Most lyrics are poetry. So, perhaps there may be a poetry gene in us, in others, not.
What inspired you to write Sexual Jihad, a book you can be sure will be controversial, regardless of which side of the world you are in?
For years, I have been bothered by Islamic Extremism and what it has been doing. I learned that it’s hardly news, been going on since 630 AD. At first, I wrote poetry based on news articles.
Some examples of those poems are: “Border-zone Date,” about an Israeli male teen lured to a death by torture by a cute Muslim girl he meets at a coffee house; “Saving Honor by A Nose,” a true story about Bibi, who had her ears and nose cut off by an Islamic misogynist, a physical abuser, her husband; “Lovely Malala,” is the school girl in Pakistan who had a blog about education for females. She was shot in the head, but survived amazingly well. Two pieces concern young girls who volunteer to work with immunization programs, and end up assassinated by Fundamentalists, under the joint title, “Angels in Muslim Hell.”
Some of my poems are on my site,http://www.poetrypoliticallyincorrect.com. I wanted people to notice the real world. A fool could see what was ultimately going to happen. To get people to read about it, I had to use an adventure novel, one with some sex, suspense, intrigue, interesting people, exotic places and geography, a sport…all stirred up in religious and cultural facts, aping genuine events, so the message, the explanation, was not just a dissertation about danger to our way of life, and most of all, our personal God-given freedoms.
I love tennis. As Judy and I watched the Australian Open and tennis events leading up to it, I chose to make my heroines, the WTA number One and Two. They would be kidnapped in an act of Jihad, which would make them sex slaves. My book has facts and quotes, which back this up. As I wrote, current events chased after me, like the abduction of a couple hundred school girls, who were sold as sex slaves and child brides.
The antagonists, is a cultured man, with many contradictory sides. Sheik Prince needs sons while his wives produce only girls. A devout Muslim, he will not make sons by adultery, with willing women outside his three wives. But he sees a way to do it with the women he so admires, since his college years, attractive female athletes, by using sexual jihad. He easily finds modern support, as I did, from Islamic sites on line. Additionally, his wives have all had FGM as girls. But, he likes his women natural. So, he is conflicted. Soon, he must decide if he will submit his young daughters to this mutilation and, forever, deprive them of sexual pleasures. He likes the way, Allah, the Supreme, the Almighty, created women. FGM affects perhaps a billion women, mainly in Muslim nations and Africa. So FGM becomes part of the book. Decades ago, a young female, from a prominent tribe, fled Saudi Arabia to avoid FGM. She wrote about it in some magazine I read in college, back in the early 50’s. A pre-med, I had no idea such existed.
Sheik Prince wants an heir or two to continue his 1000 year lineage. He wants his sons to become leaders in the Caliphate, he knows will one day come. So, he wants courageous, athletic, intelligent and natural women. He wants women able to respond to his pleasuring. These qualities abound in Ingrid and Marie, my protagonists. They make things tough for him. I mean, what did he expect? He is used to subservient Muslim girls and women.
That’s an intriguing story, full of action and taboo subjects. So let’s talk about marketing. What have you done to promote your book? As an Indie publisher, we know that marketing can be the hardest part of all.
I asked my family members to put out the word on my book, attaching a summary and jacket cover. I asked each to contact everyone on email and social network and ask those folks to spread the news. I am doing the same with four different Alumni groups and medical societies. You helped me with a poster, rack cards and business cards. I plan to give copies to book reviewers, and would like to send one to my three favorites on talk radio, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin. Each of them knows the score when it comes to Fundamental Islamic fanaticism. The book might be seen by them as one way more to educate people who are still free, before it is too late. We are bound to enter the era of Islam armed with nuclear bombs and biologic warfare. They have progressed from swords and axes, to guns and suicide bombers. Now they reach for the ultimate weapon.
Where can readers get a copy of Sexual Jihad or read it on their electronic devices?
You can buy the print copy through my publisher, Create Space at this link.
https://www.createspace.com/4875374
You can buy the print edition online at Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sexual-jihad-nick-kalvin-md/1120026603?ean=9781500326579
Sexual Jihad is also available on Amazon in e-book and print edition.
Writing Under Fire 