Interview with F.W. vom Scheidt, Author of Coming for Money

F.W. vom Scheidt is a director of an international investment firm. He works and travels in the world´s capital markets, and makes his home in Toronto, Canada. He is also the author of a new book, Coming for Money (Blue Butterfly Book Publishing), a remarkable and provocative novel about the world of international finance and the human quests for success, understanding and love. You can find out more about his book at www.bluebutterflybooks.ca.

Thank you for this interview, F.W. Can you tell us briefly what your latest book, Coming For Money, is all about?

Coming For Money is a novel about the world of global finance and a human quest for success, understanding and love.

I´ve written it from my first hand-hand experience accumulated as a director of an international investment firm.

It is a literary novel.

Because it reflects the questions that I continually ask about life, it is also provocative.

The plot advances along questions arising from how we relate to our careers: How much money is too much? And how fast is too fast in life?

The central character advances along deeper questions in life: How do we cope with love and loss?

The story follows Paris Smith. As he steps onto the top rungs of the corporate ladder, he is caught between his need for fulfillment and his need for understanding; between his drive for power and his inability to cope with his growing emptiness where there was once love. When his wife disappears from the core of his life, his loneliness and sense of disconnection threaten to overwhelm him. When he tries to compensate by losing himself in his work, he stumbles off the treadmill of his own success, and is entangled in the web of a fraudulent bond deal that threatens to derail his career and his life.

Forced to put his personal life on hold while he travels nonstop between Toronto, Singapore and Bangkok to salvage his career, he is deprived of the time and space to mourn the absence of his wife and regain his equilibrium.

In the heat and turmoil and fast money of Southeast Asia, half a world from home, and half a life from his last remembered smile, he finds duplicity, friendship and power --- and a special woman who might heal his heart.

Although it is a literary novel, it is also fast-paced and highly readable. I´m sure, readers will find the details fascinating; and I hope they will find the characters real, and not easily forgotten.

It is a deeply felt story about the isolation of today´s society, the prices great and small paid for success and the damages resulting from the ruthless exercise of financial power.

Can you tell us who or what was the inspiration behind your book?

I have always written.

And I have always sought to maintain my integrity in a struggle with questions that have no answers.

I write from personal experience; I write from what I know best.

In Coming For Money I´ve written as truthfully as possible of the world of international finance — not with the over dramatization so common in film and television, but with an intimate telling through a first-person narrative ... of what it can be like to labour in the world of money spinning ... of how the money´s immense leverage for triumph or disaster doesn´t so much corrupt people as corrupt the way they treat each other ... of how the relentless demands of the money so often deprive you of sufficient time and energy to live through the events of your emotional and interior life.

As much as this is a story of conflicts between people, it is also a story of the conflicts of a man with himself: with his doubts over his abilities; with his guilt about how he has failed and hurt others; with his heartbreak of losing at love when he needs most to be loved; with his anger at being betrayed in his marriage and in his career; and with his fears of failure.

Yet I have tried to tell this story in a way that will let others in our increasingly isolated society know that they are not alone. I have also tried to say something about the value of not surrendering to the seduction of victimizing others as a defense against being victimized. In writing a narrative about not giving up, I attempted to capture something true and evocative about how all journeys toward the light begin in darkness. And I have offered readers some assurance that, of such journeys, they can become restored to wholeness.

Is this your first published book and if so, can you tell us your experiences in finding a publisher for it?

It is the first writing that I have wanted to publish for wide circulation.

Because I have an encompassing business career, I suppose I have not felt the same need to publish as many other writers.

Finding a publisher was not as difficult as I thought it would be.

I retained a professional editor for final proofreading; the editor showed the manuscript to a publisher, Blue Butterfly Books; and the publisher accepted it.

How has Blue Butterfly Books been to work with?

Blue Butterfly Books has been wonderful to work with.

The company is founded on the mission statement of the publisher, Dr. Patrick Boyer, to bring to the market "interesting and important stories that are well-written for a wide audience."

All facets of the organization are entrepreneurial, and the people have great energy and dedication.

They publish some engaging and thought provoking non-fiction, especially in politics, public policy and biography; and they are building a selective list of high quality fiction. Their books have been very well received.

The website is: www.bluebutterflybooks.ca.

Do you have an agent?

No.

But I am looking for a high quality film production deal.

I have a demanding career and significant professional responsibilities. So I would be interested in hearing from an agent who would like to take on this initiative.

Can you tell us how long it took you to write your book and also how long it took from the time Blue Butterfly Books sent the contract and the time it was released?

Working weekends, and sometimes in the early morning, and sometimes on long international flights, it took about three years to write Coming For Money.

It was the best part of a year between contract and release.

Do you have any words of inspiration from other writers who would like to be wearing your shoes?

Write.

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in July, August and September via a virtual book tour. Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

I am a great believer in the untapped kinetic energy of the internet.

I also recognize that much of my target market is computer literate.

What´s next for you?

I´m working on a new novel.

And I´m bringing a new institutional investment offering to market.

Thank you for this interview, F.W. Can you tell us how we can find out more about you and your new book?

Visit www.bluebutterflybooks.ca/titles/money.html.