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Author Interview

Edward Parr’s Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad

 

1. Have you ever had an imaginary friend?

One of the reasons I like to write is because the characters become alive in my imagination. I imagine their conversations, the things that happen to them, and what they choose to do. I feel it’s important to like the main characters in your story – why would you want to read about someone you don’t even like? So, in a way, the main characters in my stories do become like imaginary friends. I don’t ask them to talk to me or comment on my life, but they still become very familiar. When the writing is done and the novel is finished, it can be very sad to say goodbye to characters who have been living (rent-free) in your head for a long time.

2. Do your characters have the same dreams and fears you have?

In order to write a character, I think there has to be something about them with which the author can identify – some fear or desire or experience in common which gives the writer a way to look into and see that imaginary person as a real person. So the simple answer is “yes.” To give a specific example, in Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, the American archeologist character Ren Villere dreams of his work as director of the excavations at Carthage receiving the approval and accolades of his peers. That’s just what I dreamt about while writing the book!

3. Do you listen to music when you’re writing?

I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but I find it difficult to listen to music while writing, particularly music with lyrics, because a big part of my brain keeps trying to hear the words and understand their meaning. Even instrumental music takes up a lot of my attention if I really listen to it. To write, I need to be rested and awake, have some period of time completely free, and have some scene or action on which I can really focus my attention.

4. Do you ever read your stories out loud?

I don’t often read my work aloud even to myself, but I’m very excited about a new project I will begin soon: Preparing my own audiobook editions of my novels. Writing is one set of skills, and performing the story is another whole set of skills. I had a little experience acting when I was young, but I will need to put some serious work into my performance skills in order to prepare my own audiobooks. It’s a big challenge I hope to explore over the next year.

5. Tell us about your main characters and who inspired them.

There are four main characters in the ensemble cast of Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad: Jacques Demoreau, a mature Foreign Legionnaire who has made his home in the harsh life of France’s desert fortresses, is inspired by both the real and fictional Foreign Legionnaires whose memoirs and exploits during the early 20th century were the raw material for countless popular adventure stories involving the desperate men who bound themselves together to fight for their honor. Ahmad al-Haybah, by contrast, is the Arab son of the Sharif that leads the tribes in the western Sahara, fighting to protect his family and traditions; his character is based on the real leader of a group of insurrectionists who fought against the French colonial forces. Renwick Villere is an ambitious American archeologist in charge of the new excavations at Carthage; he is based very loosely on the real amateur archeologist Byron Khun de Prorok who worked at that site. And the character of Isabel Pedersen, a young Swedish widow in Fez who adopts Islam and joins the community there, is based on the remarkable Swiss adventuress Isabelle Eberhardt: As a young woman, Eberhardt moved to Algeria, dressed as a man and converted to Islam, making her an outcast among Europeans in Algeria and the French government who considered her a spy or agitator. After surviving an assassination attempt, the French ordered her to leave Algeria, but she was permitted to return the next year after she married an Algerian soldier. She then collected information for French General Hubert Lyautey, but died in a tragic accident at the age of 27.

 

TAMANRASSET
Edward Parr

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GENRE:  Historical Fiction

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BLURB:

TAMANRASSET is historical fiction set on the edge of the Sahara as the ancient world begins to fade and great empires collide. Four strangers—a mature Foreign Legionnaire, a Sharif’s wrathful son, an ambitious American archaeologist, and an abandoned Swedish widow—become adrift and isolated, but when their paths intersect, the fragile connections between them tell a story of survival and fate on the edge of the abyss. Blending the sweep of classic adventure with the horror of a great historical calamities, Edward Parr’s TAMANRASSET is a saga about the crossroads where nomads meet.

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Excerpt:

The Sun had not yet risen above the ruins of the Mechouar Palace, but at the mosque nearby many Muslim people of the city of Tlemcen were already at their morning prayer. It was a great privilege to be admitted to one of the oldest mosques in Algeria, over eight hundred years old, and an even greater privilege to be allowed to pray before the mihrab there among the great white columns that lined the enormous hall. As the prayers ended, there was a gentle rustling of movement as the faithful rose and exited to the open and airy marble-tiled courtyard of the mosque, still quiet in the twilight of dawn. Isabel retrieved her leather boots and exited a side door beneath the shadow of the towering brick minaret. Covered by her tightly drawn dark brown burnouse, khaki pants, white shirt, and a black hijab, Isabel walked along the great stone wall to the main gate of the palace. The few buildings in the complex that were still usable had been made into offices for the French army, but the pool and gardens of the central courtyard were peaceful and shadowy. She passed an alcove that featured Islamic calligraphy carved into the stucco, and Isabel stopped to read it: “Allah is God, there is no god but He: the King.”

A quiet voice behind her asked: “Madame Pedersen?”

She turned to find a short, elegantly dressed French officer approaching her. His flat-topped white hair was soldierly, but his crisp, tailored uniform, polished boots, and wide waxed mustache displayed a carefully composed appearance.

“Peace be with you,” she said, casting her eyes downward and crossing her arm over her chest as she nodded.

“Peace be with you, Madame. I apologize if I disturbed you; will you come inside?”

“As you wish.”

She followed the French colonel to a charming wood-paneled room overlooking an orchard of citrus trees bearing large green fruit. The colonel sat on a bare wood chair beside a wide wooden table, crossed his legs, and twirled the end of his wide mustache. Isabel stood silently before him in a respectful posture.

“I have the greatest respect for your beliefs, my dear, but it would be helpful to me if you would sit and speak to me informally. Would you be so kind?”

“Of course,” she said and she sat on the chair beside his. Her demeanor now expressed more of her experience and self-assurance, her hijab more a symbol of her confidence than of her humility. The colonel raised an eyebrow in appreciation of her serene face and brilliant blue eyes.

 

© 2025 by Edward Parr and Edwardian Press (New Orleans, Louisiana)

 

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Edward Parr Bio and Links:

Edward (“Ted”) Parr studied playwriting at New York University in the 1980’s, worked with artists Robert Wilson, Anne Bogart, and the Bread and Puppet Theater, and staged his own plays Off-Off-Broadway, including Trask, Mythographia, Jason and Medea, Rising and an original translation of Oedipus Rex before pursuing a lengthy career in the law and public service. He published his Kingdoms Fall trilogy of World War One espionage adventure novels which were collectively awarded Best First Novel and Best Historical Fiction Novel by Literary Classics in 2016. He has always had a strong interest in expanding narrative forms, and in his novel writing, he explores older genres of fiction (like the pulp fiction French Foreign Legion adventures or early espionage fiction) as inspiration to examine historical periods of transformation. His main writing inspirations are Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bernard Cornwell, Georges Surdez, and Patrick O’Brien.

 

Socials:

Website: https://edwardparrbooks.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-parr-5808b15/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7369165.Edward_Parr

Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Edward-Parr/author/B00GACO3NC?ccs_id=a023fe74-dd9a-429f-b56a-5cfe148dafc5

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/DryCar9119AB/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwardparrbooks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576965808471

Amazon: https://a.co/d/44XsoJUBarnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tamanrasset-edward-parr/1148255148

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