Industrial and Organizational psychologist Dr. John Macintosh came to Washington, DC from London, Eng land, to participate in a panel on leadership at the Amer ican Psychological Association’s Annual Meeting. He connected with two acquaintances, Dr. Darius Asadi and Dr. Peter ‘Imas’ Mason—colleagues who worked to gether twenty years earlier in the country of Mansouriyah assisting Dr. Jameel Ballushi to establish the Institute of Current Events and Culture (ICEC). The newly appointed Director of ICEC had invited several former founding employees to join in the Institute’s upcoming twentieth anniversary celebrations, and to participate in an oral his tory project to record their early employment recollec tions. The invitation included business class round trip air travel, hotel and other related expenses, plus a generous honorarium. The three acquaintances decided to accept such a lav ish invitation and to contact a few other early colleagues of ICEC to determine their interest in testing Dr. Macin tosh’s hypothesis regarding personality profile and lead ership style. This was an opportunity to pay back Dr. Ballushi, who certainly would be at the celebrations, for all the abuse and hurt he caused them, and every other employee who worked for ICEC, during his tenure as di rector. The Macintosh hypothesis was derived from the hard sciences, such as astrophysics, where mathematical equa tions are the tools to explain reality. Reality, however, is interactions, meaning it changes, which is why science
Today we talk about The Desert Shark and The Orcas, a book by Sami G. Hajjar published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Sami G. Hajjar to get to know him better, if there was a particular moment that led him to the writing of his book The Desert Shark and The Orcas, as well as how he describes his Writing style.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Is there a particular moment in your life that led you to the writing of your book? What was that?
Yes. It was in the aftermath of my wife’s death three years ago after 57 years of marriage. My late wife was a professional librarian and an avid reader, who always read to our children before bedtime when they were young. She frequently asked me to make-up stories for them, as well as for her, after she finished reading to them. Additionally, she asked me to consider writing a long story in my retirement, but due to her struggle for years with cancer, I was unable to do so during the last years of her life. As the dedication page of this book indicates, this fictitious tale was to fulfil her wish, albeit after her passing. I should also mention that Felicity was appalled that a narcissist could be elected to high office in America in 2017. That event sparked the notion of a novel with a narcissist as one of the principal characters.
- What characteristics your audience should have to appreciate your book?
This book was written primarily for a college educated or adult audiences with interest in foreign cultures and societies. The novel contains references to historical events, cultural and religious traits, scientific hypotheses, political arguments, national and military strategies, and bureaucratic and administrative procedures, that are best appreciated and understood by mature readers.
- What messages did you want to convey with your book?
The overarching message of this book is that human experiences of love, hate, revenge, greed, adventure, infidelity, ethical doubts, friendship, loyalty, and so on, are universal regardless of nationality, gender or ethnicity. The differences are in how these experiences manifest themselves in the contexts of deferent settings.
- How would you describe your writing style?
As a retired academic, my writing style tends to fall within the social science genre. This meant presenting arguments succinctly and logically. However, in this work I tried to write the dialogues, which are many, in the vernacular. This was to ‘show’ the reader the story vice ‘telling’ it, as was my habit as a college professor with my student audiences.
- Are you working on a new writing project?
No. However, I’m considering a sequel to this novel depending on how it’s received by readers and reviewed by editors.
Europe Books thanks the author Sami G. Hajjar once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book The Desert Shark and The Orcas. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book amuse you and be a source of reflection and great inspiration thanks to the innumerable topics here covered.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor