What is you favorite book?
I don’t have one favorite book, but the books for which I’ve written papers for classes or the books I’ve taught year after year do seem to become beloved books because I appreciate their genius. I love the universal themes and tight, playful language of Shakespeare; the structure and style of Virginia Woolf; the experimentalism of Salman Rushdie.

What was the last book you read?
I’ve read several books in a month, but the one that lingers in my mind the most is Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, perhaps because I am in the same stage of life as the main character. However, I also find Jong’s irreverent tone hilarious and her metaphors spot on.

What other living author would you most like to meet and why?
I would love to meet Toni Morrison. Her writing style is brilliant, and her novels are tightly edited, beautifully poetic, and ingeniously crafted. I want to sit down over lunch with her and ask her about The Bluest Eye, especially.

Did you have a nickname growing up and do you still have it now?
My mom still calls me “Jo Bean.” I’m not sure why–I think she got it from my grandparents–but she still laughs about how I can curl up into a little tiny ball, like a bean.

What is your favorite sports team or athlete?
I’m a huge Ohio State Buckeye football fan. I grew up going to all the games and the famous stadium, the Horse Shoe, is just down the street from my childhood home. My step father was the quarterback under Woody Hayes in the 60’s, so I’d have to say he’s my all-time favorite athlete.

What country would you most like to visit for the first time? again?
India or China is next on my list to visit, and since I have a good friend in China I’ll most likely go there. I like to put myself in new and challenging situations, so traveling is important to me. But, I can never get enough of southern Germany. I grew up going there in the summers, so I have nostalgic feelings for the small, Rhineland and Alpine towns.

What gave you the idea to have Mardi Gras and New Orleans play such a role in your book?
I took a college class at Tulane in New Orleans under Dr. Joseph Roach, and Mardi Gras was a large focus of our analysis about role play. Because it was a spring course, we ended up writing papers about our Mardi Gras experience. Because of that class, I began to focus my studies around drama, mythology, and literary theory, all which have developed my understanding and appreciation of carnival. There are so many possible stories there.

How did the Katrina disaster affect your writing of the book?
I began writing my novel well before Katrina, and I didn’t intend for it to become a part of it, but now that I look back I realize that I redirected my themes because of the deep affect Katrina had on me and anyone associated with New Orleans. After Katrina, many debated the appropriateness of Mardi Gras so closely following the tragedy. But Mardi Gras has many redemptive qualities besides the obvious monetary ones. As a spring ceremony, it focuses on the future seasons, including Lent, and allows people to move on from the tragedies of the past. The original celebration focused on the re-growing of grape vines after they had been slashed down to nothing. I thought that the novel justified the decision to maintain the Mardi Gras tradition after Katrina, and I was there to help celebrate the return of New Orleans.

Why did you decide to write in the person of different characters? What about the non-fiction elements?
I thought that it was important to show the many faces of New Orleans and experiences of Mardi Gras through different narrators. However, all the characters are tied together by common experiences and feelings, showing our communal link during the holiday. The historical elements help explain some of the more exotic parts of New Orleans and Mardi Gras that people may not understand, but also show how closely tied New Orleans is to tradition and its history while still reinventing itself every year. This is true for Culler, the main character, as well.

We thought it would be fun for all of you to get to know our authors better, so we’ve asked them some questions. Here’s our interview with Dan.

What is your favourite book?
That’s a tough one. I’ve read so many over the years so obviously it’s hard to pick just one. I do remember the first time I read Catcher in the Rye and I was so blown away by it. I know it’s cliché to pick that one, but I don’t care. I just love it. Salinger’s style is so intimate and I think that was the first time that a lead character actually seemed real to me. It also has my favourite line ever: “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” Love that line!
Another book that really makes me smile (and one that I must have read at least 20 times) is David Niven’s The Moon’s a Balloon. Aside from the fact that Niven led a truly fascinating and utterly hilarious life, it’s his writing style that really gets me. So breezy and anecdotal. It really makes you wish that you could have been at the parties when Niven himself was recounting these stories in person. I remember reading it for the first time in the Sir Robert Borden High School library and actually laughing out loud. I had never laughed out loud at a book before. It still makes me laugh out loud when I read it today.
Another favourite is Caleb Carr’s The Alienist. Great narrative and I love the fact that it’s a period piece….okay, I know you said one book…

What is the last book you read?
The last book I read was The Film Club by David Gilmour. It was lent to me by a guy I work with because he knows I’m a huge old movie buff and that I would have seen many of the flicks that he talks about. I thought it was great. I was really drawn to the way Gilmour tries to reach his son through the mutual enjoyment of classic movies. Very moving in spots. I can see myself doing the same thing with my daughter, with the very same movies one day…except I’ll probably be talking through them way more than Gilmour did…

What are you currently reading?
I was about to start Jeffery Deaver’s The Sleeping Doll but a friend gave me Here, There and Everywhere by Geoff Emerick. Emerick was the engineer for many Beatles recordings, so naturally I had to read this one (I’m a big Beatles fan). What I’m liking (no, loving) about this book is the fact that Emerick’s anecdotes stick strictly to the construction and recording of the songs…who wrote them, how they were recorded, all the inside information on some of the greatest pop songs ever written. This is the kind of thing that I personally find so interesting…I’ve never been big on the gossipy stuff you usually find in this kind of book. Did you know that “Strawberry Fields Forever” is made up of two different versions recorded at two different tempos and in two different keys? This is exactly what turns my crank. And now I know exactly where the edit is that put both versions together into one masterpiece…Love this stuff…

Did you have a nickname growing up and do you still have it now?
Oh yeah. My brother has been calling me “Dude” for about the last 30 years. Don’t know why, really. He just does. Funny thing…up until about year and a half ago, I had long hair and a beard. My brother called me up one night and said “Dude…put it on channel 8.” I switched the channel and saw Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski. His character was a long messy haired and bearded aging hippy type who went by the name of “Dude.” He was dressed in a ratty bathrobe, dirty shorts, and in his hand was a Black Russian. With the exception of the Black Russian (I prefer Scotch) I was staring at my doppelganger.
Damn…I even had the same ugly bathrobe.
The Dude abides…watch the movie…

Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what kind of music?
Not really… I remember doing homework with the radio on when I was in high school, so I was able to function (reasonably well, that is) with it on in the background without it interrupting me too much, but theses days I tend to write with the TV on in the background. I do find, however, that I like to write early in the morning. It’s odd, because I also compose music and I find it easier to do music late at night. Weird. If I do put music on, it has to be melodic…old Genesis, Supertramp, Pink Floyd…as long as there’s a melody, I’m happy.

Do you write to a routine?
No…I write whenever I can. If I didn’t have a job, I think I would be doing it in the morning though.

What made you decide to set your book during the Second World War?
I’ve always just found period pieces far more interesting than contemporary stories…especially those set during World War 2. Some of my favourite movies - Stalag 17, Kelly’s Heroes, Casablanca - all take place during WW2. I figured that my story, which is about the hunt for the Cathar treasure, would be better suited in this particular historical era because the period would work in its favour. Both Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler were fascinated by the occult and religious icons and they believed that if they had any in their possession, they would have been unstoppable. So I thought that this would be the perfect setting for the story. Through my research I discovered that working in the Heritage Bureau (an archaeological unit created by Himmler to hunt for religious icons) at the time, was an individual named Otto Rahn whose passion was Cathar history. By creating a character, Dr. Gerhard Denninger who works with Rahn (who, by the way, was said to have actually found the Holy Grail), I hoped I could infuse a note of believability into the narrative. I also felt that having Denninger look for the treasure during wartime would add to the adventure and suspense of the story.

This book might invite comparison to The Da Vinci Code or The Templar Legacy. What sets this book apart from those?
While all three may take a look at events that unfolded two thousand years ago, that’s where the similarities end. For one thing, The Judas Apocalypse is a period piece, taking place in the forties during the Second World War. For another, Gerhard Denninger really is not what you would call your typical lead character either. He’s an archaeologist in his sixties and he works for the S.S. You’ll notice as well that there isn’t a gorgeous assistant tagging along and there are no secret religious societies dogging him on his way. It really, in my mind, doesn’t follow any kind of typical formula for a story like this and I think that’s what sets it apart from these others.

Did you feel any uneasiness when you were writing the controversial elements of the story?
Not at all. Controversy is what makes stories like this so compelling. I’ve had a number of people who have read the novel tell me that it made them think, or that they are looking at certain events that happened thousands of years ago in a whole new way. Controversy makes people talk so if they are talking about what’s in the book, then maybe that’s a good thing. I’m sure that there are some out there who may become outraged, but I can’t help that. I merely looked at what I discovered and made an interpretation based on the facts as I saw them. Judging by the reaction of those who have read it, I’d say it makes for a highly enjoyable story too.