Author Q&A with Leon H. Gildin

December 3, 2011

Leon H. Gildin (web­site) wrote The Polski Affair (my thoughts) and its sequel The Family Affair (my thoughts). Both books were very interesting about events which happened during World War II of which I knew nothing about.

Books by Leon H. Gildin

Q. How did you go about doing research for your books?
A. The initial research was done some thirty or more years ago by a former client, Abraham Shulman, (I was his attorney) and published under the title The Case of Hotel Polski. It consisted of historical research combined with interviews of survivors and was so unbelievable that it remained with me. Many years ago I tried writing a play about the Polski and what went on there but the first few scenes had so many characters that I decided it wouldn’t work. Years later I reread Shulman’s work and a novel started to form taking bits and pieces from the interviews in the formation of the characters. Further research was done on the internet and, in all, it took about a year to write.

Q. Do we, to this day, know what the whole scheme of the Polski Hotel was about?
A. Do you have a theory? The initial research was done some thirty or more years ago by a former client, Abraham Shulman, (I was his attorney) and published under the title The Case of Hotel Polski. It consisted of historical research combined with interviews of surviors and was so unbelievable that it remained with me. Many years ago I tried writing a play about the Polski and what went on there but the first few scenes had so many characters that I decided it wouldn’t work. Years later I reread Shulman’s work and a novel started to form taking bits and pieces from the interviews in the formation of the characters. Further research was done on the internet and, in all, it took about a year to write.

Q. Did you go visit the Hotel Polski, Poland or Israel in your research?
A. The initial research was done some thirty or more years ago by a former client, Abraham Shulman, (I was his attorney) and published under the title The Case of Hotel Polski. It consisted of historical research combined with interviews of surviors and was so unbelievable that it remained with me. Many years ago I tried writing a play about the Polski and what went on there but the first few scenes had so many characters that I decided it wouldn’t work. Years later I reread Shulman’s work and a novel started to form taking bits and pieces from the interviews in the formation of the characters. Further research was done on the internet and, in all, it took about a year to write.

Q.Did you feel you had to write a sequel to The Polski Affair? Why or why not?
A. At first I did not feel that I had to write a sequel. But people kept asking me about what happened to the characters and that stirred me up. Once I got started on the sequel the story just came out until it became longer than the original.

Q. What are the challenges of book promotion in the social media age?
A. As an award-winning, self-published author, social media is actually an important way for people to find out about me and my books. Book blog reviewers like Man of La Book and others are out there talking about and engaging others in conversation about my books. They’re doing this on social media channels that point people to my website. While learning the “social media ropes” can be daunting, ultimately it’s a form of book promotion that’s fueled by avid readers–it’s like an online book club!

Q. Shameless plug disguised as a question: Why do you love ManOfLaBook.com so much and often visit the website?
Wise guy answer: I love ManofLaBook.com because the man has the balls to promote himself and of equal importance, he gave my books a good review. Thank you! While I’d never frequented your site, I will now. What will the future hold? Ver Vaist (who knows in Yiddish)? But you’re my kind of guy.

Thanks Mr. Gildin for the entertaining and thoughtful responses.

Zohar – Man of la Book

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Author Q&A with Leon H. Gildin
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Author Q&A with Leon H. Gildin
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Leon H. Gildin wrote The Polski Affair (my thoughts) and its sequel The Family Affair (my thoughts). Both books were very interesting
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Man of la Book - A Bookish Blog
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3 Comments

  • Ann WeisgarberDecember 3, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    Great interview! What I especially like about this is that the author first heard about the incident thirty years ago. The story stuck with him until he had to do something with it.

  • Ann WeisgarberDecember 4, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    My pleasure, Zohar. You’re doing great things for literature!

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