Interview with Author Tom Ryan

Author Tom Ryan

What inspired you to write A Sword for Pizarro?
I was inspired by some of the great treasure hunters of Florida, including Mel Fisher and Bob Weller. I was also greatly influenced by the people and locations of Brevard County, where I spend a few months every year.

You obviously know a good deal about history; however, is there anything in the news today that influenced your book?
There have been a number of news stories in Florida recently that caught my attention; the eminent domain case at Riviera Beach being one of them. Also the building of the community “Ave Maria” near Naples.

Why a novel about treasure?
I’ve always been a treasure hunter, and to me, treasure can be a silver coin, a fossilized shark tooth, or any number of things. The thrill is truly in the hunt. And then to be able to see and touch something that hasn’t been held by human hands in hundreds, perhaps thousands of years – well, there’s nothing quite like it. It gives us a very real and personal connection to the past. With the novel, I tried to capture that grand spirit of adventure that goes hand-in-hand with treasure hunting, no matter what the prize.

The characters in the book – a macho yet sensitive treasure hunter, a sultry zoologist, and a wicked land baron – are incredibly vivid. Are they based on actual people, or did you create them?
I believe an author always puts some of his or herself in their characters. I’m certainly in there, as well as people I know, and others that I’ve encountered over the years.

What quirky traits do you share with your protagonist – Marshall Cross?
Marshall sometimes doesn’t censor himself, and speaks before he thinks. That’s definitely me. It gets him in trouble, and it’s gotten me in trouble as well. Aside from that, Marshall is a tad politically incorrect and an unabashed dreamer. Guilty as charged.

What do you hope readers will take away from reading A Sword for Pizarro?
It was a lot of fun blending the rousing, factual account of conquistador Francisco Pizarro and the wreck of the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet with a very outlandish story of an archeology-themed amusement park and doomsday scenarios. I hope readers are entertained, enlightened, and maybe even a little titillated.

Is Pizarro's golden sword real?
The first rule of writing any kind of historical fiction is: Don’t let history stand in the way of your story. That being said, the past is too often limited to what textbooks tell us. I certainly believe that it could be.

What are you working on now?
I’m currently writing the sequel to A Sword for Pizarro. It should be released sometime in 2009.

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