The process of writing a book starts with spending time researching material that I think, with some luck, could be fascinating to you, my reader. Usually I look at issues that have the potential to be disruptive and become increasingly important in our lives.
Then I start writing. Trying to write something that works and sounds unique is without a doubt challenging, but is at the same time the most rewarding work I have ever done.
During this stage Lollipop, my faithful and energetic border collie, is my only companion. She often looks at me, pleading for me to stop looking at that screen and take her out, to do something meaningful with my day. Writing is solitary work. It sometimes makes me wonder whether it is worthwhile the culpability I feel when it takes me away from my family. This is especially true when my youngest daughter comes to me, often at the most inopportune moment, when inspiration has finally hit, and shouts: “Dad, Mom’s called you ten times for dinner already. She’s so mad you’d better come down right now!”
I try to complete the creative process as soon as possible. Shortly thereafter, when the story is where I want it, I send it to David, my gifted editor. Through David’s feedback, I painfully realize where some of my limitations lie and how much more work is needed to make the story tighter. Despite this sobering exercise, I must admit I enjoy this part of the process enormously. The exchanges back and forth with David go on for some weeks, but finally there it is: a manuscript ready to find a publisher.
For The Fat Finger I was keen to stay clear of the major publisher mill that I know grinds debut authors painfully slowly. Speed was of the essence because this plot dealt with such topical, unresolved issues as the Independence movement in Catalonia, meddling in European affairs by Russian based BOTS, as well as the Ukrainegate. Although I started writing about these themes years ago – and even though they have admittedly played out in a very different manner – the momentum they gathered recently, meant that a prompt publication was key. Nine Elms Books in London was able to provide that.
I feel very fortunate as a first-time novelist to have found a publisher so quickly. It is also a real boon that several other publishers are showing interest in translating The Fat Finger into other languages for their respective markets. All being well, bound books with my name on the cover will eventually make it back to my desk in languages I don’t even understand. The idea of that is thrilling and makes every effort along the way worthwhile
I am currently involved in promoting the book in England and Ireland. That is proving to be a lot of fun as I go and meet actual readers and finally receive real world feedback. Whether I meet you, the reader, in school classes, libraries or bookstores, I find our exchanges extremely rewarding. Hearing your takes on the issues covered in the book and the characters I gave life to, gives meaning to the whole process. It doesn’t entirely erase the guilt of being rebuked by my girls for plates of food gone cold, but it makes it easier to swallow.
When I hear that any one person has taken great pleasure in reading The Fat Finger, I feel grateful and happy.
I tip my hat to you, steadfast readers, especially those of you who know nothing about me but were drawn by Ben Brennan’s world from the beginning, before the reviews and articles came out. I hope for your loyalty, vis-à-vis giving my next book a chance and allowing me to continue writing stories, which I realize is what I love doing the most.
My next novel, “The Wolf of the Pyrenees”, is the second and final part of Ben Brennan’s adventures. Unfortunately, it won’t be out for some months yet. I think I’m addicted to the process but that is one addiction I can live with, and hopefully my family as well!
Cheers,Sincerely
In the age of crypto currency, one wrong digit is all it takes! Living in the mountains of Andorra, Ben Brennan, star trader with Solarbanc, seems to have it all. But everything is put at risk when Ben leaves a major trading position open over the same week-end an unforeseeable event hits, hugely distorting financial markets. Worst still, on that same trade he has committed a “Fat Finger”, the accidental addition of an extra zero that multiplies the losses by a factor of ten. Fighting to save his career, Ben starts to piece together the existence of a Machiavellian plan: the banks client Igor Orlov is the front of a Russian FSB plot to get control of Solarbanc, destabilize and divide Catalonia, Spain and beyond it, Europe itself. On one side is the full, subversive might of the Russian State. On the other, a lone trader fighting for his life and the future of everything he holds dear.
“ Greg Coonen does to financial thrillers what John Grisham does to legal novels. You won’t put it down! ... Stunning”
Antoni Martí Petit - Prime Minister of Andorra (2011-2019)
“Here is a Jason Bourne like tale that makes it easy to learn about crypto-currency while being entertained. Read it now before the movie comes out..."
Nick Gogerty – Founder of Solar Coin and Author of “The Nature of Value”.
"Clever. The novel truly captures the emotions of trading. What a gripping read!".
Andrew Stevens, CEO and Founder of Fulcrum Asset Management LLP.
During the 90s, taking a job as a journalist in Madrid, where he subsequently studied his MBA at the Instituto de Empresas (IE), Greg then founded his own company. The next twenty years took him to more than 70 countries across the globe, interviewing presidents, ministers and CEOs and later launching consulting services and creative advertising campaigns for corporate customers.
Although Greg hugely enjoyed the diversity of a globetrotting lifestyle, it was witnessing his daughters’ reactions to the books he wrote for them which has turned out to be his most thrilling journey to date. Greg thus discovered his inner storyteller. But there was always an itch to spin a more complex tale, one founded in the worlds he’d learned so much about during his professional life. This itch has now been soundly scratched in his debut novel “The Fat Finger”, a financial thriller with a twist of real geopolitik. Today Greg lives in the beautiful mountains of Andorra with his family, writing as much as they will let him.
A recommendation: never take your security for granted, no matter how idyllic the surroundings you live in. Especially if you reside in a neighbouring state to the region everyone is talking about in Europe: Catalonia.
This is what happened to Ben Brennan, star trader at Solarbanc, one of the leading banks in the tiny Principality of Andorra. Together with Elisa, his newly pregnant girlfriend, Ben thought they had chosen the safest country imaginable to start a family. Andorra hasn’t seen a single murder during the past ten years or more, but all that changes in dramatic fashion, the day Ben commits a Fat Finger while trading. The accidental addition of a zero to his trade threatens to bankrupt his bank and turns his entire life upside down. But that’s just the beginning, and it gets much worse after that. That ten-year reign of peace is about to end, but you will have to read the novel to discover how bad it got for Ben.
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