About
Voices of the Locusts
Sixteen-year old Jack O’Brien has never known the
bittersweet stint of love, and romance is the farthest thing from his mind as
he and his family arrives at a remote U.S. Air Force outpost in Japan where
Jack’s father is base commander. The year is 1948. Jack’s life changes after a
chance encounter with Fujiko Kobaysi, a beautiful and enchanting 17-year-old
Japanese girl. Jack is immediately smitten.
Fujiko’s traditional parents are overly protective
and monitor her every move, and Jack and Fujiko meet secretly at her garden,
located some distance from her village. There is a good reason why Fujiko’s
parents are so protective and Jack is devastated when Fujiko tells him that her
parents have promised her in marriage to an older man, a practice common
throughout Asia at the time. The marriage is only a months away. Jack devises a
cunning plan, one that will overshadow her arranged marriage and bring Fujiko
and him together.
Playing against a backdrop of swirling post-War
social change, Voices of the Locusts tells the story of three families – one
black, one white, one Asian. Told in Jack’s voice in vivid and sometimes
haunting detail, Jack and Fujiko are frustrated in their romantic quest by
story characters coming to terms (often violently) with the emotional scars of
World War II.
Book
Excerpt
A flutter of panic races through my body.
It is instantly replaced by a sweep of joy, and a strange, unnatural lucidity
overcomes me.
Fujiko
and I hesitate for what seems a small eternity, our eyes locked in a moment of
mutual understanding. Finally, I lean in toward Fujiko and she leans in toward
me. Our eyes close and our mouths touch in a whisper-soft kiss, a brief, gentle
brush of lips.
I pull back slowly, my heart racing, my
head alive with all manner of strange, warm images. This must all be a dream. A
wonderful, glorious dream. I don’t want to ever wake up.
On
Writing:
Q: What motivated you to write the book?
I have carried this
story in my head for 30 years. It was not until I reached my mid-60s did I have
the discipline to sit down and piece the story together. Writing requires Himalayan
dedication, but I was never able to demonstrate this personal commitment until
late in my life. Much of my story is based upon personal experience.
Q: What is the single most useful thing you have
learned and how has it helped you as a writer.
I
am constantly amazed at the volume of copy I can produce if I dedicate three or
four hours each day to writing. Working seven days a week, I wrote the first
draft of “Voices of the Locusts” in about two months.
Q: What would you say are your main literary
influences?
All of my novels are
multi-cultural: Native Americans, Latinos, and Asians assume pivotal roles in
each of my novels. I would hope that each novel provides the reader with the
knowledge that although we are all different—our language is different, as are
our looks and cultures—there is a common thread of humanity that runs through
all of us.
About
Christopher Cloud
Christopher
Cloud began writing fiction full time after a long career in journalism and
public relations. “Voices of the Locusts” is his fourth novel. A multi-genre
author, Cloud’s choice of novels to
write is determined not by genre, but by the weight of the story. Cloud
graduated from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism.
He has worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist at newspapers in Texas,
California, and Missouri. He was employed by a Fortune 100 company as a public
relations executive, and later operated his own public relations agency. Cloud
attended high school in Japan, and much of his “Voices of the Locusts” is based on personal
experience. Cloud lives in Joplin, Missouri
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