Janszoon follows Hollywood icon Humphrey Bogart through his tumultuous personal and professional life who longs for adventure and a lasting legacy while learning about his ancestor, pirate Jan Janszoon van Salee. What inspired you to write this story?

At the heart of all of my historical fiction writing is my soon-to-be-published series about German immigration in the early Eighteenth Century. As the family historian, my wife and I undertook a journey tracing the path of my German ancestor, Hans Heinrich Gruber (no relation to the Die Hard Hans), from Basel, Switzerland, up the Rhine River to Rotterdam. From there, Hans embarked on a ship to New York City. While researching the New Netherlands, specifically the island of Manhattan, I stumbled upon the story of the infamously famous, fabulously wealthy Dutch Barbary pirate Jan Janszoon Van Salee. His sons were among the earliest settlers, and their descendants now number in the millions. Among these descendants is believed to be the Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart.

As I traveled through the Northeast, from Philadelphia to Canada to Boston, gathering facts for my series, the idea for this book struck me. I envisioned Bogart, amid his career, exploring his connection to Jan Janszoon Van Salee. The story became a journey of self-discovery, legacy, and adventure as Bogart delves into his heritage to understand what it means to leave a lasting mark on the world.

What kind of research did you do for this novel to ensure you captured the essence of the story’s theme?

Bibliography

Widing, Roy. Sluggy: Bogie’s Other Baby. Mayo Methot – Star of Stage, Screen & Wife of Humphrey Bogart. Orlando, Florida: Copyright 2019 Roy Widing. (pgs 131, 142-4)

Thompson, Verita, and Donald Shepherd. A Love Story: Bogie and Me. Pinnacle Books, Inc., 1982. (pgs. 10-14, 17-25, 27-33, 45-49, 53-56)

Hyams, Joe. The Humphrey Bogart Story: BOGIE. The New American Library, Inc., 1966. 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. (pgs. 63, 72, 79-80, 87)

Sperber, A.M., and Eric Lax. Bogart. HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007. (pgs. 227, 235)

Meyers, Jeffrey. BOGART: A Life in Hollywood. A Peter Davison Book, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York, 1997. (pgs. 138, 160-163)

Bogart, Stephen Humphrey, and Gary Provost. Bogart: In Search of My Father. Penguin Books USA Inc., 1995. 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Humphrey Bogart and the rest of the gang.

…and of course, lots of old movies.

What draws you to the Golden Age of Hollywood and makes it ripe for you to write such a great biographical fiction story in it?

My draw to the Golden Age of Hollywood stems from a deep love for the silver screen and history. As a longtime fan of classic films, I’ve always been captivated by the larger-than-life personalities and stories that shaped that era. The glitz, glamor, and drama of Hollywood’s golden years offer a rich world for storytelling, where real-life legends like Humphrey Bogart navigated personal and professional challenges while leaving an indelible mark on cinema.

Retired from dentistry, I now have the luxury of immersing myself in history and letting my imagination run wild. Daydreaming about the lives of iconic figures allows me to blend factual history with fictional narratives, creating stories that entertain and explore the human side of these legends. Writing biographical fiction set in this era is my way of paying tribute to the stars who shaped our cultural landscape while indulging my passion for history and classic cinema.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?

There are several thrilling historical fiction projects in the works, each offering a unique dive into the past and beyond. First up is an ambitious eight-book series that will take you on a journey through German immigration from 1700 to 1780, capturing the trials, triumphs, and enduring spirit of those who shaped the Pennsylvania Dutch community. Spinning off from this series is an intriguing standalone novel set around 1715, centered on a girls’ school that spurred the transfer of none other than Yale College to New Haven—a story rich with secrets, ambition, and early American history.

But that’s not all! There’s also the first installment of a gripping murder mystery series, promising twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. And if that weren’t enough, a mind-blowing multi-book sci-fi saga is in the works, ready to transport readers to worlds and dimensions that defy imagination.

The funny thing about crafting a long series is that by the time you’re knee-deep in books, new revelations or ideas often pop up, prompting rewrites and tweaks to earlier volumes. It’s a creative journey that truly only ends once everything falls perfectly in place. One day, these stories will be polished, perfected, and released as a complete set, and I hope readers will enjoy them as much as I’ve loved bringing them to life.

Author Links: Amazon

It’s 1942 and Humphrey Bogart seems to have it all. By day, he’s reading lines for Casablanca with Ingrid Bergman; by night, he’s drinking bourbon on the Sunset Strip with friends like Peter Lorre and Leslie Howard.
But to Bogart, life is not so glamorous. High-profile fights with his wife Mayo and a rigid studio contract committing him to a series of mediocre films have him feeling personally and professionally trapped.
That is, until one day a mysterious note arrives on set.
Heeding the strange invitation, Bogart finds himself in a series of long, secret conversations with his aunt and cousin about the swashbuckling tales of their ancestor, the pirate Jan Janszoon van Salee. These tales of the high seas ignite a fire within Bogart to carve out a path that is uniquely his own—even if it means shedding the roles and people who made him famous.
Janszoon is more than a Hollywood fantasy; it’s a journey into the heart of a man wrestling with ambitions and desires, an actor who yearns to balance his on-screen personas with his off-screen reality. From his tumultuous marriage and infamous USO tour, through his affairs with Verita Patterson and Lauren Bacall, Janszoon imagines a life in which the enigmatic Humphrey Bogart seeks a legacy that transcends the ephemeral glow of stardom.

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/09/07/history-and-classic-cinema/