David LeRoy is an author and avid explorer of the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and art. His debut novel, The Siren of Paris, is a poignant work that emerged from personal family research he undertook in 2010 to locate missing persons of WWII.
LeRoy’s fluency in French and two-year sojourn in France afforded him unique insights into the French culture he deftly weaves into his literary work. With a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion, an MBA from California State University Sacramento, and an MSc. Applied Data Science from Paris, France, LeRoy is a polymath with diverse interests and an insatiable curiosity for knowledge.
He currently resides in California, where he continues to write and pursue his creative passions.
Connect with him on social media at:
╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesirenofparis
╰┈➤ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14760740-the-siren-of-paris?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=v6UbhLIMmb&rank=1
Tell us about your book! What inspired you to write it?
The Siren of Paris follows one soul’s spiritual journey to seek peace from his decision from surviving World War Two. The original research project had nothing to do with fiction and everything thing to do with missing person’s research of American tourist who never made it home in 1939. I decided based upon what I had learned to write a fiction novel instead of a traditional nonfiction memoir. The main protagonist is a man named Marc Tolbert who falls in love with the Marie Bonnet, who becomes in the course of the war his mortal enemy. The story is of one of wartime betrayal.
How did you choose the title for your book? Did it come to you right away, before you started writing it, or did it come later?
The project was called “Français Seulement” for someone who disappeared into France during the war to never be seen again. The title is a line that appears in the novel as a question from a German Solider named Officer Sean. He was drafted against his will when he returned to Germany after studying in America to visit his family. His passport was revoked and he was conscripted to the Army in 1938. He spoke English, and he is the one who asks my protagonist “What Siren of Paris is calling you back to horrid city?” The Siren of Paris has multiple meaning in the course of the story.
Tell us about the cover design process. Did you have a basic idea of what your book cover would be like?
Covers, designs and marketing a book is a very difficult and painful journey. I did not understand or know this in 2012. The first cover was a pre designed cover purchased that had elements of the story, but too much of a romantic promise.
Cover One
Plus, I have tag lines on it. It is not horrid but it is not the best. Most people assume that the story is romantic.
Cover Two
It is a professional job, but too much mystery, intrigue is suggested. My story is not a mystery novel. Cover two, had too many elements of mystery and thriller genre.
Cover Three
Cover three is based upon the drawing known as “The Man of Pain and Sorrows,” which is truer to the story. When you look into all of the titles published in the past twenty years, there is a storm of highly romanticized world war two stories with women on a hero’s journey in the context of German occupied Paris.
They are great covers, but do you see the trend? How do I stand out when Amazon is pulling up The Siren of Paris along books like The Paris Network, or The Last Letter from Paris?
Below is a study of covers to put to a test.
I did a study of the various options and the put it out to my audience.
My story is a brutal war story that has betrayal as the core relationship conflict. Therefore I decided to commission Cover Four from the same professional that I had used to create the cover up my next story, titled The Flower of Chamula. The Flower of Chamula is a very different story of The Siren of Paris. However, it was through that cover that I had found the talent to create professional covers.
It is hard, requires work, reflection and a design who will listen to the marketing challenges of the story. Below is the book cover that I approved.
Cover Four
Today, the new cover is inspired by Cover Three, but is it executed by a professional Photoshop expert with cover experience
Who is your cover designer and how did you find him/her?
Ace Sadler
Found his work on Instagram and reach out to him if he could make a cover that appeared similar to a very high end commercially successful book in the genre of Latin American Magical Realism.
Email: acesadleresp.thbc@gmail.com
Website: https://www.coversforyou.com/
What tips would you give to authors who are looking for a cover designer?
Stay away from premade covers or anything that is AI generated. Save money and budget for $1000 or more for a high end cover.
Make sure there is a contract in place.
Go through a process of researching high end covers of your genre that have been created in the past five years. Do not copy the design but have a new cover created that is of the same quality.
Anything else you’d like to say about your book?
You may love The Siren of Paris or even hate it, but it is a very unique story. The Siren is not a thriller, romance or horror story. People read of the war as it happened. It is Historical Literary Magical Realism.
The Priest of Time and Judgment is based upon a real priest who suffered and died at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. He is the one who summons the dead of the war. His qualifications is the pain and suffering he experienced at the betrayal of his own congregation.
The graves marked ‘Known Unto God” means unknown person, and those were graves that were looked at as possibilities of someone. The animals belonged to a traveling circus that died on roads as the fall of France took place. . The rabbit died on the RMS Lancastria as well as the dog.
Marc Tolbert faces these ghost and he must prove he is worthy to be among those who are called “Known Unto God. “
Magical Realism was not as big in 2012, and there were not a lot of historical fiction that combined the magical elements. Today, Magical Realism is huge.
It is my prayer and hope that the likes of World War Two stay historical. Current events in Asia suggest that the 21st century maybe heading into a new tragedy.
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