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CRANBURY: Local screenwriter pens first novel

David KIlby, Managing Editor
   CRANBURY — Resident Kevin Fox has written a novel about lost loves and Irish culture, and he said he hopes his readers find just as many surprises in the book as he did when learning of the stories that inspired it.
   Mr. Fox, of Liedtke Drive, and a member of the Cranbury Board of Education, is mainly a screenwriter and writer for television, having worked on the TV show, “Lie to Me,” and the film, “The Negotiator.”
   His first novel, “Until the Next Time,” will be available Valentine’s Day.
   Mr. Fox’s mother’s father was from Ireland, and from this grandfather, he found the inspiration for many of the stories in the book.
   His grandfather told him many tales of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, but at first he thought the tales were a bunch of blarney. One of the characters in the book, Michael, also is inspired by his father, who was a New York City policeman in the 1970s.
   Mr. Fox compares the civil rights movement and the struggle between blacks and whites in the United States to the struggles between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.
   The book also has two parallel plots. One follows Michael, a New York City cop, who is falsely accused of murder and flees to Ireland to escape the accusation.
   When in Ireland, he gets involved in the IRA, and his life is constantly in danger. Before long, he is murdered, but decades later, there’s a chance for his story to continue.
   The second plot takes place about 26 years later when Sean, Michael’s nephew, is given Michael’s journal for his 21st birthday. Sean could only have the journal, though, if he travels to Ireland and clears his uncle’s name.
   Thinking it wouldn’t be much more than a free trip to Ireland, Sean takes on the task while not knowing how something that happened 26 years ago on the emerald isle might as well have happened yesterday.
   Sean gets involved with former terrorists, who’ve become ministers of Parliament, and others involved with his uncle’s death and finds his own life is in danger.
   Mr. Fox said he didn’t believe the similar stories his grandfather told him until he went to Ireland, and his cousins told him the same ones.
   His grandfather spoke Gaelic in his early years and lived on the coast of a large inland lake in Ireland called Lough Ree. His family had a great deal of land along the lake they farmed, but when it was taken by the British, the family was forced to move to a small island in the middle of the lake and live as eel fishermen.
   Mr. Fox’s grandfather thus lived in a small thatched cottage, not much bigger than a modern kitchen, with 13 brothers and sisters.
   At age 13, his grandfather had to flee the island because British soldiers were searching for his family.
   When Mr. Fox went to Ireland with his mother to find the exact place his grandfather was from, they met with some coincidences and luck.
   They were trying to find the island his grandfather was raised on when they found a pub on the side of a house. Mr. Fox said the wife of the owner didn’t let him sell alcohol in the house because she believed alcohol possessed evil spirits, but the owner wound up being the good soul who led Mr. Fox and his mother to a boat launch.
   At the boat launch, they met Ms. Fox’s first cousin, who led them to the island where they found her father’s cottage [mrh: what? House? Island?: ]in ruins.
   Algonquin Books is funding a tour for “Until the Next Time,” which will begin in Brooklyn on Feb. 14, the day the book comes out.
   Mr. Fox then will continue his tour in Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Buffalo and Minneapolis, ending in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day.
   Algonquin Books also is paying for national media attention, national print advertising, regional trade show appearances, an extensive online marketing campaign and Mr. Fox’s website, www.kevinfoxthewriter.com.
   The book was edited by Chuck Adams, who has edited more than 100 bestsellers, Mr. Fox said.
   The initial idea for the book came to Mr. Fox about two years ago, but it only took him about four to five months to actually write the 400 pages, he said.
   ”Until the Next Time” will sell for $15.95 or $10.95 if pre-ordered.
   The book will be the Indie Books Indie Pick of the Month for March because of St. Patrick’s Day and the book’s strong Irish significance.
   The backdrop of the story also has a spiritual element to it, Mr. Fox said. In noticing how many people from Ireland use phrases like “old soul” and “in another lifetime,” Mr. Fox realized how the Irish often don’t believe what they say. Keeping this curious custom in mind, Mr. Fox has characters toss around the concept of reincarnation left over from Ireland’s Druidic tradition.
   ”Mostly, I hope my readers are entertained,” he said. “There are a lot of things going on in this book. The characters have a different point of view than you or I would. That’s what makes it interesting. The reader gets to see the world through someone else’s eyes. The characters raise questions, but if I were trying to prove something, I would write something nonfiction.”
   He said he would like to see “Until the Next Time” turned into a movie, but admits it would be a challenge.
   Algonquin Books’ “Water for Elephants” was turned into a movie, and a few other bestsellers by the publishing house, “Reliable Wife” and “Running the Rift” are being adopted for the big screen as well.
   ”I’ve always loved telling stories,” Mr. Fox said. “I’ve loved the work of writing since it’s a way of telling stories. I love writing in all its forms because I love telling stories more than I love sitting down in front of a computer.”
   His advice to aspiring writers is to write what you know about.
   ”A lot of people want to have written, but don’t want to be writers,” he said. “It’s too hard to do if you don’t love it.”
   Mr. Fox is working on his next book, a young adult novel set in Cranbury.
   ”Until the Next Time” is intended for an adult audience. The book also has love stories in each of its parallel plots, which readers can enjoy just in time for Valentine’s Day.
   Both Michael and Sean are constantly trying to keep in touch with the women they love during their adventures.
   Mr. Fox will be at a book-signing and discussion in the Cranbury Public Library, 23 N. Main St. on March 2 at 7 p.m.