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BRAD MELTZER
BY CLARA NIEL
cniel@newspost.com
New York Times bestselling nonfiction author Brad Meltzer will be in Frederick on Jan. 12 for a book talk and signing of his new work, “The Nazi Conspiracy:
The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt,
Stalin, and Churchill.” Meltzer worked on this book with Josh Mensch, an author and documentary TV producer.
The evening is hosted by Curious
Iguana and Frederick County Public
Libraries.
Before his Frederick event, he talked with 72 Hours about becoming a writer, his latest book and the mind-boggling history he uncovered during his research.
How did you find out about the story, and what led you to wanting to write a book about it?
I found it in an online story … [one] of those silly little online articles that come up in your algorithm, and
I just saw it. It was really short. It mentioned that there was a plot to kill
Churchill, Stalin and FDR. And my first thought was, “How do I not know that story, and I want to know more about it right now.” So that sent me down the rabbit hole. And, you know, I go down a lot of rabbit holes, but this was one of the ones that, as I started digging, I realized there was so much more to find out.
How did you become a writer?
My start in writing really began in ninth grade with my ninth grade
English teacher, Sheila Spicer. Ms.
Spicer changed my life with three words. She said, “You can write.” And
I thought, “Everyone can write.” And she said, “No, you know what you’re doing.” She tried to put me in the honors class, but I had some sort of conflict. She said, “You know what? I want you to sit in the corner for the entire year and ignore everything I do at the blackboard. You’re going to do the honors work instead.” And I did, and what she was really saying was, you’re going to thank me later.
A decade later, I went back to her classroom, I knocked on the door with my first novel, and I said,
“I wrote this book, and it’s for you.” She started crying. I said, “Why are you crying?” She said, “I was going to retire this year, because I didn’t think I was having an impact anymore.” That woman changed my life and she had no idea of her impact on it. So that was really my start.
But probably a better answer your question: My very first novel that I ever wrote, I got 24 rejection letters on it. There were only 20 publishers, and I got 24 rejection letters, which means some people were writing me twice to make sure I got the point. And I said, “If
Brad Meltzer
Michelle Watson / CatchLight Group LLC
they don’t like that, I’m gonna write another, and if they don’t like that book, I’m gonna write another.” And the week after I got my 23rd, 24th rejection letter, I started what became my first true published work, a book called “The Tenth Justice.” For many years, I wrote thrillers and loved writing thrillers, and I was a history major in college, so I always had this love of history. My books always had a slant toward history and using historical details. And then I said, “You know what? I’d like to try writing nonfiction, too.” And so we [Josh Mensch and I] started with “The First Conspiracy,” and then we did “The Lincoln Conspiracy,” and here we are at “The Nazi Conspiracy.”
You said it took about two years to write the book — one year to do research and one year to write, which also included some research. What sources did you use for your book?
I mean, we try to go to the original source. For instance, a lot of this book [includes] details from FDR’s Secret Service agent who wrote about it. There are obviously, on the American side and in our own archives, stories and things from FDRs presidency. But this was the first time we had to also deal with foreign agencies. So we had to find translators and researchers who could read Russian and German. And because the plot is on the Nazi side, because the Nazis are the ones trying to kill FDR and Stalin and Churchill, now we have to know what their intelligence organizations are doing about it.
What’s your favorite part of the process of writing a book?
To me, it’s always about the people. It’s always about the character that comes out. The strength of character of Winston Churchill and FDR but also the characters you don’t know. The villain in this book — beyond Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, of course — is a person you’ve never heard of named Otto Skorzeny. Otto Skorzeny gets summoned to Hitler’s private headquarters, the wolf’s lair, and [Hitler] lines up all of his special forces fighters to find out who’s the best. And you see this moment where Hitler selects Otto Skorzeny from the group of men and puts him on a course for one of the most incredible secret missions you’ve ever seen in your life. And those are the moments that just make me go, “Oh, my God, look at how history could have easily wound up different if this all worked in a certain way.” And this is not some bad guy in a movie. This all really happened.
What was the most interesting thing that you learned in writing and researching the book?
I think Otto Skorzeny is one. I do think the rally in Madison Square Garden is another. And I do think, although I said this already and sorry to repeat, but I think it’s just how tenuous the alliance was for Churchill and Roosevelt and Stalin. I mean, we love to tell the story of Normandy and how we stormed the beaches and the day was saved. But, my God, it almost didn’t happen. And it took so much twisting by Stalin and so much twisting by FDR and so much pushing against Churchill to make sure that it happened. And you just realize how easily it could have gone the other way, especially if the plot to kill them had succeeded. Can you imagine if all three of them had been triple assassinated?
Do you feel like there’s a message to be had in what happens in your book and how it relates to the modern day?
You know, look at Kanye West, or even Charlottesville, and these past few years. We all wring our hands and say, “Oh, it’s so sad that we’re fighting Nazis here in America today,” as if this is a brand new idea. And then you go back to World War II, and you see that there was a Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City, where they had a big banner up of George Washington, surrounded by swastikas, saying that George Washington would have loved the Nazis. This is not a new story that we’re telling. They’ve been here the entire time. And we just, again, favor the highlight reel and ignore those details, because they make us uncomfortable. But there are times where we need to be uncomfortable, right? We tell the stories to make sure that people are uncomfortable so it doesn’t happen again.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel
BRAD MELTZER
When: 7 p.m. Jan. 12 Where: Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ, 15 W. Church St., Frederick. Tickets: $32. Tickets are required for ages 15 and older. Info: curiousiguana.com
