PHOTO: Réal Laplaine, Canadian-born author and advocate, shares his unique approach to blending fiction with urgent social issues.
Literature, Human Rights, Climate Change, Thrillers, Advocacy, Speculative Fiction
Réal Laplaine shares insights into his compelling thrillers that blend global crises, speculative fiction, and urgent social themes, aiming to inspire change through storytelling and his advocacy for literacy.
Réal Laplaine’s works invite readers to confront pressing global crises through the lens of speculative fiction. His novels weave intricate tapestries where personal narratives intersect with wider existential concerns, often questioning humanity’s role within the greater cosmos. Drawing upon his background, from the quiet, reflective hours spent as a child beneath the stars, to his advocacy for human rights, Laplaine’s writing serves as both a creative and moral compass.
With a profound commitment to sparking change, Laplaine’s stories delve into the often harrowing realities of climate change, human trafficking, and social inequality. His books, such as The Other and See Me Not, are not mere thrillers but urgent calls for action, urging readers to consider the broader implications of the world they inhabit. His exploration of complex, real-world issues is deftly balanced with the tension and suspense of high-concept narratives, where every page is designed to keep readers not just entertained, but also aware.
The author’s advocacy for literacy and fair representation in the literary world, through initiatives like International Writers Inspiring Change (iWIC), reflects his desire to give authors the respect they deserve while rekindling the love for books in an increasingly digital age. Laplaine’s commitment to social justice, mirrored in his fiction, underscores the belief that literature has the power to shape minds, stir hearts, and ultimately, change the world.
In this interview, Laplaine reflects on the themes and motivations behind his work, offering an intimate insight into the thought process of a writer who believes that the pen, in its truest sense, is indeed mightier than the sword.
Réal Laplaine’s thought-provoking thrillers offer powerful narratives that engage with global crises and inspire readers to take action.
How did the inspiration behind the other—with its alien object off ireland’s coast and climate‑change context—evolve from your interest in psychological thrillers?
As a kid, I used to climb on the roof of our house and sit there for hours staring at the sky and stars. It occurred to me then that clearly, in that ocean of stars there had to be more intelligent life like ours – and given the state of the world I found myself in at the time, I wasn’t very impressed by our collective “intelligence”. An avid fan of science-fiction, I found the depiction of “aliens” as most often aggressive and a threat to humanity, as a small-minded view of the Universe. ET, the film, of course, mollified that – thanks to Steven Spielberg’s imagination. Given that global warming had been ramping up to a crisis point for years, and also inspired by a 16 year-old Swedish girl who lived just a few hours from me, Greta Thunberg, who made a stand and started a global tsunami on the subject, I decided to write THE OTHER and its sequel, L.I.N. to lend another perspective to the narrative – that maybe, off-worlders would come to Earth to help us save it before it is too late.
In truth, this idea or theme appears in several of my other books too, that is; WHEN GODS ROAR, TWILIGHT VISITOR, V.O.I.C.E. and EARTH ESCAPE.
“Writing a story that captures the reader’s imagination, thrills them, and doesn’t sound like I’m standing on a soapbox is the trick.” – Réal Laplaine
In see me not, you portray the horrors of trafficking through young hann’sha’s eyes. How did blending fiction with real events shape your narrative approach?
In 2004, I was living and working in Los Angeles, when the Tsunami struck Southeast Asia. For a period, I headed up an initiative to send volunteers to India and other affected areas, to help. In Calcutta, our team came across homeless children, but one of them, a six-year-old girl, struck a chord in my heart, so deep and so unforgettable, because she was found living in a ditch with her one-or two-year-old brother, foraging for food and handouts. The team plucked them up, got them medical care, food, clothing and shelter, and sent me both the before and after photos of this girl. I will never forget the look of renewed hope in her eyes. Some years later, I sat down and researched what happens to children like her and the shocking fact that homeless kids in India are often forced to be mules for drug runners or forced into sexual servitude. Young girls, virgins, are highly rated in the sex-trafficking industry there. SEE ME NOT was a “fictional” story about one girl, Hann’Sha, sold into sexual servitude at the age of eight (which happens often in very poor families there), who endures her slavery for four years before a young Canadian, visiting Calcutta, discovers and makes it his mission to free her – a task that sends him down some very perilous roads.
With quantum assault part of the keeno crime thriller series, how did you research the canadian trafficking ring to ensure authenticity?
The sex-trafficking pipeline and industry is a murky area to dig into, because of course, no one has accurate figures about just how many children and women are trafficked each year. However, when I released by book, SEE ME NOT, in 2012, I was introduced to a non-profit in Sweden, called RealStars, an initiative designed to export the Swedish model against sex trafficking. Essentially, Sweden is the first country in the world to criminalize buying sex – and working with the head of this initiative, she provided a lot of information obtained through her network with other similar organizations, moreover, her connections in Brussels, where she had been lobbying for laws that aligned to the Swedish model. I lectured at many of her events, whether in Stockholm at the International Anti-Trafficking events, at the International Women’s Day in Gothenburg, at the International Swedish Book Fair and more. Quantum Assault, naturally followed in the footsteps of SEE ME NOT as a the 2nd book in my crime thriller series, using much of the information I learned in working with RealStars, moreover, research I did about the sex-trafficking pipeline through Canada’s two main ports – Montreal and Vancouver.
Your background includes founding iwic to promote literacy—how does your advocacy inform the themes in your recent works?
iWIC or International Writers Inspiring Change was never intended as a medium to promote myself as an author, but it is entirely based on two factors which inspired me to launch it in 2016. First, the fact that I was seeing a massive drop in reading. Younger kids, the Millennials, Gen X, etc., were observably not interested in reading books. Social media and the digital world had taken over. I saw this firsthand, because during this period, my wife and I had taken on several foster kids, giving them a home while they grew up, and clearly, there was absolutely no interest in reading. I recalled, growing up, that books were part of our culture. Getting on a bus, a subway, or going to the park, back in those early days, people had a book in their hands and were reading. Today, get on a bus, go anywhere, and all you see are mobile phones with people glued to them. I wanted to help put books back on the map.
Secondly, as an author, I was appalled to see the sheer number of book promotion sites and book sellers pitching to authors that they should offer their books for free or for 99cents. It was repulsive to me because I knew how much work authors put into their books – like me, the late nights, lots of sore eyes and coffee. I decided to launch iWIC to put prestige back into the subject and give authors a voice that also did not compromise their work and suggest that they should sell their books for the price of a cheesy hamburger. And by the way, I ran a campaign for a couple years, that a book is not equal in value to a hamburger. I think, I hope at least, given that even Amazon stopped offering authors the option to sell their books for 99 cents, that it had some impact.
You tackle complex global issues—climate, trafficking, inequality—in high‑concept thrillers. How do you balance message with suspense to keep readers engaged?
Yeah, this is THE trick – writing a story that captures the reader’s imagination, thrills them, and also doesn’t sound like I am standing on a soapbox. It’s like riding a bike, or a motorcycle in my case, you just learn how to keep that balance, because if you don’t, you lose the readers, and I learned early in my writing career, from comments I received at the time from readers, that balance is important. I believe that every author, generally speaking, has a message in their books – the skill is to dress it up in such a way that the whole package arrives with the reader.
“Every author has a message in their books – the skill is dressing it up in such a way that the whole package arrives with the reader.” – Réal Laplaine
The other combines speculative fiction and thriller elements—how do you maintain tension while exploring existential ideas?
My approach to writing my books is really simple. I get the idea, the general plot, but I NEVER sit down and map it out. I never want to know how my book ends. I write the story, page by page, as if I am in it, living it, feeling it, experiencing it. If it keeps me engaged. If I want to know what happens next, then I know I am on the right track. If I lose interest, or it becomes banal, I know I have derailed somewhere and I go back. In short, if my own writing thrills me to the end, then I know that it will do the same for others.
As a montreal‑born author writing about global crises, how does your canadian identity influence your depiction of international issues?
I grew up in Canada during the 60’s and 70’s before moving to the States when I was twenty-one. Canada is not like its neighbor to the south. A very different dynamic runs through the blood of Canadians, at least it did then, but I believe it is still the case today. Canadians are very proud and independent. They do NOT identify themselves with Americans and resent it if anyone suggests so. Canada is two nations in one – that is French and English (British primarily) – and during the 70s, as more immigration opened up, the cultural diversity of Canada makes it feel it feel more like Europe, and I can say that now since I have lived in Europe for the past 15 years. Moreover, the things we saw as young men and women, the Vietnam War, political corruption (Nixon and Watergate), the loss of iconic and true leaders (JFK, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King) was all happening across the border to the south of us. It repulsed us, it made us want to change the world to keep that away from our corner of the world. So, in many ways, growing up in Canada, despite some of the negative personal experiences, was quite liberating. Lastly, I created my own crime series called the Keeno Crime Thrillers, a character somewhat loosely based on myself and all the qualities that I think Canadians hold dear, so that Canada would have its own crime-fighter, which it lacked at the time.
What single piece of advice would you give to aspiring authors hoping to write high‑concept thrillers with real‑world significance?
I don’t want to sound one-sided on this, but I think authors jumping into this pond should figure out what message they want to give the world through their books – and try to keep that thread in the weave of all their books, whether crime, romance, whatever. I believe that authors have an inherent duty to help inspire a better world – to plant seeds in the minds of readers. When I was 19 years old, trying to get a leg up on what I was going to do in life, a friend handed me the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. It’s a simple story, but the message was so powerful, that it launched me into the life I led. That is the power that authors have – molding words, weaving worlds, and inspiring minds.
“My goal in life was to change the world, to make a better world.” – Réal Laplaine
