David A Jacinto

Author Interview - David A Jacinto

Author of Out of the Darkness

At age seven, Tom Wright follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him into England’s mid-nineteenth-century Yorkshire coal mines. He struggles with childhood fears, working twelve-hour days, six days a week, in the darkest depths of a dangerous coal mine. That is until disaster strikes, taking the lives of his boyhood friends in one of England’s most tragic accidents in its long coal mining history. Devastated, Tom is determined to change his fate laid out for him by the tyrannical system of industrial slavery.

This is the fast-moving story of a young boy overcoming the iron-fisted rule of the massively wealthy lord of the land, who not only owns and rules much of South Yorkshire, its coal mines, and the villages the mining families live in, but the mortgage on their very lives. With the help of his brilliant, passionate, self-educated mother, Tom rises above his beginnings despite the tyranny of his lordship’s brutal psychopathic enforcer and a society fostering the oppression of the working class.

We follow Tom into adulthood, on his path to a brilliant career, through the tragedy of yet another of the largest industrial disasters in England’s history, in his fight against child labor, and his love affairs with two strong-willed, determined women. And finally, we see his family’s escape to America to pursue their dreams in book two of The Courageous Series. Theirs has become a vast family legacy, including their seven-year-old great, great, great, great grandson Cole, pictured on the front cover of this book.

Author Interview - David A Jacinto

Author I draw inspiration from:

James Mitchner

Author Interview - David A Jacinto | Author I Draw Inspiration From

Favorite place to read a book:

I have a beach house in a remote part of Los Cabos Mexico

HBL Note: I love Los Cabos! Click here for my favorite shops in Los Cabos and here for my favorite restaurants in Los Cabos.

Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:

Martha Wright in my latest book Out of the Darkness. She had a very difficult youth as an indentured servant to the fabulously wealthy Lord Fitzwilliam. Sold into slavery at age of 6, she grew into a confident, intelligent well educated woman in a patriarchal society. Passionate about learning what life was like outside of her own bubble in the world, she shared that passion with her children and dedicated her life to insure they broke the cycle of poverty and reached their dreams. It is a wonderful success story and I would love to talk to her about how she felt when each of her children became successful in their own right, had great families and reached their dreams. It must have been extremely satisfying.

The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:

When I learned to speak, and found I could move and inspire people with my stories.

Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:

Hardback books are the real thing to take to a quiet place and lose your thoughts within the pages of the book. Paperback is easier to fit in my back pack for the trips into the natural world. Audiobook is what I turn to most often when I am driving about town

The last book I read:

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah (Click here for my list of Best Kristin Hannah Books)

Author Interview - David A Jacinto | The Last Book I Read

Pen & paper or computer:

Originally pen and paper, but like most everyone else converted over to computer and would never consider going back. Only wish i had taken typing classes a a kid, because my mind runs well beyond my fingers. I absolutely love sitting on my most comfortable lounge chair in the shade overlooking the beach and write into the wam evenings of Los cabos, with access to the world through Google.

Book character I think I’d be best friends with:

Jerusha Bromely, Mitchner's Hawaii. She is the character I had in the back of my mind when I wrote about Martha Wright

Author Interview - David A Jacinto | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With

If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:

I am a very successful business man. Becoming an author is a retirement career

Favorite decade in fashion history:

Frankly I am not particularly a slave to fashion, but I suppose if I had to choose I would pick the 1940's where there was a clear separation between men and women with class.

Place I’d most like to travel:

I traveled a lot for my career in an earlier life and have been to many parts of the world. I have a home in the San Diego area, Los Cabos and property close the Jackson Hole Wyoming. They all have their special draw, close to the natural world, but I like to stay close to family wherever I am. I enjoy helping my children and grandchildren pursue their own passions.

My signature drink:

Don't have one. Well maybe a lemonada on my lonely beach in Los Cabos. Lemonade with a combination kick, watching one of the seven species of turtles hatch and scurry to the water or Osprey dive for fish in the tumultuous waters. Sometimes they can catch two at one time.

Favorite artist:

Pattie Killingbeck, painter who often joins us to work at our home on the beach for weeks at a time . I love watching her turn a blank canvas into a beautiful work of art. Imagination is a wonderful thing.

Number one on my bucket list:

I've been most places in the world I think I would like to go to. So it's not a place to see or visit.

I love people and stories of their lives. I am absolutely enthralled with losing my head in a story that comes to life on the page. So I suppose it would be finishing this second book of this two book series. Writing the first has been such a creative and wonderful experience that i want that feeling again. I found myself in tears last night writing a scene in the second book. I suppose you could call me a junkie in that regard.

Anything else you'd like to add:

This is a review of Out of the Darkness, from someone for whom I have great respect. He is a wonderful man, retired now, but as a very successful businessman traveled the world over in all directions. Receiving a response like this to a project I invested so much of myself into is very gratifying:

Dave:

I promised you a review when I finished your book. It is below.

Honestly, I can say, that I was blown away by how good it was. I guess I shouldn’t have been, but you way under sold your writing as well as the power of the story. I honestly had a hard time putting it down. A lot of books are very predictable, this was not and that is one of the reasons it was so great. You have such a gift for describing emotions and composing realistic conversations. It made me want to slap Lord Fitzwilliam upside the head. Like I said in the review below, I have never cried while reading a book. When Lydia died, I was as emotional as I’ve ever been while reading. This book was most definitely a page-turner.

I really enjoyed this book based on real lives and marvelously described historical events and I will recommend it to everyone I can—I’ve been really talking it up. Congratulations on writing an outstanding book!

Thank you for giving me an advance copy and for caring about my opinion - Kevin



Out of the Darkness – Book Review by Kevin Smith

Among the hundreds of historical novels I have read--from Stephen Pressfield and Patrick O’brian, to Leon Uris and Colleen McCullough—I can honestly say that I have never been drawn into so intimate a relationship with the protagonists as when reading “Out of the Darkness”. David A Jacinto does a masterful job of fully developing authentic, credible characters as they experience both triumphs and tragedies during the industrialization of 19th-century England. The conversations are natural, the descriptions are vivid, and the historical accuracy is well-researched. His brilliant use of metaphors throughout the story creates mental images with the literary equivalence of a real artistic master.

Britain of the 1850s-1870s was a brutal time for the working-class poor—especially the children. Jacinto fully conveys the powerful emotions that were certainly felt by those who experienced the terrible struggles of those dark days. Thomas Wright, the main character, triumphs over tremendous heartache and insurmountable odds as he makes a marked difference in the lives of thousands, ultimately upending the social order. Never had I been moved to actual tears while reading a a book. “Out of the Darkness” did it to me.

I highly recommend this book as an outstanding work of historical fiction and David A. Jacinto as an exceptional author.

Who is David Jacinto?

DAVID JACINTO was born into a family living on the
wrong side of the tracks and has been a storyteller ever
since. He was the first in his extended family to attend
college, and as a student athlete at one of the most
prestigious universities in the country, he received his
degree in civil engineering. He went on to serve as a
president of SM Engineering Company, held leadership
roles in multiple national and international companies
along the West Coast of California, and was on the board
of directors for a few more. He was also commandeered by
the State of California on special assignment as chief
engineer to help rescue California’s three major utilities on
the verge of bankruptcy during the highly publicized,
300-billion-dollar energy crisis in 2001.
David has had numerous speaking engagements over
his successful career, frequently interjecting colorful,
fascinating, and humorous stories of his life experiences.
Some of these stories are drawn from his ill-spent youth,
some from his many business. But all are delivered with the greatest
respect for the opportunities America has afforded him
and a thankfulness to those fallen leaves from the family tree of
immigrants who made it all possible.
Despite his business successes, he supposes his
greatest achievements have been to convince the fetching
Anne Gray to become his wife; the good fortune to be a
part of the lives of his four wonderful children, their wives
and husband; and the blessing to be Papa J to thirteen
near-perfect grandchildren.