A Claude Cognard  

Biography?

You write plays for the theatre, in collaboration with Nicolas Norest.

I wrote with Nicolas.

Actually, my first professional play was written in collaboration with Nicolas, some years ago. We talked about successful executives who could one day, find them without any kind of occupation. The title of this play is “J’ai juste besoin de travail et d’amour” in English “all I need is work and love”.

Do you want to translate your plays and novels into English?

I would love to do it! Of course, actually, I translated “Claire, le Malheur te vas si bien”, which shall be soon published under « Impossible lovers ». My American friend, Caroline Jones, adapted the text for American people.

Will you publish the two novels dealing with the subject of hard violence and perversion in between wife and husband, woman and man?

I would love to. It is more a question of time. I do love writing, whether in English or in French, and once I ended a book, I immediately feel as if I were to write a new one. Concerning violence and perversion, I had an attempt to get it sold through Amazon, which makes me very free to turn it, in any languages without having to refer to any publisher.

Texts such as Universal Spirit or Facebook love; although they have English international titles have not been translated yet. This should be done soon?

Universal Spirit is almost entirely translated. In fact, as I had not enough time to end it, I transmitted the text to young woman graduated in English, but I think she has less time than I have, and the text is still waiting. I intended to have my Friend Caroline Jones to look at it, and make sure it could be suitable for the American readers too.

As to “Facebook love, une nouvelle façon d’aimer” (Facebook love, a new way to love), this text will have to be translated. It will meet internal demands. Through my hero, I explain how a man, may fall in love with a wonderful woman, and how things might, actually, be different between real life and virtual life. The hero leaves France to Tunisia, expecting to meet his virtual girlfriend (Divine). Once he is in Djerba, he cannot get near his lover or when he can, he has to run away because of the woman’s brother and father, who don’t want Divine to have a foreign lover. One day, as the hero walks away, another woman appears, she looks like Divine, as two drops of water may look the same. Her name is Sephora. She is Divine’s sister; she explains that she is her sister’s genuine double. Although she looks exactly the same, in every possible ways, the hero doesn’t want to betray Divine… he doesn’t want to fall in love with Sephora. In the end, he accepts to remain a little with her, and they will go to see, and spend a night watching the stars in the sky…

Who do we love? Reality or virtuality?

Who do we love? Someone we know, or a part of ourselves we just project…  

You're known as a very candid person who's willing to talk about anything quite openly. Has this created any problems with the publishing world?

Lol. I didn’t know I could appear as a candid person. Thank you. For the moment, this has not created any problems with the publishing world. This could explain partially, why some of publishers, may have refused some of my novels. I never saw the things from your point of view. I believe that all kinds of subjects must and can be broached; we should never forget that behind the question someone looks for an answer. Whichever might the questions be, it arises from a human mind, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t talk about it. 

Should editors and publishers be working entirely in the service of writers rather than what increasingly seems to be the reverse, writers trying to cater to publishers?

That is a very good question. I think publisher, editors and writers should team up; yes they should make one and only one team.  But you are absolutely right; authors are demanded to doing all the work, from correction, to template and so on. Now, publishers want you to give them the text ready to be sent to the printer.

In fact, concerning my publishers, they did a large part of their duty.

Writers seem to be forced to play a bigger and necessary role in the marketing of their work and less in writing, whereas publishers are becoming more and more preoccupied with controlling content and doing less publicity work for their writers?

Interesting questions.

Authors are becoming salesmen, and as you say; they are playing a bigger and necessary role in the marketing of their work. Do they play fewer roles in the writing in itself? The time they pass doing marketing, or adapting their texts to templates which will suit their printer’s requirements, is squandered time.

Some brilliant authors from the past time would have had no chance to be published today.

Today, many publishers (not all) are not looking anymore for quality in writing but for texts which will be sold, because the author is known, because the subject responds to the preoccupation of the moment.  They hardly care about what you write; they want novels they are sure to sell. From an economical point of view, this is understandable.

What should be the rule would be to team up with all the partners we may need, and take part in controlling the way the books will be dispatched. Participating to books trade shows, have a direct contact with your readers, is the most rewarding experience you may have as a writer.

Writing as a child, your mother has forced you to write things of common interest, perhaps even more entertaining, and sad - it was such a great experience. Is it really right?

Actually, I had no choice but doing what she forced me to doing. I wrote “I was 9 when I committed suicide”, which probably was the consequence of all these permanent controls.  She wanted me to be a genius, she just organized my school failures.  I never found my right place, neither in front of teachers, nor among my school pals. This would be a long story.

I wrote, and read very early in my childhood, I could read for hours. We had no television, and apart from circus which came from time to time, we had no way to have fun, as normal kids. What I admit today, is that this early training for writing, reading and so on, has also been a good way for me to learn how to communicate. The main paradox in all this, is that I was also a very shy boy, and that I started to become talkative when an adult.

The lesson in all this, is that we should only see the good side of situations we have lived. As adults, we are responsible for the darkness or the clarity which surrounds us.  In “Claire, le malheur te va si bien” (impossible lovers) which I could have translated as “Claire, unhappiness suits you, so well”, the young woman has never understood why all her lovers let her down. One day, she is in her jewelry, it is late, and she shouldn’t even be in her shop at that moment of the night. A burglar asks her, to let him in, and instead of calling the police, she opens the door. Of course, the man wants her giving him money and jewels… but strangely, this couple, will have to spend a part of the week-end together. And she will fall in love with a man, who left prison some days ago….

What we become is not only the consequences of what our educators got us to do, or how they influenced us, it is also the result of how we dealt with what we have gone through, what we learnt from all our experiences.  Are we ready to turn the darkness we all have within us, in light, in brightness, in kindness, in fact in love?

You worked for 2 years in the hospital. Do you carry it with you as a bad experience from that period?

I was 18 when I went to Brighton. I needed to afford my living there, and I worked as a Nursing Auxiliary. This period has been one of the most rewarding periods of my life. I met with misery, illness, old age people, cancer, tuberculosis and so on.  I loved the patients there, and loved me. I saw so many of the patients; males or females die there, that I couldn’t list them. All I know is that they loved me. Rita Sommer was a very old and very fat woman. One day, a charge nurse decided to get her to become slimmer. She was my friend, and I acknowledge that I gave her some food while the staff was not here. I know she died some years after my leaving England, I also know that I was in her mind. What is the most moving, touching for me, is that man, who had been sent to another ward, and as he was on the point of dying, asked for me. These people are my strength and I could speak about them for hours. I remember Mrs. Barkley, who died thinking I was the Christ.  The sister in charge, wanted me to disappear, to get away… what for? Because she died believing she was in company of the Christ. There was no blaspheme, just a phantasm which allowed this woman to pass away in peace.

I came back to France, for military reasons. I was 20.

In 1988, you were fortunate enough todiscover a man talented forbusiness andfor himto openthe first ofthe greatchainsof jeweler’s?

I met the most creative boss, one could dream of. Thanks to him, and thanks to staff manager, I opened the first shop of a great chain of jeweler’s.  This man, who had started his business 40 years before my entering as one of his manager, had personal contacts with his customers. If one of them wrote to complain, he would answer himself. Believe me, he had thousands of clients. One of the first things he told me was: Lose a gem, I’ll be furious, but I’ll understand, but lose a customer and that I will admit it.  As many president he had to quit and the people who took his place never admitted what I was, who I was, the experience I had… I had to leave.

And this gave me the opportunity to do, what I had always dreamt of: WRITING.

I met Nicolas Norest, I started to study screenwriting, discovered Joseph Campbell, Syd Field, Snyder, and so on. All these people who knew how to format a writing, how a Hero was to travel.

When you look back if are you satisfied with your work so far in writing?

I shall never be satisfied with my work;

I wish I had been a painter, because when you see a painting your soul sees much more than your eyes do.  In fact, when I was at the kindergarten, one of my teachers, Miss Thomas, had written on the top of blackboard the entire alphabet.  And what I liked was that she had written letters, using different colors. I can’t remember which color corresponds to which letter, all I know is that in my mind, “I” is red, “u” is blue, “o” is black”  “a” is yellow…

There are colors in all we wrote, in all we say, in all we do. When I write I love to hear my feeling running like a spring among the grass covered with drops of water, reflecting the light of the sun. I never look for words, I just describe what I see…

Do you happen to pass a better novel for which you are suspected or vice versa, and what is the age of your readers?

It depends which subject I’m dealing with.  When I write about “what we call Perversion Narcissique” in French,   which talks about those persons who attempt to show they are always the best in the world, those persons who try to keep  their ego above all the other ones. For this type of topics, my readers come from all the horizons. As soon as they have experienced life with someone else, as soon as as they have lived in couple.

In books such

 as “Tu es trop vieux” (you are too old – an fifty years old man is fired because he is too old, and  doesn’t suit anymore the normal standing of the company)  for this kind of books, the majority of the readers are fifty years old and more. Claire, le malheur te va si bien,  (Impossible lover) which is a play has readers from all the layers of ages.

Universal Spirit treats the subject of a general soul, in which all human dive their own roots, their own minds. A savant will manage to control this spirit and start to dominate the world. This interests young and old readers.

The best is “Facebook love”, love concerns everyone…

It can be said to have great adventures and a happy nature. Can you tell us some travelling experiences?

I’m a little traveler.  Of course, I know the countries near the French borders, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and of course England… I went to Sicilia, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco… the best journey we have to make, is the travel within our heart and soul, the travel which leads to better understanding of other people, other countries, other cultures.  I’d love to go to Serbia…

Why you have not been translated  into Serbian? Serbian writers who are known in France?

I would love to be translated in Serbian. That would be a great honor for me.  

What are the plans for future creativity when it comes to writing new plays, and issuing a book of poetry?

I’ve a stand-up written for a friend of mine, Dimi de Delphes, who should be on stage, by the end of the year in the South of France.  I also have a common play written with my friend Jo Salvi, who should start rehearsal soon.

As far as novels are concerned, I’m writing a st

I’m also writing a novel, who deals with the out of body situations. To be clearer, let’s say: a man is going to meet his anima…ory for a friend of mine, a brilliant psychologist… I may only confess, that it concerns the relationships in the family, and we’ll see how a man, who is known throughout the world may be a bad husband, an unscrupulous father ready to use his own son to manage his own future.

Poetry, you are right, I should write poetry, and keep some of the words I put on Facebook to feed this book. I will think of this. Good idea, thank you.

In the end, do you have a message for the readers of the interview?

I would like to tell them, that without them, I’d be nothing. I’m extremely honored to be allowed to talk to them, and I wish them all the best. May they get all they desire…

Thanks for the interview, it was a pleasure and an honor to talk with you!

Thank you for this interview; it was a pleasure and honor for me too. I hope I was not too much talkative.

Merci, c’est un grand honneur pour moi.