Derek Armstrong

Derek Armstrong loves the provocative, controversial and unique. What the critics say:

"Brilliance...genuinely innovative." David Pitt, Booklist Magazine

"Derek Armstrong is good,"
Michael Korda, Simon & Schuster VP.

"Suspenseful, and rich with dark humor, Armstrong moves the reader through time and space with a keen sense of momentum and dash. His characters are diverse, bold, unforgettable..." ForeWord Magazine

Armstrong focuses on "high concept" but with a key difference. Black humor, edgy dialogue and "broad swipes at the cultural zeitgeist" are integral to Armstrong's unique writing. Armstrong is as likely to make fun of his own "thriller" genre as reality television--the target of his attack in The Game. His historical thriller, The Last Troubadour makes light of both the historic Catholic Church AND the latest passion for Holy Grail. He has been called "cheeky" and "daring" and "provocative." Derek Armstrong writes thrillers because, according to him, "they're entertaining and you can be ridiculous and serious at the same time. Thrills and laughs belong together. Really."

Accomplishments: Derek Armstrong has won many awards for advertising copywriting Internationally and wrote The Persona Principle (Simon & Schuster) with co-author Kam Wai Yu, now translated to five languages. Forthcoming titles include MADicine, the whacky thriller sequel to The Game, this time taking major swipes at medicine and scientific research.

So, is this a new hobby?  A clever gimmick? Just an author who thought one day, Hey, this hasn't been done before, has it?

Dear Reader and Tarot fans,

I did not undertake Song of Montségur trilogy lightly. The entire trilogy was a journey of some 18 years. I've journeyed to Carcassonne and the south of France to explore the history in depth. It is an important history.

Why do I weave the mystical and legend with history? Well, why not? It's fun, isn't it? But more important, it's a way of conveying important events that is entertaining and at the same time "real."

No, I'm not new to the tarot. I acquired my first tarot deck, a Rider Waite that I still have — creases and folds and all — when I was fourteen years of age. I actually remember "hiding" it from my parents. It was, in those days, quite a thing for a young lad to dabble in Tarot cards.

Well, I've never looked back. That was more than thirty years ago — another major admission. I now have a very large collection of cards, from original edition Crowley/Harris Thoth, to ecclectic and little known decks. I have antique reproduction medieval decks. My tarot library contains virtually every book written on the subject, the good and the bad. I've reviewed many of them over on Amazon.com.

So, I'm not a novice in the cards, but — and any tarot fan will tell you this — you're never an expert either. There's always something new, some new layer of imagery or symbolism that reveals itself. Daily. You can stare at the cards, as I have, for hours on end and visualize entire novels. 

Is that how the Song of Monstségur trilogy evolved? You're thinking that, right? Well, yes, it is. I've studied the history of the early monastic Inquisition for as many decades as the cards, and I have always felt affinity to the tortured Christian Cathars. So, one day, eighteen years ago, I meditated on the FOOL in my very old Rider Waite and he came to life. He bacame Ramon Troubadour. His journey became a novel-journey through the tarot major arcana.

And — I hope you enjoy these wonderful tarot-inspired characters.

Next year, with any good fortune, you'll start to see these characters in Troubadour-style imagery as famed artist Kam Wai Yu illustrates the Troubadour Tarot, a dream of mine. I hope you'll take the journey with me.

 Best,

Derek Armstrong,

Author, Tarot card collector, novelist, fool.