About Peyman Pejman
Peyman PejmanPeyman Pejman is an award-winning journalist with over 20 years of experience. He has worked with respected newspapers, news agencies and radio stations such as The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Cox Newspapers, The Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Pejman has extensive experience in the Middle East and the Arab world. His tenure in the Middle East has corresponded with important timelines in the region: the Iranian revolution, the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Gulf Wars and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In addition to his journalistic career, he has been a media and communications professor and a media consultant/advisor/trainer.
I come from the world of non-fiction. I was a journalist most of my life so my writing was conditioned in a certain way. Stories -better known to me as "articles" - had three parts: Introduction, main body, conclusion! I religiously abided by those for over two decades and in publishing hundreds, if not thousands, of articles. But all those rules went out the door when I started to write the novel. I opted for the no-outline option primarily for two reasons. First, I would admit that I did not know where the story was going to. Second, because I did not want to know where the story would go. I wanted to have a "free-style" exercise. As I said, it was partly because I did not know what the ending was going to be, but also partly because I wanted to challenge myself, to see if I could break with years and years of discipline! How did it turn out in the end? I don't consider myself a "professional novelist," so I am willing to stand corrected but, for me, the no-outline option still sounds the best. I am somewhat in the middle of my second novel and I am still following the same style. Although this time around, I do know what the ending is going to be, I still don't have a "fixed" outline and I still find it a refreshing way of writing and letting my imagination go wild!
Age of IntoleranceAge of Intolerance is both an espionage thriller tackling a serious and newsworthy current affairs topic and heart-warming saga of a relationship between estranged brother and sister, each having pledged allegiance to a political master bent on defeating the other.
Charles Shahin is a American journalist of Iranian descent whom the Central Intelligence Agency convinces to become a spy, skirting a long-held tradition that spy agencies not recruit reporters. Pretending to be a reporter for a US-based Internet newsgathering site, Shahin settles in sleepy Cyprus, long the center of spies and money launderers dealing with or keeping an eye on the Middle East.
While in Cyprus, Shahin gets wind of an Iranian plan to destabilize the Persian Gulf and purchase Chinese military secrets to build nuclear technology capable of hitting the United States and Israel. The plot was hatched by none other than his long-lost sister, now a ranking official in Iran.
Despite repeated warning, CIA bosses fail to mount a coherent strategy. What occupies Washington's mind more is a spate of domestic acts of terrorism. Careful examination reveals the existence of a fanatic religious group inside the United States, bred and funded by none other than Washington's best ally in the Arab world: Saudi Arabia. The Saudi goal: to "export" its internal "troubles" and force America to pick a fight with a common enemy: Iran.
Convinced an Iranian attack is imminent, Shahin and his wife - a Saudi princess - try to stop it, knowing US government bureaucracy is fractured and reaching a consensus might take too long.
Help comes from an unlikely ally, which, no doubt, has its own political ambitions, and its card to play.
