Today onBookpleasures.com, I am delighted to welcome Terry Kirk, a dynamicforce in both the literary and finance worlds.

Based in downtown Toronto,Terry brings a multifaceted background to her craft—holding degreesin journalism, English literature, and a Juris Doctor (Law), alongwith a master's focused on digital transformation.

Widely recognized for herinnovation in the finance and fintech sector, Terry’s broadprofessional journey includes founding and leading the FundingPortal, a groundbreaking fintech platform dedicated to helpingcompanies secure crucial funding.

After more than a decadepracticing law and eventually guiding her company through asuccessful acquisition by a global firm, Terry turned her keenanalytical mind and storytelling talent toward fiction.

Her novel, Pitfall is agripping explorations at the intersection of financial intrigue andhistorical events.

Join us as we dive intoTerry’s inspirations, experiences, and the creative process behindher work—uncovering what it takes to turn real-world high stakesinto riveting fiction.

Good day Terry and thanksfor taking part in our interview.

Norm: How did your own background as a legalprofessional and fintech founder shape the way you portrayedhigh-stakes finance and legal intrigue in Pitfall? 

Did your experiencein fintech lead you to include any specific technologies or financialinstruments in the story that readers might find intriguing? 

Terry: Although you won’trequire any background in law or finance to enjoy my stories, myyears of experience in these sectors inspired me to write thesestories, which are designed to make complex financial storiesentertaining and accessible.

My literary hero isMichael Lewis, author of The Big Short, Moneyball, and other booksthat demystify financial events.

Think Margot Robbiesoaking in her bubble bath, explaining why markets collapse. As alawyer, I learned to weave gritty facts into winning cases.

Above all, I love tocommunicate. I once delivered an 18-minute TEDx Talk under a brightspotlight with no notes. 

Norm: What drew you to setFrank Cork’s story against the backdrop of the 1929 market crash,and what parallels do you see with financial crises today? Can youshare any personal or historical anecdotes that particularlyinfluenced your depiction of the 1929 market crash?

 Terry: The 1929 Crash wasthe most disruptive economic change in world history. Could themarket crash again in a similar way? The answer is unabashedly yes.

True, there are moreprotections and oversights in place. However, we are living at a timewhen some are hellbent on tearing them down.

And there are exceptionallevels of volatility and uncertainty not just in our stock markets,but also in housing and day-to-day financial decisions, includingwhat groceries to buy.

My understanding of theCrash, at a visceral level, beyond the research, is informed by thestories my mother told of her people, who lived on the CanadianPrairies during that era.

Hunger and drought werethe defining elements of their lives, yet they went on to raisestrong families and live productive lives. 

Norm: Frank faces completefinancial ruin in a matter of hours. What kind of research did youundertake to authentically capture the raw emotion and chaos of"Black Tuesday?" 

Were there any surprising or unexpectedfindings during your research that changed how you wrote key scenes? 

Terry:  I used atwo-pronged approach through texts and novels, ranging from JohnKenneth Galbraith’s seminal treatises on the ’29 Crash toSteinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.

That was the easy, funpart. The second approach was micro-level fact-checking, includinghow people swore and what they wore. Did my research revealsurprises? You bet! I was struck by how constrained women’s liveswere, and this sweetness in the expressions of the day. You canhardly imagine a hard-bitten trader like Frank exclaiming “Bee’sknees!” today.  

Norm: Frank’s journeyfrom success to downfall and exile is dramatic. What psychologicalqualities were most important to you when constructing Frank’scharacter? 

How did you ensure that Frank’s psychological strugglesfelt authentic and relatable to readers?

Terry: Frank was not avery imaginative person before his adventure. As a trader, events arebinary: winners and losers, buy or sell, markets trending up or down. 

He likes ledgers, lining up arguments on one side of the line or theother. But when his life changes, the clear choices no longer exist.One of the core themes in Pitfall is the positive role thatimagination plays in managing through crises. 

Success requiresaccepting that the life you’ve built no longer exists and that youneed to reimagine it in some other way. It is a journey that manyexperience, as immigrants, or through the loss of a loved one, ordivorce. 

As a lawyer, one’s role is to help people andorganizations navigate through these changes and worse. As a writer,I draw on these experiences to make my characters’ crises andresponses authentic and real. 

I hope this emphasis on the power ofimagination will inspire readers facing their own challenges. 

Norm: The CanadianPrairies and Chicago both play central roles in Frank’s story. Howdid you approach rendering these unique settings, and what do theysymbolize in Frank’s journey? 

What role do the contrasting settingsplay in highlighting Frank’s internal conflicts and transformation? 

Terry: The 1929 Crashstands out among the great market upheavals because the highs andlows on either side of it were exceptionally so. 

In short, it was aperiod of drastic contrasts—from the soaring heights of the 1920sto the desperate lows of the 30s, transformed from one to the otherin a matter of days and hours. 

Befitting that era, my story is one oflike-minded contrasts, as Frank and Katrina’s lives gyrate fromrich to poor, and urban to rural—from America’s second-largestcity to the wide-open expanse of the Canadian Prairies. 

And that’sjust the physical! Frank’s mental state also changes—from thehyper-cocky trader to someone struggling to redeem himself.  

Norm: The subplotinvolving Canadian whiskey smuggling and the Chicago mob introduces acriminal element. How did you weave together real historical figuresor events with your fictional characters? 

How did you balancehistorical accuracy with creative license when incorporating the moband smuggling elements? 

Terry: Historical fictionis my favorite genre for the very reasons you cite. You build thisrobust foundation of facts, then layer on creativity, like alight-hearted breeze blowing across the top. 

My storytelling engagesboth the left and right brain; in technological terms, it combinesthe rigors of Excel with the wide open white spaces of MicrosoftWord. 

The rampant underground market for alcohol during theProhibition era provides just such an opportunity. The fictionalFrank is inserted into the real-life world of Al Capone and BugsMoran. 

Norm: Can you discuss thechallenges and rewards of blending fast-paced plotting with detailedhistorical research? What strategies did you use to keep the pacingtight without sacrificing historical detail? 

Terry: I love the pacingchallenge. It’s there in almost every word. I’m a bit of aspeedster myself, and as a lawyer, you bill by the hour—or theminute, it seems—so you are constantly moving things along. 

But youhave to avoid old tropes like “Suddenly . . . .” I avoid it likethe plague. You have to find more sophisticated ways of communicatingthat events are unfolding quickly. 

You’re right that detail can bea counterpoint to pace, but that is what makes for goodliterature—internal tensions, push and pull, and the yin and yangof it all.   

Norm: In writing amulti-generational saga, did you have the overarching Cork family arcplanned from the beginning, or did it evolve as you wrote? 

As thesaga progresses, how do you plan to develop the themes of legacy andgenerational change? 

Terry: Yes, I did plan thenarrative arc of the three books from the outset, with the goal ofbringing the cataclysmic financial events of the last century alivefor a new generation through fast-paced and entertaining stories. 

Astime passes from one event to the next—from the Crash of ’29 tothe outbreak of World War II in ’39, and the space race in ’57—theCork family evolves. 

By Book 3, Katrina and Frank are minorcharacters, and their daughter, Franny, emerges as the protagonist.The firm moves from Chicago to New York, and Hector Ray, the Blacktrader we meet in Book 1, also emerges as a leading character. 

ButFrank and Katrina’s legacies—including old lovers and newfinancial pressures—are never far behind. 

Norm: What moral orthematic questions did you most want readers to wrestle with throughFrank’s descent and quest for redemption? 

Are there any particularscenes or moments in Frank’s journey that you hope will provokedeep reflection in readers? 

Terry: Frank’s journeyis both literal—as he flees his home and family—and metaphorical.Who is he as a man when stripped of everything he thought wasimportant?

It is immediately clear that a return to his old role andway of life is out of the question with the market torn asunder.Frank’s journey prompts us to consider how we would behave in theface of such cataclysmic losses, whether it be the loss of a job or aspouse. 

What would we do if we were Frank or Katrina? Did they makemoral and ethical choices? Would we?

Scenes that are particularlypivotal for Frank include his arrival at the Canada-US border,literally the line between his old life and the new, and again, whendesperate for money, the only opportunity in sight requires skirtingthe law.   

Norm: Family plays apivotal role—how did you seek to reflect the impact of financialdisaster on personal relationships, especially between Frank andKatrina? 

How do you think financial hardship reshapes familydynamics, based on Frank and Katrina’s relationship? 

Terry: In my experiencefrom practicing law and more broadly, finances play a pivotal role inpersonal relationships, especially when there is a disruptive change. 

What happens when the sole breadwinner loses it all? It is a colossalchallenge to navigate at every level—from practical issues like“How will we survive?” to volatile feelings, including shame andbetrayal. Frank and Katrina experience it all. 

 Norm: Where can ourreaders find out more about you and Pitfall?

Terry: To learn more aboutmy author journey and my debut novel, Pitfall, visit any of these:

1. My author WEBSITE

2. Social Media

3.  Purchasingplatforms 

• Amazon.com:Amazon.com_PitfallbyTerryKirk

•  Amazon.ca:Amazon.ca_PitfallbyTerryKirk

• Indigo:Indigo_PitfallbyTerryKirk

4. Other great Links: 

• Watch the televisioninterview: LIVE TV I TERRY KIRK ON CP24

• Listen to thePodcast: PODCAST I LIVING THE NEXT CHAPTER I PITFALL BY TERRY KIRK

• Goodreads:Goodreads_PitfallbyTerryKirk

Norm: As we wrap up ourinterview, Pitfall is the start of a trilogy, what can readers lookforward to as the Cork family navigates World War II in your nextnovels, Plunder and the Space Race in Probe? 

Without giving too muchaway, can you hint at some of the major challenges the Cork familywill face in the upcoming books?

 Terry: Book 1, Pitfallstarts in 1929 as the Cork family navigates the 1929 Market crash. 

InBook 2, Plunder, ten years have passed. World War II has erupted inEurope, and Frank is charged with raising a war chest—$7 trillionin today’s dollars—to fund America’s possible entry into therapidly escalating war. Frank and his family relocate to London, thenexus  action. 

Will America enter the war? How will the familyfare? I’m expecting Plunder to be out next spring. Book 3, Probe,moves forward to 1957 when the Russians shock the world by launchinga telecom satellite that triggers the space race. 

Frank’s daughter,Franny, has succeeded her father at the helm of the firm and workswith her client, a struggling defense contractor, to finance andlaunch the US response. 

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors