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‘Dark Light: Dawn,’ A Talk with Jon Land and Fabrizio Boccardi

August 3, 2017 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Jon Land is the prolific author of more than forty books. His thriller novels include the Caitlin Strong series about a fifth-generation Texas Ranger, and the Ben Kamal and Danielle Barnea books featuring a Palestinian detective and an Israeli chief inspector of police. He also has penned the Blaine McCracken series, many standalone novels, and non-fiction books. Jon was a screenwriter for the 2005 film Dirty Deeds. He is an active member of the International Thriller Writers Organization.

Fabrizio Boccardi, the creator of the character Max Younger, is an entrepreneur, investor, producer, and CEO and chairman of the board of King Midas World Entertainment, Inc. He’s also the creator and owner of the multimedia brand and franchise, the Tyrant.

Dark Light: Dawn introduces the reader to Navy SEAL Max Younger, a man with uncanny abilities to survive any combat situation. Max becomes involved in trying to stop a plot that could bring about an apocalypse of biblical proportions.

Victoria Tanoury, the only woman Max ever loved, is an infectious disease specialist working for the World Health Organization. She, too, is trying to stop the worldwide spread of a deadly pestilence.

Their paths meet as the lines between science and superstition become blurred, and they must deal with the evil of one man who wants to visit the end of days upon civilization.

This book is the result of a creative collaboration. How did it come about?

Jon: The original collaboration began in 2006. Fabrizio was looking for a writer to bring his vision to reality. When my publisher heard his concept—a rags-to-riches story about a penniless kid rising to the heights of power—he recommended me to Fabrizio. He put us together and we created a two-book series featuring Michael Tirano, ‘The Tyrant.’ In the midst of writing those two books, The Seven Sins and Black Scorpion, Fabrizio came up with the concept of Dark Light: Dawn.

Fabrizio: There’s a back story to that. I’m an investor and tried to purchase a casino company in Las Vegas. During that experience, I gained a great deal of knowledge about that town and wanted to create a character who would build the kind of casino I had wanted to build in Las Vegas. And, that’s how The Seven Sins came into being.

Among other things, “Dark Light: Dawn” involves geopolitical events, terrorism, and religious conflicts. How and why did you decide to address these elements in your storytelling?

Jon: It began with the concept of good versus evil. It’s a classic theme of much fiction and in particular, of horror fiction. We wanted to create a hybrid thriller involving science, superstition, action, and horror. If you look at all classic horror novels such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and Dracula, they probe the issue of good versus evil and the nature of man. But none of them explored the origins of the battle between good and evil.

We wanted to address that issue in Dark Light: Dawn, while creating a ‘techno-bio-end-of-the-world-dystopian thriller.’

No one character in the story knows everything. But, if the reader adds up the points of view of each character, the entire story unfolds. The scope and sprawl of the story become evident.

Fabrizio: I’m fascinated by movies and books like The Exorcist. I always thought there’s a great deal of superstition in that story, but there’s also a great deal of paranormal activity in the world. In Rome, the Vatican has an exorcist. There are many strange and unexplainable things in this world.

I often question what we really know about the universe. People argue about whether or not God exists. The fact of the matter is there are many things we cannot know.

Jon and I wanted to write a story about good and evil; a story that taps into these issues, but that’s also action-packed and has at its core, the concept that we have the right to choose between good and evil. We have free will. We also agreed to incorporate a good deal of ambiguity into the story which makes it more interesting and frightening—as occurs in The Exorcist, where the audience doesn’t know how the evil came about.

The unknown is far more frightening than that which is understood.

Max Younger has extraordinary physical and mental abilities. The novel details various genetic anomalies contributing to his powers. He seems a perfect model for a superhero and a potential movie, television, or comic book character.

Jon: The great superheroes, starting with Batman, are based on the duality of their natures. There’s an evil side to them that they must control in order to do and be good. This is the nature of the classic Greek superhero and of superheroes in general. There’s always a flaw and a quest, but there’s always a temptation for the hero to go to the dark side. Batman dresses in black. In the book Shane, the hero dresses in black.

Every great superhero has a moment in his life that changes him forever. If you look at the classic qualities of a comic book superhero, Max has them all: conflict about his nature; the moment of change where he evolves into something different and greater than he had been; a purpose far greater than that of the common man; and the acceptance that purpose will change him forever. He knows can no longer live as he once did, if he accepts the responsibility of being a hero. If he’s going to save the world, he cannot live among men.

Fabrizio: Today, we see atrocities in the world. Our idea was to depict geopolitical events occurring in the world, and mix fiction and reality. There’s the concept of the devil wreaking havoc on earth, but rather than bringing God to fight the battle, we decided to depict a powerful energy coming to the world in the form of a man, Max Younger. He chooses of his own free will, to fight evil and clean house.

Jon: And by choosing to become a hero, Max cannot really be who he had wanted to be. He must sacrifice something, but I won’t say what it is and risk providing a spoiler.

Fabrizio: The ultimate idea behind this concept is that love can conquer evil.

“Dark Light: Dawn” has some of the most vivid action scenes out there. Jon, tell us your thoughts about writing such scenes.

These books—including The Tyrant series—are the foundation for multi-media franchises. They’re going to be movies. With that in mind, we approached this book in terms of its visual aspects. In a sense, it’s kind of like the novelization of a film. We have a rich tapestry of action scenes, but we strove to come up with action scenes never before seen in either movies or books. We’ve never seen an action scene staged with the abilities Max is starting to develop. What makes the action scenes pop visually and viscerally, is that with each action scene in the book, Max evolves more and more into who he will ultimately become. The action scenes are not just defined by their choreography, but also by their revelations about his character. Neither Max nor the reader realizes exactly what’s happening to him as the story unfolds.

It’s the classic movie and book theme of metamorphosis.

Fabrizio: The concept is also dealing with Max’s decision—by virtue of free will—not to bring horror to the world, but to fight evil.

Based on what you’ve both said and on my having read the novel, is it correct to assume this is the beginning of a series?

Fabrizio: Yes, and ultimately we hope to see this become a movie and see where it all goes.

For each of you, is there any one novel that may have influenced you in ultimately conceiving of this book.

Jon: I’m going to go with my favorite book of all time, The Stand by Stephen King, the original version. It’s King’s masterwork. It combines horror, thriller, and dystopian elements, and it still gives me chills.

Fabrizio: I love getting scared when I read novels. For me, the book would have to be The Exorcist. In a sense, that novel is partly what spawned Dark Light: Dawn, but I wanted much more action to interest a movie audience. I think The Exorcist is an excellent concept, extremely well written, and frightening because it’s inexplicable.

Congratulations on conceiving and penning “Dark Light: Dawn.” It’s a high-octane novel of epic proportions blending science, religion, current events, superstition, action, and adventure in a can’t-put-it-down tale.

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Filed Under: About Books, crime, Interviews Tagged With: fantasy, heroes, horror, hybrid books, myth, thrillers

‘The Boy Who Saw,’ A Conversation with Simon Toyne

July 4, 2017 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Simon Toyne was a highly successful writer, director, and producer in British television. He worked on many award-winning shows. Now, he is a full-time novelist, whose first book, Sanctus, became part of an internationally bestselling trilogy. His second series features a mesmerizing character, Solomon Creed.

In The Boy Who Saw, Solomon Creed is a mysterious hero who has no memory of who he is, or from where he came. The only clue to his identity is a label stitched inside his jacket saying: “This suit was made to measure for Mr. Solomon Creed.”

The jacket fits perfectly, but there is a second name on the label: the name of the tailor who made the suit and an address in Southern France.

Solomon heads to France in search of this man, hoping to discover more about his own identity. But instead of answers, he finds a bloody corpse with the Star of David carved into its chest and the words “Finishing what was begun” written in blood on the wall. Solomon continues his quest and finds himself amid a decades-old conspiracy that threatens his life and the well being of France.

It’s clear that The Boy Who Saw explores some dark themes based on some recent political events. Will you tell our readers what those events are and how they relate to the novel?

The central story revolves around a killer who has murdered a tailor and is trying to get the names of other people to kill. Along with the body of this tailor, the police discover a wall in his shop on which is written in blood, ‘Finishing what was begun.’ The ritualistic murder suggests it had something to do with the Nazi deathcamps. The victim, this tailor, was one of only four survivors from a specific death camp.

As the anniversary celebrating the end of the Second World War looms, someone is trying to complete the murders that began seventy years earlier. The novel is also set amidst the current political shift in both America and Europe—the turning toward hard, nationalistic right wing politics. The nationalists are looking for scapegoats, just as the Jews were scapegoated by Germany in World War II.

The entire story is really about the importance of remembering our history; otherwise, it will repeat itself. While it’s a thriller, with Solomon becoming a suspect who must escape and clear his name, it deals with modern themes and larger concerns set against the backdrop of a survivor’s memoir which ties it into what is happening today.

I like to explore a relevant theme through my writing, but I didn’t want to do so in a non-fiction format. I wanted it to be a dramatic rendering so it would be an exciting read that would still explore these larger themes and questions.

While it’s a true thriller, The Boy Who Saw, also deals with the beguiling mystery of memory, both on a grand scale and for an individual. Tell us more.

Memory is a theme that permeates all the Solomon Creed books. Solomon is a sort of genius in the sense that he knows virtually everything about anything. He has a Wikipedia-like mind. He knows history; he can speak many languages; but he can’t remember anything personal. His story, both in this book and in the rest of the series involves him being on a journey back to finding himself.

In this book, he’s in France because he’s wearing a beautifully tailored jacket with a note in the pocket saying it was made expressly for him. And in tiny stitching is the name and address of the tailor who is the person who was killed at the beginning of the book. Solomon knows he must have met the tailor, but of course, he has no recollection of it.

In the world-at-large, populism is rising at the same time the people who lived through the Second World War are dying off. So, I felt it was crucially important to tell this story lest we repeat our pasts.

The Boy Who Saw begins unravelling some of the mystery of Solomon Creed’s life. Do you intend to reveal more of it as the series progresses?

Yes. When I started writing these books, I knew who he was and what the ultimate revelation will be. I want each book to take place in a different location, with a distinct element of mystery, each addressing a specific moral dilemma or question. I want each volume in the series to solve a mystery, as Solomon goes through these experiences on his way to finding out historical bits about himself. By taking part in these difficult and dangerous experiences, he will learn more about himself. And of course, I want to take the reader on that same journey with Solomon.

It’s a gratifying challenge for me as writer to tell a satisfying story with a beginning, middle and ending in each book, but also with a thread running through it. It’s as though each book is a bead on a necklace.

There’s something mystical and mythological in your books. I’m reminded of the Myth of the Birth of the Hero by Otto Rank. Will you talk about the “myth” of Solomon Creed?

Even though the Solomon Creed books are modern thrillers, they have historic backstories, whether it’s The Searcher or The Boy Who Saw. And, though the books are thrillers, Solomon isn’t a stereotypical action hero. He’s somewhat ethereal. Typical action heroes have solid pasts—they’re ex-cops or ex-military who use their skillsets to solve crimes. With Solomon, the biggest mystery is himself. He lacks that centeredness. He has a mythological—nearly a supernatural—quality.

Yes, he bleeds and is mortal, but I wanted him to have a somewhat mythical dimension. And the novels raise the question—perhaps even the possibility—that he’s been reincarnated. There’s a tension and a question about the reality of Solomon, and he keeps cropping up in these historical contexts. I like playing with that possibility. As a reader, I enjoy characters who assume a quality of being slightly larger than life, someone who’s slightly other, or heroic. In fact, this Solomon Creed series is effectively, an odyssey of self-discovery.

You left a successful television career to begin writing your first novel. What motivated you to do so?

I was thirty-nine and perhaps it was a classic midlife crisis. I’d done everything I had wanted to do in TV. I always had this notion that I wanted to tell big stories. Approaching forty, I felt I was getting stale with my TV work, and told my wife I’d love to write a book and get it out of my system.

It would mean taking time off from my television job, which was all consuming. I didn’t want to write at night when I would be tired, and leave open the possibility of blaming any failure on fatigue. If I was going to fail, I wanted it to be an honest failure.

When I told my employer what I wanted to do, he offered me a one year sabbatical. That was certainly a sensible way to go, but I turned it down. I felt I had to remove the safety net and take on the dare for myself—without the security of knowing I could go back. I knew writing a novel would be very hard, and wanted to remove any possible temptation to give up and return to my old job.

We saved up some money. I quit my job; we rented out our flat, and went to live in France for six months. That’s how it started.

My first novel Sanctus was a hit and was translated into twenty-seven languages.

What, if anything, keeps you awake at night?

I’m a good sleeper. With three young children, I’m worn out at the end of the day. I do have fitful sleep when I’m about two-thirds of the way through a book. At that point, I know everything I’ve written needs a good deal of work, and there’s a deadline looming. I know I’ll have to tidy things up, and it feels like I’ve got this terribly heavy weight on my back. That’s also the point in the writing where I think the idea that I first thought was really good, suddenly seems like the worst idea anyone has ever had. [Laughter]. And, I still have to show up every day and finish this thing that’s fallen out of favor.

What’s coming next from Simon Toyne?

I’m well into Solomon Creed’s third book which is set in England.

Congratulations on penning The Boy Who Saw, a propulsive thriller with historical, philosophical, mythical, political and religious undertones, a novel that hooked me from the first page and propelled me to the vary last one.

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Filed Under: About Books, Huffington Post Column, Interviews Tagged With: amnesia, conspiracy, history the Holocaust, memory, Murder, thrillers

‘The Switch,’ A Conversation with Joseph Finder

June 13, 2017 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Joseph Finder is the bestselling author of thirteen previous novels, including The Fixer and Suspicion. Two bestsellers, Paranoia and High Crimes, became major motion pictures. His awards include The Barry, Gumshoe, and The International Thriller Writers Award. His new novel is The Switch.

The Switch focuses on Michael Tanner, an ordinary guy whose marriage and business career are in trouble. Coming home to Boston from a business trip, he accidentally picks up the wrong Mac Book laptop after it passed through TSA screening. He doesn’t notice the mix-up until he arrives home, and when he sees its owner affixed a Post-It with a password, he opens the laptop, happy to be able to contact that person to correct the mix-up. But, by opening that laptop, his nightmare begins. He’s in possession of a U.S. senator’s laptop which contains “top secret” government files. Michael Tanner finds himself at the center of an extraordinary manhunt, and his entire life begins unraveling.

The Switch has a ‘ripped from the headlines’ quality, yet veers in its own unique direction. What role do current events play in your conception of thrillers?

I think thrillers play upon the ambient anxieties in our society. You can write a thriller having nothing to do with the headlines, but it will still have some relationship to what’s going on in our culture.

I was writing The Switch during the 2016 presidential campaign at the time Donald Trump was lambasting Hillary Clinton. I didn’t finish writing the book until after the election, and I suddenly realized I was writing a conspiracy novel during a conspiratorial age—with the issue of Russia having hacked into and having tried to interfere with our electoral process. While not all of my books are ‘ripped from the headlines,’ this one was and it felt like it was appropriately so.

How did this idea of a mistaken switch of laptops occur to you?

I was on a book tour and grabbed my Mac Book Air when it came out of the X-ray machine. I stopped and realized it was someone else’s. So, I thought, ‘What would have happened if I’d grabbed the wrong laptop?” Probably not much. It would have involved a hassle, but it wouldn’t have been a big deal. I then thought, ‘What if this was a laptop belonging to someone important and there was something on it? At that point, my twisted mind kicked in and I had a story.

You once said, ‘The daily news brings me stories I could never use in a book, because nobody would believe them. Fiction has to make sense. Real life doesn’t.’ Tell us more about that.

In our increasingly conspiratorial age, countless political conspiracy theories float everywhere. This is the kind of story I wouldn’t make up; it just seems too far-fetched. Basically, a thriller is about the restoration of order. There’s a tear in the fabric of someone’s life and it’s mended by the end of the novel. The story must make sense. It cannot be about an open-ended conspiracy. Reality doesn’t have to make sense in a way that fiction must make sense. That may be one of the reason we read fiction—it’s a way of processing our fears and worries, and coping with them.

Many of your novels deal with government agencies and corporate conspiracies. How did you develop an interest in these issues?

I came very close to joining the CIA. I have friends who work there—friends I really admire—and I must say, I always read Robert Ludlum novels, which helped foster my interest in these things. Robert Ludlum’s novels were always about large conspiracies. In general, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I’m a conspiritologist. I’m interested in the study of conspiracy and what it does to people. I actually don’t believe in conspiracies to the extent that many people do because I think government people involved in conspiracies are unable to keep a secret. The notion of conspiracies is an interesting way of looking at the world. I was trained as a Sovietologist, and I think understanding the way the Kremlin works is an exercise in conspiracy theory.

Despite his flaws, Michael Tanner in The Switch is a very likable protagonist. What do you think makes him so appealing?

He’s an entrepreneur, yet he lacks the killer instinct. I set the novel up so that it’s Tanner versus someone in the government. One has too much ambition, and the other lacks the killer instinct. I think Michael Tanner is appealing because he’s a happy-go-lucky and easily-relatable person. He loves his work and wants to save his coffee business, even though he’s struggling to survive.

Another thing that makes him likable is he begins to adapt to his insane circumstances. He gets better and better at negotiating the rigors of the virtually impossible dilemma in which he finds himself immersed.

The prose in The Switch is straightforward, very readable, and quite powerful. How would you describe your writing style?

I find prose very important when I read. It’s difficult for me to read badly-written novels. I feel that just because I’m writing something considered popular entertainment, doesn’t mean the prose can be lazy or predictable. I write as directly as possible, yet I try to make sure the words I choose are apt, the expressions are not clichés. I’m telling a story but I don’t want the prose to get in the way. I don’t want the reader to notice how ‘beautiful’ it is. I want it to be invisible, but good.

Your first novel, The Moscow Club, was published when you were twenty-three years old and still a student at Harvard. I know there’s an interesting story behind it. Will you share it with us?

The Moscow Club began as a non-fiction book. I’d learned Armand Hammer, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum, had connections with Russia’s KGB. But there were things I couldn’t put in a non-fiction book because I couldn’t completely nail down the facts. So instead, I decided to write a novel in which an Armand Hammer-like character was featured. As fiction, I could say whatever I wanted.

Armand Hammer was very unhappy about the book. His lawyer, Louis Nizer, published an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times threatening a libel lawsuit against the publisher. But Hammer couldn’t sue because he would never want to go through the discovery process. Instead, he called Harvard and tried to have me expelled. He really went after me. It was very scary.

When the book came out, Hammer bought up as many copies as he could to take the book off the market. So, thanks to him, in the end, the book sold very well. [Laughter].

Is there anything about your writing process that might surprise our readers?

I spend a lot of time doing research. While I’m talking to people as part of my research, I get plot ideas from talking to them. So, even though I’m doing research, I’m also plotting the narrative arc at the same time. My discussion with a CIA or an ex-CIA operative may generate a good idea for a scene or plot twist. In a sense, I come up with my characters by talking to real characters.

What’s coming next from Joseph Finder?

I’ll be writing a Boston-based standalone with a female protagonist.

 Congratulations on writing The Switch, a gripping thriller that makes you feel every emotion and rams home the realization of how flimsy the predictability of life can be.

 

 

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Filed Under: crime, Huffington Post Column Tagged With: current events, fiction, protagonists, suspense, thrillers, Writing Style

‘The Rising,’ A talk with Heather Graham and Jon Land

January 17, 2017 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Heather Graham is an internationally renowned author of more than 150 novels and novellas. She has been honored with nearly every award available to contemporary writers.

Jon Land is the USA Today bestselling author of more than forty books, both novels and non-fiction, including the critically acclaimed series featuring Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong.

The Rising features Alex Chin, a classic, All-American football hero and his tutor Samantha Dixon who hopes to turn her NASA internship into a career. A football accident leads Alex to the hospital and suddenly, everything goes awry.

Alex’s doctor is murdered, as are his Chinese parents who adopted him at infancy. After the murders, Alex must flee, and Samantha refuses to leave him. They race desperately to stay ahead of the attackers, trying to learn why Alex is being hunted. The answer lies buried in his past, and it’s a secret his parents died trying to protect. Adopted soon after birth, Alex never knew the reason his birth parents abandoned him. Revelations await, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

The Rising has elements of different genres. Tell us about that.

Heather: I had great parents who read everything. One was a lover of the Gothic novel and the other loved Edgar Allen Poe. I grew up reading everything. The notion of something being strictly one genre was a surprise to me when I started writing. That concept has changed over time, and now many popular books straddle various genres.

Jon: I think when we conceived of collaborating on a book like this, the idea of melding genres and having young heroes as protagonists was a natural thing. We didn’t want to do precisely what either one of us is known for. We both wanted to write something neither one of us ever attempted. We wanted to assemble what each of us does best and put it into a new package. My first agent said to me, ‘If you know the characters, you can write anything.’ We got to know Alex and Samantha so well that we knew we had these great protagonists who were about to sacrifice everything for something far bigger than themselves.

Heather: We also have an editor who loves NASA and the concept of space exploration and the future. He arranged for us to tour the Goddard Space Center where we spent time with the astronauts.

Jon: The kind of science we’re writing about—the Robert Heinlein kind of story, involves a wish to go back to the roots of storytelling and science fiction. It’s like Stranger in a Strange Land. It’s like I Robot.

Heather: We’re all creatures in our galaxy, but on this planet, we don’t really get along very well. If you’re murdered by your neighbor or by an alien from outer space, the result is the same. The story relates not only to space, but to basic human foibles on earth.

Jon: Yes, science fiction storytelling has always served as a metaphor for what’s going on in the world, and that’s what The Rising does. Among many other things, this novel concerns xenophobia and the wish to isolate ourselves from outsiders who are automatically deemed to be ‘bad.’ Whether it’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or Bladerunner, the science fiction genre uses imagination to reveal basic truths about our lives.

In a sense, part of the novel is about globalism and multiculturalism. When you think back to the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, it was a film about different worlds coming together and the problems coming together can pose for people. And that’s in a sense, what a good part of this novel is about, aside from being a thriller and a science fiction novel.

As a collaborative effort, how did you go about writing The Rising?

Heather: We went back and forth. At first, the biggest problem was it was sometimes difficult to make critical comments or suggestions to each other because we liked each other so much. Once we got past that, we did fine. We’re very lucky because it was a lot of fun. We talked about each section, sent it back and forth, and the story moved on.

Jon: We’d done so much talking about the concept before actually beginning to write, it was less seat-of-the-pants writing and it went very smoothly.

Heather: It’s been a great collaboration because we melded our styles of writing and storytelling by finding common ground. Also, Jon is brilliant with tech, and I’m not. So, we each brought different strengths to the work.

You’re two of the most prolific authors I know. How do you account for your productivity?

Heather: I have five children and they were very expensive. [Laughter]. When I started writing, I had no clue about what I was doing. I tried many things and didn’t make any money. I was writing the kind of fiction that wasn’t what I really wanted to write. I then realized my strength was writing novels with murder, mystery and mayhem. I learned if I was going to survive as a writer, I had to produce a lot of books. I learned to simply sit down and write. And write some more. The notion of having a deadline keeps the fires burning.

Jon: For me, it’s really about chasing the dream. My dream is to be more successful than I’ve ever been. So, I write and then write more.

Heather: I would also say I can’t imagine not writing. It’s what I absolutely adore doing. If I won the Lottery, would I stop writing? No.

If you weren’t a writer now, what would you be doing?

Heather: I majored in theater and performed at dinner-theater for years. I was a backup singer, too. I started writing because going to auditions became too expensive. Auditions and dinner theater involved hours and hours, and I wasn’t making enough money to make up for the time I was missing out with my children. That was when I began staying home and writing.

Jon: I was headed towards law school in college.  I was bitten by the writing bug and my life changed. I’d probably have become a lawyer. A trial lawyer is also creating a narrative for the jury, and being a writer is sort of like being a lawyer without worrying about what the other side does. For me, the readers are the jury.

It seems to me a sequel should and will be coming for The Rising. Is that true?

Heather: Yes, most definitely. [Laughter].

Aside from a sequel to The Rising, what’s coming next from each of you?

Heather: Last year, Flawless was published. It will be followed this winter by Perfect Obsession.

Jon: I’m half-way through the ninth book in the Caitlin Strong series. It’s called Strong to the Bone.

Congratulations on writing The Rising, a genre-bending and gripping thriller involving murder, adventure and science fiction that’s received abundant and well-deserved praise from Meg Gardiner, James Rollins, Lisa Scottoline, Douglas Preston, Sandra Preston, and others.

Mark Rubinstein’s latest book, Bedlam’s Door: True Tales of Madness and Hope, is a medical/psychiatric memoir.

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Filed Under: About Books, Huffington Post Column Tagged With: heroes, Mixed genres, science fiction, thrillers, writing

‘The One Man,’ A Conversation with Andrew Gross

August 23, 2016 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Andrew Gross is known to millions of readers as an internationally bestselling author of thrillers.Andrew Gross

But, The One Man is a riveting historical thriller unlike anything else Andrew Goss has ever written. Behind the barbed wire of Auschwitz, Professor Alfred Mendl seems just like an old man who writes gibberish on scraps of paper, but the U.S. government knows Mendl’s knowledge could very well change the course of history.

U.S. Army Lieutenant Nathan Blum, an escapee from the Krakow ghetto, whose family died at the hands of the Nazis, is asked to sneak into Auschwitz on a mission to find Mendl and get him out alive.

You’re very well known for writing ‘suburban’ thrillers. What made you undertake this departure into historical fiction with The One Man?

I wanted to write stories with bigger bones. Publishing, and to some degree your own readers, typecast you into a familiar role. While I was comfortable writing stories in which you can look at a character and hold up a lens and see yourself, I felt constrained by that genre. I felt it was holding me back as a writer, and I wanted to write books more in line with what I would like to read. I wanted to expand my horizons.The One Man

The One Man is richly evocative with descriptions of military intelligence, Auschwitz, and many other World War II details. It reminds me of some of Leon Uris’s books.  Tell us a bit about your research for this novel.

When you’re writing ‘suburban fiction,’ you can always wing it. In that kind of fiction, very few elements of reality are sacrosanct. When writing about the Holocaust, you can’t just make stuff up. As a Jew writing about the Holocaust, it’s sacred territory…it’s ‘Ground Zero.’ I felt an obligation to represent things not only accurately, but compellingly. I’ve been to several concentration camps. Over the years, I’ve read the litany of Holocaust books, including Night by Elie Weisel, Sophie’s Choice and many others. I had to immerse myself in many different aspects of those events: from the American attitude toward Jews during World War II, Franklin Roosevelt’s thinking, and to atomic physics, which is an important component of the book. But it was my goal to write a story about heroism, not about atrocity—so, while I wanted the landscape of the death camps to be real, I wanted to write about one man in an extraordinary situation who stood up and demonstrated heroism. I didn’t just want to add my name to the canon of Holocaust literature describing atrocity or the will to survive. But the setting was important to portray accurately.

I know from what you have said that The One Man has some very personal meanings for you. Will you tell us about that?

My father-in-law who recently died at ninety-six, came to this country six months before Poland was invaded in World War II. He never knew what happened to his entire family. He was the only one to survive the war. Because of that, he carried a mantle of guilt and loss that no one really understood. He would never talk about any of that and never wanted to go back to Warsaw because it conjured up such sad memories for him.

I wanted to understand what was behind this burden of guilt and shame that followed him here for his entire life. He was never happy and never free of his memories. His ‘Survivor’s Guilt’ intrigued me. In composing this book, I wanted to write a story that was almost the story he would have told if he could have opened up enough to tell it.

He joined the U.S. Army and was put into the OSS. He never talked about what he did there, either. While the rest of the novel is fiction, it’s really my putting into his mouth what I think he might have said had he ever opened up about things.

Do you feel you’ve taken a personal risk in writing this historical thriller as opposed to continuing with ‘suburban’ thrillers?

Absolutely. The risk began when I ended one contract with my previous publisher and began trying to sell the outline of The One Man. Various publishers wanted to take me on provided I continued to write conventional thrillers. Some didn’t want to take the risk to find out whether or not I had the chops to write an historical novel. And there was the chance some of my readers wouldn’t follow me along. But really, people always crave a great story.

So, I’m exploring a new territory and hoping I can establish myself in this genre. The business of writing commercial fiction involves a great deal of risk.

This brings me to my next question. As a successful author of thrillers, what thoughts do you have about writers being relegated to certain genres?

It’s a tough industry. From a business perspective, everyone talks about branding an author. It’s hard to sell books and especially more difficult if you’re trying to convey a new image or present a different brand. Name recognition and salability are really the defining parameters, and most authors find themselves locked into a specific genre.

The bottom line is I have to write what’s in my heart. When you do that, the best stories emerge. I’ll make this analogy: when I go to funerals, people speaking are often filled with an innate eloquence coming from the heart. Even those who aren’t storytellers can convey compellingly things about a person because their words are heartfelt.

Looking back at your career, have your writing process and style changed?

My process hasn’t changed. I learned a great deal from working with James Patterson. I outline my stories and keep the chapters relatively short. My work regimen is still the same.

My style has evolved. In the beginning, I started out writing sixty percent for pacing and forty percent for character; I now spend more time on developing people and settings than formerly. I want to deal with larger themes, and that requires a different style and more richness in my prose.

What has surprised you about the writing life?

On the positive side, I feel blessed to be able to do this. I’m so lucky I don’t have to be on a train going into Manhattan for a day’s work. I still manage to get paid for what I do during the course of a year. So, the flexibility of the writing life has changed me. It’s made me a much easier person to be around.

Negatively, it can be a frustrating life. The business is often irksome because it’s very difficult to market one’s self these days. On any given week, the bestseller list resembles the one from ten years ago.

Unless you enjoy that fully-branded status, it’s challenging to market yourself successfully in today’s publishing world.

If you could re-read any one novel as though you’re reading it for the first time, which one would it be?

I recently re-read All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren.

I’ve picked that one because it might be the most beautifully written book ever written by an American. We’re all taught it’s a book about a Huey Long figure, Willie Stark, and it’s a political novel; but my take on it is now through completely different eyes. To me, it’s the Telemachus myth about a son’s search for his own father. And that made this book incredibly beautiful for me.

What’s coming next from Andrew Gross?

Another World War II novel. It’s based on an unknown incident that’s been unearthed: the story of a British-Norwegian raid on the heavy water facilities in Norway that ended the Nazis’ attempts to create an atomic bomb. It’s an incredible David and Goliath story. I’m taking some liberties with it and doing it as a novel.

Congratulations on writing The One Man, an historical novel David Morrell called, ‘suspenseful, taut, terrific” and about which Steve Berry said, ‘The characters are intriguing, richly drawn, and wrestle with the unforgivable triangle of evil, guilt and the choices they must make.’

 

 

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Filed Under: About Books, Huffington Post Column, Interviews Tagged With: description, historical novel, Holocaust, James Patterson, Leon Uris, Pacing, thrillers

‘War Hawk,’ A Conversation with James Rollins

April 19, 2016 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

James Rollins is known to millions of readers. His bestselling thrillers have been transla2014-05-13-JamesRollins-thumbted into more than forty languages. His books are noted for their originality, scientific authenticity and breakthroughs; as well as for being rich in historical facts and in revealing secrets ranging from findings far beneath the earth’s surface to those deep within its seas.

Along with co-author Grant Blackwood, James has launched a compelling spin-off series from his popular Sigma books. The first was The Kill Switch, featuring Tucker Wayne, a former Army Ranger, and his military working dog, Kane.

In War Hawk, the second novel in the series, a former army colleague needs Tucker’s help. She’s on the run with her son from assassins. In his efforts to help, Tucker must learn who killed a brilliant young woman—a crime whose roots go back to the most powerful people in the U.S. government. Tucker, with Kane’s help, must unravel a mystery which began in World War II and involved Alan Turing, the genius mathematician largely responsible for breaking the German Enigma code during the War.

In War Hawk, Tucker Wayne is still suffering from the psychological effects of war. Tell us about that.
One of the goals of writing the series was to explore PTSD. I wanted to examine a specific variation of PTSD, something I’d heard about while working with veterans’ organizations. It’s called moral injury.

During war, soldiers are often asked to do things defying their internal moral codes. Each of us has a moral compass built into us—one differentiating right from wrong. Because of the necessities of war, powerful strain may be put on that compass causing it to break. It can bring about a type of PTSD that can initially go unnoted, but manifests itself years later. The therapy for moral injury is different from that for the more frequently seen form of PTSD. While medication and counselling are typically given for the more frequently seen type of PTSD, medication doesn’t help for moral injury. The treatment is generally the passage of time and psychotherapy. It takes time to repair that moral compass. With Tucker, I wanted to shine a light on this aspect of the pathology.

Tucker’s relationship with Kane, his Belgian Malinois, is a central element of both War Hawk and The Kill Switch. Do these military dogs really have the intelligence and extensive receptive vocabulary depicted in the books?
They do. For The Kill Switch, I did extensive research, spoke to dog handlers, and went to Lackland Air Force base. I had a good understanding of these dogs. After The Kill Switch was published, I received some raised-eyebrows responses to the question of whether these dogs could really do what was depicted in the novel.

I inquired more deeply and learned what I was doing with Kane was completely realistic. In fact, I was told, ‘These dogs can do all that, but if anything, Jim, you’re pulling their reins back. Actually, these dogs are more capable than what you depicted in The Kill Switch.’ When writing War Hawk, I wanted to show what these dogs can truly do.

In The Kill Switch, Kane was obeying Tucker’s orders. War Hawk highlights these dogs’ true intelligence; they can think on the fly, listen to an order and make judgments in the field. When necessary, they can alter their behavior beyond the orders they were given to bring about the desired results. In this novel, Kane shows he can think independently.

What kind of receptive vocabulary do these dogs have?
A real-life military dog named Chase, an Australian shepherd, has a vocabulary of over a thousand words. So of course, Kane had to have at least that extensive a vocabulary [Laughter]. Most of these dogs have about half that vocabulary. But more amazing is this: they can link commands; they can follow a chain of commands in the exact order in which they were given. It’s also a reflection of the bond between the human being and the dog. We sometimes find when a handler is no longer in service and the dog is switched to another person, the vocabulary diminishes. But with time, as the new bond develops, that previous vocabulary is re-established.

War Hawk has incredible details about warfare technology—especially tracking and hacking devices along with ‘intelligent’ drones. Tell us about that.
In the novel, I wanted to explore drone technology because it’s been in the news. At first, I thought the notion of nearly invisible, semi-autonomous drones was pushing the envelope a bit. But as I was completing the work, I learned this had become a reality. When I began the novel, I thought I was writing something bordering on science fiction, but during the course of writing it, drone technology not only caught up but surpassed what I had envisioned. Recently, Elon Musk, the Tesla creator, and Steven Hawking have advised banning these war machines because they could be so dangerous.

Yes, in fact, some of the technology described in War Hawk, reminds me of the machines in the film, Terminator.
We’re getting to that point. A general recently announced he’s growing concerned because we’re now building drones capable of making their own decisions on “Shoot to Kill” orders. Once given the task, these machines can lurk overhead, evaluate situations and shoot on their own volition. They no longer need human guidance. It’s quite frightening to realize that we may be relinquishing human involvement and will no longer have total control over these drones, especially when we consider drones take lives.

When not working with a co-author, how do you approach the process, from doing research to producing the completed project?
Typically, I’ll spend ninety days researching the history or science to be included in the novel. I’ll also look at locations for the novel’s setting. At the same time, I build a skeletal plot to the story. By the ninety-first day, I have a rough outline and the major points of the novel are researched.

I then begin to write,, though with each day more things come up requiring research—some minutiae or facts to fill in certain blanks. It takes about six to seven months to complete the first draft; then another month or two to do a final polish. Then, off it goes to the editor.

I can write for five hours a day before feeling burned out. I typically produce five double-spaced pages daily. The rest of the day may involve some research, making calls, or going over a previously written manuscript. There’s some overlap which allows me to write two books a year.

I heard Lionsgate is turning the first book of the Sigma series, Map of Bones, into a feature film.
I’m very excited about that. The screenwriter is Joe Robert Cole.

Tell us about your work on the advisory board for a new grassroots organization, US4Warriors.
I’ve always supported veterans’ organizations. I was approached by US4Warriors which was founded by an author-friend of mine who wanted to pool the efforts of a large group of writers to support veterans. It started in San Diego and is expanding nationally. I’m on the advisory board because of my past experience with Authors United for Veterans. We have various projects; one is putting together an anthology to raise funds with the goal of getting veterans’ stories published that might not otherwise be accepted by mainstream publishers.

And with all these activities, you’re still donating time to do veterinary medical work?
Yes. One Sunday a month, I work with a group that captures feral cats in a ‘trap and release’ program. And, I can still neuter a cat in less than thirty seconds. [Laughter].

Your books have sold millions of copies. Your photograph is on the flap of each one. Has your life changed since you began writing novels?
Not particularly. Once in a blue moon, someone will recognize me which is startling. Once, someone called my name in an airport. I was shocked he actually recognized me. [Laughter]. That’s only happened three times, which is sort of a nice thing about being a writer—you have anonymity. Most people don’t really recognize an author they’ve been reading, even if it’s their favorite one.

If I’m in a public place and see someone reading one of my books, I’ll ask the person, ‘What do you think of that book?’ If they don’t like it, I’ll shrug and walk away. If they’re enjoying it, I’ll identify myself, and we’ll talk for a while.

What’s coming next from James Rollins?
I’ve completed The Seventh Plague, the next book in the Sigma series. And I’m also constructing the plot for the novel after that.

Congratulations on writing War Hawk, a gripping page-turner with some of the most vivid and tension-filled action, technology and suspense scenes found anywhere in thrillerdom. It also sheds light on the amazing capabilities of some of our best friends, dogs.

 

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Filed Under: About Books, book launch, Dog Tales, Huffington Post Column, Interviews Tagged With: dogs' intelligence, Grant Blackwood, ptsd, technology of war, thrillers, war dogs, writing routines

‘Hard Cold Winter,’ A Conversation with Glen Erik Hamilton

March 15, 2016 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Glen Erik HamiltonGlen Erik Hamilton is a native of Seattle. He grew up aboard a sailboat and spent his youth around marinas, commercial docks, and islands of the Pacific Northwest.

Hard Cold Winter, his second novel, follows protagonist, Van Shaw, as he embarks on a dangerous mission in search of a missing girl tied to his criminal past. But things don’t turn out as planned; there has been a murder, and the investigation leads to intolerable pressure coming from a billionaire businessman on one side, and vicious gangsters on the other. Moreover, a powerful, unseen player is about to unleash a firestorm on Seattle that will burn Van and his people to cinders—and it will take a miracle to stop it.

Read more on the Huffington Post >>

 

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Filed Under: About Books, book launch, creativity, Huffington Post Column, Interviews Tagged With: fiction, getting published, plotting a novel, publishing, thrillers

‘Off the Grid,’ A Conversation with C.J. Box

March 9, 2016 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Chuck Box__Michael_SmithC.J. Box, the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen Joe Pickett novels, has millions of fans. In addition to the Joe Pickett series, he’s written five standalones, and a short story collection, Shots Fired. He’s won multiple awards for his fiction. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages.

Off the Grid finds Joe’s good friend Nate living off the grid, relying solely on survival skills, as he attempts to find Muhammad Ibraheem, a rogue journalist, who has also gone “off the grid”. An ultra-secret government agency has pressed Nate into service to apprehend this suspect whose activities could lead to great bloodshed.  Meanwhile, Joe’s daughter Sheridan has accepted an invitation to attend a gathering where a group of political activists have been invited. But who and what exactly are they, and what’s their real agenda?

Read more on the Huffington Post >>

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Filed Under: book launch, crime, Huffington Post Column, Interviews Tagged With: home grown terrorism, procrastination, Terrorism, thrillers

‘Broken Promise,’ A Conversation with Linwood Barclay

August 6, 2015 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Linwood Barclay credit Bill Taylor (2)Linwood Barclay’s thrillers have been international bestsellers. Trust Your Eyes, an intriguing novel with a unique premise, has been optioned for film.  The Associated Press said, “Linwood Barclay has established himself alongside the masters of suburban fiction.”

In just-released Broken Promise, unemployed journalist David Harwood, grieving his wife’s untimely death, moves with his young son back to his parents’ home in Promise Falls, New York. One morning, David visits his cousin Marla, who has been acting strangely since having lost her baby during childbirth a year ago. Shockingly, David discovers Marla holding a 10 month-old baby boy who Marla says is her son. David begins investigating the child’s true identity; nothing is really as it seems, and Marla’s mysterious child is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Read more on the Huffington Post >>

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Filed Under: About Books, creativity, crime, Huffington Post Column, Interviews Tagged With: book signings, descriptions, hooks, journalism, procrastination, thrillers, twists

“The Fixer” A Conversation with Joseph Finder

June 9, 2015 by Mark Rubinstein Leave a Comment

Joseph Finder is known to any reader who loves thrillers. His first book was published wheJoe Finder cr Winterhouse Studion he was only 24, and he’s gone on to write critically acclaimed thrillers including Extraordinary Powers, The Zero Hour, and High Crimes, all of which became Hollywood films. In 2004, his novel, Paranoia, became a huge bestseller. His awards include The Barry, Gumshoe, and The International Thriller Writers Award for his novel, Killer Instinct. His new novel is The Fixer.

The Fixer focuses on Rick Hoffman, who has just lost his job as a reporter, has no income, and is forced to move back to—and renovate—the home in which he grew up. It has been empty and undergone decay since his father has been lying mute in a nursing home, paralyzed by a stroke nineteen years earlier.

Read more on the Huffington Post >>

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Filed Under: About Books, crime, Huffington Post Column, Interviews, On Writing Tagged With: character evolution, first person narrative, series, standalone novels, the writing life, third person narrative, thrillers

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