Your family has a long military tradition. Did you personally serve in the military, and if so, how has that impacted your writing?
Yes, I served in the military and found it a breeding ground for my writing today. You will never know the rumors that abound in the U.S. military that would turn your socks around. If anyone in the world holds more secrets than the armed forces of this country, I’ll eat your hat. Many of these rumors will find their way into the Event Group storyline. It will be up to the individual reader to decide which ones are based on fact!
Which authors are your favorites outside the genre?
John Toland, he wrote three novels about the war years of Japan, 1932-1945 called the Rising Sun. This extraordinary work explained for the first time the mindset of the Japanese civilization from beginning to end. Also, Gore Vidal for his expose on Abraham Lincoln is the most in-depth and moving portrait ever committed to paper. Also, anything told by Shelby Foote, one of the truly great orators of our times and one of the great researchers ever to pick up a pen and commit to paper.
Is there one particular author whose talent just blows you away?
One name comes to mind when you think of the great American writers of our times. In my genre, Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler and Larry Bond go the distance as far as excitement. However, the one name that stands out and covers all genres of writing and by far the best character writer in the world today, is Stephen King. He writes the most in-depth character studies I have ever seen. His knowledge of the human condition, although spooky at times, is pure magic. His early work was groundbreaking; his later arrivals are pure literary genius. Although he can now be an acquired taste for many, he will go down in history as the greatest of all American novelists, and no one for many years to come will ever ascend to his lofty position. He is American literature, whether people like it or not.
Without giving away anything major, what's next for the Event Group?
The next novel of the Event Group will tackle the greatest legend of all time. Ancients will be a story unlike any thus far, as many genres will be combined from the mythical to the techno-thriller. Things turn very serious when a series of earthquakes threaten the stability of many nations consisting of old enemies. The Event Group will be tasked once again to find out if this new technology is based in the past, or is it a new form of super-weapon. The battles will range from the Korean borders to the depths of the sea as Jack Collins and his men and women meet the greatest challenge yet, and this time some may not come home. From the White House and a new president of the United States, to the secret complex beneath the desert. Wondrous discoveries from the most ancient civilization in history will literally shake the planet. The people of the world will discover they may not be the inheritors of the Earth — that another, far older group of people have a violent eye set toward knocking modern man down to size.
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