How is Cibola different from Dourado?
With Dourado, I was aiming for a light, fast adventure like the old pulp stories. Cibola maintains a good pace, but is richer and more fleshed-out than Dourado. I also heard from many readers that they wanted [main character] Bones to get more scenes, which he does in Cibola.
Without giving anything away, will what happened in the epilogue have repercussions in a future book?
I don’t have any plans to do that, but I suppose anything’s possible.
You have some great author endorsements for Cibola.
It’s such a high when some of your favorite authors praise your work. The fact that these writers took the time to read it at all is very generous of them. I have to say a special thanks to Jeremy Robinson, who actually gave me a very helpful critique. There are three scenes in Cibola that are there thanks to his feedback, and they definitely improved the final product.
What's next after Cibola?
I’m taking a short break to co-author a novel with my dad. It’s historical fiction based on the life of Jonathan Wood - one of our ancestors who settled southwest Virginia, fought in the American Revolution, and had some interesting exploits. Fortunately, his life was such that we can remain true to history while still telling an adventure-filled story with action, romance, mystery, and humor.
How did you come up with the Dane Maddock and “Bones” Bonebrake characters?
My characters are what I’m most proud of. One reviewer praised Dane and Bones because they are “real,” and not “Heisman Trophy, Nobel Prize-winning, male models,” like so many of the too-perfect heroes in the genre. In the character of Dane, I wanted to create a character who is bright, tough, and resourceful, but not over the top like so many action heroes are. Readers can almost see themselves being him and doing the things he does. In terms of Bones’ character, I wrote him as a six-foot-plus Cherokee because you don’t tend to see many sidekicks that fit that mold. He’s the comic relief, but he also has strengths Dane does not, and there’s a mutual respect between the two.
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