In light of what is taking place in the Islamic Republic of Iran, I think you would find my new novel, Patriot Acts very challenging and close to reality.
We now see the violence and hatred against a powerful people who have not lost their faith in God, but who seem to intend to take upon themselves the freedom that only God can take away, and man can never forever deny!
I applaud such demonstration, not of frustration but of unity of mind and spirit that every man and woman is free. This is a smart and unafraid people who will not be fooled again. I stand with you, and salute you!
The question that is actually self-evident is how anyone could make a rational argument that a nation that can kill its own best and brightest should be trusted with nuclear weapons that it could turn upon the rest of the world?
We Applaud you in your yearning to be free! Steven Clark Bradley
Iran, Tehran, resistance against coup, day 8 (June, 20. 09)
Riot police caught by crowd - Protests in Tehran after election
President Obama: Ask yourself if the same thing could happen in Americaif your government continues to disregard the the freedoms Americans are guaranteed, which you are in the process of dismantling. Whether Religious or Political All Tyrants shall face the same fate!
He recently sat down to talk with Book Hookup for this interview:
The political undertones in Patriot Acts reveal a working knowledge of history, government and the military. How did this play a role in your plot development?
It is true that I have had a very diverse career, politics, journalism and world travel. All of those activities in my life have given me a real understanding of what is out there and the dangers we face. I want to write stories that are only scary because they are so very plausible. I can say that the scenario of Patriot Acts and Patriot Acts Two, which is now completed and in editing, are both very real and related to the things and issues and dangers we now face in a world gone mad and gone weak. We have a president who thinks talk is enough and a government that is spending us into oblivion. That is why I have striven so hard to make what I write so real and something that serves as a warning of the future that we face without realizing that freedom is not free.
What idea first ignited you imagination that led you to write this story?
I believe we are losing our freedom, freedoms that were never granted by any government, but by god. There are forces at work today that place all of us in the crosshairs of totalitarian treatment. One of the biggest mistakes we are making today in our seeming delight in playing the part of the Ostrich. We have our heads in the sand and think our enemies cannot see our hinder parts. Patriot Acts goes a long way in showing that going softly and politically with nations like Iran and North Korea only emboldens them and gives them the idea that we will not react to their behavior that endangers the peace of the world. Unfortunately, they may be right.
The dialog and Middle Eastern scenery in your book are authentically vivid. Have you visited the Middle East? Did you serve in the military?
I have lived in the Middle East and in Muslim countries outside of the Middle East. I have lived in Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, and Senegal, West Africa. All together, I have either lived in or been to 34 different countries, which did give me a real understanding of the culture and the life they live there. In Patriot Acts, many of the events, especially in the first three chapters, are events that I actually lived. I worked there and some things I cannot talk about, but there were things that I have seen and did that show me and hopefully my depiction of the these things in a fictional form will show others that threats are real and present and that without vigilance, we shall not survive as a nation.
~~~ "This sounds like my kind of read. I can't wait to get my hands on one." ~~~
The threat of an apocalyptic terrorist threat combined with the unlikely alliance between the Islamic Republic of Iran and radical American militia groups to free your innocent protagonist, Colonel Fisher Harrison, is brilliant. What inspired this unholy alliance?
I have heard from some who felt it was not realistic to think that Americans would gang up with terrorists. All I had to do was to refresh their memories and mention names like Terry Nichols, Timothy McVeigh or the Uni-bomber. All of these are part of a huge underground network that is even now looking for a way to change the world we have built into an anarchist’s paradise.
After I published Patriot Acts, I found so free pictures to use for marketing and one man called me and told me he was one of the people in one of the pictures I had used. He was a really interesting man, but very despising of the world in which we live. I was raised in Northern Indiana. In the country area where I am from, there are literally hundreds of private armies and militias. I know people who have tanks and heavy armaments that could wage a pretty effective revolution. Most of them love America, but they have arsenals that would make your skin crawl. These people are real. They are not interested in peace, because peace would put them out of business.
I have always said that it is impossible for Hamas and Hezbollah to make peace with Israel. If those terror groups make peace, they will have negotiated themselves out of existence, and terror is why they are the scourge of the world today. Those in America are no different. They are paranoid, nervous, often delusional and dangerous.
You've created interesting yet complex characters complete with strengths and flaws. Which character(s) grew beyond the scope of your original concept for them and in what way?
This is a great question. I used to wonder how I could paint a fictitious human in a genuine way. As humans, we have histories of greatness and profound mistakes at times. I came to an understanding that all I had to do was take a realistic look at myself. That provided the good and the bad that all of possess. I would love to write a memoire in the future, but my greatest concern is how I can portray the real me and still have friends, in light of the life I have lived and some of the things I have done, that I cannot speak of. I will not write a biography unless I can tell the good, the bad and the ugly.
Do you see part of yourself in any of your characters?
I would say a lot of Fisher Harrison’s development and personality and actions represent who I am and somewhat who I would have liked to be. Hamilton Smith and Jamie O’Rourke ended up basically who I patterned them to be. But, the character who took on a life of his own was the President figure, Christopher A. Tate.
President Tate, in Patriot Acts, was patterned after someone in my past who was a real self-indulged, egotistical and despicable person I worked for politically, in my past. My intent was to paint him as I recalled him, in a very negative light, to say the least. Yet, he emerged as a naïve man, a man with bitter demons that plagued him, but who was courageous enough to face his mistakes and character flaws and to grow into a real leader. I have always said that a great story starts to write itself, and President Tate in Patriot Acts is a prime example of that. He has a supreme role in Patriot Acts Two and his character, I predict, will bring you to tears.
This story is full of suspense and intrigue. It is written with such clarity and realistic fervor that it seems one could click on the TV and see these fictional events played out on the news. What do you hope to accomplish with this story?
As it has accurately been said, fact is often stranger than fiction. I want Americans too actually see that there is no future unless we take the rose-colored glasses off and look at the world around us. In 2002, I was in Israel. I was doing a freelance journalistic endeavor for a newspaper. I was on a bus that was third in line to go to Bethlehem. About ten minutes after I got on my bus, the bus that was first in line and full of children returning back to school after their summer break, blew up and killed eighteen children and several adults. Those kids got up and only wanted to see their friends. Their parents only wanted to make sure their kids got a good education, but by the middle of the morning, they were all dead.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the mothers and fathers and children of so many loved ones only went to the WorldTradeCenter to do their jobs; to support their families and build their careers. Yet, because of the desire of evil men with evil intents and with evil ideologies, over three thousand of them would never see their kids again. That morning, they kissed their wives, their husbands, their kids, their parents for the very last time. It seems impossible that Americans would ever forget such a massive attack, and it seems logical that we’d want to fight such evil actions regardless of the world’s feelings, in spite of the cost. Yet, we have forgotten.
Now we are negotiating with Iran; our President tells those with the same evil ideas that we are not at war with them, that their evil ideals in the name of some evil concept of a god that they have a good faith and that we are friends. We have blinded our eyes and the forces at work to destroy us and the current political leaders controlling the nation are a combination that places this nation and our children’s futures in peril. That is why I burn the midnight oil to push myself to tell the next generation that there will be no future of freedom, there will be no happy ending unless we give our all to thumb our noses at the peaceniks who would just as soon see us perish than to do what it takes to survive. These are some of the reasons why I write on issues that some may find too realistic to say they enjoy my writing. I am not trying to be enjoyable. I want to stimulate, to resurrect the desire to maintain our free society and to see the threats so we can prepare for them.
Where do you hope to take your writing in the future? Is there a sequel on the horizon?
The sequel is written and I would say, though the characters are the same, the story is just as powerful as and actually more so than Patriot Acts One. I have tentatively called it The Second Republic. It is about domestic biological terrorism and it will make your hair stand up on your arm. I do not know where such ideas come from, but it is a plausible and super-frightening scenario of what evil men and women can do to control the lives of others and to make the world to tremble. I sometimes feel too clear in what I see for the future if we stay on our current path. I fall asleep wondering where we are headed. Perhaps, instead of worrying about some unproven hole in the ozone, perhaps we should worry more about the holes in our security, about the breaches of trust our leaders create, bout those who wish to relegate America to the ash heap of history. I will write it until we are told we cannot longer so, and then I will double my efforts.
What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? Any special memories that you would like to share?
Of all the books I have written, I have to say that Nimrod Rising shook me to my very core. I came back to America to live in 1995. I felt the changes and I could see where it was headed, and I am sad to see that I was right. In 1996, while writing and researching the novel, I wrote about the TwinTowers falling in that novel and an aircraft slamming into them. I do not claim any special gifts, except that which God has given me, for what have we that has not been given to us? But when it actually happened, I actually began to shake and sweat. I knew I had read it all right. That book eventually took me twelve years to write and I can say that it became a treatise on the future of America. Patriot Acts demonstrates how the border with Mexico is an effective conduit for weapons of mass destruction, and I read just last week how Al-Qaida is trying to smuggle in Anthrax into this country through Mexico. This is not the fault only of Mexico. It is more our wrong policy that refuses to appreciate our sovereignty and the plot of my book seemed so very real. It is time that we speak the truth, and it is a time when, sadly, fiction is more real than all the pipe dreams we have that all will be well without resolve and a will to fight. I am not a negative person. I have tons of bad jokes and am a very happy man. Yet, I am a realist and I know that unless we act to save our nation, those we seek to befriend will use our naivety to kill us. That is why I write.
Where is Patriot Acts available?
This new exciting novel is easy to find and available all over the net. Here are a few links to help you secure you own copy of Patriot Acts.
I hope everyone who reads this will not just think it is entertainment or the irrational rambling of a scared American. I am not afraid; I am convinced that no one will secure our future except us. That is why I declare the main theme of Patriot Acts in one key phrase:
Patriot Acts – No unconditional Talks – Just patriot Acts!
How can America ever forget what happened on September 11, 2001? A horror that's better known as 9-1-1, and a nightmare that shocked all Americans, a disaster that should have never occurred.
Steven Clark Bradley's "PATRIOT ACTS" comes to life, and is as scary as the same day I witnessed the tragedy of the burning towers. He creates a picture-perfect image of terrorism, and brings it to life in his adrenaline-pumping story of a nuclear attack after visiting thirty-four countries, and expertise on working as a freelance journalist.
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"As intense as "ARLINGTON ROAD" where your paranoia can become real"
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I recommend this novel to all those interested to learn about terrorism, for military fiction fans, and all thriller lovers. The reader is able to dive into the dangerous mind of a terrorist, learning what motivates such a person, and why this person can become a walking time bomb. This novel leaves an aftermath behind, without a doubt and the readers will indeed keep thinking about the War on Terror, long after they close the book. For added touches, the author cleverly demonstrates what it feels like to live through a national crisis, and the reader can sense the fear through this remarkable story. "PATRIOT ACTS" is as intense as "ARLINGTON ROAD" where your paranoia can become real, and is as mesmerizing as "WORLD TRADE CENTER."
Steven Clark Bradley has been to or lived in 34 countries, including Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey. He has a master's degree in liberal studies from Indiana University. He speaks French and Turkish. He has been an assistant to a prosecutor, a university instructor and a freelance journalist.
Patriot ActsThe Republic of Iran has linked up with radical American Militia groups to carry out a covert nuclear attack on America. Colonel Fisher Harrison, the best trained Special Ops killer the military has, is the one person who can effectively retaliate against these adversaries. But Colonel Fisher Harrison was framed for a murder he did not commit by his former boss--now the President of the United States of America. The two adversaries must put aside their differences and unite to stop those in league to bring America to its knees.
Patriot Acts (Extended)
Where Can You Get Your Copy Of Patriot Acts?
This new exciting novel is easy to find and available all over the net.Here are a few links to help you secure you own copy of Patriot Acts.
When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer?
I have always been a storyteller. It seems to have been something I was born with. It was actually my son who challenged to stop writing as a hobby and to start publishing my several manuscripts I had written. As a child, I started writing dreams and ideas and it was all part of the process of learning how to paint a tableau with words. Probably the hardest thing was learning to get over what I call ‘the middle of the book’ syndrome. Perseverance is one word that best describes the main character trait that all dedicated writers possess. I can attest to that as I developed the characters, setting, atmosphere and all the million things that go into holding a story together.
What type of books do you enjoy writing?
It is such a driving passion to tell stories that could make one pause and reflect on where we were and where we are, to gain a better understanding of where we are going. The only problem is that when we look at where we are and perceive of where we're going, then the story always, inevitably come out shocking and ... dare I say spooky. It is never my intension to paint a bleak picture, but the truth can set us free. All of my books center on a major theme that typifies the human experience and tragedy.I look at my novels as my footprints in the sands of time that will live after I have been covered by the earth.I want to leave my books as my last will and testament, my final word to a world that my children will inherit, stories that make us look back so we can gain our bearings on the present to ensure a better future.
Did a special person in your life inspire you to become a writer?
Since my earliest years, until now, I have seen that life is carried forth by those who left behind accounts of the life that was common in the past. Every generation has the responsibility to share their thoughts and emotions for the future ones. So, I would not say that any one person has been my catalyst for my writing exploits. Instead, I feel that I am motivated to write by an ideal, the need to put into practice the freedom I possess from God to present the issues of our current day in a brave, realistic and plausible manner. With all that, there are certain writers who have pushed me forward. Thomas Clancy is a great mentor for me. He has had a great affect on me and made me know that freedom is not free. So, I am driven by my desire to demonstrate the freedom of our fingers to ensure that such liberty is never trampled on or disregarded.
Have you written any books based on a true life story?
I have lived in many cultures and that has given me a love for the differences amongst us, but my life has also opened up hundreds of doors or directions to write my stories.Because I have lived in so many cultures, I can say that all my books are, to a great extent, about myself.I love to fictionalize things that I have actually lived.It gives me an ability to describe things in such a realistic manner and takes the reader with me on a journey that will both tantalize them and at times, frighten them into taking stock of their own lives.I am a student of American culture and write about the changes in our society. Yet, every place I have been and in everyone I have met there has always been that same driving force; the desire to leave those who follow us something that says we were here! This is an intrinsic passion for every writer, ultimately.
The genre of stories I have written and the views I have expressed in my books are an intense effort to say something about my current society and to perhaps warn Pluribus Unum of the things that threaten the life we now have. I consider my books to be hard-hitting stories that may frighten the reader, as a result of the realism and the plausibility of the evil unleashed on an apathetic and ill-mannered world when faithlessness falls upon the just and the unjust.
Who is your favorite Author?
The writer who has most influenced me is Francis A. Schaeffer. Though he was a greatly respected Philosopher and not a novelist, his uncanny ability to show the cause and affect aspect that the decisions we make and as inhabitants of our world greatly spell victory or defeat of our way of life, so Schaeffer’s call to renew our respect for human life influences me to this day and is exemplified in all my novels. I think I am his antithesis in that his call was to show what faith would do for society and I write of a world devoid of any, and what woe it would work. No one else has assisted in the formation of my world view more than Francis Schaeffer, and I feel I am carrying forth his message in creating stories that show that none of us is an island and that we all have a major impact on the world around us, rather we know it or not.
Are your characters created from people you've known in real life, or are they from the imagination?
Well, almost all my characters are patterned after either great and honorable and bad and disreputable men and women I have met, and many I have known. I can recall sitting back in my chair and closing my eyes and picturing these people and asking how the person the character is patterned after would respond to something, what expression they would have on their faces or what actions would be instigated as a result of a given situation. I have met a great many people and that is a big help in creating my characters.
How many books have you written?
I have written and published four novels. Whether probable Cause which is a story of the tragic results of infidelity, Stillborn, which is a study of the lethal outcome of a life started and lived without love, compassion or human contact or Nimrod Rising which describes what a world could become when we leave behind all the human values that separate us from the rest of creation.Finally, Patriot Acts is an expose of the dangers of pretending that catastrophe is not out there when it is staring us in the face. Since I have traveled widely around the world, I have been privileged to possess the ability of giving a fair accounting of the life we share on this part of the small globe we call home. I also know how easy it would be to see liberty all blown away into the sands of time to only be disinterred by a yet to form people far different than our own. So, the stories that flood my mind are to help us stop, perceive, reflect…perhaps alter our actions and cause us to look at where we are, where we have been and determine, perhaps with more clarity, where we are going.
Where can your books be purchased?
You can find my books almost anywhere across the net and in an increasing number of bookstores. Here are a few links to help readers get copies of my Stories the will read them.
Describe how you felt the first time you were Published.
The freedom to write so freely in a free land is such a wonderful thing. It is something to be cherished lest it be whittled away to finally be axed to death until we die for what we believe. It would not be the first time, nor the last. That is why I feel that there is nothing greater than writing & creating something from nothing. It's the closest thing to the divine! The freedom to say what we believe is not bequeathed to us by any man or woman. The ability to create worlds and personalities, to describe something so powerfully that it can make the reader laugh with joy, shiver in fear or cry in sorrow and empathy and then to breathe into them the breath of literary life is a gift from God; a process that starts in human imagination and comes to life on the printed page. It is the thing that separates us from the rest of creation! It is exactly what God did when He stepped into nothing and created something that lives and breathes!The process that takes hours of exciting and painstaking work, getting the manuscript to a publisher, getting it approved and edited and reedited and then printed and to actually see it in your hand!There is a world of intrigue and mystery in my hand and I am its creator.That’s a pretty powerful feeling!
Do you have any current work in progress for a new release?
I currently have two projects going. My third published novel, Nimrod Rising was actually three novels in one volume. I am deeply into part four of Nimrod Rising which is tentatively titled, Generations. That title is subject to change. I also am writing a children’s book titled Aiden’s Ashes which is a collaboration with one of my students, 15 years old, mind you! He is a great writer and really gifted. So I am working together with him on a really great story. I have three other works started. I always get an idea down on paper so I don’t forget it later. It is a real juggling act to market one’s novel while ever writing another one. It is tough work and it demands that the writer be dedicated to his or her trade and never grow weary of challenge before them.
What are some links to your websites where visitors can read a BIO on you as author, and your writing?
Goals, at least in my head, are guideposts, markers that can take us to a certain point.I am always careful to make my goals alterable, since many of the side streets we venture down mentally as writers produce the most unique stories, stories that stand out and proclaim the message the most clearly and brightly.Since my stories are always message driven more than mere entertainment, though I love entertaining material, I have to always have my heart tuned and my mind open.I am an ever growing, constantly learning, very dedicated writer. I try very hard not only to write about today as I also seek to point the way in which today’s lifestyles, whatever they may be, shall either take us towards a reasonable position of faith and unity or shall shove us headlong into a pitiful humanity where man is reduced to mere trouble, scarcely meriting bread and water, such as in the case of Terri Schiavo. Remember her? She could be you…me…any of us, in a world that makes human life so cheap that it renders death itself as the sole solution, with dignity. I guess I am saying that I drive my goals, they do not drive me.
At this point and time in your life, are you exactly where you wanted to be in your writing endeavors?
I am never satisfied with any product I create, I know that I must go the extra mile to get the story to people and to make sure it is at the point where I can be sure the readers will grasp the overall and underlying message. So, I am never where I want to be because I keep pushing the bar further out and continually giving an extra push to achieve. There is always another word, another issue, another story to tell. I suspect, I’ll never feel I have arrived. I tell my students that the times when you feel you are learning nothing, or that they are not achieving their goals, that those are the times when they are most likely learning the most. With every new thing we learn or try, there is a new feeling of inadequacy, but that is because it is new and still being implemented in my mind. The times of euphoria are not the times to sit back. I never feel I have arrived or that I am where I want to be. That drives me to be creative and to reach higher.
In your opinion, what are some factors that can help authors reach their dream of accomplishment?
Winston Churchill said, “The Pessimist sees problems in every opportunity, but the Optimist sees opportunities in every problem”These thoughts often enter an author’s mind once they get into the middle of a novel and need that second wind to get over the hump of taking the story to the next level by pouring themselves into it. It’s this inner voice that makes us press on when we feel so unsure until the story starts to write itself. Some call that this “Literary Critical Mass” when the story becomes a living thing and logic flows and literary inertia seem to take over. Actually, this drive makes all of the characters come alive so that eventual readers will become one with the story until you accomplish your task! To wisely persevere, you need to see the costs or difficulties and benefits or positives of what you are doing. An honest and good decision requires honest and good information. The more you understand yourself, the more certain you will be about your decisions and the more likely you will find the strength to persevere. All of this serves to develop your own writing style and makes you unique and singular in your message. You’ll probably find that you’re having more fun than you actually thought you would!
You want to write a book, you have an amazing idea that you need to get on paper before you lose it and you do not know how to get started. Ever feel that way? Writers do all the time. It takes time to make your image in your mind into a world with living breathing characters that do a multitude of things and have a multitude of personalities.
Writers draw their ideas from the world around them. They also most often pattern the characters, the good the bad and the not so bad characters after people they have met. My novels are full of distinct, international, good, bad and evil people. We all have met people whom we have categorized in one group or another. Click on the link below to learn about the main characters of the story of Nimrod Rising. Who is the hero, heroine, villain. Click here and learn about characters that are as real as it gets!
As an author, have you ever experienced writer's block?
I like to say that I let the story tell me what is next.When I cannot get the drift of the next part, I have to relax and listen and let the natural progress of the book direct me.I do get writer’s block, but I know that perseverance is one word that best describes the main character trait that all dedicated writers possess. I can attest to that as I developed the characters, setting, atmosphere and all the million things that go into holding a story together and bringing the new world into the realm of plausible and real.
In your opinion, what advice can you give to authors to prevent writer's block?
The best way to describe this important word is three simple words: “Never giving up!” Sometimes, when we find ourselves wanting to quit something, we feel pulled in two directions. Have you ever heard these voices in your head? “There’s no use in continuing!” or perhaps “I have failed and I give up!” These feelings are almost always untrue and are usually caused by depression, fatigue or loneliness. There are so many other personal things in our lives that cause such feelings of hopelessness. We are also drawn by voices in our heads that tell us not to give up. “Think of all the time you’ve invested!” or “Think how hard you have worked!” It’s that second voice that helps you continue on and is what I call “Wise Perseverance.” Below, you will find links to the mind of Steven Clark Bradley and what drives him to write with such great passion. Each link gives a different perspective of the writing process.
As a child, did you have any favorite books that you enjoyed reading?
I loved the Chronicles of Narnia as an older teenager and of course read Mark Twain, but I loved Nancy Drew books. I was a strange child, which means I have not changed that much. I was into history and political material, at a very early age. I read lots of history and loved political magazines, believe it or not.
As a child, did you enjoy reading a lot?
As I said earlier, I was a bit strange, as a child. I remember I read through almost all the World Book Encyclopedias in my school library, which gave me my great love for travel and culture, and which gave me ideas for stories like no one else has written.
If you had the opportunity for one day to live the life of a famous author, who would it be?
I think I would be Vince Flynn. This author is one of the best I have read in terms of painting the picture so real that I can see it in my mind. He too writes about real-life situations that are now confronting the world. Each of his books are strong, assertive and passionate with drama and action, but with action that could be really taken. He is the best writer I have read.
Many authors feel a sense of self-satisfaction after publishing a book. Some feel a sense of achievement, can you relate to such feelings?
I can say that each novel feels like another one of my literary children was born. All the hard work, all the revisions, the TLC that goes into making it powerful and readable and clear, expressive and addictive to the reader comes together when it sits in my hand. The greatest thing is to finally read it in book form and I forget that I am the writer and loving it. It is one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. My novel, Nimrod Rising represented more than 12 years of hard work. There is no feeling like that.
How do you balance your current occupation with your goals for writing?
This is the easiest question to answer; I never sleep. I have been blessed with the strange ability to be rested with as little as 5 hours sleep a day. I have been that way all my life. My wife too is just wonderful. She knows that what I do demands lots of time and she is my best supporter and full of understanding. I am a language teacher and I find that my writing and my teaching fit well together. I do feel times of stress, and I realized that during those times, it is important to take a break, recharge the batteries and write with pleasure and never because I feel I have to.
How did you feel at your first book-signing, or the first time you signed one of your published books?
I was surprised that people actually wanted to buy them. I found that I was really able to communicate the story as I spoke about it and made me feel really confident and I understood that that was what I was really good at. I am a people person and love the face to face. Getting book-signings and public appearances are hard to line up, but they not only sell books, such events encourage the writer to be ready to carry out the same tough work that we did on the previous book, because it is our passion.
If you won the lottery tomorrow, would that change your plans in your writing career? If so, how?
I have never thought of money as my claim to fame. Of course, I would go crazy to win that much money and I’d head down the list helping some people I’d love to bless, but I’d use it to further my writing and to ensure my stories were read. I am not driven by money, another point in which I am strange, I guess. Yet, I am a writer and the artist gene is alive and well in my head.
As writers, we begin with a manuscript that becomes published, and then we learn the meaning of promotions. In your opinion, what was the most difficult task?
The hardest task is getting book stores to believe in you and getting your story to readers. Finding a good agent is like pulling teeth, as well. I think the publishing and book store industry is geared against writers, to a great extent. It is true that there are a lot of bad books; badly written, badly edited and many publishers are into money and care less about authors. It got me down for a while, but I told myself that I write for the message and that there were just some things that would just have to do for myself. Though writing the book is challenging and meticulous, it is fun and enjoyable, because that is what we do. I am not an editor, an agent nor a publisher. Yet, I have had to do almost all those things. It has taught me a lot and I am glad for the struggle, because I come to discover other talents that I did not know I had.
Some writers need to listen to soft music to help them write those chapters for a new release, some prefer looking at the ocean, or flowers. Do you have any particular scenery, or object that you wish to focus on when writing?
I find that I always listen to music when I write. I love to listen to movie soundtracks as I write. The music is written to set moods and feelings for particular scenes. This has been perfect for me to give my mind the mood of the part I am writing. Music is powerful helps me write with the language the story dictates.
If you had books published in one Genre such as horror, and became daring to write a novel for a different genre, what would it be?
Every story has a genre of its own. I never set out to write a horror story. I like to say that I write about the world around us. I touch subjects that most of us do not dare broach. My books do not all fit into any one genre. I want to warn people about the loss of faith and the world that we do not see colliding with our own, so I wrote Nimrod Rising. I wanted to warn about the dangers of child abuse and the creation of criminal monsters, so I penned Stillborn, suspense drama. I wanted to show what infidelity could do to an exceptionally good man who lost everything and how it could transform him into a raging maniac, so I wrote Probable Cause. I wanted to demonstrate how lethargy and pretending that a terrorist danger is not present could place the nation at large in the forefront of a national disaster, and I wrote Patriot Acts. I want to be broad in my writing and I cannot predict what I will write next, not until the story tells me.