PREPARING FOR THE SURREAL

Available June 4th

June 4th looms as a huge check mark in my life.

Long after my time on this earth has passed, there will be tangible evidence that I was here.  In a way, a contribution to the arts.  That feels good.

For a while, I will have the honor of sharing the same precious space reserved for the works of Ian Fleming, Robert Ludlum, Lee Child, Brad Meltzer, Vince Flynn, Frederick Forsyth and so many more.

The air is getting thinner.

It's like precise math at this point.  Hard work + dreams x never giving up = June 4th, which is the day my debut espionage thriller SANDSTORM is released.

I hark back to my days as a youngster when I was drawn to bookstores like a magnet, seeking some far away land or larger than life character to satisfy my imaginative thirst.

They've been out of business for years, but I fondly remember spending countless hours at Kroch's and Brentano's in downtown Chicago.  My mother could deposit me there and then go shopping, secure with the knowledge that I wasn't going to wonder off.  And that was way, way before the invention of cell phones.

Multi levels of books; mysteries, thrillers, WWII, magazines, and newspapers from around the globe.  It was the best of times as I thumbed through the latest Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, Len Deighton and other offerings.

I'm sure that's where the fire was first lit.  Imagine one day on the shelf, staring back at me, something I created.

Fast forward to 2013 and it's about to become a reality.

I can only speculate that seeing one's first book, a labor of intense love, on a shelf at a bookstore is like an out of body experience.  To that end, I have to tip my hat to Barnes & Noble and countless independent sellers for surviving in this technological age.  Thanks for hanging in there!  Gone are Borders, B. Dalton, Waldenbooks and various other relics that used to cater to a reading world.

Part of me wants to emulate Mary Tyler Moore in the opening credits of her TV show where she spins and joyously throws her hat in the air.  Another part wants to take on the persona of The Most Interesting Man In The World.  Act like you've been here before.

Whichever emotion comes through, I'm sure it will be genuine and extremely humbling.  There are friends, fans and strangers who will willingly fork over their hard earned dollars.

I can only hope I manage to give them the kind of return on their investment that leaves them wanting more.

MY BRUSH WITH JASON BOURNE

It was not unlike a clandestine meeting.

On each end, someone else was responsible for us getting together in 1983.  There was never any direct communication.  No one with notoriety passed through St. Thomas without a set of eyes upon them. 

I had only been living and working on St. Thomas for a couple of months when a fellow co-worker at the Virgin Islands Daily News informed me that my favorite author, Robert Ludlum, often vacationed there.  I told him I'd be interested in doing an interview.  He knew people who knew Ludlum and therefore, he'd see what he could do the next time Jason Bourne's creator was on the island.

Robert Ludlum

I'd forgotten about the conversation when out of the blue one day, I was told Ludlum agreed to the interview.  But, there was a condition.  Now this was the part that as a journalist, makes you take a seat. 

What's the condition?

"You can't disclose to anyone where he's staying and you can't run the interview in the paper until he's gone."

Now, this was the part that as a journalist, makes you jump out of your seat and say, "Is that all?  Yeah I agree to that."

Secret Harbour Beach Resort

A couple of days later, anxious as hell, I knocked on the designated door at the Secret Harbour Beach Resort.  Now the next part is a little fuzzy in my memory.  Come on, it was over 27 years ago!  What I can't remember is whether he or his wife opened the door.  In any event, I was welcomed in and led to the patio.  The backdrop was a breathtaking stretch of white sandy beach and a cove that fed into the Caribbean Ocean.

For nearly an hour I sat with Ludlum, picking his brain, listening to every word, hoping to not only gather material for a good article, but to possibly pick up pointers for the day when I got serious about writing my own thrillers.

One skill you learn over time is how to read upside down.  While on vacation, Ludlum would often write passages of his next project in a simple spiral bound notebook.  There it was, open on the table.  The makings of the next novel.  I started to read it.  Hey, he left it open!  I asked to be sure.  "So, you're working on your next book?"

He acknowledged my observation but wouldn't let me read it.  Now was that being hospitable!  I believe that notebook turned out to be The Aquitaine Progression.

When I was done, it was just as much a treat to discover Ludlum was a gracious, nice person.  I of course, honored our agreement and a few months later, a note addressed to me arrived from him.  He didn't have to, but essentially Ludlum took the time to say thanks.  I cherish that correspondence to this day.

MY MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

I started reading thrillers, mostly spy fiction, before I was a teenager.  Anybody out there old enough to remember the Nick Carter series?  Killmaster ring a bell?  Had my mom really thumbed through some of the pages, she would have been as surprised as I gladly was.  Guess the innocent looking covers were a nice misdirection.

As time passes, you read and read and certain books influence or stay in your mind as ones you could read over and over again. 

Here, in no particular order, is my Magnificent Seven list.

1.  The Day Of The Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

      I said there's no particular order but I have to confess this is the book that set the standard for me.  The subject came up once during an interview with Tom Clancy and he agreed with my assessment.  Forsyth created a masterpiece in both plot and character development.


2.  Marathon Man by William Goldman

      I've never liked the dentist and this book created a phobia that exists to this day.  Perhaps you've seen the movie but reading it first-hand, late at night... who can forget...

      "Is it safe?"

      "Yes.  It's very safe.  It's so safe you wouldn't believe
      it.  There.  Now you know."

      "Is it safe?"


3.  Six Days of the Condor by James Grady

     If memory serves me right, this was the first book I ever read in one day.  It was short but one hell of a page turner.  A very well thought out and unique plot.  Robert Redford did a good job in the movie version and Max von Sydow - special.


4.  The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum

      That I got to meet and interview Robert Ludlum at a time when I was a huge fan, makes this book special.  Most people know about Jason Bourne but the lead character in this offering, Brandon Scofield, is a bad man.  He has a Russian counterpart and they hate each other but as fate would have it, they are forced to join forces to snuff out an organization known as The Matarese.  Good stuff.


5.  The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian

     Jonathan Hemlock was in interesting character.  A professor of art, skilled mountain climber and a free-lance assassin who often killed in order to acquire precious works of art.  Shame this character was only operational in two books.


6.  Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn

    I have had the pleasure of knowing Vince for several years and he serves as an inspiration since he had to self publish his first novel when no one would give him a serious nibble.  Several bestsellers later, it proves the literary world can miss out on talent.  Flynn's CIA assassin is Mitch Rapp and after all the killing he's done, it stands to reason that one day, someone would come looking for revenge.  That day comes to light in this entertaining read.


7.  From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming

     Another book I shouldn't have been reading when I did was this James Bond offering.  SMERSH sets up a lavish trap to kill Bond and they have trained the perfect killer in Red Grant.  How can you go wrong a writer who brought an entire genre to the forefront.