Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I retired from the Army in May of 2018. For the previous 24 years I had wanted to be a writer, but ten deployments left me little time for writing. I focused on doing my job well and put my dream on hold. When I retired, I found myself with lots of free time. I dusted off my writing skills, learned at the knee of my 11th grade English teacher (Bless you Mary Lou) and started writing.
I published my first novel, Hannibal’s Foe in November of 2018. The second, Hannibal’s Nemesis, should be out in January of 2019. So, I’ve written two books and published one so far…
I grew up in rural Virginia near Civil War battlefields and railroads. I am fascinated by both. I can spend hours wandering through the battlefields arround Petersburg, Appomattox and Sailor’s Creek or examining trains as they rumble through Raleigh or Richmond. My favorite computer game is still Railroad Tycoon II. (I’m so old.)
My father was a Navy Corpsman who sailed on submarines and my mother worked her way through college at the local radio station (as a secretary), then became a teacher..
When I turned 17, I joined the Navy. (But you said you retired from the Army??? Be patient) I spent twelve years sailing the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and a lot of the seas as well. I was what is known as an Operations Specialist, which is a lovely title that has absolutely no meaning to someone not in the Navy. I was the guy talking to Tom Cruise in TOP GUN. Yeah, that was me, sitting at the RADAR scope with the bald commander cussing behind me (not in the movie, I was 15 when it came out). But it was the best video game in the world. I also learned how to shoot Harpoon missiles and hunt submarines. Along the way, I picked up the skills necessary for running any operations center in the world. (More on that later)
So, I got out of the Navy in 2001 to go to college. I worked my way through a degree in Information Technology by working as a test engineer, testing the next generation RADAR consoles (they do much more than that, but I’m trying to be brief. And failing.) The contract ended and I moved from San Diego to Raleigh. There I built a house, became a firefighter / EMT and 911 telecommunicator (Dispatcher. I hate when organizations change the names of things just to sound more professional. It’s pathetic.) I finished my degree -finally- and joined the Army Reserve for a little extra spending money and an eventual pension. (See, told you to be patient.)
Well, there was this little war going on so my favorite Uncle Sam sent me to a place called Taji in Iraq. There I led a platoon driving big Army trucks called PLS’s (Palletized Load System) around the country. When I got back, my Uncle sent me to Kabul, Afghanistan to run an operation center (a skill I learned in the Navy if you recall) that coordinated NATO logistics for the entire country. After that, I was a bit burned out on deployments as you might imagine. So the Army made me an ROTC instructor in Myrtle Beach of all places. I spent two wonderful years there and enjoyed every minute. Then Sam came and asked if I wanted to go to Afghanistan again. I said yes, of course I want to go back to the paradise of Southwest Asia (A bit of sarcasm there). I spent nine more months there as the Garrison Commander of American forces in Camp Marmal, just outside of Mazar-e-Sharif. You can see it on Google Earth. (Go ahead, I’ll wait.) The job title sounds impressive, but I had a staff of 1. I owned half of a base that was the responsibility of the German Army. I supported between 50 and 600 personnel over that nine months. It was challenging and fun, when it wasn’t frustrating and boring.
When I got back, I had eighteen months until I retired on Active Duty, from the Army Reserve. The Army sent me to Fort Lee in Petersburg, Virginia. No one there had any idea what to do with me, so I became the executive officer to the deputy commander for Army Reserve affairs. Another one of those titles. Well, suffice it to say, I managed to escape the asylum and retire.
Then I chose a new set of titles for myself. Author (Good). President and CEO (Remains to be seen). Public Affairs Director (I wasn’t expecting this). And YouTube commentator (What???).
I wrote a three part series about one of my favorite historical figures and a personal hero, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The name of my latest (and only so far) book is Hannibal’s Foe. The inspiration for the story goes back 43 years (or 2,237 years depending on where you want to start). I was four and in kindergartern at Lunenburg Primary School. My teacher took us to the library for story time. The librarian read us a book about the Roman legions fighting at a place called Zama. Their enemies had war elephants. The Romans used trumpets to scare the elephants into stampeding through gaps cleverly left in their lines for the purpose letting them win the battle. I remembered that story for decades. I read Livy and Polybius to find out more about it. What I found was Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the general in command of the Roman legion at the battle.
Scipio is an amazing individual whose life reads like a bad Hollywood action movie script. Except it’s all true. It always amazes me that people remember Hannibal (because he marched elephants across the Alps in winter), but not the man who defeated him. Scipio’s victories established the foundation that Julius Caesar stood upon to create the Roman Empire. But few people even remember his opponent and fewer remember one of the greatest generals and politicians in history.
I wanted to change that outcome. I want Scipio to be remembered as the great man he was. I wanted his story to be told. So I wrote it from the perspective of the man who trained the boy and then followed him into battle.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sure, don’t you? I prefer to write in the morning, with coffee, before I eat. It gives me motivation to finish before my blood sugar crashes. This method leads to mistakes and confused plot lines which keeps my editor and proofreaders employed. (I like to support the economy) Then I like to eat, and spend the rest of the day watching movies, playing video games and goofing off. I’m retired, remember?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Like many authors, I am an avid reader. I have to say Lin Carter, a much underappreciated author, inspired the now deleted forward to Hannibal’s Foe. In that, I became part of the story, finding Appius’s long lost accounts of his adventures with Scipio. Maybe I’ll release that as a short story.
Gordon R Dickson lent me a perspective on the internal thought processes of characters and how to write them. I still want to know how the Childe Cycle ends.
Lois McMaster Bujold writes the best characters I’ve ever read. I wish I had half her talent for that skill. She is amazing.
C.S. Lewis taught me about awe and wonder. I truly wish the movies had stuck closer to the books. They completely ruined my favorite book in the Narnia Chronicles, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Raymond E. Feist, who unknowingly (and hillariously) insulted my ex-wife at a book signing. He wrote, Rise of a Merchant Prince, which I think I’ve read more than any other book. The main character is flawed and fascinating. That skill is a bit of craft I need to master.
Isaac Asimov, who inspired me to learn about everything, because a writer’s profession includes everything. A man who can make chemistry interesting is a genius in my book. His attempt at unifying math and philosophy in the Foundation books is still a topic I ponder.
Robert Heinlein, whose Starship Troopers is the best treatise on developing small unit leaders I have ever read. It is required reading at military academies for a good reason. The less said about the movie, the better.
Orson Scott Card, whose Ender’s Game was the first novel I read cover to cover, then turned back to the first page and did it again. His works, hit and miss with me, taught me that you will never write the perfect book for everyone. Concentrate on writing the perfect book for you and let your audience find it.
What are you working on now?
I am polishing Hannibal’s Nemesis, which is book 2 in the Republic of Rome series. I have plotted Hannibal’s Fate and will write it in December (2018) and January (2019). Then I need to switch genres to cleanse my palette, so to speak. I wrote an unpublished novel (called Gateway) set several hundred years into the future as a universe bible for a science fiction series I want to write. I plan to begin that series after I finish with Scipio and Rome.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am very new at this business, but I’ve done a lot of research. My experience is BookBub ads work well. I am experimenting with Amazon Marketing Services right now, but have yet to hit the sweet spot there yet. Eventually I want to expand to Facebook, Pinterest and others but give me some time… or lots and lots of money so I can experiment endlessly. Then, I’ll be happy to give you an opinion.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Being a new author I have only one piece of advice. Finish the book!!!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Finish the book!!! Really. If you can’t do that one simple thing, nothing else will matter. It doesn’t have to be great or even good. But if you don’t finish, you can’t send it to an editor to make it better. Finish the book!!!
What are you reading now?
Lots of strategy guides for Transport Fever. I’m addicted. I love trains.
As for novels, I’m reading nothing new at the moment. I tend to pick up voices from other authors, so when I’m writing I try not to read anything related to what I’m writing. When I take a break, I’ll read Simon Scarrow’s new book.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I told you my father was a submariner. Well, he served during the Cold War. I want to write a non-fiction book about life aboard submarines at the height of the Cold War. A story told from the perspective of the men who fought the silent battles in the cold and dark waters. I want to capture those stories before the men who lived them pass into history.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, Rise of a Merchant Prince, of course. Starship Troopers and Enders Game. If I could have a fourth book, it would be a good cookbook for shellfish and coconuts. (You have to be practical sometimes.)
Author Websites and Profiles
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