Interview With Author Jack Allen
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My wife and I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We have three boys and a year-old English Cream retriever named Daisy. I’ve been writing most of my life, since I was a kid, when I made up my own superhero and wrote stories for him. A lot of my early writing was inspired by Peter Parker and Spiderman.
I remember when I was thirteen someone gave me a Ken Follet novel. From that day on I was done with comic books and I had a fascination for spy novels. I read every Ken Follet book I could get my hands on. Two of my favorites are Triple and Lie Down with Lions. Early on Ken Follet’s books had a strong influence on me as an author. I practically copied his writing and storytelling style until I developed my own style.
I have written and self-published four novels. My first three, Change of Heart, An Innocent Among Them and Widow of Calcutta, are a series of romantic spy stories about Josh McGowan, a resourceful and resilient former Navy Special Forces officer now working for a small Navy Intelligence department that struggles with funding to stay afloat. His assignments take him to different corners of the world, and he usually uses his strong sense of right and wrong for the solution he thinks is best.
My fourth book, Breathe of the Flesh, is a spy thriller set in New York City during World War II. FBI agent Thomas Leopard and his partner, Gil Chen, hunt a German spy whose mission is to steal currency printing plates that the German Military Intelligence will use to make counterfeit money.
My fifth book, The Lennox Conspiracy, is the fourth in the series of romantic spy stories about Josh McGowan. I spent several years trying to beat the story into shape. Unfortunately, the story unraveled to the point I couldn’t save it. However, I’ve decided to move The Lennox Conspiracy down on the list and start it over from the beginning, so I expect it will reappear in the near future.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Currently I’m working on a romantic spy novel in a retro-science fiction setting called Colonial Rocket Service. This is a story about an obnoxious, arrogant young man whose home world is invaded and he is hunted by a spy who is determined to see him captured. Through the story, this young man evolves from a cowardly weakling to a courageous leader.
I’m never sure how to answer a question about what inspires me to write. I’d like to say there’s no such thing as inspiration and I write because there are a wealth of stories bouncing around in my head and it’s more of a compulsion to write just to get those stories out of my head. The truth, however, is more complicated.
Every now and then when I’m reading a book or watching a movie or a tv show I come across a character or a situation that stirs up what might be creative juices and instigates an urge to pick up the pen and start putting words on paper.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write everything by hand, all my thoughts and brainstorming, all of my outlining and changes to the outline, and all of the actual story writing. The outlining usually gets typed and I use it as a detailed guide to write the story, which is done by hand with a pen on paper. Then those pages get typed and I have a finished story I can edit and modify. That’s probably still a common habit among writers who compose their stories by hand.
The habit I have for writing everything by hand involves the paper on which I do my actual writing. I use scrap paper, paper that has been printed on one side and is intended to go in the trash. This is a bit of an embarrassing secret and sort of an inside joke with my wife. She saves scrap paper for me. It’s mainly because I’m a cheapskate and I can’t stand wasting something that still has some use.
The more unusual part of this whole thing, though, is how I use those sheets of scrap paper. I developed a technique of folding the sheets of paper in half with the printed side on the inside and the blank side on the outside. The purpose for this originated when I would write while I was at work, which some people might technically call stealing from the company. I didn’t care about that. I only cared about my writing.
The folded pieces of paper could be hidden under other papers. I have a feeling I was not the only person in the world to hide my writing needs from my employer. I believe I read somewhere when Elmore Leonard worked for an ad agency in Detroit he hid his writing in the top drawer of his desk and opened it to write when no one was looking.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Early on, as a kid, I was strongly influenced by Spiderman comics. Peter Parker as a character in a story appealed to me. He was a kid who struggled to get by and deal with the daily challenges of being an adult, while at the same time dealing with the strong sense of responsibility that came from the big mistake he made that cost him the life of his Uncle, to use the powers he had been given to help and protect people. The burdens he had to carry when he was fighting villains made him not just sympathetic but compelling.
Ken Follet had a strong influence on my writing and storytelling style, as I mentioned before. There was, however, one book that changed my perspective. I wouldn’t necessarily call it an influence on me, or even a source of motivation. At the time, in the early 90s when I was just out of college, I had a handful of ideas for some stories but I wasn’t certain how to proceed with them.
I bought the book from a bookstore, when there were still bookstores. I don’t remember the title or the author, or even what the story was about. I never finished it. What I do remember are two key things: 1. It was terrible, and 2. At the front of the book was a list of books the author had published.
It was not just a revelation to me but a bit of a shock. This guy was a terrible writer and yet he had published a bunch of books. How was this possible? More importantly, I knew I was already a better writer than him, and if he was able to get so many books published, why couldn’t I do that? What was stopping me?
That was when I became determined to write a complete book and began working on what would become Change of Heart. So, was a badly written book an influence? Maybe. Did it give me a reason to stop making excuses and transform myself into an author of novels? Definitely.
What are you working on now?
It’s a romantic spy story in a retro-science fiction setting. It’s called Colonial Rocket Service and the book cover and interior pages are laid out like an old military field manual. Part of the plan is to include technical drawings and specifications for ships and space stations.
The bad guy is Ommon Etge, a spy from the Union of Councils planets. His mission is to kill the Minister of Defense on the Imperial home world of Aedra, in advance of the coming invasion fleet. The Minister is the youngest brother of the King of Aedra.
Ommon is one small facet of an advance spy network to prepare for an invasion force from the Union of Councils fleet on military ships making the long trip from the planet Kyivan to Aedra. Ommon has a specific mission to lay the groundwork to eliminate the Minister of Defense at the right moment. Ommon, however, has plans of his own that involve a woman from his past.
Years before he was exiled with all the other (protestors, revolutionaries) to the distant planet Kyivan, he loved this woman and planned to build a life with. That woman is now the wife of the Minister of Defense.
The Minister’s son, Conall, escapes Ommon’s assassination attempt at the outset of the invasion fleet’s attack on Aedra. Ommon becomes obsessed with tracking down and capturing Conall. The Minister’s Marine protection team gets Conall out of the Capital as the invasion is begins. Conall is an obnoxious, spoiled, petulant young man.
Through the story, he evolves into a courageous and selfless leader. He discovers the secret to the technological advantage that makes the Councils’ ships faster and more lethal to the Royal Navy warships. This new knowledge helps to turn the war against the Councils.
At the end, Conall finally learns the truth that was hidden from him by Ommon. Conall makes the decision that the only way he can fix the mistake he made is to give himself up to Ommon, and even though he knows his life will become much more difficult, he knows he has done the right thing.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Do you have any advice for new authors?
The most important advice I have for new writers is to start with your ending first. The reason for this is that some new writers might have an idea for a great character, and they might have an idea for a story, but that story might get off course and fizzle out because the writer doesn’t know where it’s going.
We’ve all read books or watched movies that have a great character and the story starts out well but loses direction at some point. If I take some time to figure out what’s going to happen at the end, then I at least have a landing point. That landing point might change as the story evolves, and the story still has a direction to follow.
Another piece of advice I have for writers is something I learned from screenwriting. Use this sentence: My story is about (blank), who wants (blank). If the writer can fill in the blanks with the main points of the story, the story itself becomes crystal clear.
If we apply that technique to, for example, L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, the sentence would read: My story is about Dorothy, who wants to go home. The actual story is much more complicated, of course, but distilled to this simple form makes it easier to focus on the goal of the story.
Defining what the character wants provides us with their external needs. Developing their internal needs throughout the story is a completely different subject.
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