Kingmaker book thread (merged 89 times)

[Brag]

Thank you, John for a generous review. It makes me happy to know readers enjoy the book. This makes the effort of writing and re-writing, and re-writing again worthwhile.


Q. Brag, judging from your bio, you have a great deal of life experiences to draw upon when writing; Was there any one event which inspired you the most to write Kingmaker?

A. Yes. When I saw General Colin Powel give his anemic presentation to the UN I could see a man under great pressure. By this time, people were leaving the CIA in droves. I asked myself a question: What would happen to an intelligence officer who refused to tailor reports to fit a political agenda?

Q. Probably one of the more difficult things for a writer to do is create believable, flawed, characters that the reader can honestly relate to. It is also one of the things that you have done well in the creation of Kingmaker. Has this ability always been one of your strong points? Or do you just sit down and decide ‘okay, this is the kind of character this book needs.’?

A. The study of people, their motivations and their weakneses was an integral part of my work while in the intelligence field. This of course helps create a cast of characters with some depth to them.


Q. Speaking of flawed characters, every great writer includes a flaw or weakness within his main character. It gives the sense of humanity that a reader can relate to in that the main character, like the reader, are not always 100% sure of themselves. In Kingmaker, we see John Trager make a few mistakes in the book, but one thing that stands out is his sometimes crippling fear of heights. What made you chose this flaw?

A. Heh. I have to confess, I suffer from a fear of heights. So I plunked this fear on poor Trager.

Q. Your book, im my opinion ranks up there with Tom Clancy and Ian Flemming. I even read a few bits of dialogue which reminded me of Ian Flemming’s work with the James Bond series. One of the lines in Kingmaker when Trager addresses the planted safari driver “No sudden moves, Im a nervous customer” seemed reminiscent of James Bond’s line from the 1962 film Dr. No in which he finds himself in a similar situation with a planted driver and says “Hands on the wheel, im a nervous passenger.” Is Ian Flemming a writer you look up to? What writers have served to inspire you throughout your writing career?

A. I've read only one book by Ian Fleming, but have seen several Bond movies. I'm a great admirer of John Le Carre. Robert Ruark, Evelyn Waugh and Heminghway. I also love the humour ambushes of Nelson DeMille.

Q. Do you have any upcoming titles you want to spread the word about to our subsim.com members?



A. I'm working on another thriller, The Gelwitz Cipher, where events of WWII including the secret voyage of a type XXI U-boat influence present day action.


Alexy, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, im personally looking forward to reading your next book. Im confident it will be a nail biter as well!


John, I thank you for this opportunity.
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