What are you reading right now?
I’m reading some research on a topic a friend of mine and I are thinking about tackling. We are both in the field of education, and we both see many things that could improve, if certain things changed. So, we’ve been having some discussions, and plan to start meeting once a month to develop those ideas into an outline and eventually the first three chapters and a synopsis of the rest. Then we’ll see where it leads.
I’m also reading the first book in the Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker, Night Passage as well as The Lost City of Z by David Grann. I just finished for the second time (because I use it in my other job) The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. I highly recommend that book to any first year teacher or college of education student. She’ll save you years of grief, especially if you plan to be a language arts or reading teacher.
I’m a notoriously slow reader and usually have 2-4 books going at once.
When we married, my husband didn’t like to read, and I hadn’t written a book. Now I have had 45 books published, and he likes to read, but he is really slow. What is your current work in progress?
I currently have three projects going right now. First, is Book 4 of the Blake Meyer series, When the Clock Strikes Fourteen. It continues the story of the first three books in the series (readers are going to love what Blake does in this one), and will jettison readers into the final two books in the series. The series has been constructed like a season of 24, wherein each book would encapsulate roughly four episodes if it were to be made into a teleplay (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, know what I mean?), and because it has been built this way, I decided to incorporate an aspect of time into each title as it fit that section of the story. Another project I’m working on is the one I already referenced (the young adult series). I sit down when I have a little time—but not time enough to get hip deep (like I have to do with the Blake Meyer series)—and carve out a few pages. It’s still got a ways to go, but so far, the reviews have been excellent. I’ll reveal more about this once I have it done, which hopefully will be by the end of the year. Then, there’s the non-fiction educational work my friend and I are planning. Oh, and I’m toying around with the idea of writing the screenplay to The Serpent’s Grasp. Between Jurassic World and Meg, there seems to be a hunger for this stuff at the box office, right (no pun intended)?
What would be your dream vacation?
I’m a simple guy. Although I’d love to travel the world and see many things, sitting on a balcony in New Smyrna Beach, about five floors up, facing the ocean, is heavenly enough for me. That’s not only a dream vacation, it’s a dream lifestyle. If I owned a condo there, I’d have no reason to ever leave. However, if you press me, I would love to see Hawaii and Australia. Maybe even New Zealand while I’m down under.
Those three are on my list of dream vacations, too. How do you choose your settings for each book?
I choose them where I believe they make sense, would be believable, etc. The Letters is set in NYC because of the main protagonist’s mother, who lives in a psychiatric hospital and has been somewhat of a test subject. My Blake Meyer series, because of it being an international thriller, is set in Florida, Zurich, Paris, Texas, Russia, Haiti, Ukraine, and other points as needed. The Serpent’s Grasp is set primarily in Miami, but uses other locations in Florida and the Bahamas, but its main setting is the Atlantic Ocean.
If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?
I think it would probably be Steven Spielberg. As a storyteller, I’m always looking to expand my horizons, and learning the craft of screenplays and looking at the world through the lens of film would be helpful to not only understand that industry, but it would also help me in the transformation of words on a page to scenes on a screen. In addition, with his heritage, I think it would be interesting to hear his perspective on the nation Israel and the Old Testament. So, I guess we are talking about one long evening, huh? Lots to talk about.
What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?
Who has time for hobbies? I get up often at four in the morning to write (like I did this morning) for about two hours before I have to start getting ready for work. I’m usually at work between 7:30 & 8:00. I’m there until usually 5:00 or later, depending on what’s happened during the day and whether or not we have evening events. Then it’s back home to eat dinner and spend some time with Cindy. By 9:00 p.m., I’m wiped out. Usually in bed by 10:00-10:30. But you know what? This writing thing was a hobby years ago that turned into what amounts to a second job. So, I can’t complain. I’m doing something I love, and now I get paid for it. Another thing I love to do is play the drums/percussion. I used to have my own drum set when we were first married, but I had to sell it when we moved the first time. I have never owned my own set since, but I have played in two praise teams at church along the way, and will be joining a third one soon since we changed churches to be able to attend church with our daughters and their families.
What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
I never have an issue with writer’s block. I know some of my writer friends do, but I have so many ideas waiting in the wings. My obstacle is time. Like I described above, carving out time to write has to be strategic and disciplined. Otherwise, it will never happen. I’ve done the math…if writing was all I did, then I do believe churning out 4-6 books a year would not be difficult. However, with things the way they are right now, two a year is more reasonable.
What advice would you give to a beginning author?
Don’t quit. You’re going to get rejected. You’re going to be told your writing isn’t good enough. You’re going to get discouraged. It will happen over and over again. Even after you are published. But don’t quit. Even Frank Peretti, J. K. Rowling, and the like got/get rejected by editors, got/get negative reviews. So, don’t quit. Believe in what you are doing. Be flexible and teachable. Just like in the Christian walk, the best disciples (and thus writers) are FAT disciples (Faithful, Available, and Trainable). Always look at your writing with an editor’s eye. Always look at your career as one more step of growth. And always keep everything in perspective. I’ve often thought that even if I was the “James Patterson” of Christian writing when it came to sales, etc., when I stand before God on my judgement day, all those accolades would have to be tossed at His feet, too. They do not measure up to the infinite degree of grace I have received just like all my others works (Romans 3:9-24).
Tell us about the featured book.Triple Time (A Blake Meyer Thriller – Book 2) is the continuation of Book 1. Blake has caught up to the nemesis of Book 1, Colin Murphy, but the contagion is still in play. But after going through everything in the first book, Book 2 opens with Blake being “granted” a chance to rest and heal for a day. This timing seems grand as it is also the day of his daughter’s fifth birthday party. But while the party is going on, and many friends and family are enjoying the festivities, Murphy’s plans are still in motion, and Blake and his family are attacked, launching them all into the rest of the series. Here’s a look at the Back Cover Copy:
Supervisory Special Agent Blake Meyer has an impossible choice to make. After thwarting a massive biological attack on the continental United States, the contagion is still missing and in the hands of the enemy. So is his family. Abducted as an act of revenge.
The clock is ticking, and the chances of finding his wife and children wane with every passing second. The assassin behind it holds all the answers.
Or does she?
Three demands. Three choices. Blake Meyer knows what must be done…but can he accomplish it before it’s too late? Time is literally of the essence. And double time will not be fast enough.
Please give us the first page of the book.
Home of Blake and Sara Meyer
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Blake Meyer checked his cell phone for the time. Six o’clock.
Having fired up the grill, Blake stood on the back porch of his family’s home overlooking the Atlantic. He’d spent the last several days opening up doors into his past he never wanted to revisit. Ones he’d kept hidden from his wife Sara and the kids until now. Surely, Sara would have more questions about his life before marriage. But how do you explain these things to your wife without making her scared of you?
He closed his eyes for a moment and allowed his senses to sanitize his worries. Catching Colin Murphy had been exhausting, and the breeze coming off the ocean mixed with the aroma of burgers on the grill relaxed his mind.
The roar of a watercraft sped by, causing him to look. A skier swished back and forth in a zig-zag pattern behind the boat, looking like something out of the movie Jaws. Farther out, little white specks—most likely shrimp boats and deep-sea fishing charters—dotted the horizon.
Inside the house, a growing commotion brewed as more and more relatives arrived for Little Sara’s big day, her fifth birthday. This little girl held a special place in Blake’s heart. He’d always said she was “the spittin’ image of her mother.” Even as a baby, she looked just like her mom’s baby pictures. However, with each passing day, the resemblance became even more striking. Now, at the age of five, it no longer was just the looks. The facial expressions, the mannerisms, the flow of the hair, the lilt in her voice…It was like he was getting the opportunity to watch his wife grow up right in front of him, all the while knowing how she’ll turn out when she becomes a woman.
Tomorrow night, the two sisters from down the street and the little girl from Little Sara’s YMCA swimming class would come over for a slumber party. Although Blake loved his daughter, he wasn’t sure if he could handle four screaming banshees in the house being chased by an annoyed, older brother. Blake smiled as he watched an older couple stroll by, hand in hand, kicking at the surf. Sounds like a great time to finish those After Action reports Connell’s demanding and get back up to speed on the investigation.
He flipped the burgers and listened to the mixture of lapping waves and laughing family members. The simple fact of standing on his patio, peering out at the ocean, an ocean, any ocean for that matter, was so much like a dream.
Blake had spent over half his life fighting to keep the country safe, so the people out on the ocean, those on the shore, and those in his house—oblivious to the Colin Murphys and Arina Filipovs of the world—could enjoy themselves. Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of happiness. Those were what Blake fought to protect.
He also knew his presence on the ocean’s shore, coupled with his FBI agent’s salary, made it all seem even more dreamlike…more like a fairy tale.
I want to take this moment and thank Lena Nelson Dooley for having me on her blog. This is the third and final interview in the series (for now), featuring my Blake Meyer series.
