Don Brown: Legal Thrillers

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

As of WED this title is no longer free at amazon. I'm sorry. I had hoped it would stay free for the entire week.

 

Regards,

John Michael Hileman

Managing Editor

CFBR


CFBR: We are grateful you've decided to stop by and have a chat with us. Your Political Thrillers are fast moving, and bone chillingly relevant in this age of global threat. Tell us about your recent release, The Malacca Conspiracy. What is the hook?

DB: MALACCA CONSPIRACY is a fast-moving geopolitical thriller set in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the United States. The book opens with a conspiracy in the Malaysian seaport city of Malacca. A rogue Indonesian general conspires with Saudi operatives to attack oil tankers in theMalacca Straights, coordinated with the purchase of crude oil futures. Their goal is to transform Indonesia into the first Islamic superpower, and to control the strategic sea lanes around the Malacca Straights.

The coordinated attacks on shipping drive up the prices of crude oil futures, and the group then uses billions in revenues from futures profits to finance an overthrow of the Indonesian government and cripple the United States by financing strategic nuclear attacks against three U.S. Cities.

JAG Officers Diane Colcernian and Zack Brewer, first introduced in my breakout novel, TREASON, return by popular demand. As the novel opens, Zack and Diane are serving as naval attachés to Indonesia and Singapore. Reunited for one last hurrah, Zack and Diane find themselves in the midst of investigating the conspiracy, and rush against a perilous deadline to stop it before American cities are obliterated.

CFBR: You must draw a lot from your five years as a Navy Jag Officer.

DB: I draw very heavily on my Navy experience, not only as a JAG officer at the Pentagon, but also from my studies through the Navy War College. My first three novels, Treason, Hostage and Defiance, were drawn heavily upon my JAG Experience. My most recent two, Black Sea Affair and Malacca Conspiracy, were drawn in large part from my War College and Pentagon experience. Bottom line is that my Navy experience very much affects my writing.

CFBR: What else do you draw upon for ideas and research?

DB: One of the things that I absolutely love the most about this job is the research. I get to learn something new every day and get paid for it! To me, that’s a dream kind of job. In this case, beyond my JAG experience, I will often look for ideas in trade publications and magazines like Proceedings (Navy magazine), Foreign Affairs Magazine, the Economist, the Navy Times, and various other trade journals, magazines and publications dealing with the military and foreign policy.

 

CFBR: How do your Christian beliefs influence your writing?

DB: I have three objectives when I write, and My Christian beliefs are manifested in my third objective. Please permit me to briefly lay out my three objectives. First, as a novelist, I have an implicit contract with my readers to entertain. To do that, my goal is to build tension on every page in a way that will make the reader want to turn the page, and feel satisfied with the ultimate resolution.

Second, I want to educate readers about geo-contemporary issues that are relevant to our world today. For example, in MALACCA CONSPIRACY, I hope that my readers can, in a fun way, learn about a part of the globe that is both exciting and also strategically important to the United States, and the free world, but that is at the same time, largely ignored in our public schools and our universities.

Finally, I want my stories to be saturated with a biblical world view, one in which biblical truth is manifested throughout, subtly, and in which my readers leave inspired to do what is right. One of my favorite life verses is Deuteronomy 6:18. “Do the right thing.” I want to place my characters in a position where they must ultimately, chose what is right in accordance with Biblical teaching. I hope this will inspire my readers to do what is right when facing trials in life that, as James says, we all must face. This is where my Christian beliefs come in as a novelist.

CFBR: We have many writers who visit our site, could you explain a little of how you promote your books?

DB: I think the issue of book promotion is one of the greatest challenges facing most of my fellow authors. Once the novel is complete, which in and of itself is a gargantuan task, there is often a feeling of “now what?” I’ve done lots of book signings over the years, and as my friend and colleague Robert Whitlow advised me years ago, I’ve found that sometimes book signings can be “hit-or-miss.” Sometimes, they’re lined up outside the bookstore, and sometimes, you sit there alone eating chocolate chip cookies! Hah! So I unless the book signing has a lot of organization and promotion behind it, where you know a lot of readers will be there as a result of heavy promotion, I don’t often use an in-store signing as a promotional tool as much as I used to.

The two things I’ve found to be most effective are (a) public speaking opportunities and (b) book club appearances. I’ve spoken to veterans groups and military-related groups, who may have an interest in my topic material, but no matter what your genre, many groups, like civic groups and others, are often interested in hearing a published author speak on the topic of “how to get published.” So no matter if you’re a romance author, or a military-political-thriller author, I’d recommend putting together a “how to get published” stump speech and go with that. See if the Lions Club or the Rotary Club or any type of civic organization like that would be interested on hearing that sort of talk. A lot of folks are very curious on how to get published and love to hear the author’s thought on that. Also, I’d call around to book clubs, who are captive audiences, and see if they’d like to have an author come talk to the club. Oftentimes they’ll say yes, then everyone in the club buys your book, is full of questions, you get wined and dined, and it’s a great word-of-mouth vehicle.

Finally, in my case, I have to give Kudos to my great publisher, Zondervan. Special thanks to Steve Sammons, Sue Brower, Alicia Mey, Jennifer Baar, and many others in Grand Rapids who have worked so diligently on my books and in promotion of other Zondervan authors. Bottom line is this. Having a great publisher doesn’t hurt in the marketing department.

 

CFBR: What is on the horizon?

DB: Right now, I’m in the midst of a new, three-book contract with Zondervan called “The Pacific Rim Series.” The first novel, entitled “Thunder in the Morning Calm,” a geo-political thriller set largely in and around Korea, is due out next year. I’m very excited about this entire project!

CFBR: Thank you for sharing your time and your writing with us.

DB: Thanks so much for the opportunity to share. I’m grateful for every opportunity to discuss Christian fiction, and am very grateful to each and every reader. Take care and God bless!

DON BROWN, a former U.S. Navy JAG Officer, is the author of Zondervan’s riveting NAVY JUSTICE SERIES. a dynamic storyline chronicling the life and adventures of JAG officer ZACK BREWER. He began writing his first novel TREASON In 2003, and it went on to become the NAVY JUSTICE SERIES.







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