Author on Author - AJ Tata on Steven Savile

Tidings fans!

Another week has past to bring us to today's Author on Author where AJ Tata asks Steven Savile some very thought provoking questions. Enjoy the following session:


AJ Tata: You are an international bestselling author having sold 250,000 copies with books printed in 14 different languages. To what do you attribute your broad appeal to such a variety of people?

Steven Savile: I don't know about you, but when I write I make a series of conscious choices that are outside of the writing, and one of them is made purely with the understanding that reading is a voluntary habit and is financed by residual income - the same income that pays for nights at the cinema, an evening at the sports bar, a packet of cigarettes, etc
- so every word I write is competing with these vices. What the upshot of this means is that I damned well better be entertaining at the very least. It isn't my job to educate or elucidate, at least not, say, with Silver (though there are some serious political undertones as well as social ones), it's to give you a damned good ride, a few laughs, a few thrills, and basically leave you feeling that you're glad you spent the bucks on the book as opposed to the jumbo pack of Harry Potter inspired burgers from BK or what have you. My hope is that the readers come away entertained. Most do, I think. I hope.


AJT: Stephen King in Danse Macabre asserts that we all have a sieve in our mind that collects some things and lets others through. Each individual is programmed differently, he argues, and so some of us enjoy thrillers and others enjoy horror, and so on. Your ‘sieve’ seems to be good at collecting it all. How do you so credibly write across such a broad spectrum of topics from vampires to westerns to thrillers? What do you enjoy writing the most? What do you enjoy reading the most (other than the Threat Series)?

SS: The thing is no one told me I couldn't. Does that make sense? I've always believed I am a writer and that my talent allows me to write, it doesn't dictate that I can only write horror, or fantasy or thrillers, it means that the words exist to tell the stories. Why are all the stories so varied? I've said it a lot in interviews, but I write little pieces of me, essentially, and that means I am driven to write things that feed my soul. Things that are FUN. Primeval, for instance, was fun. It may not be great literature but when you get fan mail from 12 year old kids saying they've read the book 9 times and love it you know you've done something right. I am like a magpie with ADD, I guess. I get attracted by shiny ideas and go oooh look, that's cool... and find myself running off to write about golems in a Victorian London that never was or spinning a Judeo-Christian thriller like Silver. The mechanism to setting the words down is the same.

As to what I enjoy the most, the pat answer would be whatever I am writing at the time, but there is a truth to it. I mean when I finished 6 fantasy novels a few years back I said that was it, no more, now I am writing a new novel for Guild Wars 2, the multiplayer online game... why? Because it is fun. Check out the trailer for it and tell me it doesn't look cool.

As to reading, now that you've recused yourself I'm left with a rather eclectic mix of stuff from Lee Child and Preston Child at one end through to Douglas Coupland and Jay McInerney at the other with Raymond Fiest and Jonathan Carroll somewhere in the middle. Or, in other words my reading is as screwed up as my writing.


AJT: You are a teacher, editor, and author, among many other talents to include burglar alarm salesman. It would seem to me that being an author and an editor are completely at odds with each other, not to mention the teaching aspect. How do you reconcile the creativity of writing with the discipline of editing?

SS: Hah! I wouldn't call the burglar alarm thing a talent, as it lasted less than 12 hrs! The teaching was a great job for a while but I wasn't a natural teacher so I grew tired really quickly. I think you need a special personality to keep giving so selflessly of yourself to an unruly bunch of teens ready to take over the world. However the editing and the writing, well I don't see them as mutually exclusive - indeed the editorial side of the job has helped me develop a strong story sense that I can apply to my own writing and help identify weaknesses. Plus it does mean I tend to turn in fairly clean manuscripts so my editors love me. Again, I think it is just a case of no one telling me I couldn't do it, and writing is such a lonely job at times there is something very fulfilling about working with other people. That's why I love collaborating as well.


AJT: You are an accomplished Television writer. How does writing for TV differ from writing successful novels?

SS: Well, you've got very little control of what goes on in terms of character - there's a basic rule that says you can do anything to an established character during the course of your work so long as by the end of it they're returned back to the exact same state you found them in. Of course, you've also got fans who know Stargate inside out, and considerably better than you do, so you know you've got to be on top of your game not to disappoint, whereas with something like Silver I'm playing in my own world, by my rules and can do anything I want to the characters - and heck to the world itself...


AJT: We all hear about the formulas for writing, such as introduction, conflict and resolution, for example. Being such a prolific writer, how do you avoid the trap of following the same formula each time?

SS: Good question, and I can only hope that I do avoid the trap. My starting point with any story is always the characters. I want to know the people, what drives them, what they fear... Tim Powers says find out the one thing your character fears more than anything and then make it happen to them. I agree. Fear drives people consistently and opens up lots of opportunities for story. I don't tend to work from a template, though I can tell when I am approaching the ends of acts - I write classic three act stories, no matter how complicated, so that much I stick with. I am comfortable with the framework.


AJT: You chose writing and quality of life over a business career full of honors and promotions. As you have churned away and done what so many of us would like to do, has the journey been what you expected? What has been your biggest surprise?

SS: Absolutely not. It's been challenging. I've given up a lot, hurt a lot of people and lived far too closely to the breadline for far too long, but I am stubborn, and because I still feel like a fraud and am sure someone is going to find me out, I still don't believe I am a success.
Heck, the first review I ever had said 'Steve Savile takes the prize for plodding pointlessness' and this was on Amazon, back when the 'net was young. The result was it was syndicated on about 300 sites and if you put my name into google (or yahoo and dogpile as it was back then) you got a screen full of Steve Savile takes the prize for plodding pointlessness... it kept me pretty humble. I'm constantly surprised when I get fan mail or someone says how much they enjoyed my book, because often all I can see in it are the flaws in retrospect - I am a much better craftsman now than I was 6 years ago, but I had a blazing enthusiasm then, so hopefully the enthusiasm covers up the flaws.

Biggest surprise, not to be self serving, was recently when I won the International Media Writers Award for Best YA novel, when I was sure Dr Who was going to win. I sat in my lounge holding the cell phone reading the message from Keith De Candido over and over again, and had to text him back to say 'You are kidding me right? This is an elaborate hoax you guys have cooked up...'



If you have any questions or comments for this session, please don't hesitate to jot them down! I'm sure Steve would be more than happy to answer anything he can. Great session guys. I look forward to all of your comments.

Welcome to the Newest Family Member

Good day Zealots!

Please give a warm welcome to Payne Harrison! Payne is the New York Times bestselling author of STORMING INTREPID, THUNDER OF EREBUS, BLACK CIPHER, FORBIDDEN SUMMIT, and now, EUROSTORM. His work has been called “expertly written and well researched” by The New York Times, and a “masterpiece” by Publisher’s Weekly, while THUNDER OF EREBUS was a main selection of The Military Book Club.

STORMING INTREPID was a New York Times Bestseller and a Cold War classic that helped define the techno-thriller genre.

Now with EUROSTORM he weaves his narrative magic yet again. Of course, you can find the rest of the description at the EUROSTORM book page (which you should be sure to check out as we will be updating the pages as we get new info like reading samples and cover art), along with the rest of his info at the Payne Harrison author page. Look forward to seeing this on the bookshelves for beach season 2010!

AJ Tata on Afghan Elections

Hey folks,

Whether we are directly involved or not (I'm guessing most of us are), this is an important topic in today's current situation. It could be your brother, your aunt, your cousin, a friend, but someone you know is probably over in Afghanistan fighting not only for our freedom, but for the freedom of the Afghan people from the grasp of terrorists like the Taliban.

This was recorded Wednesday night, so this is now old news, but show your support for the cause by watching the vid and passing it along.



Thanks again to all the troops, and General AJ Tata for doing what you do. If you haven't yet, be sure to pick up SUDDEN THREAT, as all proceeds go to the USO Metro-DC fund for our Wounded Warriors.

Author On Author - Michael Cornelius on AJ Tata

Good day Zealots!

Are you an aspiring writer? Have a military background? Maybe both? Well, this interview is for you. Michael G. Cornelius asks General AJ Tata some great questions that may get your authoring juices flowing.

Michael G. Cornelius: From an author whose Variance book did not have him labeled the “next Tom Clancy” – or the next anything, for that matter - what’s the comparison and the attention like? Does it make you nervous about your work holding up to scrutiny, or are you excited about the potential of reaching so many more readers?

AJ Tata: It is high praise to be compared to the master of the military techno-thriller, so I welcome the comparisons. If we want to be in the big leagues we have to strive for the highest standards. I like to point out that while Tom Clancy writes from a technology and research foundation, I write from a very boots on the ground position. I try to capture the emotions of combat in my writing as much as I attempt to parlay interesting technology into the plot. But I think readers are increasingly more interested in well developed characters and less interested in, say, the spin rate of the round exiting an M4 muzzle. I’m excited about the comparisons and the expanded reach that they may provide.

MGC: Terrorism and extreme fundamentalism are obviously very high on many people’s lists of real, palpable things they are afraid of – studies have shown that in this decade people have consistently ranked terrorism as a very, very real concern, right up there with environmental disaster and public speaking. Why do we read so voraciously about those things we fear? Is it that we hope to find solutions to our fears in fiction, to work them out; is it that we feel comforted by fictional heroes saving the day? Or is it something else altogether?

AJT: I can remember watching “Black Hawk Down” with a friend who is a mortgage broker and has never been in the military. During one of the combat scenes, he said, “Man, I wish I could do that.” I quickly told him, “I’m not sure you do.” It occurred to me though that many people read thrillers because they want to live vicariously through the heroes of the book. Perhaps some identify with well crafted villains. There is a bit of Walter Mitty in all of us, I think, seeking recognition, slaying dragons, and so on. Nietzsche called it the “Beast with Red Cheeks.” So, I think that readers immerse themselves in Matt Garrett’s world, for example, and become the hero. They are right there with him climbing a Philippine jungle mountain in Sudden Threat, or free-falling into a Canadian fishing lake in Rogue Threat.

MGC: I teach writing, and my students often complain that writing action sequences are especially difficult for them. I often tell them the old chestnut about pacing – shorter sentences increases the rhythm of the reader – but I’m hoping you might have some more advice for them. What makes your action sequences so successful, and how can the novice writer learn from you?

AJT: For me, writing an action sequence is all about what’s happening in the hero’s mind. Having been in combat, I can tell you that the mind is indeed the best weapon. In most firefights, I never fired a weapon. As a leader, I gave direction, devised quick plans, and coordinated the entire unit’s efforts. I approach my action scenes from very much the same perspective. Less is generally more. Slow needs to be fast and fast needs to be slow. There’s an old saying in the Army that, “Slow is smooth; smooth is fast.” It relates to a four man team, called a stack, that is about to enter a building and clear a room. Instead of stumbling quickly into the room, we train the men to walk with a purpose, each taking their position in the room, avoiding the fatal funnel of enemy fire, and focusing on their lanes. I approach action scenes the same way. Instead of writing blunt, ham-handed scenes, I try to create a rhythm of events, giving the reader an inside view of the protagonist’s/antagonist’s thoughts, as well as what he or she is doing.

MGC: There is a rich tradition of military and retired military personnel as authors – dating back to ancient times, really, and continuing through to the modern day. What is it about military life that lends itself so readily to writing?

AJT: A good military mind must be both right and left brained, I believe. The balance between creativity and organization provides the necessary ingredients to be a successful author. It takes creativity, obviously, to write fiction, and the writing process requires discipline as well. That combination, coupled with the fact that many in the military have experienced very unique life events such as combat, peacekeeping, and high level diplomatic negotiations, makes for a deep reservoir of ideas.

MGC: On the same thread, it is no surprise that the experiences of those authors with a military background really seem to inform their works – often, in rather violent ways. Sometimes, though, (if I may be irreverent for a moment,) I long for the military version of chick-lit, something light and fluffy without a hint of napalm in the air. Any recommendations for us along those lines, or maybe you’re cooking up something yourself that focuses more on mess-tent terror rather than the extremist kind?

AJT: Hidden Threat, book #3 in the Threat Series, is all about Colonel Zachary Garrett’s estranged daughter. The book rotates between Afghanistan, where Zachary is reported Killed in Action, and the southern USA, where his estranged daughter is approached by a casualty notification team to tell her she is the recipient of $500,000 in life insurance money… with one catch. She has to visit a psychiatrist for five visits. During those visits with Zachary’s former lover, Riley Dwyer, Amanda Garrett begins to unravel the mystery of her estrangement from her father. Meanwhile, Matt flies to Afghanistan to recover Zach’s remains. He leads one last ass-kicking raid in to Pakistan to seek revenge, and they find a clue that Zachary may still be alive. Military chick lit at its best.


Great discussion guys! Military chick-lit... is that a new genre? I'm all for it! And the action and character questions were excellent. I hope that helps all you aspiring authors - military based or not - proceed with much haste in creating a better book.

Author On Author - Paul Byers on Michael Cornelius

Welcome back Author on Author fans! This week's edition has Paul Byers digging deep into life a la Michael G. Cornelius. How deep? Read on,

Paul Byers: You have quite the range of books from parodies to murders mysteries. Does one style help balance out the other in writing or just help keep you sane or drive you nuts going back and forth?

Michael Cornelius: Well the parody book is actually a parody of mysteries, and I try to be occasionally humorous in my long-form work, so perhaps there’s a continuum of expression there. I do find that “mysteries”—whether actual mysteries, or an individual struggling to uncover their own motivation for what they do—is at the heart of a lot of what I write. Writing itself is an act of uncovering larger truths, whether it’s literary criticism or horror fiction (and unsurprisingly a lot of my critical work lately has been about – you guessed it – the mystery genre!) Still, it’s nice to be able to flex differing muscles in the writer’s playbook – if I had to write the same thing, the same style, all the time, it would get a trifle dull for me.

PB: I see you currently chair the English department at Wilson College in Pennsylvania. Do you think a position like that helps or hinders your writing ability?

MC: For me, it helps. My students really inspire me. For most of them, they are just beginning their journeys as writers, and their zeal and sense of discovery inspire me. I never feel more energized to write then after a semester’s worth of teaching creative writing! Plus, I’m one of those people who likes to be juggling a few different balls in the air. If I was forced to live as a full-time writer, well, I’d sit at home and watch re-runs of Law and Order and Bones all day – not the best use of one’s time, that’s for sure!

PB: Religion and politics are two very sensitive subjects to write about. In ASCENSION, you have several different major religions thrown together, do you talk about their similarities or the differences between them in setting up your story?

MC: Religion really comes into play in a lot of what I write, which continually surprises me. It certainly seems to be a topic in the back of my mind, and I find religious history and archaeology a fascinating topic (perhaps attending a Catholic college helped there!) I thought a plotline about all the religious leaders in a small community being brutally murdered might stir up some controversy, which I didn’t want at all, but, for good or for ill, no one seemed to notice it. My first novel, Creating Man, has a strong religious component in it as well—God is actually a character, though only in a framing device—and I remember on the same day receiving letters from an atheist group and a Christian group, both pleased with the book. I think a lot of people are as fascinated by religion and politics as I am, and they don’t mind an honest exploration of the subject. For me, it is key never to be exploitative – I know, the murder of religious people seems just that, but the truth of it, the book assails against such violence (at least that’s the hope!)

PB: ASCENSION looks large in its scope from the locations to the storyline itself. What personal aspects do you bring to the story? Travel, detective work? Personal convictions?

MC: There is a particular scene in the book – where a Methodist minister is killed in her own backyard – that I wrote one late Sunday. I finished the piece around ten o’clock, and then had to take out the garbage for pick-up the next day. Unfortunately, I had created the setting of the minister’s house from where I was living at the time – consequently, it terrified the heck out of me to take out the trash, wondering if the creatures I had just written about were still out there! So there is always something of the personal in anything I write. One can watch the news and see all types of horrors in this world, but a strange sound from your own backyard is what really makes you take notice. For me, nothing is scarier than the neighbors.

PB: Being the college professor in English, do you make you students read your books as a class assignment and then make them do a book report on it? Great marketing tool!

MC: I actually have had students read THE ASCENSION, since I teach a class here in Horror Literature and Film. I don’t force them to write on it, though they can if they like. I remember as an undergraduate reading a book from one of my faculty, and it was such a unique and enriching experience. I always try to bring writers to campus to meet and talk with my students, so sharing my own experiences as a writer helps, too.

Great job gents! Mike, I think you are right when it comes to religion... it's a fact of life after all. It is all knowing how deep to dive. Fans, if you have any questions for Michael, don't hesitate to take a stab (horror writter, stab... the puns won't end folks, get used to it) =)>. I look forward to everyone's comments!

Author On Author - Joseph Flynn on Paul Byers

Happy Thursday fans!

In this weeks edition, Joseph Flynn gets the down and dirty on Paul Byers. Without further ado:

Joseph Flynn: Having written a novel, Catalyst, set in Europe during World War II, that period must be of great interest to you. Do you remember what first hooked you about that time?

Paul Byers: Several factors got me hooked. I enjoy listening to my Dads WWII stories as a kid (he was in the Navy) and I’ve always enjoyed flying and WWII was the last, great war. Not that war is great, but back then, there were no blurry lines, no politics, no hidden agendas. You knew who the bad guys were, you knew why you were fighting and you knew what would happen if you lost.

JF: Writing what is by contemporary standards a period piece, how did you research the idioms of the time to make your story's dialogue ring true?

PB: For the dialog, I’ve read quite a bit and seen a lot of WWII movies so I was familiar with the jargon of my story time. I also called my Dad up several times to ask him if a phrase or certain words were used back then in the day.

JF: What percentage of your research is primary source, i.e. speaking to people who were there, and what percentage is secondary source, i.e. textual?

PB: Most of my "factual" research was done off the web but the "flavor" was through talking with different people. I worked for the Navy Exchange for a while, for those not familiar, it’s basically a giant Target store for military people only to shop. I talked with lots of vets, picking up little tidbits here and there. Again, my Dad was a great source as well as talking to a few historians and a former POW of Stalag 3.

JF: Working in an area—WWII—that's been visited so many times, what did you do to make your novel stand out?

PB: I tried to make Catalyst stand out in several ways. First, I tried to make the characters as believable as possible. The main character, Griff Avery, is not the young, swashbuckling Hollywood hero type (although he could be for the movie, fingers crossed). He’s in his mid-forties, hasn’t had a stellar career and has trouble with relationships. I also wanted to bring out little tidbits of facts that I thought would be interesting. For example, without giving anything away, when you get to the "money part" that really was the way the OSS did it. Also one of my supporting characters is a Tuskegee Airman and the little story about how they came to be with Eleanor Roosevelt was also true. Plus, Andy Wenner, did a fantastic job of designing my cover!

JF: What characteristics do you share with your book's hero; and who inspired your book's villain?

PB: I kind of identify myself with Avery a little, just an ordinary guy doing the best he can. My alter ego goes with Colonel Adams, experienced and calm in the face of danger and a little with Lieutenant Stevens with the wonder of youth and the excitement of it all. As for the bad guy? I wanted him to have a civil brutality about him, I want the reader to hate him, not only for his actions but for the nonchalant way he does it.


Another interview well done. If you are a World War 2 buff, there is no reason for you not to pick up this period thriller. Be sure to ask for it at your local bookstore - don't forget to leave a review at Amazon.com, BN.com, and/or on this blog. We'd love to hear what you have to say! I know Paul would love to answer any questions you have for him related to him or his book, do it up fans. =)>

Thanks for reading.

Targets of Deception Off to the Printer... Soon

Good day everyone,

I hope you are excited to get a sneak peek into the world of Targets of Deception. Barring no changes, the dust jacket will look as such:



It came out pretty impressive if I say so myself. We've also got a new Targets of Deception two chapter sample posted, so be sure to check it out as it is laid out for print and you can get a look before the general public!

We also can't forget the book trailer!



What can you expect from the Jeffrey Stephens thriller? Action. Terror. Timely realism. What more could you ask for?

Are you excited for this book? I know I'm excited to get it out there! With the gents that grace his cover with blurbs (Vince Flynn, Robert K. Tanenbaum, and our own Steve Alten) it will certainly satisfy a broad audience and should make this book a great piece of literature for the generations. I look forward to hearing your comments; let me know what you think of the cover, the interior, and the trailer.

Have a great Wednesday!

And the winners are...

Shark Bite contestants -



August 1 has come and gone, and with that a very successful contest comes to a close. If you are in the top 50 (to check, go to the Shark Bite contest page), congratulations on a job well done! Be sure to email Steve your info as stated in his newsletter to claim your winnings. In case you don't know what that is because you don't get Steve's newsletter, end your NAME, a physical description of yourself, and any interesting tidbits you'd want immortalized in print! SUBJECT LINE: MEG 5 WINNER!

Also, to the rest of you who have 50+ views, be sure to email Steve your address as well to get your poster (and don't forget to thank him as he generously dropped the views from the original 10k views as posted on the site from day one to the current 50!). Also as stated in Steve's newsletter, allow 30 days from your email to ship.

Fans, just because the contest is over doesn't mean you should stop promoting the MEG trailer! Keep pushing it to get it closer and closer to major motion picture status that we all know it should reach. As of 12:01 am on August 1, we accumulated 137,000+ views between fans, Variance postings on various video sites, and Erik Hollander. That, combined with the unknown myriad of hits from places like Dread Central, Southern Fried Science, Empire Online, and others I'm sure participated but that I was unaware of, I'm guessing we surpassed 150k views!

Lastly, we can not be more appreciative of all the devotion of our fans and friends who made this all possible. Thanks everyone.