Since the release of The Doomsday Key is just around the corner, can you give our readers a brief introduction to Sigma Force?
Sure. I created Sigma in my novel Sandstorm. They’re former Special Forces soldiers who have been re-trained in various scientific disciplines. The team serves as covert field operatives for DARPA, the US military’s research-and-development branch. Sigma investigates various threats to global security, mostly of a scientific nature (technological, biological, chemical, etc.).
When you created Sigma in Sandstorm you had no idea that you would starting a Sigma Force series. How did Sigma change between Sandstorm and Map of Bones?
You’re exactly right. I had no intention of doing a series—all my prior novels were stand-alone adventures—but after I finished Sandstorm, I really grew attached to Painter Crowe, the Sigma operative in that book. I thought it would be great to build a series around such a group (basically “killer scientists with guns”). So Sigma was born. With Map of Bones, Painter is now the head of Sigma, and I introduce a new team of field operatives, led by Commander Gray Pierce. The dynamic among the various characters has been great to explore across the breadth of the series. And there are many surprises to come!
Which member of Sigma Force are you most like?
The pat answer is that a little of me lurks in all my characters. But as mentioned above, I have an especially strong affinity for Painter. I don’t if I’m most like him, but he’s definitely someone who I wish I could be.
I have read that my favorite characters in the Sigma Force novels, Kowalski and Seichan, are also your favorites. Could you tell us about their creation and development? What is it about these two that make them your favorites?
I love writing Kowalski and Seichan. Mostly because they’re both outsiders. Kowalski is great for some comic relief. On first impression, he’s a bit of a dumb lug, but there’s more to Kowalski than meets the eye. In truth, he surprises me in every book. Many people are not aware that Kowalski first made his appearance as a soldier in an earlier stand-alone novel, Ice Hunt. Similar to Painter, I liked Kowalski so much that I recruited him into Sigma.
As to Seichan, you’ll be learning MUCH more about her in The Doomsday Key. As both adversary and ally, she’s probably the most conflicted character in the series, and you’ll discover in the latest book that we’ve barely scratched the surface with her. How did she come about? Well, actually she’s been with me since the beginning of my writing career. In my first novel Subterranean, she had a small but crucial part, appearing briefly. But that scene ended up being cut from that first book. It was a painful edit. So I gathered her up from the cutting room floor, brushed her off, and gave her new life in this series.
Is there really a top-secret headquarters beneath the Smithsonian Castle ? (Please say "yes.") What inspired that choice?
There truly are abandoned WWII-era bunkers underneath the Smithsonian Castle . I learned about this on a tour and knew such prime real estate should not lie fallow. The bunkers are perfectly positioned for easy access to both the halls of power on Capitol Hill and to the scientific think tanks of the Smithsonian. Where else would Sigma be headquartered?
Where do you do your writing? Do you have a study/office where your do most of your writing? If you do, what is your study/office like?
I do have a library/study where I do most of my writing. The library shelves are stacked two deep with books, along with a mix of artifacts from my travels and fossils that I’ve collected. My desk is usually a chaotic mess of notes, research material, and empty cans of Red Bull.
Congratulations on the success of Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow. Was the process of writing a young adult novel much different from that of an adult novel?
Not all that different. While there is a strong fantastical element to the series, it’s also grounded in reality. That means research and getting my facts straight. The first book deals with the lost civilization of the Mayas. So I spent time in Central America visiting ruins and even got a chance to visit an archaeological site in Belize where a new set of Mayan temples were being cleared out of the jungle. I love that sort of stuff and tried to incorporate it all into the new children’s series.
As to the first story, in a nutshell, Jake and his sister Kady are orphaned after their parents vanish during an archaeological dig in Mexico . Three years later, a strange package arrives on their doorstep. Inside are the logbooks from their parents and a broken gold coin stamped with Mayan glyphs. Searching for answers sends Jake and Kady into an adventure spanning time and lost civilizations.
All in all, the story is full of twists, chases, betrayals, and mysteries—just like my adult books. Kids don’t want to read books that are dumbed down. They have a great radar for when someone is patronizing them. The only fundamental difference in my storytelling for this audience is that I’ve written the story more linearly, sticking to Jake’s point-of-view. Also, of course, it’s a bit shorter than my usual doorstopper novels.
I have to confess, I don't know the meaning of "It's all Jake." Care to enlighten me?
Actually the phrase goes back to the Jazz era . It’s slang for “great,” such as “it’s all jake with me.” I’m not sure of the derivation. I grew up reading Bantam reprints of the old pulps from the thirties and forties (Doc Savage, The Shadow, etc) and somehow that phrase got stuck in my head.
Will there be future Jake novels?
Of course! Next up is Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx, where Jake returns to the strange land of lost civilizations, stumbling upon a tribe of ancient Egyptians who are struggling to survive in a prehistoric desert of burrowing giant crabs and carnivorous plants. I have the series outlined to be six books in total.
You are publishing three novels this year. Do you need a hobby? Do you still have time for diving and spelunking?
That’s the plan at the moment. But when I can, I still try to get outdoors, if only to know that the sun is still shining and the Earth still spinning. I went diving in Fiji this past winter and took up rock-climbing last summer. I also tried snowmobiling for the first time up in the Sierra Nevada (a sport that is featured in The Doomsday Key).
Speaking of diving, the literary James Bond wears a Rolex Submariner dive watch, the movie James Bond wears a Omega dive watch, Dirk Pitt (and i assume Clive Cussler also) wears an orange faced Doxa dive watch, what kind of dive watch does James Rollins wear?
I currently dive with a Breitling Avenger, but it’s pretty beat up.
After several years of Sigma Force, you're writing another stand-alone thriller. How much can you tell us about Altar of Eden without giving too much away?
In that book—for the first time—I’m writing a story with a veterinarian in the lead role. Having been a veterinarian for over twenty years, I figured it was high time to write a thriller featuring my profession. In this new novel, a veterinarian exposes an exotic-animal smuggling ring, one tied to a strange genetic experiment whose roots go back to ancient times. It’s one scary novel.
Have you ever been tempted to go back and write more novels using characters from one of your previous stand-alone's, or perhaps bring a few of them together?
As with Kowalski and Seichan, I have been grabbing a few characters from earlier novels. Even Painter Crowe’s main squeeze, Dr. Lisa Cummings, first appeared in Deep Fathom. Will there be more? I don’t doubt it. In fact, I do have an outline for a sequel to Subterranean, where the main characters, Ben and Ashley, travel even deeper into the underground world beneath Antarctica .
You write the novelization of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Did you find it constricting to write in another person's "universe," using their characters and following their plot?
I had the same worry. And novelizing a script definitely required a different skill set. Yes, there were constrictions and restrictions and canons that could not be broken, but ultimately I loved it. Maybe because I am such a huge Indiana Jones fan. To just be able to write scenes from Indy’s perspective, to incorporate new scenes from my own imagination, it was all too much fun. In fact, I found myself writing twenty-four hours at a stretch on some days. It was that much of a blast.
You'll probably hate me for asking, but after Altar of Eden , what's next? Back to Sigma Force?
I do have the next Jake Ransom to finish, then it’s another Sigma book. The end of The Doomsday Key sets the groundwork for an ultimate confrontation that will arise in the 2010 Sigma book.
The Doomsday Key is being released on June 23, how do you feel as your new book gets ready to be released?
I’m always nervous. It’s always butterflies in the gut before a new release. Luckily, the early reviews have been very good, some of the best I’ve ever received. I’m excited about it. This novel centers on a particularly intriguing historical mystery, one concerning the real-life prophecies of a 12th-century Irish saint who predicted the end of the world in our generation. Can this predicted doomsday be avoided? The book answers that question…along with explaining the true reason for the disappearance of the world’s honeybees. I hope everyone enjoys the adventure.
Any parting words for our readers?
Have your pets spayed or neutered (see, still a vet).
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