Interview with Graham Brown, Author of Devil's Gate

Interview by Ed Homa.

We would like to welcome Graham Brown to Megalith, Books that Rock! Devil’s Gate, the new NUMA Files novel featuring Kurt Austin is Graham’s first book working with Clive Cussler. Graham is also the author of Black Rain and Black Sun; this third novel in the series The Eden Prophecy will be released in January.

M: Welcome, Graham, we are happy that you could take some time to speak with us. It was a surprise to see that you were taking over the NUMA Files series. How did this opportunity present itself to you?

GB: It's a fun story actually - basically I'd finished touring for Black Sun - was hunkering down to work on The Eden Prophecy - and I got a message from Clive's agent asking if it would be okay for him to call me. At first I thought maybe they were doing some kind of conference for Arizona writers and wanted me to attend and then the thought started to creep into my mind that maybe - just maybe - they want me to work on something.

Eventually, I talked with Clive and he told me he was interested in signing me up. I asked how he'd heard of me, thinking I had someone fantastic to thank for getting my name in front of him, and he said he picked my book up in the airport when he was traveling and read it on vacation and he really liked it. I thought wow, all my life I've been picking up Clive Cussler books in the airport and reading them on vacation and loving them. It was almost too cool.

M: You are an attorney and a pilot; please tell us a little about your past and how it has helped with your writing.

GB: I went to school in Prescott, Arizona to learn how to fly. I loved it. But as a career it has major ups and downs. I graduated into a bad economy and jobs for pilots were hard to find. After a year or two of bumping around I decided to go back to school and get a degree that was always in demand. Hence Law School - which was great fun. Being an attorney on the other hand - not so fun. I think to be a successful attorney you have to love paperwork and arguing with people - I pretty much hate both.

Funny thing is there are two great lessons in my missteps. First - most of my friends who persevered eventually got great jobs in the aviation industry. So lesson one is: just keep plowing forward and you'll get there. And lesson two - never do anything just for the money.

M: Was it easy for you to jump in and to start writing these characters?

GB: It became easy - and it was fun from day one - but I swear it's like someone handing you the keys to their Ferrari - it's fun to drive but don't hit the wall in turn three or you're going to catch hell for it. At first I really needed to make sure I understood them from my own point of view - not just how they were written - but who they were deeper down and let that come through. I think if you write from the surface down you end up with characters that are flat - but if write from their deeper essence - they become more real and consistent. I had to get a sense of how I saw Kurt, how I saw Joe and the Trouts. Dirk Pitt has a pretty good part in this book and I just had to get him right. He has an essence of coolness that few other characters have and if that didn't show up I would have been very disappointed. I think they all came out great and I know Clive and the publishers were very happy.

M: Which of the characters became your favorite to write? Did it surprise you which character became your favorite?

GB: I swear this isn't a cop out but they were all great. Kurt's the star - he gets to have most of the fun. But he and Joe have a great time as they rumble through this book. The way old friend should. And of course it was unbelievably cool to be writing scene's with Dirk Pitt - a character I've been reading for years.

I think the one character that surprised me the most was Gamay Trout. Originally we didn't intend for her and Paul to have too big of a part in the story - but it just kept growing and becoming more integral and she really came alive. Clive and I were laughing about it at one point.

M: How is writing a NUMA Files adventure different than your solo thrillers?

GB: Big audience out there for NUMA and having been to the Clive Cussler Convention this year I know I've got big shoes to fill. I feel a little bit like Daniel Craig when he took over the James Bond role - there were definitely some suspicious glances at first but I think I won them over. Hopefully I have as much success in my new role as he's had in his.

The collaboration part is different - in some ways its easier. I write my novels on my own - with only myself to bounce things off. Clive and I mix this thing up like a stew. And I know if I get off course he'll get me back on track.

M: How is it working with Clive Cussler?

GB: He knows so much its crazy - I remember brainstorming with him at his house for a couple of days and kind of getting jealous because his ideas were all better than mine. Not better in the "he's the boss" kind of way but better in the "damn, why didn't I think of that?" kind of way. I told someone it's like learning to hit a baseball from Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron and it's true. He's also funny, he tells a lot of jokes. He laughs. He's so down to earth it's awesome.

M: Did you have much contact with Mr. Cussler?

GB: Yeah. Quite a bit. We talk, we e-mail. We're close enough that I can drive up to his house and we can do some work together and go over things in person. He's a busy guy, so I try not to waste his time.

M: A hero needs nefarious villains; do you find it hard to come up with villains and their unique situations?

GB: The great villain is the one who has good reason for the evil he or she is plotting. They should a little crazy and enjoying their dastardly acts but they should have a compelling reason for doing them in the first place. The most dangerous person in the world is the one who's on a crusade. Obsessed and willing to do anything. The tough part is making sure their evil shines through without turning them into a cartoon. I think we have a couple of fantastic villains in Devil's Gate.

M: How do you go about writing a novel? How much time is devoted to research and writing?

GB: Ideas come first., then a plot line around those ideas, and then research, which usually changes the plot and story because it often suggests something exciting and novel. I was halfway through The Eden Prophecy when a completely new idea hit me. A plot from the villain's point of view that I'd never seen done before. I was so excited I scrambled around to write it down before I forgot it. And then I went back to page one and rewrote the whole book. I think people are going to be stunned, and whatever they think about the rest of the book they'll be kind of blown away by the direction it goes.

M: What is your work day like? Are you a disciplined writer?

GB: I didn't used to be - I wrote when the muse was around. Then I got busy and I realized that the muse is almost always around - you just have to get your butt in your seat and get going, she'll show up.

I usually put in a good seven to eight hour day - ten to twelve to fourteen as deadlines come upon me. But usually eight hours, some of it's unproductive, but mostly its pretty good as long as my subconscious isn't nagging at me that I've gone off course somehow. By the end of the day I can't really type or write complete thoughts that's when it's time to stop.

M: Do you write in an office? What is your office like?

GB: I just moved so right now my office is a table surrounded by boxes. I'm actually thinking of leaving it like this - that way if I ever move again I don't have to pack anything.

M: do you ever “go on the road” and write in places like coffee shops or in public places?

GB: Yeah - especially at the start of the book when I'm doing a lot of hand writing and just kind of jotting down ideas or outlines or partial scenes. I put on my I-Pod crank up some classical music or soundtracks and block out the rest of the world.

M: Do you use any kind of writing programs?

GB: Just Microsoft Word. What else is there?

M: What kind of research do you do? How handy do you find technology in your writing?

GB: Technology can be the great assistant or the great time waster. You have to be careful. I read magazines like Popular Science, Discover, National Geographic - just to keep up on the world - then when I'm on the trail of something I surf the web. There's so much information out there it's mind boggling.

M: Google Earth – do you use it in your writing?

GB: Oh yeah - if you have to know what a certain harbor in Africa looks like you got two choices and one is a lot less dangerous and a lot less expensive.

M: Your next book, The Eden Prophecy, is due in January. What can you tell us about it?

GB: It has to do with genetic engineering, the search for the Garden of Eden and doomsday cult that has plans to destroy humanity one way or the other. I think it will reward those who've read Black Sun and Black Rain but also be very accessible for those who've never read either of the other Hawker/Laidlaw books. My editors swore they could not put it down as it keeps you guessing right to the end. So we're all very excited.

M: Where did Hawker and Danielle Laidlaw come from?

GB: We've all seen the rogue cop/agent/spy who plays by his own rules and gets away with it, I wanted to write a character who'd done that and basically ruined his own life. Hawker's that character. He's an outcast by his own doing. No one framed him. He just wouldn't follow the rules and now he's trapped between believing what he did was right and wishing he'd just towed the company line and done as ordered. It set up pretty cool conflicts for him. Not sure what it says about where I was at the time.

Danielle was supposed to be a bond girl when I started; sexy, in need of rescuing, probably scantily clad at some point. But she just wouldn't play that part. It was boring. And as she became more of a kick ass and take names character the book got so much better. Of course it dawned on me then that all my girlfriends have been strong independent women - so maybe there's something to that.

M: Who were some of your favorite writers growing up?

GB: Clive and Michael Crichton were my two favorites. Alistair McClain. Peter Benchley. I'm a huge fan of Stephen King now. But growing up I didn't quite get his genius. Now I do.

M: Do you have time to read for pleasure any longer? Since becoming a writer what authors have you come to admire?

GB: It's tough because your natural instinct as soon as you pick a book up is to start breaking down what the author is doing and why. But on vacation - I try shut my brain down and just read for pure pleasure. This summer I read The Spy - it's Clive and Justin Bell - it was awesome. Last year I read the Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton's last book. It was fantastic.

Steve Berry is a tremendously talented writer. His scenes are so sharp, I've read all his books and look back over them just to see the crispness of his writing and remind myself not to ramble. He also a really genuine guy. James Rollins is terrific of course, nobody blends science and adventure like him. Boyd Morrison has a wild imagination and really puts some of the most fantastic action in his books. Lee Child - his voice and style are so totally unique its awesome. There are so many its impossible to even list them.

M: What is next for you? Will you be writing another NUMA Files?

GB: Yeah. I'm working on the next NUMA files right now. We're about a third of the way through and I think it's going to be wild. It has a working title but I'm probably not supposed to share it with you. If I get the green light you'll be the first to know.

Graham, thank you for taking the time to speak with us and good luck with Devil’s Gate and The Eden Prophecy.