Author Interview ~ Don Brown revisited

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Don Brown, a former Navy JAG Officer and the author of Zondervan's Navy Justice Series, is founder of Brown and Associates, PLLC. Don received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina and is proud to be a lifelong Tar Heel fan. Following his years at Carolina, Don went on to receive a Juris Doctor degree from Campbell University School of Law. He continued his studies at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island earning the Navy's nonresident certificate in International Law.

Tell us a little about your latest release, Defiance.

Defiance, the third novel in my Navy Justice Series, is set to be released at a time when America’s most talked-about senator is making moves that parallel one of the main characters in his book.

Senator Eleanor Claxton is a US presidential hopeful trying to gain support by attacking JAG officer Zack Brewer for prosecuting a sailor charged with homosexual assault on board a U.S. Navy submarine. Locked in a political cliffhanger against conservative Southern Democrat Roberson Fowler, she must win California to win the democrat presidential nomination.

To do that, she needs liberal support in the San Francisco Bay area to tip California into her camp. Ruthless in her quest for power, she pulls out all the stops to get what she wants. The circumstances aren’t exactly the same as Senator Hillary Clinton’s, but Claxton and Clinton share similar political views.

Based around the life of Lieutenant Commander Zack Brewer, Defiance picks up where my second novel, Hostage, left off.

Several themes in Defiance relate to current political happenings. Worldwide conflict, mysterious deaths, hostages – we hear about all this on a daily basis in America. Defiance touches on some controversial themes, but that’s okay in my opinion. Fiction that steers from controversy is bland. Hopefully, Defiance will be anything but bland.


How many books do you think there will be in this series?

The contract currently calls for a total of five. Book 4, which has already gone to the publisher, is tentatively scheduled for release in the December 07-January 08 timeframe. My agent, Steve Laube, has not yet had discussions with Zondervan on whether they will wish to extend this particular series beyond that, or go in another direction. The series could be extended because I think there are a number of colorful characters who have been introduced already in the series whose lives would make fascinating storylines. Personally, I have mixed feelings about it. I’m constantly getting emails, however, from folks who say they want more in the series, and for that I’m grateful. We’ll see what happens.

What are the benefits of writing this type of series? Is there a downside?

I think perhaps the biggest benefit, Gina, is that there is a natural, built-in interest in the contemporary events of the world which surround us, particularly in legal and geo-political affairs. So the premise of these novels tends to pique the reader’s curiosity, I think. The downside? I can’t really think of a downside.


Do you get bored writing the same characters in multiple books?

If the characters were boring, then I might get bored. But if the characters are exciting, then no, I don’t get bored. Therefore, the challenge is to create exciting characters who, like Tom Clancy’s fabled Jack Ryan, or or Al Gansky’s venerable J.D. Stanton, can withstand the test of time and reappear in subsequent novels with zest, appeal, and dramatic flair. I like to think that Zack Brewer, the quintessential “Super JAG,” has sufficient staying power to accomplish this over the course of multiple novels. But ultimately, my readers will be the judge of this supposition.

Above and beyond that, each of my novels introduce new characters who may or may not reappear subsequent novels. For example, in Treason, there was Zack’s sweet and deep-thinking paralegal Amy Debenedetto, an enlisted woman whose feelings for Zack crossed the tabooed line of officer-enlisted relationships. And then there was the power brokering, Boss-Hog politician Senator Roberson Fowler, who tried pulling Zack out of the JAG Corps with a guaranteed promise of a congressional seat in Louisiana.

In Hostage, we meet two strong female leads in NCIS Agent Shannon McGilverry and the brilliant and gorgeous JAG Officer, Lieutenant Commander Wendy Poole, who sets her big blue eyes on Zack, much to Diane Colcernian’s chagrin.

In Defiance, Senator Eleanor Claxton and her cronies appear on the scene to torment Zack and impose their will on America. And you will meet Chris Reynolds, a deranged stalker who oh-so delicately indulges himself by carefully eating the crème from his Oreo cookies as he obsesses over Eleanor and plots against Zack.

In Book Four, tentatively entitled The Black Sea Affair, remember this name. Lieutenant Commander Pete Miranda, United States Navy. Pete Miranda is a hotshot Chilean-American sub commander who must make some very difficult life-and-death choices, with the spectre of nuclear war hanging in the balance. Wait till you see how Zack gets involved in all this.

I guess I say all that to say that no, there’s been nothing boring at all about this writing odyssey. These characters, who just seem to have appeared out of nowhere, have kept things pretty exciting for me.


You're an incredibly busy guy, three children, law practice, running marathons, etc. How do you stay disciplined enough to meet your deadlines and market yourself?

Ah. You asked about my marathon! On December 9, 2006, at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, I ran my first. I’m glad you mentioned it, because I’d like to plug fellow Zondervan author, the dynamic and talented Brandilyn Collins, for unknowingly helping to provide the inspiration for this.

Here’s how it came down the pike. A couple of years ago, I was invited to a writers’ retreat up at Zondervan in Grand Rapids.

Finding myself sitting around the table with some of the biggest names in Christian Fiction – Al Gansky, James Scott Bell, Terri Blackstock, Davis Bunn, Gil Morris, Robin Lee Hatcher, Brandilyn Collins, just to name a few – I wondered “what in the world am I doing here?” Perhaps an administrative error, I rationalized, or perhaps exceptionally loving benevolence on the part of my wonderful publisher. Whatever the reason, I was happy to be there, because the opportunity for fellowship and learning was immense.

At an intimate weekend setting like that, you get to know everybody quite well. And soon it became obvious that there was one athlete in our midst – Brandilyn.

First thing every morning, when everyone else was up feasting on sausage and gravy and hashbrowns and bacon and pancakes, Brandilyn was nowhere to be found. Why? Because like a machine, she was out on her daily five-mile run through the cold, Michigan morning air.

In my younger years, I was a more dedicated runner, having done several half-marathons. But then, I got out of the Navy, and discovered an activity known as the “power lunch.” Needless to say, I’d gotten out of running.

Well that weekend, one of the thoughts that entered my mind was “If Brandilyn can do this, then why can’t I get back into it?”

I wrestled with that question for about another year nine months or so, and then one day, I just downloaded a six month marathon training schedule off the internet and started on it.

Now will I ever do another one? Don’t know. It took me about six hours to run the 26.2 mile route, and I remember that that evening I couldn’t walk. I discovered that eating sushi was good prep food for the marathon. In fact, I ate a bit of sushi beforehand. So the evening after I finished the run, I remember a runner leaving my hotel that night to go get me sushi and cold beverages, as I lay helpless in bed in my room all night long.

Still, it was a neat feeling to cross that finish line. Thanks to Brandilyn for helping to inspire.

Back to the question. I suppose doing all these things that your question presupposes that I do is really an issue of time management. I wouldn’t describe myself as a great time manager at all. But we get the things done that are at the top of our priority list. Sometimes we get overwhelmed by the sheer number of items on a checklist. But we just have to prioritize the importance of the items on that list, the roll up our sleeves and get to work. There’s no magic solution to time management. At least if there is, I haven’t discovered it.



If you could go back and speak to the Don Brown who was attending his first writer's conference, green and full of hope, what advice would you give him about the future?

It’s okay to be green and full of hope. But being green and full of hope alone won’t put the mayonnaise on the salami sandwich. Like my granddaddy said, “the best ability is stickabilty.” And like Bo Jackson said, “just do it.”

So here’s the advice that I’d give a younger, green and full of hope Don Brown. First, go buy and read Write Great Ficton: Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. Then, read On Writing by Stephen King. Then, whatever Bell and King tell you to do, just do it. And every day, make sure you stick

What do you know now, that you didn't know when you first published?

I now know that the business and marketing end of the publishing industry is a whole different ball of wax from writing and editing. Getting a publishing contract is just the first step. Marketing a book is yet another job in and of itself. I’ve also learned that unless your name is John Grisham, and mine isn’t, that many publishers prefer a series as opposed to stand alone novels, at least at first. In theory, I suppose that a series may help to build name recognition for a previously unknown author – a category which I definitely fall into – whereas a stand alone novel may not do that so much.

You made some radio commercials to publicize this series to the
military. Has that paid off?

We ran some radio spots in 2005 in conjunction with the release of Treason, the first novel in the series. Because these are Navy novels, we tried being selective, and targeted our two largest naval cities, the Ports of Norfolk and San Diego.

It’s hard to quantify to what extent these paid off, but I did a book signing in Virginia Beach shortly after the spots ran, and that was very well-attended. So I like to think there was a cause and effect there. If you’d like to hear one of the commercials, you can go to my agent Steve Laube’s website , and click on the mp3 file to hear it.


What do you do to continue to grow in the craft?

Reading and writing every day. There’s no substitute for this formula.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve just started Russka, by the British author Edward Rutherford. This is a sweeping historical fiction novel about Russia. It looks to be quite literary, and I think it will be an interesting read.

Your first novel was a historical love story yet to be published.
Do you think you'll stay with suspense or continue to dabble in other genres?

Thanks for asking. My first novel, Destiny, is a World War II Historical fiction which is not yet under contract, although I’m grateful that my publisher is now taking a look at it. It’s interesting that Destiny, which as you point out has not yet been published, and Treason and Hostage have both received some fleeting movie interest. Of course I take all that movie stuff with a grain of salt. But I do hope Destiny will be under contract soon, because frankly, I think it’s my most powerful storyline.

Obviously I love historical fiction and also love writing suspense. I’ve had some talks with my agent, Steve Laube on this very question. I’d like to be able to write both, if possible. Whether I write one or the other, or both, I want to keep writing against a military backdrop. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes.

Walk us through your creative process of writing a novel, from the initial idea to the finished product.

There are generally two schools of thought here. First, some novelists outline their novels down to the detail, then start writing. Others, like the famous novelist Stephen King, adopt the “let it flow approach.” In other words, they just sit down at the laptop, close their eyes, hum a little bit, and then let her rip.

Although I’m more in the “let it flow” camp, I’m not totally there. First, unless you’re John Grisham, that is with such supreme name recognition whereby the pubisher will publish anything you write, most publishers ask for a proposal with at least the basic ideas about the novel’s storyline.

In my case, I’m not organized enough to use a detailed outline and it would probably cramp my style anyway. I do, however, like to use a short story format, which serves as a “big picture” roadmap as I write.

For example, the short story may contain a line like, “when Sally murders Bob with a pistol, she sets out to destroy all the evidence and eradicate the paper trail from the bloodhound detectives at the San Diego Police Department, who are hot on her trail.”

From that, I’ll write the murder scene in lurid detail. Then maybe I’d do a bit of internal monologue inside Sally’s head, maybe showing some anxiety at the prospect of getting caught. Then maybe I’d have her take a charter boat out into the Pacific, where she slips to the back of the boat and tosses the gun overboard. But wait! Maybe the good-looking first mate walks to the back of the boat just as the gun is tossed. Sally’s eyes lock with his, and she wonders what he saw. Should she kill him before he reports her?

See. Here’s the idea. The basic idea – when Sally murders Bob with a pistol, she sets out to destroy all the evidence and eradicate the paper trail from the bloodhound detectives at the San Diego Police Department, who are hot on her trail – gives me several chapters worth of material.

Anyway, that’s the way I do it.

What are your dreams for your writing future?

Aside from the fact that I’d like to write full time from a beach house in Hilton Head and a Mountain home atop Mount Helix in San Diego County – hah – I want to write books with cinematic storylines. In other words, since you asked about my “dreams,” I’d love to see Treason, Hostage, Defiance and Destiny all on the big screen someday. If Don Quixote can dream the impossible dream, why can't I?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQnFBAja7_U&mode=related&search=