Welcome And New Book Tease

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is Jack Carr, and you are listening to Son of a Bleach.

A Modern Western Hero Arrives

George Blitch 0:18

Hey Jack, welcome back to the podcast. How are you doing today, man? Thank you so much for having me on. I was excited when I see you coming up on the schedule. So great to great to be here. Awesome, man. Well, I'm very excited to have you here. We're gonna be talking about the fourth option drops on May 12th. This is your tenth book, uh, the first with the Chris Walker series. And I really want you to kind of dive into it before we kind of go into the genesis and the origin and the background of the story of how this book was put together. Uh, I'd love for you to kind of give listeners an idea of just kind of, you know, lay it on out. What's this story about? Give us a little bit of introduction, then we'll kind of dive into some uh nuances of it.

What The Fourth Option Means

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Yeah, yeah. This is my take on the Stranger Comes to Town narrative, which is essentially a part of our American Old West mythology out there with that uh archetype, that hero who uh is mysterious, rides into town and uh brings that old brand of Outlaw Justice to uh to a problem. And it's uh inspired by Have Gun Will Travel, which was a TV show back in the 1950s and 60s. It was a radio show before that. I used to watch it with my dad, but uh certainly influenced by movies like Magnificent Seven and Shane and High Planes Drifter and Pale Rider. Uh so a lot of elements there for anyone who's uh who's a fan of old westerns, but it's my modern interpretation of that. So instead of jumping on a horse and the gunslinger riding into town, this is Chris Walker, former Navy SEAL, former uh CIA ground branch operator, so paramilitary type operator at the agency. And he is uh someone who is he's haunted by these ghosts of things that happened in Afghanistan, most specifically uh losing his best friend. He feels responsible for that. And that story goes kind of unravels in parallel with the um uh with the story that's happening present day in uh in New Orleans. And uh instead of jumping on that horse, he packs up his Volkswagen bus, Pop Top Camper, the Vanigan from the 80s, and uh in-hops his Belgian Malinois dog. He was a dog handler in the SEAL teams, and off they head towards New Orleans. They have a little bit of a journey there first, so the reader can get to know this new character who is a philosopher at heart. He's uh he's an orphan, he's a uh mensa-level IQ, so he's uh a little different than uh, and and for me, having a character that has a similar background to another character, James Reese in the Terminal List series, isn't odd for me because uh everybody in the SEAL teams that I work with was different. We shared a commonality in that we all went through buds together. We all went through something called SEAL qualification training or SEAL tactical training together. Uh, so we had this shared experience, but we all had this background, you know, 18, 19, 20, 21 years of life before we got to the SEAL teams. And then once we got downrange, and you can really bring those backgrounds to the problem sets on the battlefield and really bring those um and uh uh and adapt to an enemy that's all that's adapting to you. So that was a real strength of ours in the SEAL team. So uh so Chris Walker is definitely different than James Ruby, even though they share a common background or a similar background. So he has this battle raging in his head through these philosophers. He was at NYU getting his uh his master's in uh philosophy. And uh off he heads to to New Orleans to to bring that outlaw justice to the uh the wife and son of his uh uh friend who was killed in Afghanistan.

George Blitch 3:26

You mentioned that that he's taken law in his own hands. This where you know you mentioned when law enforcement, the courts, and the prison system have failed, there is a fourth and final option. Why don't you talk a little bit about that type of mentality of Chris and how he takes on this challenge and to try to really honor uh the wife of his best friend?

Why New Orleans Fits The Story

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Yeah, so the third option is the CIAA paramilitary division's motto. So it's a yeah, when diplomacy uh military fail, there's a third option, and that's the CIA paramilitary division called the Special Activities Center now. But uh, so that's where he and John Staub. So Chris Walker and John Staub worked for them in Afghanistan primarily. And so this is the so that's where the fourth option comes from. Beyond that, there is Chris Walker, and uh it there's some conversations about that in Afghanistan uh for a kind of an off-the-books mission that um uh results in in some tragedy. But uh but that's where the fourth option comes from. And so now he's taking that to the home front here in uh in the United States. And the idea really for this is that uh where the James Reese Terminalist series is more geopolitical in nature, they're global stakes. Um, this is more local, this is domestic. And my idea is for every book with Chris Walker is that he goes to a new town, just like the uh the old Western uh gunslinger who's mysterious and rides into these these towns, same thing. Chris Walker will show up in these towns um and they'll be the backdrop. And I wanted to start with New Orleans just because I've been there twice in the SEAL teams, and I always thought it'd be an amazing place to set a novel. And whereas James Reese novels, those are hopping all over the world, and there are people in, you know, they're Moscow and Moscow and Saigon and Beijing, wherever else. It's uh that these are just boom, yeah. It starts in the Pacific Northwest, and Chris Walker travels, that's very early in the series in the in the book, but then he gets to New Orleans, and then it's New Orleans for the rest of the time. So that's uh that's the idea going forward. It's always to choose some city and uh and set the story only in that city, but have it be a different one with with every book. So um, so yeah, that's the that's the fourth option, and that's uh that's Chris Walker and his Belgian Malinois Paladin.

George Blitch 5:30

Well, you you talk about New Orleans as a place you visited like in the mid-90s, you spent some time there uh doing your SEALs work, and then you know, this was in Jazz Fest, and I know that you know Chris Walker has a very similar uh timeline there of going through there. What was it about uh New Orleans that made you really hone in on that being the central spot of this? And then is this a town that you went and did some more research and spent some time on? I know you're a busy man, you got a lot going on, so I was just kind of curious, is that something that uh you had a chance to explore while writing the book or maybe you know leading up to that?

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Yeah, so we were uh in the SEAL teams were out there training at Fort Polk uh in uh in Louisiana and took the the drive down to to Bourbon Street essentially with the SEAL platoon back in in the day, and that was pre-September 11th, just before September 11th, I think, um, or months before, a year before, something like that. But uh uh it it just stood out to me, and there's there's so many different areas stood out to me. Every city's unique, but there's something about the uh the backdrop of New Orleans, and then uh haven't been there since Katrina, but obviously it was uh in the news quite a bit. Um, gosh, almost it's at 20 years ago now, it's a while back, but it still hasn't recovered um all the way from from that. Um, so that was intriguing to me as well. Of course, the newspaper articles that you read about uh corruption down there that's go that seems to be uh just uh systemic to the system, maybe. I don't know. But uh it's it was it just had all the elements for a very cool place to set a novel and not have to jump around city to city, you know, go to different places and have different characters spread out across the the country. Um and then my co-author in this, MP Woodward, amazing guy, former naval intelligence officer, he went back down to uh to do some on-the-ground research for for this book. Um I was actually in the middle of um cry havoc when he went down there to do that sort of uh that that sort of research because cry havoc, as we talked about before, took me so much longer than I thought and probably put me behind by a good year and a half, maybe even two years, doing the research and just how long that that that took, and then the other projects that I've been doing at the same time with the TV shows and and all the rest of it. So uh so MP Woodward went down there, did some research, came back. We're still working on the outline section at that point. It was a very robust outline. Um, but he got to go down there and put put boots on the ground and get the uh you know, get the sights and the smells and and I'll see where hey, oh, this is where this place is. And okay, so it makes sense to have him drive here and that we take this long and you know, all of those things to to to really make it feel real to people who have visited there or people who who live there also. I try to have that underlying foundation of of authenticity to to all I do so that people that are familiar with whatever's happening, whether that's the the dog handling, whether that's the explosive ordinance disposal stuff, the FBI stuff, um, or just the general area in and around New Orleans in this case, that uh that there they go, oh, okay, uh, this guy put in the work. You know, this guy double checked with the EOD guy to make sure it would ring true, or that uh checked with the dog handler again to make sure that this really would ring true for someone who is a dog handler, whether it's the military or law enforcement, local, state, federal. Um, and uh and so I that's always important to me in all in all the novels. So uh so yeah, hopefully it it uh it it captures some of that that uh vibrant character of New Orleans and and brings it to life.

George Blitch 8:41

Well, I've spent some time there as well, and so I I really do feel like it does give a good representation. I didn't spend a lot of time in Ninth World while I was there, but I I can imagine, you know, you kind of talk about that being kind of like a war-torn area. It felt very much like a land forgotten. I think you said like two years after the bombing. That's kind of what this is when the cameras are away and people are just trying to make do with what they have. You know, I want to kind of bring it back to kind of the timeline because this is something, this is 12 years ago when you first had the idea for this story to be told. And this was you're kind of in 2014, you're laying down all these different ideas, of which the terminalist is one you wrote down and you kind of ran with this, but this is something that you could never quite uh get out of your head. It was something you always had a fascination with telling a story. Why don't you walk me through, if you don't mind, kind of the timeline of this kind of the genesis of this story, and then you know, eventually working with MP Woodward and kind of getting this uh on the table and and working uh, you know, towards now the you know publication. So yeah, just give us a little bit of background on that.

From 2014 Idea To New Series

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Yeah, absolutely. So I started writing the terminal list in December of 2014, but before that, I wrote down uh six, seven, eight, nine, ten different executive summaries. Some were two paragraphs, some were three, some were four, um, that described these different stories. And it was very clear to me that the terminal list was the one I wanted to I needed to start with. I wanted to start with Savage Sun, really, but I knew the characters weren't developed enough to explore those themes, the dark side of man through the dynamic of Hunter and Haunted. So I knew I had to build those characters up to get to that point. And it was very clear that I needed to start with the terminal list. That was the one. But fourth option was there, and it would never really leave me. And then I got so busy with the terminal list books and then the TV show and everything else. Um, that then the summer of 2021, we're filming in Los Angeles, we're getting really close to the end of the terminal list, and uh, and I start thinking about other stories that I can develop outside the terminalist universe. And so I went back to thinking about all those different ideas that I had back in the fall of uh 2014. And I went back and pulled out two of them, and the fourth option was one of those two. And so I started in that hotel room in Los Angeles where I had a day off. I was just started uh expanding on that one-page executive summary. And uh, and then I built it when I got home, I built it out into a 40-page PowerPoint presentation with actors attached to characters and and uh pictures of New Orleans put in there, like a mood board type of a thing. Um, the outline incorporated beginning, middle, end, characters, backgrounds, all that stuff. And uh, and then I pitched it to Hollywood along with that other idea, which I did the same thing with. And uh they both got uh some traction and and started moving kind of into that uh, you know, pre-production, not pre-production, and anyway, they started getting a little traction, some more early development, I guess. And uh then I saw them start to morph. And I was like, you know what? I've never been bothered by uh the terminalist and seeing that morph for screen, because I know you're telling a story through a different medium. And I always go back to thinking about first blood, the book written in 1972, and then first blood the movie in the early 80s with Stallone and how different those are, but how great they both are. So I know you're telling a story through a different medium. Uh, there are a lot of constraints involved in Hollywood that you don't have when you're writing a novel. And uh so it doesn't bother me because people can always go back, if they want to, to the best that I could do at the time. The terminalist is the best that I could do at the time, true believer is the best I could do at the time, Savage Sun is the best I could do at the time. So people can always go back to those and see that. Uh but with these other ideas that are just PowerPoint presentations and Word documents and outlines, treatments, no one will ever see that. They'll only see the final project after everybody gets into the mix and after the constraints are in there that Hollywood puts on it from you know, there's time constraints, of course, there's budgetary constraints, there's location constraints, there's actor availability constraints, there's all sorts of you know ideas up and down the chain of command essentially that then filter back down that need to be addressed. So it's a very team-oriented endeavor when you're doing something like that. So I thought, oh man, I don't know if I love this that much. And so then I as soon as I had the opportunity, I clawed both of those back and then had to look at them and say, which one should I go with here to turn into a novel? Because then someone will have the best that I could do at the time. And whatever happens from there, if any of them get optioned ever and turned into anything else, then that's just wonderful. But uh I grabbed them both back when I could, as soon as I could. And then fourth option was uh the one that uh that spoke to me and said this is the one you go to next because uh the stakes are uh so much different than the terminal list series. Uh they're not global stakes. Like I said, they're domestic, they're they're more localized here, and uh and it's different than the terminal list series, which I wanted to make sure because I'm gonna always have that foundation of authenticity. I can't not have uh they be detailed on the gear uh and that sort of a thing. It's just very natural for me to do those things. So uh so pulled it back and then um realized that I'm never gonna have time to do this if uh some authors can do two books a year, like Grisham, John uh Michael Connolly, uh, but because I think their kids are older and out of the house, I think they have a little more time. And here while I'm in the still in the thick of it, it's uh just constant chaos every single day. So I thought, you know what, Tom Clancy in the early 90s, after after the 80s, he's writing Hunter for Red October and Red Storm Rising and uh Patriot Games and Cardinal the Kremlin. And then in the early 90s, he branches out into the nonfiction space with a study and command series and a guided tour series. And I've done that with the targeted Beirut uh series or the targeted series, the first one of which was Beirut 1983, uh with James Scott. And so that but so we I so I branched off there, and then also Tom Clancy in the 90s branched off into co-written thrillers. Uh first one was Op Center, which they launched was a book and a TV mini-series on NBC, I think it was. I think Harry Hamlin was started it. And uh so I so I was from the fan perspective, I saw that and I thought, hey, if I want to get these other stories out there, because I have so many ideas, um, if I want to get these out there, um maybe it's time to uh partner up with a co-author on those things. So I can stay focused on the James Reese Terminalist universe, but I can still get these other stories out there uh and still work on these stories, but bring somebody in that can can help me get them out there. So it took me a while to find a co-author. Um, and then I read a book called The Handler by MP Woodward and just absolutely loved it, and then reached out to him and asked if he wanted to collaborate on this idea. And he said yes. So sent him all everything that I had, which was you know fairly robust, you know, foundational material from that uh 40-point PowerPoint presentation and the Word document and everything else. Uh, then we started working on that, working on that outline. So uh it took a little while to get out there, took a lot longer than I than I thought once I got got it uh got it back and I started working on it and doing the things that that I do. Um but uh because this should have come out by my plan either last January, February, or uh which didn't happen because it just took me so long to find a co-author, but then it should have come out this last January, February, and then James Reese 8 was supposed to come out in May, June. But there's just so much, so much going on. It just takes every single, every single day is just packed. Um, I mean, I feel very fortunate for that, but I also want to get these stories out there, and it's just taking a little longer than I than I thought because they all have to be the best they can possibly be. And of course, Cry Havoc took like took so much longer than I thought because I was researching in 1968, which just uh takes a lot longer than uh researching a contemporary thriller. So um, so that really put me, like I said, behind a bit, and and all these other projects did as well. So that's all right. The main thing is that the books get out there and they're the best they can possibly be. They're not rushed to get out there. I'm not just putting my name on something to get it out there. That base material, that product has to be the best that it can possibly be. And that's my pact with readers, uh, listeners now, is uh is that I'm not gonna waste their time. And that's is something that I take extremely seriously because they're spending time with me in these pages. They're never gonna get back. So these books have to be the best that they can possibly be. And I cannot be more fired up with uh this introduction to Chris Walker that's that's out there now.

Co-Writing With M.P. Woodward

George Blitch 16:24

Well, man, great things take time and you don't want to rush those things. And I think, you know, whatever the maybe the delays that that are on on your shoulders that you feel too. Um, I I can understand you're like, oh man, I wanted to get this out here, but man, you've you've done such an amazing job with all the different things, whether it's the terminalist series, uh, you know, moving into Cry Havoc, Targeted, uh, the film adaptations thereof, and then now this, and this is just another, it's another masterpiece, man. I absolutely love it. I was really curious about what was that process like with you and Mike working back and forth with this book. Um, you know, obviously you you decide to reach out to him, he says yes right away. And then as far as you guys collaborating, is there a time when you guys are sitting together in the same, you know, room? I've seen some of the drawn-out things that look like, you know, the crime scheme sketches of like all these lines going everywhere as far as all the different characters and development. I mean, you've done such an extraordinary amount of work developing those characters uh for your books and and their backstories. And so I was kind of curious, did what what was it like when you guys decided to come now come together? You have this, I'm sure, a foundation put together. And then is he working on certain parts? I know you mentioned he went down to New Orleans and did some research there. Uh, but I was just kind of curious about the collaboration. You know, no trade secrets here, but as far as how you guys put this together and work together, uh, it's a little different than the nonfiction working with James Scott there. Obviously, you have historical data and things you guys are doing, but yeah, just kind of uh maybe give uh listeners a a little bit of uh introduction on that kind of side of things.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Yeah, in the co in the uh co-written nonfiction work and targeted, I learned so it's a totally different process because here in the thrillers, you're just making it all up. Uh, but Matt, hey, you have to do it right. And I learned so much from from James Scott. I mean, he's a historian, Pulitzer Prize finalist. I'm a student of history. I don't consider myself as a historian. I'm a student of everything that I that I do and everything that I've ever ever done in life, whether it was student of warfare or what I'm doing now. Um, but I've learned so much from James Scott about research, the correct way to annotate primary sources, even the photographs that are that are in these things, how to properly, legally, appropriately annotate in the notes section. So it's an actual work of fiction and not just pop history. That was very important to me when I stepped into the nonfiction world. Um, but for this, you're making it all up. So this is a this is a total uh you don't have to deal with any of that, that side. So the research still has to be there, of course, and it has to be uh accurate and all of that. But you know, with fiction, if you make a mistake, you can be like, hey, it's fiction. You know, you don't have that luxury with the nonfiction. In this case, uh, we have a lot to work with, and then we jumped in on the outline. So taking all those things that I already had, then breaking that down into a three, you know, three-act structure and uh epilogue prologue, epilogue uh type of a thing to bookend it like I do with my uh with my James Reese Terminalist series novels. That seems to be a good way to work for me anyway. Um, and so we went into this this outline and then went back and forth on Zooms, on texts, on emails, phone calls, and just talking about you know getting it more specific. Okay, in this chapter, this chapter, this chapter, this section, what happens next, what happens next, uh, for the different parts. Um, so then just breaking it down so you have it all essentially written out but without the dialogue in there. Uh so we went back and forth on that. And it's a very similar process to how we do the scripts in the TV series, actually. Even though there's a you know, writer's name attached to an episode, it's very uh team oriented. Um, how so many people could give their input to each and every one of those episodes. So even though uh my name and the and uh my band David Gillio's name is on uh episode seven of Dark Wolf, so many people had input into that um throughout the whole process. So um so similar in this respect that you take that outline, also everybody giving in the in the TV shows giving input. Then you take that outline, so essentially without the dialogue, then you turn it into what looks like a script that has a dialogue in there. So it's broken down into that that that's kind of the process there. So similar in this respect, in that respect, uh here. But uh yeah, we worked on the outline back and forth together during that process. Mike goes out to do some on-the-ground research in New Orleans. Um, so I was still working on Cry Havoc, uh, came back, keep working on that outline. And then once we got that outline to a place where we thought that uh okay, we're in a good spot right here, uh, then time to start uh working on the actual turning that into the narrative. So adding the dialogue and all that sort of a thing. Um and for me, that's where I get to know the characters is through dialogue. Like I know like who's the good guy, who's the bad guy, who's indifferent, uh, what their positions are, like who in the James Reese terminal list off, who's side of the KGB in this case, like who's the head of the FBI field office, or you know, who's the uh the head of this, who's the police detective, you know, that that sort of a thing. I know that, but I don't know them as people yet until I put them in dialogue with one another. So that's where I really get to know them, is in the dialogue. So um so Mike took a shot at the outline from there, turned it into, sorry, it turned that outline into the rough draft, and then gave that to me in August. And then I've been working on it ever since until just about uh a month ago or so, uh, up to the up to the last minute. And uh it took a lot, it's once again, it took a lot longer than I thought, um, which is why there's no James Reese this year. But uh at the same time, I learned a ton, and uh this is a great, I've so I could not be more happy with how this book turned out and how uh Chris Walker is introduced to the world. So that was the process on this one. Um going forward in the next one. I know exactly where he's going. I know the city, I know the uh the themes, I know the the uh the the uh like what he's gonna be what he's gonna be doing, like what the who the bad guys are, type of a thing. Um, but it's not as built out yet as uh this one was. So uh next time we talk about the next uh Chris Walker, I'll be able to tell you how the process was was different when it's More of a uh you know executive summary type of a concept, uh with beginning, middle, and end, of course, but uh still without uh without all that uh uh storyline worked on ahead of time.

Film Adaptation Possibilities And Priorities

George Blitch 22:11

Nice. Well I can't wait to see that uh come to fruition. You know, another thing I was thinking about, I know James Reese would say, never tell me the odds, but your fans might want to know what are the odds that we see Chris Walker's storm uh story in a film adaptation?

SPEAKER_01 22:26

That is a very good question. So it was originally envisioned for uh the screen. Well, not originally, not in 2014, but in 2021, uh, you know, taking that idea and uh building it out into that outline and and treatment was uh was definitely thought of in terms of a series. But uh we'll see. I'm not in any rush to do it this time based on my um experience last time uh with the terminal list series. So I'm not in any rush. I have a, I guess there's a a better, better positioning, you know, this time. So uh you know, we'll see. We'll see. Uh you know, it it's uh it would be fun, of course, but for me it's like hey, Hollywood is more of the uh, I don't know, uh I guess more of the hey, if it happens, it happens, great, but don't rely on it type of a thing. And don't uh, you know, realize that even if things start going down that path, they can derail at any minute. So for me, it's all about the it's all about the books and these stories and making the next book better than this one. Uh I always want to improve. It's always about constant improvement with me, even if it's a but by a degree, like that's what I owe my readers. And just like in the sealed teams, I was my goal was to be a better leader and a better operator every single day. Uh now it's to be a better author today than I was yesterday. Better citizen, better husband, better father. Um, and uh so so that's my that's my pact with readers is to always improve. Uh and then the next Chris Walker book will be at least a degree better than this one.

Signed Book Plates And Book Tour

George Blitch 23:41

Nice. Well, and you know, I know that folks who have followed you before love to get signed editions of your books. You've done signed copies, it's not the sign and shot through because you're keeping that with the James Reese world, but you do some really cool book plates that are limited edition that of course you have through small uh bookstores, your independent books uh retailers there, which is another thing that I'm thankful that you do to kind of help support uh locally all those, you know, mom and pop shops and the small bookshops. Why don't you tell people a little bit about where they can go and maybe you know a quick little uh background on those book plates and what that means for you?

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Yeah, I started doing it in 2020 when there was less foot traffic into uh bookstores, and a lot of them were forcibly shut down during COVID. So I wanted to figure out a way I could help those independent bookstores and came up with a book plate for Savage Sun. And so, hey, this is a way we can get uh people to visit virtually independent bookstores that aren't having that foot traffic right now because everything's shut down. So started it there, uh continued it with the devil's hand, and then for in the blood, uh thought, hey, we take this to the next level and started doing the shot through copies. So getting a uh uh the title pages sent out from Simon and Schuster, pasting, putting 50 of them together at a time, putting them between two cut pieces of cardboard, wrapping them with with duct tape with the target on there, and then going down and shooting them with something that uh has a connection to the book, and then sending them back to Simon and Schuster and them getting actually um bound into the book during the publishing process. So that's something I don't think anyone's ever done before. So that was that was cool. Uh, but it takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of time to coordinate all that, to say nothing of uh the video and the photographs and then coordinating with the stores and the whole thing. I mean, it takes a ton of time, which is also why I'm behind with with things. Um this time figured, okay, let's just keep the shot throughs to the James Reeves Terminalist universe, but still want to help out independent bookstores. How do we do that? How about a book plate? And how do we make the book plates better? So now they're bigger book plates. I should have grabbed something, they're downstairs, but uh they're they're bigger book plates, they're thicker book plates than I've ever seen before. And there are four different ones that all have something to do with the book, with the uh the storyline in the fourth option. And so I sign all those and then send them with a corresponding sticker to those bookstores. So if people order a first, and it's no cost extra to the to the person who's who's buying this, it just is an incentive to do to not just click the easy button on Amazon, but to take that extra step and go to those independent bookstores. So you get the signed book plate with a first edition copy, a limited edition, when they're gone, they're gone, and a corresponding sticker also that goes in there. Also, once again, everything's free, it's no extra cost. And uh, and it's just my way to try to help out these independent bookstores. So they're they're cool. I couldn't, I I've never seen book plates like this before. I've never seen book plates. Um, and for people listening or or or uh watching, uh, a book plate is something that you can get assigned usually by the author, but then you stick it into the book. So it's a uh it's a sticker essentially. If you don't physically see the author or physically uh uh have them sign the book, they sign the book plate and then you stick it into the book that you maybe already have, type of a type of a thing. So yeah, those are those are uh out there and available through multiple independent bookstores on uh on my website. People can click to those there and uh add them to the collection, choose your favorite or collect all four.

George Blitch 26:51

And people can also see you at some of these independent bookstores because you got another book tour that you'll be doing for this book. Uh if you want to go ahead and lay that out real quick, and I think it starts on May 9th, right? Uh is it May 9th?

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Yeah, so it starts sometime in there. It's uh it got a little crazy with the how long it became because Thriller Fest starts right before that in New York City. So uh my publicist set up a couple uh signings, two signings, I think, in New Jersey and uh on that Friday and Saturday, and then kicks off, uh then goes into to Austin. I think it's Monday night, which is maybe the uh 11th. And anyway, it's it's a full-on sprint through through book tour from there. So um people can go to the website and check that out. And I think you have to get tickets ahead of time now for a lot of them, just because everything got so so busy and and packed in the past. So it helped helps the bookstores organize it a little better. So those are all on the on the website. People can check those out there. And I think we have a book tour t-shirt out there that looks like a the 1980s uh concert um uh t-shirt. So started doing that a couple years ago, I think, with Red Sky Morning, started doing that, making it look like an 80s concert T. So those will be out there as well. And just yeah, I love seeing everybody on book tour because it's my chance to look them in the eye, thank them, and uh, and because today they're man, you're competing against every single distraction out there that essentially, to me anyway, look like they're meant to keep people from reading. Uh, an algorithm that's meant to glue you to a screen and just keep scrolling. Uh and yeah, especially for the kids, you know, it's uh it's it it doesn't develop that compassion and empathy that sitting down to read a book really does because you put yourself in someone else's shoes, whether you realize it or not. Uh, and it really does help develop your character, especially if you're reading these books between, let's say, age eight and eighteen or ten and twenty, um, really helps develop that. And it seems like Zoom scrolling does the opposite of that. You look in comments on any post, really, doesn't matter what it is, uh, and you'll see people doing the opposite of that, and not definitely not treating others the way they would like to be treated. And um anyway, it's a it's it's a tough time. So anyway, I really appreciate everybody that uh that does take the time to uh to get a book, to sit down with that book, uh, listen to that book these days, however they take in uh this sort of uh uh story. And uh I really appreciate it. So I love book tour because I get to thank everybody and and uh look them in the eye and say thank you. I try to do it on social media as much as I can, but it's it's different when you're doing it in person and shaking that hand and you know, maybe getting a picture or meeting somebody's kid or whatever it is who they they brought to the this uh uh book tour stop. And uh this thing is just so so important, especially for those kids to uh uh to become readers and become lifelong readers because I think they'll have a richer flow life because of it.

The Navy Chelsea Clock And Being Analog

George Blitch 29:26

Nice, man. Well, I'll make sure everyone I'll I'll put the links in below so they can go and uh buy these books from the independent bookstores. There's a link on your website, and then sign up and make sure you get the tickets ahead of time uh for that. And you know, we'll see you out there on the road. I had one last question if we have time, and that was about the Navy Chelsea clock that was in the VW. Chris and his SEAL team go on a dive and they get this clock and he brings it back, he gets it repaired. Is there a story behind that story? Because that just seems like there's something there. That were you a part of this? Uh no, no, I've just always been.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

I I got my um certification very early in life, scuba diving at nine years old. I don't know how my dad talked uh the dive storm to doing that. I think you're supposed to be 12, but anyway, I was nine. And uh so diving's been a part of my life from from that age. Even before that, you know, I was aspiring to scuba dive because you're watching it in James Bond movies, you're watching Bond Ball, you know, and uh and then I got to do it at such an early age, fortunately. And so it was something I did before the military. Of course, in the military, you're doing it, but they kind of take the fun out of everything because uh it's uh it's night and they're in a harbor and they're crazy, so there's ships all over the place. There's crazy sounds when you're doing stuff like that, and it's just totally dark, and you're looking at your attack board and you're flying at about 20 feet because oxygen, pure oxygen becomes toxic at depth. So you're read using these rebreather systems so there's no bubbles on the on the surface. You're going to plant a lipant mine on the bottom of some crazy ship, and you're just hoping that they that uh uh the the staff, the instructor staff has turned off all like the suction stuff on these ships that pulls water in, but you're hearing all these sound anyway. It's uh it's not the most comfortable. Uh and then you have to navigate underwater. So you're staring at a a compass with a little tiny uh like a glow stick, but like a mini one, and not just a smaller one, but like a tiny, tiny one, like that big and uh like an inch long. And that's just taped on there and it's taped all you know around with like riggers tape, and uh just so that it's directional, you make it directional so you can just barely see this compass and this uh uh your your watch, a G-Shock watch there. So you're looking at the time, you're counting your kicks to confirm that time at a certain heading based off the currents, and uh, and then you have your depth gauge to make sure you're not going like porpoising like this, so you just stay as flat as you possibly can. And uh so I got to do that in the SEAL teams. Um, but uh I thought, you know what, it would be so much more fun to put some fun back into this diving again, like uh like before the SEAL teams. And so I just thought, ah, these guys could have could have done that on some some deployment somewhere where they had the option to or uh the opportunity to dive on on a wreck and not just have it be a uh a mission type of a thing. And uh so I thought about that. And then I thought about developing it further, but then it didn't really work with the with the story. But the analog nature of that clock and that history, and I wanted Chris Walker to be an analog guy. So he has that he has a guitar, you know, he has that there's that clock, he has the typewriter, it's an older van that he has to to work on, type of a thing. So and he shares that with Connor, even though he didn't really know Connor, the son of the the his teammate that he lost in Afghanistan, who feels responsible for, even though he didn't really know Connor, they shared that in common. So Sean's Connor's an aspiring journalist, um, but he's an analog guy too. So he's not on this path into the military, he's not following his dad's footsteps into the military. Um, but he he, for whatever reason, he's born out of time, kind of like Chris Walker. And so they share that commonality and that link. And the Chelsea Cock was uh was a way to illustrate that um uh and show that in the early stages of the novel.

Release Updates And Closing Thanks

George Blitch 32:49

Nice. Well, and it I love that analog digital nature. You kind of have that, and then you have the Jared Stanton, the career FBI guy that's on his trail, and he's got his Apple Watch very digital, and so there's a lot of that uh at play and a lot of other uh great juxtapositions and stories and philosophies that are coming in and out. I mean, this is such a rich book. Uh, wanted to congratulate you uh and Mike for such an amazing job, and you guys just this is a great story. I know everyone's going to love it and the Chris Walker universe. I can't wait to uh see this expand. And we got True Believer coming out this summer. I know you're working on James Reese, the next book. Um, you know, just the best wishes for everything you're doing, Jack. And thank you once again for joining me today. I know my listeners, you're a fan favorite of of all of them, and uh, I know they can't wait to to get this episode, get the books in the hands, and see you on the book tour. Oh, well, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

And uh yeah, true believer, probably not this summer. I wish it was gonna be 4th of July. I wish I wish it was gonna be 4th of July weekend and uh binge. That's what I argued for, but I think we missed a few windows there. And of course, Amazon, you know what it's that's completely out of our our hands essentially. But uh so I think it's gonna be later in 2026, but it still should be 2026, but uh no no announcements or even official date yet. But uh hopefully soon. I would think we would have to have that that soon if we're gonna get on track with the uh the marketing promotional campaigns and then everyone's schedules as well for premieres and that sort of thing. So hopefully it's coming, it's coming. It's done and it's looking great. Look, I can't wait for uh for this to get out there. Oh man, well, I can't either.

George Blitch 34:17

Well, thank thanks, Jack, once again. Good luck with uh the publication and the book tour and everything. And uh yeah, we'll uh see you uh around next time you got a project on the on the books. Man, thank you so much. Always love talking to you, and hopefully I'll uh see you in person uh pretty soon. Looking forward to that, man. You take care. Take care. See you.