Keith: I know you’re a veteran of the United States Army. Can you tell us a little about your service?  

John: I joined the US Army just before my final year of High school and shipped out a year later, a little over a month after I graduated. I spent most of my time in Germany, with a short tour in Bosnia assigned to an Explosive Ordnance Detachment. I left the Army in 2000 to get an education, and after receiving my Bachelor’s degree, I begged the wife to let me suit back up. I joined the Navy in 2009. I’m currently a Chief with the Navy reserve. I did a tour in Afghanistan with them in 2013.

Keith: When, how and why did you start writing? 
 
John: I’ve always been writing and telling stories. In grade school I won a young author's award for a silly childrens story I put together. As I got older and my interests changed, my stories leaned more to the dark, or violent side. The creative writing teachers would always frown on my assignments and file them away. I was encouraged to get into sports writing, which bored me to tears. I eventually settled on loads and loads of reading, every book or cereal box I could find. The service is where I really began to pen short stories or sketch out comic strips. I even wrote a magazine to fight boredom. Fortunately none of these things have survived!

Keith: How would you describe your books to someone who hasn't read your work?

John: My books are tales of survival and brotherhood. They tell stories of soldiers who face great odds and have to overcome challenges to survive and get home. Also somewhere in the background is a world on fire filled with zombies, or sometimes Aliens.

Keith: What do you find most challenging writing a book?

John: Recently it has been the time. I am the type of person that has to really get into a zone before I can produce good work. An hour here and there doesn’t cut it. So as my life changes, my production drops.

Keith: What do you find enjoyable writing a book?

John: It’s cool when you are in a really good story and you can start to visualise the scenes, feel the emotions of the characters and the adrenalin of the action.   It is also a great release, and sometimes therapy. If I told someone the stories bottled up in the back of mind they would probably want to have me committed. Telling old stories of losing friends or remorse, make people uncomfortable. But if you sprinkle in a zombie or two, suddenly it is entertainment and acceptable.

Keith: That's an interesting take on it, and one I can certainly understand. Which authors have influenced your writing? 

John: I have always been a fan of Tom Clancy, but I know I could never write like that. Some of my favourite authors are Louis L’Amour and Leonard B. Scott. I think I have read everything they have ever written.  More recently I am a huge fan of J.L. Bourne a fellow Navy man.

Keith: Which literary character is most like you?

John: Wow I really have no idea, I don’t think of myself that way. I would be a quiet back up character in an old L’amour western, maybe a supporting character like Frank Darrow in Down the Long Hills. Just a solid side kick but ready to step in when the heat is on.

Keith: What’s your opinion regarding eBooks vs paperbacks?

John: I used to be a strict paperback guy, but once I got a kindle and figured out I could take my entire library on every deployment, my mind was changed. I still buy a copy of all my favourites on paperback though.  The thing that puzzles me is why some eBooks cost more than the paperback?

Keith: Any tips for aspiring writers?

John: Best tip is to write often. If you have a story to tell get it onto paper. Don’t write the intention to sell it, do it for yourself. If the story is good enough for an audience, you’ll know it.

Keith: What do you like reading in your spare time?

John: I go back to old favourites. Dime store paperback and war novels, things that provide a quick escape and don’t require me to think too hard.  

Keith: Which books are similar to your own? What makes them alike?

John: There are plenty of zombie books, or horror stories out there, but I don’t think they have the military edge to make them like Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Keith: What are you working on at the moment?

John: Currently I am elbow deep in two short story projects I have been commissioned to write.  After those are off the table, I will be headed full-steam back into the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot world to tackle Bound By Honor.

I look forward to the new WTF. Thanks John!

Thanks for reading. You can find more about John's kick ass novels at his website and Facebook Page:

Website
Facebook

Keith: Hi Greg, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to join me. I enjoyed reading Marika Hartmann’s fast-paced adventures, which took us all over the globe. An excellent series of books and highly recommended to anyone who loves reading thrillers and hasn’t come across Greg’s work before.
 
 
Keith: When, how and why did you start writing?
 
Greg: I was running my own business and things weren’t going well. I’d always wanted to be a writer, so I decided to start in the hope of making some money out of it. Of course, being real life it took me more than ten years to get a publisher, though I wrote every day from then on.

Keith: How would you describe your books to someone who hasn't read your work?
 
Greg: I quite like the tag intelligent thrillers. I like to move a story along, but also work hard to add depth to every character and situation.

Keith: What do you find most challenging writing a book?
 
Greg: There are so many challenging things about writing that it’s hard to single out just one. Sitting down at a computer and writing 100 000 words is hard enough, but making it all work together as a story is very, very difficult.

Keith: Where did the idea of your main character Marika Hartmann come from?
 
Greg: Originally, believe it or not, her name was Raelene, and my agent laughed at me. ‘You can’t call her that,’ he said. ‘Everyone will think she’s a bogan.’ So I changed her name to Marika and strengthened her role in the first book. After that she basically just took over.

Keith: Are there any authors who have influenced your writing?
 
Greg: Definitely. Alistair McLean, Wilbur Smith, Leon Uris, Colleen McCullogh, Rosemary Sutcliff, Jack Higgins, Desmond Bagley, James A Michener, John Grisham, Dean Koontz to name just a few. Oh, and of course … Keith McArdle!

Keith: That's quite a list, mate. Not sure about that last one, though. Which literary character is most like you?
 
Greg: I really identified with Martin Fallon in 'A Prayer for the Dying' by Jack Higgins, but I’ve never been in the IRA, I promise!

Keith: What’s your opinion regarding eBooks vs paperbacks?
 
Greg: I prefer to read novels in print but I sometimes buy non fiction for research on my iPad. Ebooks are great for research because of the search function and bookmarking.

Keith: Any tips for aspiring writers?
 
Greg: You are competing with millions of other writers. Be prepared to put in the time to get very, very good at it, or don’t bother.

Keith: What do you read in your spare time?
 
Greg: I don’t read that many thrillers, unless I get a strong recommendation. I feel a bit manipulated by authors like Harlan Coban and David Baldacci. Of the thrillers I have read in recent years, Terry Hayes’s 'I am Pilgrim' was absolutely outstanding.
 
These days, I generally read mainstream books, sometimes literary fiction. I also love Australian classics. My all time favourites are novels that combine a strong plot, travel, some action, and great characters. I read every Wilbur Smith book up until he started co-creating them.

Keith: Which books are similar to your own? What makes them alike?
 
Greg: My novels often get compared to Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsyth and Tom Clancy, but of course they’re not really just like any of those. I would love to write books like Leon Uris (Exodus, Mila 18, and Trinity). He was an amazing author.

Keith: What are you working on at the moment?
 
Greg: My next book is set partly in medieval Portugal and partly in modern Western Australia. So it’s different to the last three books, but still fast paced and lively. I’ve been working on this one, on and off, for more than ten years.

Keith: Wow, that sounds intriguing. Perhaps some time travel is in order! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule Greg, enjoy the rest of your week and I look forward to reading your future books!

If you'd like to know more about Greg and his action-packed thrillers, be sure to check out his:

Facebook Page;

or

Website.

Keith: Hi Weston and thank you for taking the time out for this interview.

Keith: When, how and why did you start writing?

Weston: When I turned thirty, I decided I’d been on the planet far too long without writing. So with 100% narcissistic contempt at the universe and logic, I figured that writing wouldn’t be so hard. After all, there were plenty of bad books out there. I proceeded to write a novel. It was going to be awesome. I imagined myself on the NY Times Bestseller list. Book tours. Interviews on day time talk shows. The whole works. In six months I had a hundred pages. I submitted the partial manuscript to Tor and sat back. Days passed. Weeks. Then after three months I received the manuscript back – WTF – with a note that said they didn’t like it. Who the hell were they? As it turns out, they were right. I’d written drivel… worse, it was bad drivel…. not even good drivel, if there is such a thing. So I turned to short stories, because I’d read somewhere that to perfect the craft one has to perfect the short story. Since then, I’ve had more than 120 short stories published and almost 30 books.


Keith: Wow! You don't muck around, that is a lot of written in a short period of time.   How would you describe yours books to someone who hasn't read your work?

Weston: As the best damn books they’ve never read. In fact, they’ve been excluded from a very special club where people talk about my work and get new insights into the universe. Frankly, I feel a bit sorry for them. 

 
Keith: What do you find most challenging writing a book?

Weston: Distraction. Hell, let me put it right out there. Facebook. That frigging thing… Gah!
 

Keith: What do you find enjoyable writing a book?

Weston: When the lizard brain kicks in. See, there are times when you write a sentence in chapter one and five and ten and twelve and you aren’t sure why you’re writing that sentence, but you trust your craft. Then in chapter thirty, right during the climax, your lizard brain unveils its grand design and somehow ties all those sentences together. It’s hard to explain, but the lizard brain is my favorite part.

 
Keith: If you did it all over again, would you change anything in your latest novel?

Weston: No. That’s like asking a mother, what would you change in your baby. If it has ten fingers and toes and is healthy, the answer would be nothing, followed probably by hands on hips and a downward nose look that makes you feel kind of pitiful for even asking.
 
Keith: Fair enough! :)


Keith: Which authors have influenced your writing?

Weston: Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury are my greatest influences. I’ve tried to capture Heinleins humanism with Bradbury’s sense of wonder. Both of them created magical narratives that have long survived their passing.
 

Keith: Which literary character is most like you?

Weston: If we could combine equal parts of Lord Byron, Bartelby the Scrivener, Jim Hawkins and Encylopedia Brown, that would be me.
 

Keith: What’s your opinion regarding eBooks vs paperbacks?

Weston: They’re just different means of reading. Fifteen years ago they were asking what’s our opinion about print on demand books and regular published books. They were just different. What POD books and eBooks share, however, is the democratization of publishing. Now everyone who has an Amazon account can call themselves an author – for good and bad. This makes it harder on the reader to find good work. Previously, readers felt that the mass market publisher filter system gave them the best chance at a good read. If the work was published by a big publisher with all the competition to be published, then it had to be good. Of course, that didn’t account for certain editorial tastes. Now a new author can avoid that competition and just throw a work out there, for sometimes terrible results.
 

Keith: Any tips for aspiring writers?

Weston: Never listen to that voice in your head. It only knows what you know about writing, which is basically nothing. 
 

Keith: What do you like reading in your spare time?

Weston: I read all over the place like my writing. I read horror, thrillers, literary fiction, YA novels, you name it. I just like good writing. I also feel that by reading outside my genres, I breathe fresh air into my writing every time I write.
 
Keith: Which books are similar to your own? What makes them alike?

Weston: That’s too hard to say, man. I write thrillers, horror, YA, science fiction, and literary fiction. For good or bad, I haven’t allowed myself to be cornered.


Keith:  What are you working on at the moment?

Weston: I’m working on a new novel from Solaris Books (UK) called Burning Sky. t's about an O.S.T. or Operational Support Team. OST is the movement security detail for VIPs within Afghanistan. Comprised of active duty military, civilians, and contractors, all veterans of military police, security services, special operations units, and other combat agencies, these men and women spend seasons in hell to, not only try and fix what’s broken in each of them, but also to make enough bank to change their futures. They are stress junkies and the world is better for it. But seven months after their last mission, safely back on American soil, Land of the Big PX, they feel like they've left something undone... like maybe even they've left something or someone behind. And the feeling is driving them crazy. One by one they come together, and discover that they've all been having the same dream... a dream of a woman, a goat, and a sky that won't stop burning.
 
 Keith: Sounds intriguing! Looking forward to that one. Weston thanks again for taking the time to join us, it's much appreciated. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, mate.


“If you’d like to become a Friend of Weston or FOW, go to his website at www.westonochse.com and sign up for his newsletter where you’ll get free books, stories, advice, and other good stuff only FOWs get.”