Author Brad Taylor Discusses Declassifying His Writing

 

It’s always a pleasure to welcome bestselling author Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Brad Taylor back here to talk about his latest book and his writing.

Unlike most writers, when Brad (a Conroe native) writes in his novels about a particular weapon or the logistics of a military operation, he has to vet it for classified information. Brad’s experience comes from 21 years in combat zones around the world in the infantry, Special Forces, and 8 years as a commander in the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, commonly known as the Delta Force. He was part of operations to take down Al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks and, after retiring in 2010, continues as a classified security consultant. 

 
His debut novel ONE ROUGH MAN was an instant New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller and was welcomed with rave reviews from critics, proving to the world that he is the complete package: a writer who understands how to tell a thrilling story and has more than enough on-the-ground experience to back it up. His second novel, ALL NECESSARY FORCE, is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that echoes with real-world scenarios. 

Brad was gracious and answers some questions about his writing for me.

Mason - You walk a fine line writing your book, keeping the story realistic without giving away classified government information. How challenging is that?

Brad - Very challenging. One thing I never want to do in my writing is harm our national security by divulging classified tactics, techniques or procedures, but I also want the manuscript to be as cutting-edge as possible. It’s a dichotomy that caused some serious rewrites on various scenes, such as when the Fort AP Hill ammunition supply point is attacked by terrorists. I did the research on that site, wrote the scene, and then realized I’d just written a blueprint on how to attack it that had a very good chance of succeeding. 

Because of my knowledge of tactics, and my ability to conduct some seriously close-in research due to my military affiliation, I had crossed the line. I had to go back and throw in some red herrings. I know I’ll get dinged on that by someone with the same knowledge as me, saying, “That would never work,” but that’s the point.  

Mason - Are all the weapons and equipment mentioned in your book real, make-believe or a combination of both?

Brad - On the weapons side, they’re all very real. If it has a bullet coming out of it, it’s something currently being used by Special Operations forces. The equipment, on the other hand, is more of a combination. I have a lot of cutting-edge widgets in ALL NECESSARY FORCE, and all are either real-world, non-classified pieces of kit, or something I created, using what I knew would work given the specific circumstances. As I said above, I don’t want to—and will not—write about any classified kit that I’ve actually used.  

Luckily, I don’t have to expose classified technology to circle the square of my plot. I have a healthy appreciation of what technology can and can’t do, and simply work with that. Even so, there are only so many ways to skin the cat, and I’m constantly worried that I’ll give away a secret without meaning to. 

One widget I created in ALL NECESSARY FORCE was something I had never seen, but I knew was technologically feasible. Sure enough, a few months after I put it on the page I was doing some work for an agency, and the guy I was with pulled out my widget. It had become real, and I was now treading on classified technology without even meaning to. I had him walk me through how it worked, and was satisfied that mine was different enough that I didn’t need to pull it. I won’t say which piece of kit it is, but it’s still in ALL NECESSARY FORCE.

Mason - Why use the Vietnam War as the beginning of ALL NECESSARY FORCE?

Brad - While I was in college, preparing to go into the Army, I read everything I could find on an organization called MACV-SOG, a top-secret Special Forces unit in the Vietnam War. It’s not hyperbole to say my path in the Army was decided in a large part by what I had read about the men and missions of SOG. Many of those members went on to form the special mission unit I served in. 

After I joined Special Forces, I was a pallbearer at my grandmother’s funeral, and found out I had a cousin who was Special Forces and was killed in action in Cambodia in 1970. I never knew him—I was five when he was killed—and didn’t even know any of my family had served in Special Forces until that day. I did some research and found that not only was he in Special Forces, he had volunteered for suicidal missions with MACV-SOG, the very organization that had set me on my path.

ALL NECESSARY FORCE is dedicated to him, and the men of MACV-SOG. They are some of the bravest soldiers this country has ever produced, and I set out to pay a tribute to them, working the plot forward from Vietnam. I tried very hard to get the nuances right, including equipment, locations and terminology that was used during that conflict, doing more research for that prologue than I had for anything else and intertwining real-world history with the fiction on the page.

For instance, Congressman Ellis himself is a name I attributed to a real-world rumor that circulated within MACV-SOG during Vietnam—namely that there was a mole inside headquarters compromising missions—and Chris Hale’s actions in the prologue are based on a real-world SOG combat mission where a Special Forces soldier was posthumously presented the Medal of Honor. I hope I succeeded in getting it right.

Mason - Looking at the finished book now, is there anything else you wish you had included but didn't think of at then?  

Brad - Not really. In truth, I wish I had the ability to keep things out of a manuscript for future use, in effect keep something in reserve for upcoming writing. Typically, I end up throwing in everything that comes to mind, and completing a novel is such a long process that I rarely have any regrets about leaving something out. 

Truthfully, I wouldn’t add anything, but I might change a few things based on the current events ongoing with the Arab spring. Keeping the book timely is always a problem because the real world marches on after the manuscript is sent to press. Luckily, ALL NECESSARY FORCE is holding up well. There might be a tweak or two, but for the most part, current events have only enhanced the plot – especially in Egypt – rather than detract from it.

Mason - What message, if any, would you like readers to take away from reading your book?

Brad - First and foremost, I want them to look at the clock and say, “Dammit, it’s midnight! I need to get some sleep.” Then keep reading. If that happens, I’ve succeeded. Other than enjoying the book, I wanted to show a distinct moral component for the work that men like Pike Logan execute. Too often the characters of such novels or movies run around killing or torturing people without a shred of remorse, when that’s not really the case. 

A lot of time, effort, and thought go into counter-terrorist activities in the real world, and the men and woman who execute them operate within a moral framework. They make decisions with life or death repercussions, and live with those decisions. They aren’t robots. I wanted to show that through the interactions between Pike—an operator experienced with combat—and Jennifer—a relative newcomer to what combat actually entails.

Mason - What can fans expect next from you?  

Brad - I took a step back with the third book, leaving behind the global nature of al Qaida and other Islamic groups, focusing instead on terrorist organizations with finite political goals. Too often we, as Americans, lump all “terrorists” together, when in fact, they have very different goals and capabilities. Like the quote says, one man’s terrorist is definitely another man’s freedom fighter. 

I chose to write about Hezbollah, Hamas, and the intractable Palestinian Diaspora problem vis-à-vis Israel. Probably not very smart, considering what’s going on with the Arab Spring (yes, I’ve already had to do a ton of re-writes based on events in Syria), but it is interesting. I’ve also brought back Lucas Kane. I’ve gotten a ton of emails from folks who read ONE ROUGH MAN and couldn’t wait to see what happens to him in my “next book,” but he’s not in ALL NECESSARY FORCE. 

A great many people insinuated that I let him go in ONE ROUGH MAN simply to set up ALL NECESSARY FORCE, but in reality, I simply wrote his escape because I thought it was poetic justice for Standish. I never meant for that to be some sort of “hook.” I now realize that I made a mistake in letting him go. What he did to Pike’s family required a revisit. Everyone wanted him to get a little Taskforce justice, so I brought him back. Book three ended up revolving around him, like Darth Vader from Star Wars, and make no mistake, he gets some justice.  

Brad, thanks for guest blogging. It’s intriguing to hear about your background and how it’s hard keeping things out of your writing.

Brad will be appearing at 2 books signings in North Carolina this week. If you’re in either of these areas, be sure to drop by the signing.
* Friday, Feb. 3, 7 P.M.
Fayetteville Barnes & Noble
121 Glensford Rd, Fayetteville, NC

* Saturday, Feb. 4, 1 P.M.
Costco (Signing Only)
2838 Wake Forest Rd, Raleigh, NC

Now a little background on Brad. He was born on Okinawa, Japan, but grew up on 40-acres in rural Texas. Graduating from the University of Texas, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry. Brad served for more than 21 years, retiring as a Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel.  

His final assignment was as the Assistant Professor of Military Science at The Citadel in Charleston, SC.  He holds a Master’s of Science in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, with a concentration in Irregular Warfare. When not writing, he serves as a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies. He lives in Charleston, SC with his wife and two daughters. 

For more on Brad and his writing, visit his website at www.bradtaylorbooks.com.

Do you enjoy books that deal with war or the theft of war? Does it make reading more enjoyable if you know the technology used is real or at least partially real? Thanks so much for stopping by today.

 

Author Brad Taylor & A Book Signing

Photo by Rod Pasibe

It’s my pleasure to welcome author Brad Taylor as the special guest blogger today at Thoughts in Progress as his book is released.

Brad’s book, ONE ROUGH MAN, has a level of authenticity unrivaled in thriller fiction and that’s because of him. Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Brad Taylor has firsthand knowledge of cutting edge counter-terrorism strategies because of his experience in combat operations from more than 20 years in the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces.

Library Journal raves, “[Taylor] brings such incredible realism and authenticity that readers feel like they are looking over the shoulders of a real antiterrorist operation.”

To say that this is going to be an exciting series is an understatement. Brad’s unique military experience makes it hard to determine what is fact and what is fiction, and his writing keeps readers turning the pages. 

There’s an added bonus for those readers of this blog that are in the Atlanta, GA, area - Brad will be at a book signing on Sunday, Feb. 27, at the Eagle Eye Book Shop located at 2076 N. Decatur Road in Decatur, GA, beginning at 2 p.m. For more about the signing, contact the Eagle Eye Book Shop at (404) 486-0307 or visit their website at www.eagleeyebooks.com .

Brad stops by today to discuss his thorough research methods – including personal interviews and location scouting, such as with the Atlanta airport escape scene.

Ask twenty different authors what they think about the relative importance of research for a novel, and you’ll get twenty different opinions. On one side of the scale, some will say it’s irrelevant and that people read for good writing, not good research, and that water-tight research will never overcome bad writing. 

I’m on the other side of the scale. Yes, the writing comes first, but nailing the details only adds to the effect. There is no downside. Not bothering to conduct rudimentary research into the subject matter, in my mind, is insulting to the reader. It smacks of laziness, especially if the reader has some grasp of the subject. In fact, as a reader I can only get so far in a book if the information blatantly conflicts with the facts that I know. I’m not asking anyone to be an expert, but at least show me you can find Wikipedia. Or buy a Guns and Ammo magazine. I’ll forgive almost anything if the author shows me he tried.

Because of this, I’m rabid about research.  The knowledge base I gained from my previous career is absolutely essential as a starting point, but I don’t have an encyclopedic memory. Suffice it to say, I have to do an enormous amount of fact checking, from something as minute as how long a certain flight would take and the time-zones involved to whether a particular weapon fires from the open-bolt position. Invariably, whenever I try to wing it based on my memory and experiences alone, I find out I’m wrong. I’ve learned to fact-check just about everything. Luckily, if I can’t find the answer on my own, odds are very good that I know someone who can.

There is a trap with this, and I’ve fallen into it more times than I can count, and that is you want to show off the research you’ve done, babbling on about interesting but irrelevant tidbits, with the plot suffering as a result. I’ve just come to understand that out of all the research I do, only about two percent will make it into the book. Especially when talking about locations.

I’m a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to real-world settings, and I research them relentlessly. I’ve traveled all over the world, which is a good thing when I want to describe a setting, but make no mistake; I have to really study locations to get them right. For example, I’ve been to both Central and South America, but I have never been to Guatemala or Belize, major settings in ONE ROUGH MAN. I had to research both forever, and ultimately didn’t use 99% of what I found, and in the end I’m sure that someone who’s actually spent some time there will find flaws. I’m okay with that, because I gave it my best shot. 

When I have the ability to do first-hand research, I do so. The Atlanta airport scene is a pretty good example of that. Basically, Jennifer and Pike get stopped at customs and have to break out of the secondary interrogation facility. I tried to write how they would evade capture, and escape what’s become one of the most secure areas since 9/11, using my own recollection of the airport. When I was done, I realized that I really didn’t know enough about the security of the airport, and that the way I had written it was a little hokey. I have been through that airport probably 500 times, but I’d never looked at the security from an evasion standpoint. One thing I was convinced of, though, was they weren’t going to escape by using normal passenger corridors. I called up some pilot friends of mine and proposed a simple question: how can I get out of the Atlanta airport without going the usual passenger route? They gave me the breakdown of what crew members do, to include locations of employee lounges and employee bus routes. From there, I simply flew to the airport and retraced Pike and Jennifer’s steps from customs, noting the security in place such as cameras, alarms, and checkpoints. After casing the place it was pretty easy to figure out how they could do it. 
Since I’m not independently wealthy, I couldn’t afford to do what I did with the Atlanta scene for the scenes in Bosnia, Oslo, or Guatemala. In those cases, I had to rely on the internet, my memory and friends with specialized knowledge. There’s a military phrase called Open Source Intelligence, which basically means, “read the paper and see what you can find out.” In today’s times, that means the internet, and it’s amazing what’s out there, from airport databases and flikr, to Google Earth and 360cities. Surprisingly, my favorite source is a blog from backpacking college students. Those folks go everywhere, and talk about everything from security at border crossings to the best way to get a taxi, complete with pictures. Suffice to say, just about anything can be found if one looks hard enough.

For instance, I’ve been inside the White House situation room – once – but I’m certainly not well versed on the White House floor plan, something I needed to be if Kurt was going to keep seeing the president. Obviously, getting in and stomping around the president’s personal space was problematic. Luckily, there’s an entire website dedicated to the history of the White House, complete with the floor plan through the years and photos.

I try to do that with any scene I write, but I’ll be honest, if I need something, I’ll create it. For instance, the Four Courts pub where Pike is ambushed is a real location in Clarendon, Virginia. The streets around it are accurate, as are the Metro stops to get there. I cased that area as well, trying to figure out how I would ambush Pike (and get a Guinness at the pub). I planned the ambush realistically, but added an alley to the left of the pub. It doesn’t exist in real life, but it does in my book. I know that sounds hypocritical, but I did this because in the end the writing does come first. The alley was critical to the story. 

I’ll fake things for reasons other than the story as well. Writers without my background can guess how widget X works, and if they get it right everyone wonders how they got the information. My problem is the opposite: I do know how things work, and most of that knowledge is classified, so I have to spend a lot of time tempering what I know when I write, even if it seems mundane. For instance, I’m currently working on a scene for book two where terrorists attack an Army Ammunition Supply Point. I traveled to and studied the ASP, then simply wrote how I would hit it to get to the ammunition inside. After I was done, I read it and thought, “What the hell are you doing? You’ve just written a blueprint on how to attack a U.S. Federal facility!” My insider knowledge, coupled with my tactical skill set, had made it too real. I had to go back and throw in some red herrings. I know I’ll get dinged on that by someone with the same knowledge as me, saying, “That would never work,” but that’s the point. 

In the end, I fall on the “research” bandwagon, although I realize there’s no way I’m going to be perfect. Mistakes will happen, no matter how much research I do, and I want to kick myself when that occurs, but it’s just the way of writing. Pike steals a Chevy Cutlass in Guatemala City to escape, and after all of the research on the city itself, I’m told by an advanced copy reader – after I’d blessed the final manuscript – that Chevrolet didn’t make the Cutlass. Oldsmobile did. 

Mistakes like that don’t make me throw my hands up at the futility of it all, because I owe it to the reader. My cut-line on real versus make-believe is the story itself. If you make something up for the purposes of the plot, knowing it’s wrong, and it makes the story stronger, then you’ve enhanced the enjoyment of the reader. On the other hand, using the story as an excuse for a lack of research is really just a shortcut – and the reader will know it. Maybe not all readers will care, but even if only one does, you’ve failed.

Brad, thanks so much for guest blogging here today. Research does add another layer to the story. From a reader’s viewpoint, I appreciate when an author has gone that extra step to do research for their book. It means to me they care.

For more on Brad and his writing, check out his website at www.bradtaylorbooks.com 

What are your thoughts on research? Do you think readers pay more attention to details than they once did?

REMEMBER -- if you live in the Atlanta area you can meet Brad on Feb. 27 at his book signing. Tell him you heard about it here!