1)         I read on your website, www.americanwarrior.org, that you began writing while in the military. Can you share some of your military background and how you arrived at the inspiration for American Warrior?

            I was actually stationed in a mobile operations unit in Europe during the Cold War relationship with the USSR and all that. As part of NATO, we did a lot of war-game stuff—long, long maneuvers, it seemed, always in the worst conditions. That was also during the Vietnam War protests in Europe, and the terrorists groups operating then, such as the Bädder-Meinhof gang. It seemed like we were always on alert then and somebody was always trying to blow up anything with USA on it. I was attached to the Tactical Air Control Center which, fortunately, was the hub for the operations in the field. Everyone would pass through there during the exercises, so I had exposure to a wide variety of military types, including a veritable river of pilots, top-echelon officers, grunts, Special Forces, and the like, fresh from Vietnam. Everyone was talking about their experiences, and I was writing it down almost as fast. I actually think not being in Southeast Asia was more beneficial, because I believe it allowed me to be more objective about it. I wasn’t tied to “telling my story,” which, from a literary sense, is not usually the best thing. I was open to the whole gamut of experience there and could pick and choose, which I did.

            I could write another novel about the writing of this one. Let’s just say it began in another world altogether and slowly moved toward Paul and his journey. I came from a low-rung, blue-collar background and the guys I moved with were from that, and I wanted to tell about that and them. We had no idea what prep schools were or not having to worry about money or getting your behind kicked. Where I grew up there wasn’t much concern about your color or political leanings; it was all just gritty, day-to-day survival. And you tended to bond together and try to help each other out, because it was very dangerous to do and be otherwise. A boy like Paul knew instinctively he had to do something, and quick, if he was going to make it. His old man was beating him, the other kids were beating him, and it all became very simple at that point. You just started looking for a way to survive and to eventually get out of there.

2) Pentjack Silat is a combination of several types of fighting arts. Are you a student of Silat yourself?

            I’m an admirer of Silat. I’ve studied the martial arts in general and researched parts of it extensively for American Warrior, and I find the Indonesian forms something of an enigma. In their purest forms they are very brutal and don’t lend themselves well to “sport” fighting, such as Karate and Tae Kwan Do. The interplay in Silat between the empty hands and weapons also intrigued me. But I’m not a martial artist. I’ve done the eight-week-wonder Judo courses, did a little Jujitsu in a school setting, and some boxing in the military where I learned the true meaning of humility. Sometimes I use some of the Silat moves when I exercise, and I keep daring myself to develop these forms with a real teacher, but I’m actually kind of lazy about the whole thing.

3) Have you written any other books?

            As any writer will tell you, their best stuff’s in the dresser drawer at home. Actually, I’ve got several books completed and several more at various stages. American Warrior is an amalgamation of two or three different books, which, at one point, was a very long book, but was revised down to its current state. And I’m sure some of them will keep popping back into my life as I go along. My wife’s favorite (she’s an ex-cop) is this very bloody, terrifying little yarn, á la The Alienist, about two detective brothers in turn-of-the-century New Orleans, facing a serial killer and the early Italian Mafia, simultaneously. She, of course, likes the bad guy.

4) Who were your inspirations for the characters of Paul and Draeger?

            I’m sure, as the saying goes, their sources are many and varied. But the truth is, I didn’t sit there and say I’m going to use parts of this or that person I’ve known. I don’t even like to say I invent characters. I prefer to think of them coming into me in their own way, kind of fleshing themselves out as they wish. Sometimes that’s a quick process and sometimes it takes hundreds of pages. I think Paul and Draeger compliment each other well and bring out much of each other’s character for the reader that wouldn’t exist without that dual compliment. They’re also products of their environment. The China Slough setting is very real because I lived there as a child, and the immigrant gangs are real because I fought amongst them as well. Just go into a poor neighborhood and look into those boys’ or girls’ faces and you’ll see more than a little of Paul in them.

            There was also this old man, a recluse, who everyone called the Dutchman, and who would stand on his high deck and practice what I would later recognize as some kind of martial form. There is a physicality about Draeger that is very much my grandfather, who was Pennsylvania Dutch. He also had that wonderful white, bristling hair and would always have that smile, like he was thinking of a good joke to tell you.

5) I couldn’t help but wonder how much of American Warrior is true to your life experience, especially the military scenes. How much of you is in American Warrior?

            Pieces of my life are scattered all through the work. Although, as I’ve said, I was never in Vietnam or Laos, some of my best friends were, a few of them died there, and for several years I had a front row seat to the returning sad parade. And while I was not a bad soldier, I was occasionally a naughty one and had a few run-ins with the military command. Of course, I knew even then they were right and I was wrong, but kids often don’t differentiate between what is good or bad for them. I have had the opportunity to closely examine the inside of a military jail and it was there I first heard about the military prison warden who pit-fought his charges. I only remember telling myself then I didn’t want to end up there and didn’t think much more about it until, years later, Paul’s story started forming itself. Of course, every word of anything decently written must be that writer, if not literally, then spiritually so. The whole notion of style is the writer squeezing that essence from his or her mind and soul, as only they can, to tell their story. So American Warrior is all me, but if I went through much of what Paul did, I would probably not be around to write it down.

6) Was your purpose with American Warrior to entertain and educate and how do you hope to see your book received?

            From a writer’s perspective I find the whole relationship between writer and reader a very humbling experience. The idea of someone taking time out of their life to partake in what I’ve written always amazes me a little. But I know as a reader I first want to be entertained. I want to open the book and go for the ride. It may be wild or not but it better be interesting. It better not lose my interest or stumble or I’m out of there. So as a writer my first purpose is to engage the reader and keep them engaged. I can think of nothing worse, from a literary perspective, than to write something that doesn’t initiate a reaction in the reader. They can like it or hate it but they must be involved. After all, it’s their story at that point, their world; it doesn’t belong to me anymore. And of course every good reader likes to learn things as they go along. That’s spice in the stew. So I’m very careful and thorough with the information I present. Like a journalist, I try to verify with two or three sources on each bit of information or detail I pass on.

            As far as the book’s reception, I want it to be understood for what it really is. It isn’t really a martial arts book or war book. It’s the story of a young person, growing up. And I wrote it from a personal point of view that, I believe, either gender could relate. The painful process of maturation, the struggle in life—that’s everyone’s story. Of course, Paul’s particular story is a wild ride, I think a breath-taking one, but that’s one reason why we read novels.

7) Why did you choose the self-publishing route?

            I knew when I wrote Warrior it would be difficult to pitch and it was. It is something of a genre action or suspense format written in a more literary style. The universality of the story and its people was not coming through, and I finally realized I could be another year still trying to explain it. I finally decided to walk the long road alone and let the book speak for itself. I’m of the opinion one should never self-publish unless you absolutely believe in what you have, and believe the majority of the readers will agree with you and love your story as well. The analogy with parent to child is very true. Every good parent wants their child to succeed in their own right, with personal vanity not being a part of that process. If you publish a book just because you want everyone to know you’re a writer and it assuages your ego, I believe you’re cluttering the field.

            Additionally, the marketing budgets of first-novelists at publishing houses was nothing to look forward to. I’ve studied the industry enough to know no matter how a book is produced, the readers will decide its fate, regardless. Word-of-mouth is omnipotent and that’s where belief in your story comes in. I felt when people read Paul’s story they would talk about it. For example, Dian, your own comments to me about the book keeping you up all night and how you dreamed about Paul the next night is something no publishing house or high-budget marketing plan can produce. That’s reader instinct which I greatly believe in. And the nice feedback and emails I’m getting are starting to support that notion.

8) The style of writing you employed in this book is at times hard to read. For instance, the dialogue is great, but sometimes it’s difficult to recognize who is speaking. Do you have plans in the future to re-release American Warrior, perhaps after working with an editor to make the copy more easily readable?

            If the interest is there, I would certainly look at that. I was going for a very immediate, kinetic experience for the reader. And some of that effect was created within the point of view, and some within that sense of simultaneous movement, that multi-faceted force of these young people facing a variety of brutal circumstances, and some confusion resulted from that melee. Of course, I would always want to be sure I didn’t mar that untamed rawness of it, that freshness or spontaneity. But I’m certainly open to anything.

            As a side note, I recently read Marc Bojanowski’s The Dog Fighter where he seems to almost dare the reader to understand what’s going on, who’s talking, etc. It’s a wonderful book but there’s absolutely no punctuation in it, except for the period, which he uses for everything. He was going for an effect and I have no idea whether it worked or not, whether it added to the story, but William Morrow took it and ran with it, and they’re still running, I guess. In the end, you always have to take chances, and some of them work, and some may need fine-tuning or discarded altogether.

9) I was intrigued as to how the story would read if told entirely in Paul’s voice since he is in all the scenes. Why did you decide to tell the story from Paul’s point of view, but in third-person narrative?

            It was interesting, I wanted to get as close to Paul as I could without spilling over into his voice. A first-person narrative is a very dangerous tool to work with, a lot of writers use it, and it’s rarely successful. Hemingway used it nicely in A Farewell to Arms and Erich Maria Remarque was absolutely brilliant in All Quiet on the Western Front. You have to think very carefully in the beginning what you’ll gain by using it, because it’s a very limiting device. The reader is seeing everything exactly from one person’s perspective, and when I read something from that angle I’m always wondering if the narrator is telling me the truth and what else am I missing while this person is doing all the yakking? So I used what is known as third-person close, which is almost as good, but you’re not hindered by those first-person limitations.

            Also, much of what happens to and around Paul is very intense, often brutal in the extreme, and I knew I needed at least a little distance from him so he could maneuver. The novel moves very quickly and there is much, much action, which does not lend itself well to first person. I also wanted the story, at times, to be farther away and closer to the reader, accordingly, as if you were holding an apple in your hand, moving it away from your face, and then close enough to take a good sweet bite.

            Lastly, I wanted to create that sense of vastness in the narrative, almost a sweeping, cinematic, David Leanish effect, which is tough with first person. Still, I’m intrigued as well what Paul’s voice would have sounded like, talking directly to me, giving me his impressions of all this happening around him and to him.

10) The story is full of intrigue and has some interesting fight scenes—both good for seeing a story as a movie. Have you any plans to pursue a screenplay?

            I’ve done some acting in my past, high school and community playhouse stuff, and I’ve written a couple of plays, not to mention growing up in the age of “cinema,” so from the beginning my writing was effected by those influences. When I block a scene out in my head, it’s often a very visual, methodical process, as the directors used, blocking me as an actor. I see the flow of the narrative that way—where are these people standing, and how is the light hitting them?, etc. So I think the story would easily translate to an even more visual medium like movies. But I’m deep into my next novel and don’t have the time. However, the story is being shopped to the movie industry, so I’ll see what happens with that.

11) How has having a book published and receiving good reviews changed your life, or your plans?

            Another writer said wisely you should just get up and try to write a little bit each day, without hope and without despair, and I try to do that. I try to keep an even keel, because anything else is anathema to my writing. I’ll refer back to the parent-child analogy: once you let go of the book, like a child reaching legal age, it’s to some greater degree on its own. You wince when it gets knocked down and you privately applaud its successes, but you can’t bring it back into your fold. But I’m working on the marketing side and keeping my fingers crossed.

12) What are you working on now?

            An entirely different kind of book from American Warrior. It’s a larger story, with multiple points of view. It’s about this outwardly successful, middle-class American family that’s coming apart at the seams. Trying to salvage themselves—their family—and start over, they move to the Texas badlands where they’re eventually taken hostage by three escaped convicts with their own set of problems. But that’s all I’m going to tell you. Well, I will tell you it’s filled with humor and drama and despair and hope. But I won’t tell you anything else, like the title. Well, maybe later.