Author: Duane De Mello
ISBN: 978-1-4392-6009-8

Click Here To Purchase The Wave of the Future

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest Duane De Mello author of The Wave of the Future.

Duane received a master’s degree at Stanford University and he wrote his first book, The McCarthy Era: 1950-1954, while he was a high school teacher. After subsequently living and working for two decades as a businessman in Asia, he became a senior intelligence officer in the CIA.  Duane is now retired and lives with his wife outside of Washington D.C., in Southern Maryland.

Good day Duane and thanks for participating in our interview.

Norm:

How did you decide you were ready to write The Wave of the Future?

Duane:

First, I want to thank you for inviting me to take part in this interview.

While serving as an operations officer in the CIA, I spent a number of years engaged in counter terrorist operations.  In the process, I developed a healthy appreciation for the skills and relentlessness that Jihadists bring to bear in their operations against the West.  We can all remember the Cold War days of highly trained KGB spies trading off against our own in the CIA, MI6, CSIS, etc.  Much of what we went through combating the Soviets in terms of operational trade craft skills is much like what we are experiencing against the Jihadists today.  After leaving the CIA, I decided to return to writing and try to express my feelings, perceptions, and understandings of how we go about countering those engaged in terrorist acts against us.  The Wave of the Future was the first project to express myself this way.    

Norm:

I believe The Wave of the Future is your first fiction-writing project. Did you enjoy the process? How was it different from the writing of your first non-fiction book?

Duane:

The Wave of the Future is the first fiction project I completed and one that I thoroughly enjoyed working on in terms of the creative aspects of the writing as well as the research aspects involved.  Some years ago, while living in Hong Kong, I started a novel based upon Macao during World War II.  While the Portuguese colony was neutral in that war, the Japanese controlled much of what went on inside and outside in the surrounding waters.  It was a struggle between the people trying to survive a wartime existence and numerous spies, Portuguese officials and Chinese patriots running around trying to counter the Japanese.  I completed six chapters but no longer found the time to continue writing.  It is an open question if I will return to complete the project.  Before working on it though, I wrote my first non-fiction book, The McCarthy Era: 1950-1954 – Was American Society Threatened?  It was a difficult project for me in that I had a signed contract to write the book prior to conducting research and actually starting to write.  The contract stipulated that I was to take an objective, non-biased approach towards the portrayal of Senator McCarthy.  For me, solidly anti-McCarthy at the time, this proved to be a challenge.      

Norm:

In fiction as well as in non-fiction, writers very often take liberties with their material to tell a good story or make a point. But how much is too much?

Duane:

It is like the question of the left hand and the right hand, when one of the hands does not know what is in the other one.  Readers who are familiar with a particular genre and, in the case of The Wave of the Future, reasonably up to date on current events, should be able to readily see through an author’s writings that embellish too much, overreach a point, or describe an incredulous situation that is just too surreal.  The writing style I employed in writing the book is based upon lots of details describing aspects of trade craft that are, for example, quite accurate.  In some aspects though, since I was going to lengths to exhibit an insider’s knowledge of what the spy game is all about, and how the CIA conducts counter terrorist operations, I hope I did not fall victim myself to overreaching.          

Norm:

How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

Duane:

I like to think that once the effects of our own genetics leave off, we are all pretty much tied to and products of our environment.  I was raised in a blue-collar working class environment on the West Coast.  I attended very liberal and progressive institutions and took to stepping out on my own in developing how to become a creative thinker.  I believe that I am now about half way through the process of developing along the lines I originally sought.

Norm:

What was the most difficult part of writing The Wave of the Future?

Duane:

Since I consider myself an idea person with a vivid imagination, it is easy to become totally absorbed in the writing process, go into my sub-consciousness and let the desktop computer keys fly.  Being retired, I have the time to engage in this process and able to allot a specific number of hours each day to let the creative juices flow.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of the writing aspects involved – drafting, re-drafting, editing, polishing, etc. The problem with The Wave of the Future came after it was completed.  Getting a literary agent and going through the publishing process, and all that is involved, is the clinker of coal left alone at the bottom of the coal chute.  It is not as much fun once the writing is completed. 

Norm:

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating The Wave of the Future?

Duane:

I came away with the realization that based upon my enjoyment of the writing process, I was immediately prepared to start new research and begin work on the sequel.  I am now several chapters into this new project. 

Norm:

How did you go about creating Mitch Vasari, Padraig Cahill and Dr. Abdul-Karim bin Ahmad?

Duane:

Mitch is a composite mix of a good friend and intelligence professional, along with a few sprinkles here and there of me.  Padraig is a takeoff on a real-life Irish friend who really is an electrical engineer.  Dr. Ahmad is based upon a senior Iraqi government intelligence officer who, as shrewd, cunning and charming as he could be, I turned him into a medical doctor and ruthless terrorist.      

Norm:

What is your secret in keeping the intensity of the plot throughout the narrative?

Duane:

I tried to keep the pace moving by frequently changing locales and bringing the characters in and out of the chapters on a regular basis.  By adding to that a number of high points of intrigue, sublimity, death and destruction, I was hoping to develop an intensity that readers would enjoy and appreciate.  I hope readers will leave many of the chapters with lingering thoughts of what took place and what might come in their reading of the next chapter.  That was my goal, but I have not yet seen enough reviews of the book to tell whether I succeeded.   

Norm:

Where did the dialogue come from in The Wave of the Future?

Duane:

Personal familiarity with Arabs, South Asians, Irish and, of course, the Brits.

Norm:

Would you say that the publication of your first novel is the culmination of a life long dream?

Duane:

I prefer to view it as the first step, and a good one for me at that, in a line of several more novels to come.

Norm:

Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share with us? (We would love to hear all about them!)

Duane:

I am toying with the idea of making The Wave of the Future the first of a trilogy, with Mitch as the main character in all of them.  After that, I will write singleton novels with new protagonists.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you and The Wave of the Future?

Duane:

The book section of www.Amazon.com contains a product description and further biographical details. 

Additional links can be found at the following:  An Interview:       A comparison of DeMello with Clancy

Linkedin.com:  Facebook.com: blogger.com: Goodreads.com: Wordpress.com:

Follow here for the Press Release of The Wave of the Future

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Duane:

As a debut novelist, I would like to thank you, Norm, for taking the time and interest in corresponding with me and conducting this interview.  

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

 Click Here To Read Norm's Review of The Wave of the Future

Click Here To Purchase The Wave of the Future