TOUR: Interview with Gordon Kessler, Author of Brainstorm + Giveaway

I am a former US Marine parachutist, recon scout, and Super Squad team leader, with a bachelor's degree in creative writing.  I have taught novel writing for Butler County Community College, have previously self-published two thriller novels, and I am a founder and former president of the Kansas Writers Association (a fourteen-year-old group of one hundred and fifty writers).  I have published two thriller novels; Jezebel and Dead Reckoning. My unpublished thriller A Culling of Innocents was a finalist for the Rupert Hughes Award at the 2003 Maui Writers Conference.  Two other unpublished thrillers, Jack Knight and The Storegga Effect, won first place consecutively in the KWA's 2003 and 2004 novel-writing competitions.  My nonfiction book specifically targeting beginning novelists, Novel Writing Made Simple, won second place in the Oklahoma Writers Federation's 2004 competition. Brainstorm, my latest thriller manuscript, won first place iconsecutively in the KWA's 2003 and 2004 novel-writing competitions. My nonfiction book specifically targeting beginning novelists, Novel Writing Made Simple, won second place in the Oklahoma Writers Federation's 2004 competition. Brainstorm, my latest thriller manuscript, won first place in the KWA's novel-writing competition in a previous year and is by far my best work.

Hi Gordon, thanks for dropping in at Minding Spot today to talk about your book, Brainstorm.

In fifteen words or less, please tell us about your book, Brainstorm.

Gordon: Seemingly ordinary man must save the Free World; woman risks all to save her man.

Wow! I did it. That was tough.

What inspired you to write Brainstorm?

Gordon:  From the time I first heard about remote viewing years ago, I've been fascinated by it and the secret government projects that involved this psychic talent. The idea of it alone, opens doors to possibilities I could never have imagined, otherwise. Throw in: my interest in the high-tech research into futuristic weapons, nonlethals, and defensive measures; and current international tensions, and you have the physical plot. Bind it all together with the love story that I always wanted to write, and you have Brainstorm.

Is the town of Gold Rush replicated of any specific town in the USA? If so, which one?

Gordon: Great question! Well, in my mind, it's a bit like Crested Butte, Colorado—one of my favorite places to snow ski. Gold Rush is a lot more isolated, but has that same sort of quaintness. About twenty years ago, when I was in Crested Butte skiing, the bank blew up due to a propane gas leak—talk about exciting!

Robert Weller sounds like a fantastic character.  How did you decide which characteristics and flaws he needed to succeed?

Gordon:This was a difficult one for me. I can't go into too much detail, or I'll spoil the book, but he needed to be the average Joe—like you and me. I wanted the reader to come away from the story with just a smidgen of doubt about who they really are, after being inside Weller's head throughout the book.


Robert Weller is very open, honest, and even a little gullible. He wants to believe everything anyone tells him, like most of us do. He grows as the story goes along, due to circumstances that seem too strange for him to believe or comprehend. At first, these situations take control of his life, and they propel him through much of the story. But there is a turning point where he takes charge and confronts these conflicts head on.

What book are you currently reading?

Gordon: I haven't been reading popular fiction nearly enough, lately. But I did just downloaded and started reading Conrad Jestmore's mystery River of Murder. I was hooked within the first couple of pages, and I'm sure it's going to be a real fun read.

Are you currently working on another novel? If so, can you tell us anything about it?

Gordon: Yes, I'm working on The Master Plan, a sequel to Brainstorm. Many of the Brainstorm characters return and, this time, the stakes are even higher. Talk about research—wow! I'm having a blast.  Actually, I'm using The Master Plan to answer and explain many of the basic questions we've all had: What is the meaning of life? Who are we, really, and how did we come to be? Does God really exist—if so, what does she/he look like?

In order to tell this story, I need the Daniel McMaster and his remote viewing abilities. I also use some incredible, little-known facts and odd natural phenomena that science has a hard time explaining (without leaning toward the paranormal) that I think will really make the story interesting and exciting. Like I said—I'm having a great time with the research alone.

Do you have any tips or pointers for aspiring writers?

Gordon: Nothing too much different from what they've probably heard before: read popular fiction in the genre they're writing, go to conferences and workshops, find a writers' org and a good critique group, ensure every scene you write has a purpose and be memorable to the reader, and—if you love writing entertaining stories—don't ever give up.

Thanks so much for your time and dropping into today at Minding Spot!!

What if a small American town is secretly replicated, populated with kidnap-ped scientists and psychically talented civilians, and then used as a proving ground while training psychic assassins? Political and military leaders of the Free World are the targets of these psychic warriors, and Project Brainstorm's goal is world domination. The only person who can stop the unthinkable plot is a seemingly simple man without a clue. In Brainstorm, Gold Rush seems to be just another sleepy little Colorado community full of friendly, caring citizens, quaint cottages, and a sort of quiet peace, held gently by the picturesque mountains that surround it. However, something isn't right in Gold Rush, and early on a Monday morning Robert Weller awakens with a cautioning and insuppressible voice inside his head. He soon finds a secret behind every door, a motive with every glance, and a lie beneath every spoken word. After meeting a strange but beautiful woman named Sunny who insists they were once lovers, people begin dropping dead around him without apparent cause. The world he thought he knew twists upside down as paramilitary teams hunt him, and his own wife and the people he considers friends turn against him. Weller finds himself thrown into the middle of a military mission to rescue thousands of the town's citizens from a plot to destroy the Free World. Time is running out: Weller, Sunny and thousands of innocent citizens are facing nuclear devastation. Major “Jax” Jackson and a U.S. Air Force Para Rescue team are their only hope—but how can Jax and his PJs save them all, armed only with nonlethal weapons?

GIVEAWAY

Gordon is giving away winner's choice of a basic Kindle, Kobo, Sony Reader or Nook to one randomly drawn commentor!!

Follow the tour to increase your chances of winning! The more you comment, the more chances you have to win! Check out each stop on the tour!

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