FAQ
"Avenging Storm"by Maurice Mayben, 2009, Robert D. Reed Publishers
Adult Action/Adventure Fiction, ISBN 978-1-934759-26-4
Suggested Interview Questions and Answers
Q: Do you maintain a blog?
A: Yes. Please visit my blog at http://patriots1776.wordpress.com.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A. I grew up in Warwick, RI. I served in the US Army in Germany and the National Guard Special Forces at home. I earned my B.S. degree in Finance at the Univ. of RI. After that, I served in the USAF, flying and instructing in F-4 Phantoms. Then I went on to fly for American Airlines and retired as a Captain in 2005. I’ve trained in Kung Fu San Soo and achieved the rank of Black Sash First Degree.
My wife Marcia and I have four adult children in the Seattle-Tacoma area and five grandchildren. We’re residents of Rapid City, SD and travel the country in our motor coach.
Q: Into which genre would you categorize “Avenging Storm?”
A: “Avenging Storm” is a fictional character-driven, action/adventure techno-thriller for adults. It is intended as the first in a series of Derek Storm adventure novels. The plot and sub-plots are complex, action-packed and plausible. It features: a charismatic hero, romance, exotic settings around the world, high-stakes peril, comic relief, intrigue and a very dramatic finale.
Q: Who is the protagonist of “Avenging Storm?”
A: Our hero character is Derek Storm. I introduce him in the book’s 2nd chapter. Storm is a highly trained martial artist, having trained in Kung Fu San Soo since an early age. We meet him as he’s leading his Army squad into night combat during Operation Desert Storm, 1991 Iraq. Storm is a somewhat hard-headed, but ethical and principled man with a strong sense of justice.
Q: What makes this novel different than others?
A: Besides being a gripping read? Our hero, Derek Storm, is not a super-cop with tons of back-up, nor a secret agent or government official with unlimited budget and resources. Storm is a new kind of witty hero; he’s an average citizen with some extraordinary skills and determination that enable him to overcome tremendous obstacles while realizing he is not invincible. He will be appreciated by military enthusiasts, martial artists, humorists and the average novel reader.
Q: Can you give us an overview of the plot of “Avenging Storm?”
A: Certainly, and to make it interesting, I’ll do it from the perspective of our hero:
Pain and hunger were my only companions after I was wounded and stranded in Iraq during Desert Storm in ‘91. My squad was dead, our Bradley vehicle destroyed. My unit was nowhere to be seen.
For several days I struggled to survive, seeking refuge in a bomb crater. Amongst a pile of wooden rubble, I discovered an ancient Chinese ship and artifacts. I had no idea at the time, but those artifacts held the 700-year-old secrets of a lost treasure and a Chinese healer’s cure for cancer.
Little did I know that those artifacts would launch me, a decade later, on the most perilous adventures of my life. With a cancer cure on the verge of breakthrough, ruthless mercenaries, corrupt government officials and malevolent administrators of a powerful monolithic organization, would pull out all the stops to suppress the cure, even if thousands had to die, including me, my family and friends.
I’m Derek Storm, decorated combat veteran and 6th degree Kung Fu San Soo black belt. With the help of some well-to-do friends, I’m going to return to Iraq while it’s on the brink of another war, find the remaining artifacts that reveal the cure, and bring the mercenary killers and their malevolent sponsors to harsh justice, dispensed by an avenging Storm.
Q: Where did you get the ideas for the characters?
A: All of the characters in the novel are fictional but some of them are based upon real-life people I‘ve known. The Derek Storm character is a loose depiction of my Kung Fu teacher, Sifu Patrick Daniel Cleary. He operates a Kung Fu school in Meadville, PA. He’s such an animated personality, I thought it would make an interesting character.
One of the characters is an embellished parallel of me, others of my family.
All of the bad guys are fictional fabrications.
Q: What is Kung Fu San Soo?
A: It’s an ancient form of Kung Fu from southern China. It originated with the Chin monks at the Quan Yin Monastery, near Pon Hong, Canton Province, which I’m informed is no longer standing. The art was brought to America in the 20th century and taught by Jimmy Woo, a direct descendant of the Chin. San Soo is a practical fighting art which doesn’t adhere to any rules. It’s not the least elegant. It is brutal.
Q: What inspired you to write “Avenging Storm”?
A: In 2003, my wife and I were having cocktails at a lounge in Las Vegas, commiserating about the loss of our fathers to cancer. Several days later, I flew with a First Officer whose wife had had a stage 3 cancer, had tried radiation, etc, but still had relapsed and was given 7 months to live. They got fed up and researched the internet and found a clinic in Mexico, run by American doctors, that uses natural detoxification and nutritional therapies with impressive results. They went to the clinic, applied the therapy and it worked. I crossed paths with that pilot again in 2007 and he said his wife hadn’t had any relapses.
This therapy also worked for my wife’s fibromyalgia. But we learned that if anyone in the U.S. referred to it as a “cure,” they could be arrested! Apparently it’s illegal in the U.S. to “cure” a disease without drugs or surgery. That’s why the clinic is in Mexico.
We thought this to be strange, yet it had the makings of a good fiction story if I put some research into it and combined my experiences in the military, aviation and martial arts. So we inked a tentative plot and characters and developed the story.
Q: How long did it take you to write “Avenging Storm?”
A: Approximately seven months of my spare time. I was still working full-time with the airline. I spent approximately one month doing the historical and health research, another month developing the characters and plot, and the remainder writing and editing.
Q: Is “Avenging Storm” the first novel you’ve written?
A: Actually, it’s the second novel I’ve written, but the first to be published. My first novel, “The Warlock Parallax,” will also be published soon. I also have another novel in progress, a sequel to “Avenging Storm.” That one will probably be titled “Ballistic Storm.”
Q: Did you get a finished product on the first attempt?
A: No. I had to revise it three of four times. The original draft was 250,000 words, a little too voluminous for every publisher and agent I contacted. The published version is 178,000 words. The streamlining actually made the story flow faster without sacrificing substance.
Q: Have other authors influenced your writing?
A: Yes, I admire the works of Clive Cussler and Michael Crichton: Cussler for the way he takes events from history or legend and weaves a great story around them. Likewise for Crichton, who uses events and facts from science and research. I admire both approaches and have applied them to develop the story for “Avenging Storm.” I’ll most likely apply them to the sequels.
Q: Where can our viewers/listeners buy your book?
A: Avenging Storm can be ordered at Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, Waldenbooks, their online stores and Amazon.com. For those wanting an autographed edition, they can order directly from my website, www.AvengingStorm.com.
Q: Are you doing any book signings or seminars in the local area?
A: Author will provide current events schedule. (See EVENTS page).