Author Brandt Dodson - DANIEL'S DEN - Free Book

I'm really glad to have Brandt back on the blog. My husband, who isn't much of a reader, has been kind enough to read most of my novels, but he got tired of reading romances. The first other book I gave him to read was White Soul by Brandt. He loved it. Now he's reading James Scott Bell. As soon as I'm finished with Daniel's Den, I'll have him read it, too. I think we've developed a new reader.

Welcome, Brandt. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I’m a big fan of jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain. I grew up listening to him and eventually played the clarinet, in part, due to his influence. In high school, I eventually landed first chair because of my tendency to “jazz up” the numbers we were playing. (I think our band director was a closet Fountain fan so he tended to favor my playing style.)

Several years ago, after Hurricane Katrina devastated Pete’s home, I read an interview where he was asked the same question. (Why do you play the music you do?). His answer was poignant. He said; “I play it because it’s what I grew up listening to. It speaks to me.”

I think that’s the best answer that any artist, whether they be a musician, painter, sculptor, or writer, can give. I write the kind of books that I do because they speak to me.

Besides when you came to the Lord, what is the happiest day of your life?

I know this is going to sound trite and maybe even a bit corny, but the happiest day of my life was when I married my wife, Karla. I don’t tell her that as often as I should, but the rest of my life – everything I’ve been able to accomplish, regardless of how trivial or important – has come off of that foundation. Having the Lord with me and my wife by my side has made everything else possible.

Sometimes corny is good. How has being published changed your life?

Being published hasn’t changed my life to any great degree. I’m still the same man I was before, still struggling to put the right words on paper in the right order. I still have to take out the garbage (actually, my sons do that now, so maybe some things have changed) and I still enjoy the same things that I’ve always enjoyed. But writing has added a dimension to my life that was entirely unexpected. I’ve grown closer to the Lord as I learn that my plans aren’t necessarily His. He is clearly in control of my life – and that includes my writing – so I’ve learned to trust Him and leave the consequences to Him. I’m resting in the Lord to a much greater degree than I ever did before. If sales are up, thank God. If not, He will work it out in His time and for His purpose. That isn’t fatalism. He still requires me to do the best that I can. But it is to say that I know God will never leave me, and that especially applies to the work He has called me to do.

Writing has also brought new friends into my life, people I would never have met otherwise. I’m grateful for that.

Isn't that the truth? It's a blessing to be included in the army of authors God created. What are you reading right now?

I’m one of these people who tend to be an eclectic reader. I read widely, both fiction and non-fiction, and I read several books at one time. Amazingly enough, I tend to finish all of them at about the same time, before moving on to the next group. Currently, I’m reading: The Messenger by Daniel Silva, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, The Art and Craft of Storytelling – A Comprehensive Guide to Classic Writing Techniques by Nancy Lamb, and Finding Peace by Charles Stanley.

My wife and my sons are also avid readers. Karla tends to prefer reading the same genre of fiction that I do, and is currently reading the collected works of Mickey Spillane. This shouldn’t surprise me. Although I write what has been termed, “male-oriented” fiction, my largest group of readers is actually women.

I know I loved White Soul, and I'm sure I will love Daniel's Den. What is your current work in progress?

I’m currently writing a suspense thriller with strong political overtones. The book is titled: The Hand of God and features Martha DeLuca, an FBI profiler and James Dillback, a United States Deputy Marshal. The two have very different investigative styles and definitely do not mesh well. The story is set in Washington, D.C.

Sounds like a good read. I'll be looking for it. You'll have to come back on the blog when it is published. What would be your dream vacation?

It changes periodically. I would love to take my family (parents and in-laws too) on an extended world-wide cruise.

Now, Brandt, how do you choose your settings for each book?

Setting is extremely important to me. It becomes a character in its own right, when written correctly, and adds flavor to the story. For Daniel’s Den, I chose New Orleans because the over-arching theme of the story is that we can only rely on God. Human efforts, though noble, can and will fail. Industry falters, and government will drop the ball. But God will never fail. But a secondary theme is redemption, resurrection. Daniel Borden and Laura Traynor, the two protagonists of the story, are in need of both. New Orleans, a city that is undergoing its own resurrection, seemed to be the best place to highlight this.

For White Soul, I chose Miami for its glitz and glamour, but also for its materialism. I wanted my chief protagonist, Ron Ortega, who is in a spiritual battle of his own when it comes to following God or following the world, to be thrown into the Crock Pot, so to speak. The back drop, the setting, added the flavor I wanted while supporting the theme. Setting is important.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Billy Graham. No question. The man has been used by God in a way that no one else has ever been used. His ministry has largely remained untouched by scandal and his lifestyle has reflected a man who seems truly committed to the Lord and the calling that He has placed on his life. I am not trying to diminish the calling and the work of others. The man or woman who mops the church floor every Sunday – and does it faithfully – will receive as great a reward. But Graham has been required to live his life and ministry in the public eye in a way that most of us could never imagine, and he has done right by the Lord.

I haven’t met him, but I did get within a few feet of him during a crusade, once. It’s probably as close as I’ll ever get to talking with him.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

You mean there are other things to do?

I like to travel. It’s becoming an increasingly important part of my life. And I like history. I’m just beginning a study of my family. Besides that, I like to cook, work-out, and target shoot. I also follow boxing. (Sorry, but I’m a man. It’s what we do.)

What is your most difficult writing obstacle and how do you overcome it?

Wow, I have to choose just one?

I’d say time. I have a very busy practice, I’m teaching residents and lecturing to several medical staffs, and that easily runs 50 – 60 hours per week. So time is a problem. And then, when I have the time, it’s usually at the end of a very long day and I’m mentally exhausted. But I’ve learned that “scheduling” time in the day to write can help. So I’m learning to ease up on the hours in my practice and “scheduling” time in the day to write, when I’m the most fresh. Early morning is going to become a big part of my day. It’s amazing how many ideas and plot twists come to me in the shower that are often gone by the end of the day.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

I lecture at writing conferences (both Christian and secular) and this question invariably comes up. The best advice I can give is to:

1. Read. Read widely and deeply. Reading Agatha Christie is only going to give you a small window into the world of mystery. Reading Robert B. Parker is going to give you an entirely different view of the mystery. Both are excellent authors with large followings. But they are entirely different. So read, but read widely (more than one or two genres) and read deeply (several authors within each genre). I would also recommend reading the “leaders” in each genre. If you’re going to learn by reading, you would be well served to read the best.

2. Write. It’s easy to fall into the trap of becoming a reader or conference go-er. Both have excellent benefits (see below) but are not the same as actually writing. You learn to swim by swimming. You will learn to write by putting words on paper. There is – as Porsche used to say – no substitute.

3. Attend a good writer’s conference. You can get critiqued, make contacts, learn craft, learn marketing, and have face-to-face meeting with editors and agents. I’m the product of a good writing conference and I can’t stress this enough.

4. Be persistent. Word hard - work smart - and don’t give up. Ever.

Brandt, tell us about the featured book.

Daniel’s Den is the story of two very different people who must wrestle with the same question. Can I depend on God?

Daniel Borden is an investment analyst who, seemingly, has everything.

Laura Traynor is a struggling, single mother, trying to manage the demands of a bed-and-breakfast while raising her son and working a second job. She, seemingly, has nothing. But when unseen forces seek to destroy them both, stealing even their very identities, they are thrust together in a struggle that will leave them with no where to turn, but God.

Like Daniel in the lion’s den, the question is: “Where will you turn when the lions come?”

The Bible tells us that Satan prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour. The lions in our life may come in the form of financial disaster, a family crisis, medical concerns, or a myriad of other possibilities. But regardless of the form they take, they will come and they will come at a time when our resources are insufficient, exhausted, or gone altogether.

But the Bible also talks about another lion. The Lion of Judah. And of him, C.S. Lewis once wrote, “He is no tame lion.” And He is on our side.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I’m at: http://www.brandtdodson.com/ I love hearing from readers and will respond to all questions or comments.

Thank you, Brandt, for spending this time with us.

Readers, you can order Daniel's Den using this link:

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Don't forget to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. Or you can sign up for Feedblitz in the right hand column of the blog, and the notification for posts will come to your Inbox.

Author Brandt Dodson - WHITE SOUL - Free Book

I've really been looking forward to today's guest--Brandt Dodson, author of White Soul. You'll enjoly getting to know him, too.

Welcome, Brandt. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Quite a bit. The old adage, ‘write what you know’ doesn’t mean we have to write only about the things we’ve done. If that were the case, no one could have written a space-opera that took place long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. But it does mean, write about the things we have experienced. For example, emotions like love, hate, jealousy, anger, revenge, fear, are common to all of us and my readers can relate to them. So a long way to the answer is ‘yes’. Now, I haven’t been in any of the situations that Ron Ortega confronts in White Soul, but I can definitely imagine what those situations would be like, based on my personal experience with the emotions he’s feeling at the time. So I put myself in those situations, or more to the point, I put myself into the ‘character’ who is in that situation, and then write in such a way that the reader can identify with them.

All of my characters have my DNA. I thought them up, so a little bit of me is in all of them.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Wow, soul baring stuff, here, Lena. I was the best man at a friend’s wedding and just before we were due to emerge from the holding area and march into the sanctuary, I told him that I had hired an actress to suddenly appear at the “Does anyone find reason why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony …” point of the service and yell, ‘Yeah, his wife does.”
Of course, I hadn’t done that (it did cross my mind) but I deadpanned it so much, he believed me.

Well, as it happened, just at that point of the service, a young woman – a young woman who was clearly due to deliver a child soon – marched into the service, came forward, and – sat down.
I don’t know who was more worried, him or me.

That is really a hoot! When did you first discover that you were a writer?

It was grade school, around the fifth grade. Our teacher had given each of us a photograph and we were to write a story that went with the photo.

The picture I received was of several kids playing handball in the inner city of New York. Coming from a family of police officers, I wrote a story about a bomb being hidden inside the ball and that if the kids quit playing, the bomb would detonate.

Now, I’m not sure ‘who’ put that bomb in the ball, or why, but I liked the premise and my teacher did too. She was the first teacher to encourage me to write.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I’m eclectic. I enjoy fiction, particularly Chandler, Hammett, Dean Koontz, Robert B. Parker, Jack Higgins, some Stephen King, Tom Clancy, David Baldacci, Eric Wilson, Mark Mynheir, and Frank Peretti to name just a few.

But I also read a great deal of nonfiction. History, politics, biography (not the celebrity of the month kind, though) science, and books on social issues.

I even enjoy poetry. I particularly like T.S. Eliot, Yeates and some Dickinson. Of course, being a Hoosier, I’ve read most of James Whitcomb Riley’s work too.

What other books have you written, whether published or not?

I have one book that has never seen the light of a publisher’s desk lamp, nor should it.
The book is titled The Nature of God and it explores (in the broadest sense of the word) how God’s character and personality are reflected in His creation. For example; the God head, three distinct persons acting as one to provide life-sustaining force, is reflected in the water molecule, three distinct atoms, acting as one molecule to provide life-sustaining force. At the time, I thought it was deep. It was rejected in less than a week.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

I try to keep the main thing – the main thing. I want Jesus to be the center of my life. I want my family to know that they come first. I have parents who are still alive and well, but who won’t always be with me.

So even though I have a 50-55 hour per week practice, and write two books per year, plus market them and serve in my church, I try not to let anything take over. There are times when I have to say ‘no’ to some church activity. There are times when I simply have to turn off the computer and spend time with God or my family. If I don’t do that, God reminds me of Jesus’ comment to Martha that Mary had chosen the better thing and that Martha ought to do the same. I’ve learned to compartmentalize and to lean on God more and more.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

When I first started to seriously write for publication, I thought coming up with names was the hardest part of the whole business. Now I feel differently. I try to choose names that are in some way reflective of the character I’m writing about, or that subliminally reveal something about that character.

For example, in my private eye novels, I wanted the name of my protagonist to project lethality. So, recalling the TV private eye shows of the seventies, I remembered that we had Thomas ‘Magnum’ (a revolver) and Tony ‘Berretta’ (a semi-automatic pistol). Keeping with that paradigm, I chose ‘Colt’, one of the largest American manufacturers of handguns, and called my protagonist “Colton”.

Likewise, the name, Emma Caine, the school teacher in my novel, Original Sin, was chosen because of Aunt Em from the Wizard of Oz (who could be threatened by her?) and ‘Caine’ because sugar cane is sweet. So, I had this non-threatening, sweet, lady who would never hurt anyone. Or would she?

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

It’s going to sound corny, maybe even trite, but it’s true. Raising two boys who are happy and well adjusted.

That doesn't sound corny at all. If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

A dog. No question. In fact, I’d be a Boston Terrier. Dogs, in general, are loyal, friendly, and are truly man’s best friend. But I’ve had four Boston Terriers in my lifetime – my last one died just a month ago – and they are great family dogs; totally devoted.

What is your favorite food?

Wow, I have to pick just one?
I like steak, and the rarer the better. And I’m a big fan of authentic Mexican food. And Pakistani Kabobs.

So I think my favorite food would be a rare, steak-kabob with sour cream and guacamole.
(Chocolate cake isn’t bad either.)
(And hot and sour soup)

Interviewing you is so much fun, Brandt. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Self-doubt was the greatest obstacle – and still is. I haven’t overcome it and I’m not sure I ever will. Writing with doubt is like trying to write with a three hundred pound leprechaun sitting on your desk playing bagpipes. He’s always there, but you learn to drown him out.

Having gotten to know a lot of writers I’ve learned that doubt – ‘self-doubt’, the kind that says; “Is that the best you can do? Do you really think that scene adds anything? And that character – ugh – what box of clichés did you rummage around in to find her? – plagues everyone at one point or another. The trick, I think, is to turn the doubt into critical examination. That way you don’t get rid of the pesky bugger, but you do make him work for you – rather than the other way around.

What advice would you give to an author just starting out?

My advice is write, write, write and read, read, read. It is impossible to get good enough at your craft. No writer ever arrives.

And in order to be a good writer, you must know what’s already been written. You can learn a great deal about craft, from reading other writers.And try to have fun with this. If it becomes work, you’ve lost something. That’s not to say that writing is easy or that you shouldn’t take pains with your work. But it is to say that there ought to be something about this that completes you.

Such true words. Now, Brandt, what would you like to tell us about the featured book?

White Soul is my first stand alone novel and my most ambitious work to date.

All of us will face temptation. In itself, that’s not a sin. The big question though, is how will you handle it?

It isn’t the first look at a man or woman that begins affairs, it’s the second look.

It isn’t the first thought about taking a little extra money out of the till, it’s the second thought.

Many – if not most – undercover officers are confronted with the temptation of becoming the type of person they are investigating. Unfortunately, some officers fall into the trap and suffer the consequences.

In White Soul, I wanted to tell the story of a Christian man who penetrates a crime syndicate in Miami, where he is surrounded by beautiful women, drugs, money, and all the materialism that goes with them.

What will he do? And how will he answer the supreme question that every tempted person must face: Do the right thing or do the desired thing?

It's at the top of my To-Be-Read pile right now, so I'll start it sometime next week. How can readers find you on the Internet?

I have a website: www.brandtdodson.com, I blog at:

www.keepmeinsuspense.com and on Amazon.

I’m eager to hear from readers and I always respond to everyone who writes to me.

Brandt, thanks for spending this time with us.

Readers, check out his sites. Then leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of White Soul. And check out the other interviews where the winners haven't been chosen.