John Gilstrap
BIO
John Gilstrap is the acclaimed author of five thrillers: SIX MINUTES TO FREEDOM, SCOTT FREE, EVEN STEVEN, AT ALL COSTS, and NATHAN’S RUN. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia.
INTERVIEW
July 9, 2010
John Gilstrap’s sixth novel, HOSTAGE ZERO, is the follow-up to last year’s NO MERCY, and finds freelance covert op Jonathan Grave investigating the kidnapping of two boys from a facility for the children of imprisoned criminals. In this interview with Bookreporter.com’s Joe Hartlaub, Gilstrap explains what prompted him to make this unconventional school the focus of his latest thriller and explores his protagonist’s motivations for solving the crime. He also talks about the advantages of writing series books over stand-alones, shares a humorous anecdote from a past book signing, and mentions a few memorable recent reads.
Bookreporter.com: HOSTAGE ZERO is your second Jonathan Grave novel. It begins with an attack and a kidnapping that hits Grave up close and personally. Two boys are abducted from Resurrection House, a residential school for the children of incarcerated parents, which is his pet project. One of the boys is left for dead while the other is spirited away to an unknown location. The book is both a thriller and a mystery; Grave obviously wants to recover both children, yet there is a difference between the way the boys were treated following their abduction, and the answer to the reason behind that difference ultimately leads to the recovery of both boys. And the more that Grave and his team discover, the more dangerous it becomes for them personally. If you would, take us through your initial plotting for HOSTAGE ZERO (without giving away the ending, of course!) from its conception through your initial outline.
John Gilstrap: As wealthy as he is, Jonathan Grave has a huge hole in his life. He’s ashamed of his heritage as the son of a mobster, and, as we learned in NO MERCY, he’s ashamed of the mess he made of his marriage through his devotion to duty as a Special Forces operative. He craves family and lives to serve others. His community of Fisherman’s Cove, on Virginia’s Northern Neck, is a surrogate family of sorts. Resurrection House is his crowning achievement, built on the site of his childhood home, and funded from Jonathan’s very deep pockets.
I knew as soon as I introduced Resurrection House as a plot element in NO MERCY that the sequel would involve a kidnapping from this place that Jonathan holds so dear. I didn’t know at first why the kidnapping would happen, but I knew that it would allow me to explore a new side of Jonathan as a character.
With that much of the story nailed down, I turned to motivation. Why would someone kidnap a child? Ransom is too easy, and given that the residents of Resurrection House are all poor, that wouldn’t even make sense. That left me relatively few choices: They could be taken for leverage against someone else, or they could be taken to keep them quiet. As the story continued to develop in my head, I realized that it could be for both. For the kidnappers, it’s important that one child live and one die. Finally, because I’ve lived most of my life in and around Washington, DC, I wanted to throw in a plot point that dealt with the absolute corruption that famously comes with absolute power. By the time I combined all the elements, and filtered them through my imagination and my characters’ personalities, I ended up with HOSTAGE ZERO. I know this sounds like pure hype, but I really do think it’s my best work ever.
BRC: The idea behind Resurrection House, which is featured so prominently in the book, is an intriguing one. Does such a facility actually exist? Have you considered starting a similar one yourself?
JG: I love the idea of Resurrection House, a refuge for criminals’ most innocent victims --- their own children. Currently, when parents are jailed, children are shipped off into the foster care system, whose record of success is spotty at best. Resurrection House provides high-level schooling, counseling and care, overseen by Father Dom and Mama Alexander, two people who have boundless capacity to provide love and comfort.
To my knowledge, no such facility exists, though I think it should. As for starting one myself, well, there are about nine zeroes separating my net worth from Jonathan Grave’s.
BRC: Over the course of the past 20 years, private security firms such as Security Solutions, Grave’s company, have become something of a growth industry, servicing not only corporations but also governments. In your opinion, what factors have contributed to the demand for such companies?
JG: They’ve actually been around for a long time, but until the Gulf War, they stayed pretty much under the radar. Much of what they do in theaters of war is merely personnel protection. Think about all the contractors and low-level diplomats who are in harm’s way in Kabul and Baghdad. Those civilians are not trained to shoot their way out of a firefight, or out of a kidnapping attempt, so they depend on security companies to shoulder that burden for them. It’s a better alternative, I think, than using government employees or military personnel, whose expertise is better applied to tactical and strategic missions.
BRC: The narrative of HOSTAGE ZERO is roughly divided between two locales: Vienna, Virginia, and the nation of Colombia. You know Virginia well for obvious reasons, but what about Colombia? Did you travel there to do the necessary due diligence on the background flora and fauna for the book, or did you rely on the descriptions of others?
JG: A little bit of both --- sort of. When I was researching my nonfiction book, SIX MINUTES TO FREEDOM, I spent time in Panama, which shares a border with Colombia. I did my flora and fauna work there and extrapolated. I also read a number of travelogues from people who had visited the mountainous regions where Jonathan and his crew spend their time in HOSTAGE ZERO. For the rest, I did what novelists do best: I just used my imagination.
BRC: One of the things that I love to do is visit the places that provide the settings for works of fiction. A short but important scene in HOSTAGE ZERO takes place in a restaurant/tavern called the Maple Inn on Maple Avenue in Vienna, Virginia. There is in fact a Maple Avenue in Vienna, but I can’t seem to find a Maple Inn. Should I stop looking? Or is there actually a place after which the Maple Inn is modeled?
JG: The Maple Inn is most definitely modeled after a real place, but I changed the name to give the owners all the deniability they need. It is in fact located six miles down the road from CIA Headquarters, and it may or may not be a place where Agency operatives meet to discuss important issues offline. It is certainly a favorite place for operatives to meet with one particular author to discuss spooky stuff. Ask anyone where you can find the best, cheapest breakfast in town, and chances are they’ll send you to the right place.
BRC: You actually began your working life as a journalist and currently work as both a writer and a trade association safety expert. If you could work in only one of those occupations, which one would you choose and why? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing one or the other on a full-time basis?
JG: Well, it definitely wouldn’t be journalism. I fear that writing on a deadline all day would sap too much creative energy, and leave me with nothing left for fiction.
As for the other two, being a thriller writer or a safety guy, I really can’t choose. While I think I’m pretty good at both, the stakes are entirely different. I write to entertain people, but my day job is about saving lives. I’m happiest when I can do both.
BRC: On a related note, let’s pretend that you are appointed the hazardous waste czar for a day. With unlimited power and authority, what would you do with regard to the disposal of hazardous waste from, let’s say, hospitals?
JG: As czar for a day, I would mandate that citizens groups and politicians deal less in panic and more in hard science. The public needs to realize that just because a product or a process involves toxic materials, it does not mean that the resulting product or process is itself toxic. There are very few chemicals in the world that are so toxic that they can’t be worked with safely in some quantity.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m in favor of regulation --- even more stringent regulation that we have today in many cases --- but in my czardom the pop-science Chicken Littles who turn up at every public meeting to tout the ever-popular cry of “Not in my backyard!” wouldn’t get nearly the face time on the news as the egg-headed scientists who actually know what they’re talking about.
BRC: Who is Jonathan Grave? Is he John Gilstrap, with an unlimited amount of money and the ability to get away with bending the law? Or is he the modified and updated version of an iconic fictional figure, such as Doc Savage?
JG: Jonathan Grave is a man with a crystal clear sense of right and wrong, and an obsessive drive to help people who are in trouble. He happens to be wealthy, but his wealth has little to do with who he is. In fact, the money motivates him more in the other direction: It symbolizes what he will never allow himself to become.
He comes at his life from an interesting place. As a Special Forces operator, he spent the better part of two decades violating laws at the direction of the US government, performing missions that can never be publicized. As a civilian, he respects the rule of law in principle, but when individual statutes get in the way of him accomplishing his mission of saving a life, he easily pushes the law aside. It’s irrelevant to him. He tells people that he’s on the side of the angels; that while he may violate the law, he never really strays to the wrong side of it.
Is he my dream version of what I’d like to be? Maybe. Like Jonathan, I value principle above all. My handshake on a verbal commitment means more to me than my signature on a contract. As for bending the law, I’m not as prepared to live with the consequences as he is, so I pretty much go through life as though there were a state trooper and an IRS agent just two steps away.
BRC: What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of writing series books as opposed to stand-alone works?
JG: The clearest advantage to a series is the fact that by all accounts, that is what the reading public is hungry to consume. Personally, I enjoy the availability of a longer story arc in which Jonathan and his team can evolve over many books. If the series becomes really popular one day, I would even like to expand the franchise to include young adult novels set in Resurrection House.
BRC: One of the many great things about spending time with you is that you always have hilarious stories to tell, particularly about book signings. Is there a story about a signing that you would like to share with our readers?
JG: My all-time favorite book-signing story goes back to the late ’90s, when I was on tour for AT ALL COSTS. It was my second book, and I was signing in the doorway of WaldenBooks, surrounded by a mountain of my novels. During a particularly slow period, I noticed a young man, maybe 25, standing off to the side, just watching. He seemed more shy than creepy, so I asked him if I could help him.
It turned out he had just finished writing a book of his own, and he wanted to know how to get it published. I was as helpful as I knew how to be, and we chatted for a good 20 minutes. When he was done, his whole body language changed. He shoved his hands in his pockets, copped an attitude and said, “Well, I don’t read sh*t like you write,” and he walked off.
Yet again, no good deed goes unpunished.
BRC: What do you think is the smartest thing you did in terms of your writing career? And what do you wish you could do over again?
JG: The smartest thing I did was finally get off my butt and start writing seriously. I had talked about it and played with the idea, but it wasn’t until well into my 30s that I finally took my shot. As for the do-over, given perfect hindsight, I would travel back in time and accept Disney’s offer to produce NATHAN’S RUN over Warner Brothers’. The money was the same, but in retrospect, it was a story that would have been more at home in the Mouse House.
BRC: Within many avid readers, there is a potential author wanting to break out. What is the best advice that you could give to someone who hopes to be published one day?
JG: My advice is to write. Seriously. Put your butt in the chair and compose. Reading about writing is not writing. Neither is blogging about it or even writing about it. This authoring gig is as much about craft as it is about art, and unless you practice regularly, you’ll never have fully-honed skills.
BRC: One of the biggest problems that authors have --- particularly those with other responsibilities --- is keeping to a schedule. What is your writing schedule? How do you stick to it? And what do you require: total silence and isolation, or are you okay with domestic hubbub and people wandering in and out of the room?
JG: Because of my day job --- my wife calls it my “big-boy job” --- I’ve become pretty adept at turning spare moments into productive writing time. I dedicate most weekends to writing, and more than a few evenings. If I have the luxury of actually setting my surroundings, I prefer a comfortable chair in a quiet room, listening to movie soundtracks on my iPod. But if I can’t have that, a busy airport terminal will work fine, too.
BRC: What have been the best and worst things about writing as a full- and/or part-time vocation?
JG: For me, the worsts are all tied to writing full time. Without the structure forced by time constraints, I become woefully inefficient. I also become lonely. It doesn’t work for me to have my only social outlet be with my imaginary friends. I need interaction with real people. I thrive on the proverbial water cooler chats in the morning, and I love gathering for drinks after work. By being able to work seriously at both sides of my life, I am far closer to self-actualization than I ever was when I addressed only one.
BRC: What have you read in the past six months that you would recommend to our readers?
JG: I really liked John Hart’s THE LAST CHILD and Tom Rob Smith’s CHILD 44. THE ODDS by Kathleen George is really good, too. One of the best thrillers I’ve ever read is actually nonfiction: MANHUNT: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson. The biggest surprise for me, simply because it so far outside the sleeve of what I usually read, was DOG ON IT by Spencer Quinn.
BRC: You have a third Grave novel scheduled for publication in 2011. Is there anything you can tell us about it? And are you currently working on anything else?
JG: I do have a third Grave book in the works (I have to deliver it on September 15th), but I make it a point never to talk about works in progress. In addition to that next book, I’m also working with the producers of the movie versions of my books SIX MINUTES TO FREEDOM and SCOTT FREE as they try to harness the laws of God and nature to beat the odds and bring one of them to the silver screen. I’m actually signed as the screenwriter for Six Minutes, but I haven’t yet been told to start writing.
• Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
INTERVIEW
August 7, 2009
John Gilstrap's latest book, NO MERCY, is the first installment in a new series featuring Jonathan Grave, a freelance covert operative with a conscience. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's L. Dean Murphy, Gilstrap explains the inspiration behind his main character and gives insight into the way Grave’s less-than-perfect upbringing influences present-day choices. He also discusses his writing process, shares his thoughts on the average American's attitude toward the armed forces, and offers advice to aspiring writers.
Bookreporter.com: In this new series you introduce larger-than-life Jonathan Grave as a heroic judge, one-man-jury, and sometimes executioner. What inspired this demigod?
John Gilstrap: You know, I don’t think Jonathan sees himself as any of those things. In his mind, he’s doing what needs to be done in order to achieve the mission at hand, which is the rescue of good people from the clutches of bad people. He would certainly dismiss the notion of being an executioner. He lives for the peaceful resolution to his exploits. If the bad guys would merely get out of his way and let him recover the victims he’s there to liberate, he’d be delighted to do it without violence. Unfortunately, the bad guys are rarely that cooperative and they foolishly put Jonathan in the position of having to defend himself and his PC (Precious Cargo). He’s very, very good at defending himself and his PC.
The inspiration came from the real-life Special Forces operators I met while researching my nonfiction book, SIX MINUTES TO FREEDOM. To a person, I found them to be kind-hearted gentle people who crave peace, yet are capable of extreme violence when their mission requires it. They are supremely professional.
BRC: When an author starts a series, he or she typically thinks about how to set up the protagonist for future books. Is there anything specific you did with Grave when you were creating him that you knew would immediately give readers a sense of who he is? And have you plotted where his story is going?
JG: He’s clearly good at what he does, and he’s 100 percent in charge of his emotions when there’s an objective to be achieved or a fight to be won; but he’s not at all comfortable with the touchy-feely side of life. He’s generous to a fault with his money and his skills, but he’s an emotional miser. He’s a devoted fighter for lost causes. I hope this all gives readers the sense of a man who has lost enough over the years to not risk opening himself up to more.
I have a much clearer sense in my mind of where he has been than I do of where he is going. My hope is that as the series progresses, supported by a number of short stories, readers will learn all about the path that brought him where he is, even as they enjoy the thrill ride of where he’s going.
BRC: Ying yang is a Chinese term for balance. Your female characters are equal counterparts with male characters, perhaps even superior. Jonathan Grave certainly could not conduct paramilitary missions without Venice (“Ven-EE-chay”). What motivated this greatly appreciated equality, especially with Gail’s reflection about not missing how her male FBI counterparts suffered from a sort of testicular envy?
JG: First of all, thank you for noticing. In real life and in fiction, I have always been attracted to strong-willed, intelligent women. The part of Jonathan that is me can’t abide whining. He finds nothing cute about stupid. In NO MERCY, he clearly enjoys the cat-and-mouse game with Gail Bonneville, every bit his intellectual equal, even though he knows that she may very well ruin him if she wins. That’s the reckless little boy in Jonathan --- the side that Venice makes it her business to tame (or at least to keep in check).
I spent 15 years in the fire and rescue service at a time when women were first blazing the trail for others through what was then still largely a boys’ club. It wasn’t easy for them, and I always admired the guts it took for them to put up with all the crap that was put in their way.
BRC: At what age was Jonathan when he realized his father --- not dad --- was a racketeer with the Dixie Mafia? How did that affect his psyche? How old was he when his father was imprisoned for as many years as Bernie Madoff?
JG: I think Jonathan was aware from a very early age that his father was not a nice man. There are hints about that in the book; among them the fact that he spent so much time as a boy hanging out at the firehouse as their human mascot. I’ll be exploring more about Jonathan’s childhood through a series of short stories, the first of which will be posted soon on my website. Jonathan was well out of school and already married when his father went to prison.
BRC: Am I right in thinking that Jonathan hopes to correct his father’s bad deeds by righting wrongs created by others? I saw this in his generosity of donating his father’s mansion to St. Katherine’s to create a school for children of incarcerated parents. And am I seeing further symbolism that Jonathan was in need of such a school or counseling? Was this intended?
JG: Jonathan’s enough of a realist to know that past is past, and as such unchangeable. He’s also seen enough bad deeds to know that atonement is up to the individual. He would be embarrassed if people outside of his inner circle knew of his philanthropy because it would direct attention at him, rather than at the problems he seeks to solve. This is a theme in his life. Even when he was in the military, his heroics were of a nature that could never be shared with the world. He does what he does because he believes it’s the right thing to do. He has no time for people who do good deeds only for the glory.
Is Resurrection House --- St. Katherine’s school for the children of incarcerated parents --- rooted in a deep-seated need from his childhood? Let’s find that out together as the series unfolds.
BRC: For our readers, Jonathan Gravenow shortened his name upon entering the military, because he hoped to distance himself from his father’s reputation. Given hypothetical physical limitations that would have prevented military service, in which profession would Jonathan now serve? [Please don’t say he would be a dentist, I have a dental appointment next week.]
JG: He’d probably be a firefighter or a cop. And if the hypothetical limitations prevented that, maybe the Peace Corps. Something oriented to public service.
BRC: How much did the story change as you wrote? Do you outline, and if so, how did you conceive of such a complicated scenario?
JG: I did outline this book quite thoroughly, and then the story line changed much more than I’m used to. Part of the problem was that Gail Bonneville stepped forward to be a much larger character than I had originally intended, so I needed to give her more to do. As is frequently the case (always, actually), the story became stronger as it evolved.
BRC: >From where do you draw your paramilitary expertise and knowledge? Did you serve in the military? If so, what rank and theater?
JG: I never served in the military, but I served 15 years in the fire and rescue service. I draw on that for the sense of camaraderie that is born of shared terror. The technical stuff grew out of my research for SIX MINUTES TO FREEDOM.
BRC: How do you perceive the lackadaisical attitude of some Americans toward those who now valiantly serve to defend this country? What words of inspiration do you have to offer to those who now serve in Afghanistan and Iraq?
JG: The men and women of the armed forces don’t need inspiration from me. What they need is unending, heartfelt thanks from every citizen of the Free World for the work they do every day to protect the freedoms we take for granted. I don’t think that the average person knows the sacrifices that are made by members of the military and their families. They risk everything in service to people they’ll never meet. I think it’s shameful that so much of our media-driven culture cares more about celebrity bling than they do about the selflessness of heroes. We rest safely because they are on watch. We owe them so much, but in the end we give them so little.
BRC: What has helped you most along the way with your career, and what would you suggest to aspiring writers?
JG: There’s only one bit of advice that works all the time: Sit down and write. Talking about writing, blogging about writing, attending classes about writing and dreaming about writing are not even close to the real thing. If you want to be successful, you have to learn the craft. There is no other way.
BRC: What are you working on now, and when might readers expect to see it?
JG: I’m working on the next Jonathan Grave novel, which will hit the stores next summer.
• Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.
© Copyright 1996-2010, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
