• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Kensington Books
— the publisher's online bookstore

The publisher's price for Overfall, At the Edge and Necessary Evil is $6.99.

Q. Are you currently working on another book?

I am always working on a new book, it seems. My fourth book, Unacceptable Risk, will be out in August and I'm hard at work on a fifth, a thriller inspired by recent findings about the genetics of longevity and who might kill to possess the secret.

Q. Where did you get your idea for Necessary Evil?

I like love stories where opposites are attracted. I enjoy people being out of their element, like Jessie, but I also enjoy characters that have great or unusual insight and expertise like Kier’s survival ability. I like a sense of the mystical although I always like a backdoor natural explanation. (Readers can decide for themselves how they wish to interpret these events.)

So I fashioned a story about a rugged, back country Native American veterinarian getting together with the ultimate city dweller, threw in a tale of harrowing survival, and wove in mysticism with the Spirit Walker and the Tiloks. Then I added what I consider a standout villain. Once you know the elements you want, then you discover characters to live those elements.

Q. Where did you get your idea for Kier Wintripp?

I was sitting in an airport sipping a diet coke, watching people, and wondering if the delayed flight would ever leave. I saw this guy about 6'4" wearing a black cowboy hat with feathers, turquoise pieces and cowboy boots. A denim shirt and southwest jacket. A kid in each bulking arm and a beautiful woman by his side. His jet-black hair was braided in a long, single ponytail and his features were a mix of European and Native American. I thought to myself, that this guy ought to be a character in a story.

Q. Where did you get the idea for Grandfather, a.k.a., Stalking Bear?

In his books, the tracker and survivalist Tom Brown tells about his mentor Stalking Wolf. I thought that was a great name and decided to create a fictional character based on Stalking Wolf. I thought long and hard about the name. Bears actually have a large place in Native American lore. The notion of a stalking bear is a bit of a stretch because in point of fact bears may charge, especially to protect their young, but don't usually stalk—although some Eskimos might tell you otherwise if we are talking polar bears.

There was also a strong spiritual element to the man as reported by Brown, which I found intriguing. I put all that together with hundreds of pages of Native American mythology that I pored over, combined it with a heavy dose of imagination, and out came Grandfather, a.k.a., Stalking Bear, the Spirit Walker of the Tiloks. I very much enjoy that character.

Q. Are the Tilok Indians a real tribe?

They are as real to me as the next door neighbors. Particularly Kier. But you won't find them listed in the phone book and I couldn't tell you where exactly to find the reservation. But it must be out there someplace between the Trinity Alps and the Marble Mountains of Northern California. But you say 'There is nothing between the Marbles and the Alps.' Well... why worry about it? They are real. Someplace.

In all seriousness, I did a lot of reading concerning Indian legends and mythology to develop the Tiloks and to come up with the proverbs that appear in Necessary Evil.

Q. Are you like any of your characters? Which ones?

Other than the usual sense in which we're all a little bit like the people we would fictionalize, I think I am not much like any of my characters. There are greater snatches of me in certain characters in my second and third novels.

Q. Do you read a lot? Who are your favorite authors?

Like many other authors, I don't read as many books as I'd like. Depending on my moods I have had exceptional reading experiences with most of the popular thriller writers and somewhat to my surprise a number of literary writers. Although it's very hard to name a favorite because it honestly depends on my mood, I have very much enjoyed Clive Cussler, Steve Alton, Nelson DeMille, Michael Chricton, Anne Tyler, David Guterson, Ian McEwan, and Charles Frazier. And Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, of course.

Q. How did you get started in writing?

On the spur of the moment. Ignorant. Completely unapprised of what I was about. Initially I discussed it with no one, felt foolish, but loved putting the words on the paper. I did it for a few years before it actually looked like I might get an agent and have a novel. I wrote copiously and remember passages and scenes that seem to have disappeared into the attic.

In the beginning my approach was very unstructured but as time passed I began to develop habits and methods and to travel down fewer dead ends. Now I make outlines and character sketches that keep me focused and enable complex plot development.

Q. Was it hard to get started? How did you get published?

First and foremost I have written for the joy of writing and that generally has been a deep underlying motivation. On the other hand when you write over long spans of time, it's just natural to ask yourself when it's going to get published. I found myself with a growing desire to publish.

Rejection can be daunting. I'd like to say that I sat alone in a closet, had a vision, pounded it out and published a book. It wasn't like that. It was try and try again. When I began there were many conventions about writing that I didn't understand. One could say I learned the hard way, but it was fun. Ultimately agents directed me to professional editors and they certainly helped me learn basic principles. Although I would emphasize that the author must write the story and develop the characters. The editor may be writing his own book but he most probably is not going to write yours.

Being published is about producing your own unique work that catches the eye of an editor in a publishing house. Ed Stackler, my personal editor, is a marvel and a fun imaginative guy with whom to collaborate. Because he worked in a publishing house he knows the ropes. The folks at my publisher, Kensignton, work in mysterious ways and perform wonders. And finally I have a number of friends with a real gift for editing and thoughtful commentary. A word of caution however—in the end if you want to write you can only listen so much and then you have to write it and finish it. Mostly it's a solitary pastime.

To sell a book I would strongly recommend that you find a good agent. Trying to sell a book without an agent is a little like trying to water ski without a towboat. I would add that once sold, an enthusiastic and committed publisher is a grand thing. And of course every author, in the final analysis, loves his readers because he or she is writing so that somebody can read.

I will forever appreciate the endorsement of authors Clive Cussler, Steve Alten, and Ridley Pearson. Buy their books. You'll love them.

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Copyright 2001–2004 David Dun, All Rights Reserved.
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