Andrews & Wilson
Four Minutes
DOSSIER: When you’re writing, do you hear the gloriously rich voice of the masterful Ray Porter rumbling through your head and say to yourselves, “This doesn’t just read well, but it’s also going to sound like liquid gold when Ray reads it!”?
A&W: Absolutely, 100% YES! We’re seven books in with Ray on Tier One and three books in on the Sons of Valor series. His portrayal of the characters brings them alive in our minds. Not only does Ray give each character a unique voice, he imbues them with personality too. We can’t write Dempsey or Chunk without hearing them in our heads these days. He’s ruined us from ever writing without his guiding voice again, but that’s probably a good thing. We’re truly grateful to have had the opportunity to partner with Ray on this journey of creating two successful series.
DOSSIER: Tom Clancy’s HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER was a game-changer for a lot of readers. How significant is it that you’ve been anointed with the task of the next Jack Ryan Sr. novel, especially with it coming out at RED OCTOBER’S 40th anniversary next year?
BRIAN: Clancy is the architect of the genre that today we think of as the modern military thriller, and HUNT was the novel that started it all. I read HUNT and it inspired me to join the submarine force as a young naval officer. If someone would have told me back then that I’d been given the opportunity to write a submarine-centric book staring Jack Ryan on the 40th Anniversary of HUNT, I would have told them they’re crazy!
JEFF: Writing ACT OF DEFIANCE is truly a humbling endeavor. Not only have we been given the opportunity to pen new adventures for iconic characters such as Jack Ryan, Mary Pat Foley, and John Clark, but Tom Colgan has entrusted us with carrying on the legacy of Tom Clancy. With this book, we’ve become members of a very small and grateful club of authors whom, for a brief moment, have had the privilege to carry the Jack Ryan baton. It’s a dream come true for both of us.
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Music/silence/closet/makeshift cockpit built with cardboard?)
JEFF: When I write, I’m on my screened in patio by the pool. The help brings me fresh squeezed orange juice and croissants on demand when I ring the bell.
BRIAN: I write on the conn (aka in my office) and I sound my klaxon when I hit my daily page count. My family members must address me as Captain and request permission to enter.
DOSSIER: You’ve served on submarines and piloted planes. If you each had a tactical engagement against each other using your prior service equipment, who would sink to the bottom of the sea first?
BRIAN: I think the answer is obvious, I would win. First off, he’d never find me because submarines operate in total stealth. Second, fast attack subs like the one I served on carry a dozen or more Tomahawk cruise missiles. And last but not least, a submarine’s pressure hull is made from several inches thick high tensile strength steel. Even if he could find me and get off a shot (which he couldn’t) the ordinance his puny little fighter can carry would barely make a dent.
JEFF: Oh…poor Brian. He must be suffering from nitrogen narcosis or lack of oxygen to the brain from being submerged too long. One well-placed smart bomb down the snorkel mast would be the end of his yellow submarine. Cruise missiles, my egg-head friend, are not the same thing as heat-seeking surface to air missiles and would be incapable of catching me with afterburner on.
DOSSIER: When there’s something that your Clancy editor, Tom Colgan, wants to suggest a change to, is he going to be able to tell if Brian wrote it or if Jeff wrote it? More importantly, even though you’re best friends, do you point at each other and say, “Chunk wrote that!”?
A&W: Probably not…because there are very few Brian-only or Jeff-only sentences in our books. We each take multiple passes on the manuscript and by the end, everything has been so marked up and modified that it is truly collaborative prose. That said, if Tom does find something he hates and wants changed, then it’s definitely Chunk who wrote it!
Website: andrews-wilson.com | Amazon author page
Jeff Circle 