M.P. Woodward
Shadow State
Surviving a helicopter crash in the Vietnamese Highlands is only the start of the challenges facing Jack Ryan, Jr., in the latest propulsive thriller of this #1 New York Times bestselling series.
DOSSIER: With your installment of SHADOW STATE into the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr. universe, what are you bringing to the story that’s going to make readers stand up and take notice?
WOODWARD: It’s not just a privilege, but a deep respect for the Jack Ryan family series that I carry forward with SHADOW STATE. Like many of you, I grew up with these books, and I’m committed to honoring their legacy.
In approaching the series, I used my personal reactions to the first set of Clancy books to develop the new ones. When I was in high school, college, and a junior officer in the Navy, the Clancy books stood out from other popular fiction at the time because they had big, ambitious plots and dramatized the technologies that enable national security. They did so with heroic characters who were intent on doing the right thing for their comrades and their country.
My goal is to uphold the same values and ethos that have made the Jack Ryan Jr. series so beloved. To do that, I want to evolve Jack Jr. into a compelling character with distinct strengths and weaknesses—while maintaining the values of the Ryan family. At this point in the series, Jack Senior is the President of the United States. Jack Junior is cutting his teeth as a leading operative in The Campus (“black-side operations”) while also carving out his value to Hendley Associates as a top-shelf risk analyst for private equity deals.
To flesh him out, I included a little more of the pressure on his white-side work to help put the “tech” back in “techno-thriller.” I believe my 30-year career with global tech firms (ending with Amazon) has given me ample background to put Junior in situations where he can see the value of tech to his business while also understanding its national security
implications.
That’s exactly what happens in SHADOW STATE. Jack is leading a white-side deal in Vietnam to acquire a rare-earth minerals processing company with important national security applications. While pursuing the deal, he uncovers a Chinese industrial espionage ring and risks his life to expose it.
My fervent hope is that readers enjoy the authentic special ops action while learning a little more about American national security dependence on foreign rare-earth minerals.
Tom Clancy and a new genre
DOSSIER: Having read THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER while an Army intelligence analyst serving overseas, The Dossier guy knows how impactful Tom Clancy was to the thriller world. As a U.S. Naval intelligence officer with ten years of service, what kind of influence did Clancy’s work have on you, and how did that shape your writing as you came up with your story for SHADOW STATE?
WOODWARD: I believe the first Clancy books broke through because they created a new genre. Back in the eighties and nineties, Michael Crichton did a commendable job as an author by bringing nonfiction science into thrilling fictional scenarios. Tom Clancy did the same thing but, crucially, with a laser focus on national security. Until then, few writers touched on the accurate workings of, say, a submarine or reconnaissance plane. Clancy made the technology accessible and exciting.
When those first books came out, I was either in training for the Navy or serving somewhere on active duty. The books made my work as an intelligence officer more fun and fired my imagination. As an aspiring writer at the time, his ability to create a new genre made me realize that bringing a new voice to the industry was possible. I still think about that today.
Great input from Tom Colgan
DOSSIER: With the steady hand of Tom Colgan helping guide you through the editing process, what did you learn that’s made you an even better writer? This is where you can disclose how many red pens he went through until you finally got it right. (He can be really, really mean, right?)
WOODWARD: There are many reasons it is fun to work with Tom Colgan. Chief among them is his love for the work. If I ever witnessed such meanness (I never have 
) I would accept it as a byproduct of his professional passion.
I am eternally grateful for all I’ve learned from Tom. If I had to pick an example, plot simplification would be at the top of the list. When you’re a new thriller author, you tend to feel you must justify every piece of a story. For example, maybe the protagonist has to get from Miami to Budapest to carry out an incognito hit, but the author can’t figure out how he would do that without a visa or a weapon. In that case, the author might invent a Rube Goldberg series of machinations to get the assassin into place (the shady weapons dealer, the fake-ID manufacturer, the private plane guy, etc). Ultimately, these details distract from the core story. Tom quickly recognizes when you’re falling into that trap.
A leathery coffee house … at home
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Music, silence, chillin’ in a Pacific Northwest coffee house?)
WOODWARD: I write in a room above our garage that I love because it’s decorated like a moody, leathery coffee house, which is very Seattle. I’ve lived in Washington State for most of my professional career and enjoy the seasons and creative culture here. The environment I’ve tried to create for writing is evocative of that. When writing, I usually listen to white noise—but sometimes I fire up soundtracks to get the cinematic emotions flowing.
I’ve long been an early riser and start writing when I get up. Often, I’ll lose track of time and keep going for five or six hours. After that, I’m spent. I would say there is a second method behind that morning madness: character and plot ideas tend to percolate for me in the back half of the day when I’m carrying on with the rest of my life. Before sunrise, I’ll often wake up with an “Oh yeah!” revelation that had been elusive the day before.
A very hard transition
DOSSIER: How hard (or easy) was it to go from being a big-time shooter at Amazon to having no one else to answer to but yourself when you sat down and started writing your first thriller, THE HANDLER?
WOODWARD: Here’s a two-word answer: very hard. I would point out a few significant challenges I’ve had to overcome.
First, you’re in your own echo chamber when you write a book. In an office setting, you have others collaborating with you and can always pick up feedback signals—not so when it’s just you. Second, the lack of boundaries between work and play can make you a little crazy. When I have a book deadline, it flashes across my eyelid linings all day long. I work every single day until I feel it’s ready. In a more traditional work setting, you know damn well the difference between Monday morning and Friday afternoon.
Ahead of the game
DOSSIER: Do you have any news or announcement you’d like to disclose in your Dossier?
WOODWARD: Yes! Dossier readers might already realize there is a significant time lag between a book’s completion and its publication. While SHADOW STATE is hitting shelves in August 2024, my second Clancy book, LINE OF DEMARCATION, is already through the editing process and should follow in the next available launch window. I hope to come back to the Dossier to talk about that one too!
Website: M.P. Woodward | Amazon Author Page