Travis Davis
Flames of Deception
DOSSIER: Having grown up in an Air force family and lived in some cool overseas locations, did you ever rethink your decision to join the Army? Especially after spending all that time at Ft. Knox as an armored cavalry scout.
DAVIS: I reevaluated my decision every time I had to sleep on the ground on a bitterly cold night or ride around inside an Armored Personal Carrier when it was 100o outside. They don’t have air conditioning. Growing up around airplanes, I always loved them, but I wanted to be a soldier ever since I can remember. I think I had every G.I. Joe set there was and watched all the war movies. So, in 1976 I decided to join at the tender age of 17 and become a Cav Scout. I would never change my decision to join the Army. I met some great people, lived in some cool places, have some great stories, and met my beautiful wife. Now when I joined, my older brother was in the Air Force stationed in Ice Island. He wanted to kick my butt.
DOSSIER: In your books FLAMES OF DECEPTION and COBALT, you focus on issues dealing with global energy. Is that theme related to your life in Texas and its history in the oil industry, a general interest in energy, or something else?
DAVIS: The ideas for my books are based on what I see happening or what I think could happen globally. I’m a technology junkie and love researching topics like solar energy, cyber warfare, and artificial intelligence (which will be in my next novel).
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Music/silence/backyard with a good German beer?)
DAVIS: Nothing better than sitting in Biergarten in my backyard after a long walk listening to some country and western music and writing. Now I do love drinking a good German beer and typing away simultaneously. Depending on the number of beers. I have to go back and re-read it. I’m not particularly eager to write in a sterile environment.
DOSSIER: What stands out from all those border patrols you did in Germany before the Berlin Wall went down? Any cool stories?
DAVIS: There are many stories. Some I can tell, and some I can’t. One that sticks out is. It was 1984 or 85. I was the patrol leader consisting of two jeeps (yes, jeeps) with six soldiers. Three in each jeep. It was around 2 or 3 in the morning and pitch black. It was a chilly early spring morning. We pulled up to the spot where we would get out and walk to the border.
Maybe fifty yards. I told two of the soldiers to provide security for the jeeps, and another Staff Sergeant would walk down to the border. We were there for maybe two minutes when suddenly, we saw and heard an explosion from one of the mines between the fence and the border road on the East German side. Now we have heard them before. An animal would step on one, and boom. Well, this time, it was followed by gunfire coming from in back of the location of the explosion. We got down under some cover and observed what was going on. After a couple of minutes, we noticed an East German truck moving along the road along the border. They were trying to figure out what the hell went on. It had a spotlight on top of the cab, and as it continued to drive, it got closer and closer to our position. Now we haven’t moved or made any sounds. The light from the spotlight was getting closer to us, so we froze. It went right passed us. They didn’t see us and continued to move. Once they were clear, we returned to the jeep and called in a SPOT report to the border operations center at Camp Harris, Coburg, Germany. Still not sure what happened that night.
DOSSIER: Doing book signings at real locations you’ve used as settings in your book sounds like a lot of fun. Where did you come up with that idea, and what’s up with the Kroger in Allen, TX?
DAVIS: I put one place in all my books, Eavesdrop Brewery in Manassas, Va. We were visiting our son, and he took us there. We just fell in love with it—the people, the atmosphere, and the beer. I was finishing up my first novel, Flames of Deception, and thought this would be a great place for the team to relax after a tough mission.
I’m hoping someone that has read my books is at Eavesdrop and sees a group of folks sitting around that matches the characters in my books and thinks, “Is that Team Texarkana?” I love having a book signing there and having one in October. Regarding Kroger, I participate in a program where local authors can set up a table and do book signings. It’s a grassroots effort to get your books into the hands of the readers and get instant feedback. I’m a people person….
Website: authortravisdavis.com
Jeff Circle 