Talented author, Eric J. Gates, has agreed to participate in one of our revealing, hard-hitting interviews. Asking the questions everyone else avoids, we now usher him toward the hot seat of interrogation and are pleased to note that he did not bring his attorney with him. Welcome, Eric!

1. Your book, the Cull, deals with the subject of vampires. Be honest with our readers, now, and tell us what steps you have personally taken to develop positive relationships with vampires.

That’s a difficult subject. I live in Spain and they use a lot of garlic in the food over here. So while I was researching, I needed to watch what I was eating. There was a lot at stake and vampires can be so touchy at times. Fangs for asking.

2. Fill in the blanks: The last time I _____sneezed_______, Steve told me that __what I__ needed ____was an iPad a day, or was it an Apple?_____. And, was he serious?

I think he was serious; then again it could have been just Jobs for the boys.

3. 19 strategically placed earthenware pots?  (be specific please)

…containing specific entrails and specific body-parts, carefully placed around the specific sarcophagus, as I prepare for my journey into the Duat afterlife. This self-mummifying is hard work, you know? What? It’s publishing not mummifying?

4. When Ian Fleming wrote Casino Royale in 1952, what was his neighbor wearing?

Please Miss, (raises hand, jumps up and down), I know this one! Fleming wrote his first Bond novel in 1953 (yours must have been an earlier draft) at his home Goldeneye in Jamaica. In Jamaica they wear shorts (not Bermuda’s – that’s another island), so his neighbour must have been wearing shorts! What? The colour? Black with a yellow and green vertical stripe down the leg. Hang on, you say. That’s their flag’s colours and they didn’t get independence until the mid-sixties. Well, Fleming always was ahead of his time!

NOTE British spelling of ‘neighbour’ and ‘colour’ – after all, Fleming was English, and so was Jamaica in 1953!

5. What did you name your goat and why?

Baaah! What a personal question! Nanny, of course! I want my Nanny! Mummy?

6. What’s the sixth sentence on page 44 of your book? If it’s really short, please include the next sentence as well.

In ‘the CULL’ it’s…

‘It didn’t do for the prey to be aware of the predator.’

The next bit?  ‘He took a large bite out of…’  Intriguing, init?

In ‘Leaving Shadows’, my latest, it’s…

“Okay. You can load the coffin aboard. Thanks.” Hang on! Is that the same story? 

7. My bulky unemployed step-cousin, Junior, wants to spend a week with you. How will you entertain him? (he has fragile self-esteem and requires nightly lectures on foot hygiene)

See question 3 above. Is he squeamish?

8. Do you know how much I appreciate my calculator? Please explain your answer.

Do you know how much I calculate my appreciation? Can’t explain further; I’m not the calculating sort they make me out to be.

9. You are running late for an important meeting or appointment. When you reach your vehicle, you discover flock of winged gargoyles inside. How do you handle the situation? And what was so important about your meeting?

I hate it when that happens. I don’t mind them being inside, but they get stone chips all over the seats. They also tend to poop on the paintwork when they land – have you seen how big those bugger are? That’s a lot of gargoyle poop! Try explaining that to your Insurer. It’s easy to get rid of them though; just clear your throat – the doctor said I should gargoyle every morning. What? The meeting? Why the annual get-together of the All-Winged Effigies, Stone Ornaments and Miscellaneous Emblems Society – A.W.E.S.O.M.E for short.

10.  David Morrell has been called the master of the high-action thriller. Are you the one who called him this? If not, what do you call him? How often do you call him this? How does he respond?

“No! Innocent! I have an alibi! Or two! Not me!” he said, slowly stepping aware from his excuses…

If David is the Master of the High-Action Thriller, can I call myself the Master of the Low-Action Thriller? My protagonists are usually short people, you see, and they never hit above the waist.

11. What is your reaction to Stephen King’s position on adverbs? Have you told him how you feel?

Can he fit on an adverb? What position does he adopt? I’m sorry, I can’t be adjective about this one. Cross ‘em out! Cross ‘em out!

It’s like Chess, really. At times, the spaces are more important than the squares occupied by the pieces. His books must be like redacted negatives before the publisher gets his hands on them. Does he get paid by the word before or after he crosses out the flowery bits? 

12. What is your professional opinion of battery-powered circular saws?



12. Do you realize this question is numbered inaccurately? What do you make of that?

I thought it was 3D. I held up one to each eyeball and thought of England!

12. Chuck Norris?

See Question 3.  Who DID you think was in the 19 strategically-placed earthenware pots? He is getting on a bit… He looked really old in those horror films he did a while back. You know; the ones where he played a doll…

Final word…

Despite the seat (it was hot, wasn’t it?) I really enjoyed these questions. I’ve not divagated (pause for dictionary) this much since, since… since I wrote my last novel!


BIO:

Eric J. Gates has had a curious life filled with the stuff of thriller novels. Writing Operating Systems for Supercomputers, cracking cryptographic codes under extreme pressure using only paper and pen and teaching cyber warfare to spies are just a few of the moments he’s willing to recall. He is an ex-International Management Consultant who has traveled extensively worldwide, speaks several languages, and has had articles and papers published in technical magazines in six different countries, as well as radio and TV spots. His specialty, Information Technology Security, has brought him into contact with the Military and Intelligence communities on numerous occasions.

He is also an expert martial artist, holding 14 black belt degrees in distinct disciplines. He has taught his skills to Police and Military personnel, as well as to the public.

He now writes thriller novels, drawing on his experiences with the confidential and secret worlds that surround us.

His latest novel is Leaving Shadows, a nail-biting suspense thriller set in Europe.

Global Amazon link for Leaving Shadows:  http://viewBook.at/B00DJANLQS



The Head of British Intelligence is kidnapped.
A ransom demanded.
A private security company is tasked with his recovery.

But nothing is as it seems...

Opposing forces clash with deadly consequences as they race
to control the most devastating weapon of mass destruction devised by Man!

Deceit and betrayal, against a backdrop of real events, that will make you wonder if it really happened!

LINKS:
Website: www.ericjgates.com
Blog: my-thrillers.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/eThrillerWriter