They do their work in some of the most dangerous places on earth. Their stories are filled and fraught with confronting the black holes in our societies, while serving the needs of those teetering on the brink of falling into those voids. My calling was not to be one of those courageous souls. It takes a certain kind of gumption I never possessed. My role was to plumb the depths of what compelled these people to journey into those dark places, to help the less fortunate. It seemed safer to remain behind my computer and simply tell their stories, a troubadour singing the tales of the brave, reporting rather than doing.
Then it dawned on me, as these things often do, these stories didn’t have to be limited by the conventions of non-fiction, by any conventions for that matter. A dear writer friend used to remind me, again and again, “The truth is just a place to start.” And from that allowance, Metal Viper slithered its way onto the page.
Because this particular story was led by a “real” woman, or as my wife describes her a “warrior goddess,” I knew I needed to write this with a woman. I reached out to my dear friend Sarah Lovett, a brilliant author in her own write(sic), who also expertly guides struggling authors through the pitfalls of their works and themselves, because I thought, Sarah would know the right woman to join me on this quest.
When I asked for her help, there was not a second of hesitation. “I want to do it,” she said. It was not what I expected, but I have to admit, I was thrilled. Sarah and I had known each other since the early 90s when we both worked for John Muir Publications, in Santa Fe, NM. Sarah was JMP’s star, writing a couple dozen books for them, including the award-winning Extremely Weird children’s nature series. I trailed her output significantly, having written a mere six books in what was called, “The X-Ray Vision series – Looking Inside…” They, too, were children’s science book series, forged from the success of Sarah’s work.
Sarah went on to write the fabulously successful Dr. Sylvia Strange thriller series which has sold gazillions of copies, and now a new one is on the way.
Santa Fe is not a large town, so over the years, Sarah and I saw each other often and had many mutual friends. But it was not until Metal Viper, nearly thirty years after we first met that we ever collaborated. Now, I’ve often worked in collaboration. Writing can be a lonely business, and working with someone else can make it a little less so. Out of them all, Sarah was the best. We gave each other license and encouragement to explore the dark themes that we had to face in this book, inspired by all those folks I had known actually doing this dangerous work. It was one of the most satisfying writing experiences I’ve had and the book echoes that.
It’s a thriller filled with the requisite spills and thrills and evil unchecked, but the writing and storytelling is absolutely top notch. Our process was simple. We story conferenced every scene, every character relationship, everything. Once we knew what came next, one of us would take a first crack at it, and then we would share the work back and forth until it was what we wanted.
There were countless times, I found myself working through a scene, and was suddenly moved to tears by what had emerged. I knew it was an indication that the interactions Sarah and I had devised, even though they were fiction, were authentic and true. The poetry around which the story resolved couldn’t be doggerel or feel like it was torn from the pages of Hallmark. It had to be honest and real.
Metal Viper was a great collaboration, if I do say so myself. And I think readers will be very pleased with it, at least the advanced readers with whom we have shared it have been so. The writing is great, the story couldn’t be more-timely, and it moves like the wind. We think you’ll agree.
Kirkus Review agreed. [Metal Viper] is a tense, timely thriller with heart and a standout heroic lead. But they didn’t stop there they then presented the book with this accolade – Our Verdict – Get It. Please do.
You can pre-order Metal Viper wherever books are sold. So, please take a moment and join the movement for a saner world. For more information you can go to www.metalviper.com where you’ll find a free sample.