Tim Tigner's Blog, page 3

Goodreads Question

An inquisitive reader posted this question on Goodreads: What made you decide to write Coercion, Betrayal, and Flash? I thought the answer was worth sharing.

I love a good thriller more than just about anything else in life, so I wanted to create my own. And I wanted to use my stories to answer interesting questions—questions I felt qualified to answer based on my background.

With COERCION, I was answering the question: How could I have prevented Russia’s collapse? Specifically, one person working with enough cunning, guile, and foresight.

With BETRAYAL, I wanted to address terrorism and the war thereon. What makes people terrorists? What could someone do to top 9-11?

With FLASH, I wanted to explore biotechnology. It’s a field full of desperate people with shattered dreams. The vast majority medical technologies fail, even after many millions in investment. How might one recoup his losses, if he were ruthless, creative, and under the gun?

In PUSHING BRILLIANCE (yet to be released) I bring together parallels to all my previous works in a single plot full of provocative questions and twists. The core question: How far will people go to win?

Thank you for the excellent question, Kim, and for your kind attention.

Kim's Question

Kim posted this question on Goodreads: What made you decide to write Coercion, Betrayal, and Flash? I thought the answer was worth sharing.

I love a good thriller more than just about anything else in life, so I wanted to create my own. And I wanted to use my stories to answer interesting questions—questions I felt qualified to answer based on my background.

With COERCION, I was answering the question: How could I have prevented Russia’s collapse? Specifically, one person working with enough cunning, guile, and foresight.

With BETRAYAL, I wanted to address terrorism and the war thereon. What makes people terrorists? What could someone do to top 9-11?

With FLASH, I wanted to explore biotechnology. It’s a field full of desperate people with shattered dreams. The vast majority medical technologies fail, even after many millions in investment. How might one recoup his losses, if he were ruthless, creative, and under the gun?

In PUSHING BRILLIANCE (yet to be released) I bring together parallels to all my previous works in a single plot full of provocative questions and twists. The core question: How far will people go to win?

Thank you for the excellent question, Kim, and for your kind attention.

Sundimine

In case you were wondering, that's how you say Coercion in Estonian. I just got the good news that Ersen Publishing has picked up the rights to my latest book.

Translated into Estonian, check.

The notice from my editor at Thomas & Mercer immediately conjured up memories of a trip I took to the Baltic States back in 1992 (pictured) with the six other students in the Wharton/Lauder Russian program and our professors.

As I recall, we spent most of the time visiting churches and chasing women, a combination that may be a bit unorthodox, but then we were grad students in a foreign country, so anything less would have been sacrilege. What a kick to be going back 25 years later--in print.

One Nice Surprise

I woke this morning to find myself sandwiched on a list between Nora Roberts and John Grisham. Alas, this list wasn’t printed in the New York Times (although I’m sure that day will come! OohRah!) but anytime developing authors get grouped with the royals, we’re of course thrilled.

The list was on BookBub, the world’s largest independent ebook promotion company, and the topic was Author Websites with Stellar Designs. I got a nice note from marketing manager Diana Urban, just prior to the list’s release, letting me know thattimtigner.com clocked in at #11.

Authors who aren’t selling like Nora Roberts and John Grisham have to do a lot more than type. We have to market, promote, and design. Until we’ve made it, we’re basically a company of one—sweating everything while praying that we’re doing it right.

Of course we partner with people who bring subject matter expertise, and I was very fortunate work with Mark Figlozzi at Bizango for my website’s design. If you’re an author reading this, he comes very highly recommended.

If you’re a reader reading this, please do check out my author website. Among other things you’ll find a free book download. Even Nora and John can’t beat that.

Audiobooks Have Arrived: Dick Hill Narrating

I'm thrilled to announce that the audiobooks for BETRAYAL and FLASH are now available at Amazon and Audible (and there are even a couple of ways you can get them for free.)

Dick Hill has done a fantastic job with the narration. He's also the voice of Jack Reacher, Harry Bosch, and Nathan McBride, among many others, so I feel like I've known him for years, given all the time he's spent in my head. Working with Dick and his wife Susie to bring my characters to life has been a great thrill. You can listen to a sample via the links below.

If you're not yet an Audible member, you can get either the BETRAYAL or FLASH audiobook for FREE by signing up for an Audible membership plan -- which can be cancelled at any time. If that's not an option for you, and your budget only accommodates free reads, let me know and I'll see if I can hook you up. I had few promo codes for sharing with my newsletter subscribers, and they proved to be so popular that I managed to fanagle a few more, which I'd be happy to share with other fans.

If you use apps but haven't yet tried audiobooks, I'd highly recommend giving Audible a test drive. Their app makes it very easy to enjoy your favorite books while doing chores or driving. I listen to 1-2 books a week this way, and am never bored in traffic, a waiting room, or a line. What a gift!

The New John Grisham

I still remember my first encounter with Grisham. I was working as a financial analyst at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, when a couple of the cool guys, the department heads a few years my senior, told me their story. They’d been on a weekend road trip, but had sat in the car for an hour after reaching their destination to hear the conclusion of The Firm.

I, of course, ran out and got my own copy. Sat riveted. Then passed on the recommendation. That’s how books become blockbusters and authors become famous. Word of mouth.

Twenty-five years later, Grisham’s tagline is “America’s Favorite Storyteller.” After rereading his greats for the Nth time this past month, I’d have to agree. The Firm, The Runaway Jury, A Time to Kill, etc. are downright riveting every time you read them. Nobody tells stories better.

While most readers are familiar with his stories, oddly enough, few know Grisham’s characters. You don’t read his novels to spend time with a particular person, a Bosch or Plum or Reacher, but rather an environment and an event. Among the majors, very few have pulled that tactic off. Now Grisham is changing that, and frankly I’m a bit worried it will be like Michael Jordan playing baseball.

With The Rogue Lawyer, Grisham has introduced his first series character. I didn’t know that was his intent at the time I read it. I was very disappointed as a result. I’d expected a classic Grisham legal thriller, a plot-driven novel woven around an event. Instead, readers receive what’s essentially a lawyer’s diary, with little dialogue and no grand confluence or twist. Then I learned what he was up to: Grisham interview here.

Now, as both a reader and a writer, I’m very eager to see what America’s Favorite Storyteller can do with a series character. I just hope John can find a way to weave Sebastian Rudd into one of his classic, plot-driven legal thrillers. I’m eager to be riveted again.

Missing Chapter

A few weeks ago, Audible released the audiobook for FLASH without Chapter 46. I've been working with them ever since to get the missing chapter inserted, and to alert those who bought it of the omission, but for some unfathomable reason, both are beyond their short-term capabilities. #$%^&*@! My deepest, most sincere apologies to all who have been affected by this shortcoming. I wish I could do more to remedy the situation than post this blog alert and provide this link to Chapter 46.

The complete recording of FLASH is a delight. Dick Hill did a marvelous job of bringing it to life. As the voice of Jack Reacher, Harry Bosch, and Nathan McBride, Dick has long been a hero of mine. He's also narrated BETRAYAL, which is complete and currently available on Audible.

I'm happy to offer anyone who purchased the incomplete recording of FLASH a free copy of the book. Just let me know and I'll set you up, immediately. Once the audiobook has been updated, purchasers can re-download it to receive the complete story.

On a positive note, one great new feature Audible now offers is the ability to share your audiobooks with up to ten friends. To give someone a copy of FLASH or BETRAYAL, just choose "Send Onebook" from the menu (the ". . ." icon) and it's easy from there. You can learn more here.

Here’s to the Green Berets!

I was taken back to my military days in grand style this weekend by a couple of remarkable events. I had the honor of attending the retirement ceremony for Brigadier General Robert Enzenauer, MD and then the annual dinner for the 19th Special Forces Group as his guest, where the featured speaker was SF legend and author of Hunting the Jackal, Sergeant Major Billy Waugh.

“Doc Enz” as he’s known both in life and in the bestselling fiction of his West Point classmate Brian Haig, served our country for 40 years, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Special Forces. Billy pioneered HALO operations for the Green Berets in Vietnam before continuing his service with the CIA. Two amazing men, who literally wrote pages of American history.

Earlier in the day, while exchanging life stories with my bunkmate at the “Enzenauer B&B,” SF Major Damian Horne told me he had returned to the service after a nearly-twenty-year hiatus “in order to spend time in the shadows of men like Doc Enz.” Looking around the banquet hall at scores of chests bearing even more medals and badges than the movie characters who portray them, I understood the profound wisdom of his unorthodox move. Got me thinking that a corollary to the sage life advice to “be all you can be,” is “surround yourself with the best.”

The world has changed a lot since I wore a green beanie while serving in Soviet Counterintelligence with the 11th SF Group, but last night assured me that the men who wear them have not. Even with all the stress and strain that our politicians and foreign despots have subjected our servicemen and women to over the past couple decades, they’re still gladly giving everything they have, while asking only for a bit of camaraderie, and a nation’s respect. I was humbled to be reminded that they are what we mean, when we say, “America is great.”

Looking for Ronald Noble

This week I'm hoping for a little six-degrees-of-separation magic in locating the right Ronald Noble in the UK. Ronald was kind enough to write his first Amazon review after reading Betrayal, and it was a nice one: "Best book I have ever read top marks." Unfortunately, he made the not-uncommon mistake of assuming that 1 was "top marks" when it came to Amazon's star system (where 1 is actually the worst, and 5 the best.)

I'm sure Ronald would happily correct this, something that's easy to do, but he's unaware of the error, and I have no means of contacting him. So I'm hoping that through the power of friend-of-a-friend communication we can find him.

This incident exposes a few flaws in Amazon's rating system. The first is a complete lack of moderation. At the very least, there should be a mechanism in place for addressing rating issues. These errors are common. The second is Amazon's icon system. Amazon's visuals of stars don't represent the actual star rating, but rather a rounded version thereof. They only show Half or Full Stars. This creates cliffs in their rating system. Dropping from 4.8 Stars to 4.7 equates visually to dropping from 5.0 to 4.5. Likewise for dropping from 4.3 to 4.2, where you go from four-and-a-half stars to a flat four. Amazon subsidiary GoodReads, for example, gives an accurate representation of stars, so the code to correct this is literally in their possession.

I estimate that my sales of Betrayal in the UK will drop 4X as a result of this single error, which takes Betrayal from a rare full-5-star visual to a relatively common 4.5. So if you happen to know Ronald Noble, please let him know his kind assistance would be greatly appreciated.

What a Week!

Last week was a first for me, I ran a free book promotion. I was nervous that people would value all my hard work commensurate with the price, and braced myself against reviewer whiplash. I was very plesantly surprised. The quality of the reviews and direct reader feedback via email has been fantastic. I'm so touched and grateful!

There are a couple of stories behind Betrayal, the novel I chose for this promotion. The first involves the plot, which I'll summarize here by saying that it involves some venting from this Special Forces vet and former Blue-Chip exec. The second involves the process of Betrayal's publication, which I won't go into here, but have been sharing with readers who write me.

In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised that this novel resonated with the political / military thriller audience. Acts of betrayal strike us at a visceral level, stirring up passions, and readers of those genres tend to be a passionate bunch.

I'm deeply moved and motivated by the heartfelt written reviews, and thrilled with the company I'm now keeping on Amazon's "Customers Also Bought" list. As a way of saying Thanks!, I'll send anyone who reads this blog post and references it in an email a free copy of Betrayal. Thank you so very much, my dear readers!