Strike Force Behind The Book: strikeforce.mp3 Writers Roundtable Interview With Dale Brown ATARI ACT OF WAR: DIRECT ACTION LINKS Dale Brown Interview With: Peter Anthony Holder When a former pilot turns his hand to thrillers you can take their authenticity for granted. His writing is exceptional and the dialogue, plots and characters are first-class... far too good to be missed.' --Sunday Mirror ‘Dale Brown is a superb storyteller’ --WASHINGTON POST ‘Dale Brown is the best military adventure writer in the country’ --CLIVE CUSSLER

Writer Stays On Top Of Technology
by THOMAS GARRETT, 2008

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT THOMAS GARRETT - Bulletin Senior Writer - Baxter Bulletin - July 3, 2008

Author Dale Brown visits with Bill Byrnes of Mountain Home as he prepares to sign a copy of his newest book, "Shadow Command." (Bulletin Photo by Kevin Pieper)

Author Dale Brown is the first to admit the star of his high-flying military-adventure novels is the advanced technology he depicts, which usually hits his printed page just before it takes to the skies in real life.

Brown is the writer of 20 best-selling techno-thrillers He puts his characters at the controls of the most sophisticated, futuristic aircraft and weapons systems ever seen for thrilling adventures that have run the gamut from a single B-52 raid against Russia in his debut novel, "The Flight of the Old Dog," to spaceplanes flying missions from a military space station in "Shadow Command," his newest release.

"I come up with the area where the conflict is going to take place, and I come up with the technology and let the characters interact with both of those. It's not the other way around" said Brown during a booksigning at Hastings Entertainment in Mountain Home.

His father, Bud, lives at Bull Shoals, a sister lives at Harrison and Brown has property in the Bruno area of Marion County. A former U.S. Air Force captain who served as a navigator and bombardier aboard a B-52 Stratofortress and FB-111A, Brown published his first novel in 1987. He has released a new novel almost every year since then. Brown also co-authors the "Dreamland" novel series with Jim DeFelice.

Asked which he has more fun writing, the technical parts of his novels or the characters, there's no hesitation. "Technology, by far," he replied, describing all his work as "plot-driven stories."

"I very much enjoy reading plot-driven books, and that's what I want to do," he said. "I'm getting better at doing characters, but I'll be the first one to admit that the main characters in all my stories are the B-52s, the weapons, things like that."

Brown's novels usually have stayed a step ahead of reality. "I research technology that will be coming out in the next three to five years, then write about it as if it really is out there," he said. "I've been lucky enough to have so many close calls, writing about things like TV-guided bombs, GPS and stealth technology years before people really have heard about it.

"That's why I'm always accused, I think, of writing science fiction, because I do research on new technology, but it hasn't come out yet," he continued. "I've been at the business so long I can wait 10 years, still be writing, and people will say, 'Well, gosh, you were writing about stealth technology five years before Desert Storm.' I love doing that. I love trying to be one step ahead, and then love to see it really come true."

Even with today's fast-changing technology, Brown said he doesn't have a problem keeping up with it, or ahead of the curve. "That's what I love doing when I set up for a new book, researching the new technology, learning all I can about it," he said.

"It's actually been a detriment to the people who have been following me since the beginning because I'm writing less about things like the B-52. I still write about precision-guided weapons, but less and less about the Cold War-type aircraft because other technology is replacing that. Such as unmanned aircraft space systems, which I get into quite a bit in 'Shadow Command.' But I really enjoy keeping up with all the new technology."

On the whole, Brown hasn't gotten in trouble with his fictional use of cutting-edge military technology, although there was one time when the Secret Service came calling. In 1994, Brown released the novel "Storming Heaven," which featured a series of terrorist attacks in the United States. "The last flying scene in the book had a pilot load his airplane up with explosives, fly it over Maryland and crash it into the White House," said Brown.

In September 1994, after the books publication, a man stole a single-engine Cessna at Baltimore, Md., and crashed it into the White House. "I had a visit from the Secret Service, not once, but twice," recalled Brown. "The first time they wanted to know had this guy ever contacted me about information about flying in Washington. I had the exact geographic coordinates to the White House and everything, and I said no, he never contacted me.

"The second visit was, 'Well, how did you find out about the geographic coordinates, the elevation, all the things you would need to fly a weapon into the White House?' I had to pull out all my research books and the flight information publications and open up the back and say, 'The coordinates to every nuclear power plant, every stadium, every monument in Washington is listed in the back of flight information publications.'

"That was very unnerving to have the Secret Service knock on your door and start asking questions," he added.

Brown wouldn't mind seeing his work come to life on the movie screen. "Every time a book comes out, I go down to L.A., go to all the parties and all the pitch meetings and talk about the books," he said. "The creative side is all excited, 'Let's talk about directors, let's talk about talent' and all this stuff. Then I go home, and I think what happens is that someone starts to draw up the budget ... and people start to cringe.

But he's still optimistic. "Eventually, it's going to happen."

Of his 20 books, Brown thinks "Plan of Attack," which depicts a Russian attack against the United States, as the most current and relevant candidate to receive a big-screen treatment.

"With the research in Russia going on right now, Russia resumed flying long-range heavy bombers, they overflew Guam, they're doing more and more testing against the U.S. Navy, I think Russia is using a lot of their oil wealth to rebuild the military," he said. "Every time we try to do something in Eastern Europe, every time we try to get Ukraine to join the EU and NATO, they object to it. They're threatening to support Iran, there are all sorts of little gimmicks they're trying. ... We could see Russia become a superpower again and actually challenge the United States."

Because of that, Brown thinks it's possible for the scenario in "Plan of Attack" could happen. "I think it's the most relevant one for what's going on in the world right now," he said.

With his dad and sister living in the Ozarks, is there any chance Brown might consider settling here someday? "Temporary roots, definitely," he said. "I love this area. I live at Lake Tahoe, and the winters are brutal up there, so I definitely would like to live someplace a little warmer. Mountain Home is growing like crazy, I love coming here ... I might as well find a nice place on the river and just hang out."

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