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

ReaderMail@AirBattleForce.com
by Dale Brown, 2008

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT TheBigFiveOh.com Blog @ Yahoo.Com, August 04, 2008

Time to answer some e-mails! As usual, no names, and I'll take out any other possible identifying phrases:

Q: To whom it may concern: I'm a long time Dale Brown fan (since "Flight Of The Old Dog"), and I believe I've read everything he's written since.

Just finished "Air Battle Force," and while I enjoyed the story as usual, I was really disappointed by the apparent lack of proof-reading and editorial input.

Throughout the book, I noticed many instances of incorrect tense (e.g., singular verb, plural subjects) and several apparent lapses of continuity. If I, with only an Associate's Degree unrelated to the English Language, can discover all these errors, surely a competent eidtor/proof-reader could find and correct them.

Please, give us fans a little more attention to detail!

Thank you,

A: All the errors are mine. Some of the errors could be because I'm so close to the book for so many months and I gloss over some errors, but however it happens, errors slip in. I'm fortunate to have great copyeditors and proofreaders at Morrow, but even these pros miss a few.

If you point out the errors to me, I'll see to it that they're fixed in subsequent editions.

Q: Hello, I just finished the book "Shadow Command". Your book was wonderful to read and I'm now hooked. I have ordered the entire "Patrick McLanahan" series from ABE books.

I was wondering what order I should be reading these including the "Dreamland Books", Independent Books (Sliver Tower, Hammerheads, Chains of Command, and Storming Heaven), etc.

Would it be best to read them based on the year of publication?

I really enjoy how characters and technology evolve and build on one another as each novel becomes available.

Please advise and thank you!

A: The order of my books is printed in "reverse plot order" (most recent books on top) on my Web site, www.DaleBrown.info. They aren't in order of publication because in the early years I skipped story lines a little and wrote books with different casts of characters.

By the way, thanks to the folks at Yahoo, my URL www.AirBattleForce.com isn't redirecting to my Web site's server. My Web guy Bill Parker is busy working on a fix, but for now you can use www.DaleBrown.info or www.Megafortress.com to visit the Web site. E-mail to readermail@airbattleforce.com still works OK.

NOTE FROM WEBMASTER: yahoo sucks.

Q: Hey Dale, From one USAF vet to another: What's the point of having a list of arconyms at the front of a book, then using other acronyms which aren't included in the list, within the book ???

A: I try to put only different or unusual acronyms in the front of the book. Most everyone who reads these kind of books know what "ETA" means, but few would know "SAR" or "XR-A9," especially if I invent them!

Q: I just finished your latest, Shadow Command. I did enjoy the book, but I must register one complaint. I was disappointed that this book had much more, I guess you could say, R-rated episodes than any other of yours that I have read.

I understand that those behind-the scenes political machinations were an integral part of the story. However, I personally would very much prefer that those episodes be more by inference than having the graphic detail spelled out in the book. I have always read your books for the plot and the action. They have always been good enough that including the salacious details was unnecessary.

Still a Fan-

A: I got a lot of e-mail like this.

First, I don't put in R-rated scenes just for the heck of it. I need to build characters, and the best way to do it is to show, not tell.

Second, I don't like inferences. Some scenes can be put together that allows the reader to "fill in the blanks," but others can't.

Third, I like to surprise my readers every now and then. Many say that these kinds of books isn't the proper place for such scenes, but I disagree.

Fourth, I believe sex is a tool of business, government, and diplomacy, as much as education, experience, and wealth are.

Fifth, I LIKE writing them! Maybe that makes me a randy old fart, but there it is. These are the kind of books and the kind of scenes I enjoy, which has always been my main motivation for writing.

One more...

Q: Mr. Brown- this is a long shot.... don't know if you read these.... I noticed you make extensive use of quotes as epigraphs, at the beggining of chapters in your novel Shadow Command... ( example: "One does what one is; one becomes what one does." -Robert Von Musil ) any copyright hoops to jump through or do you consider the quotes "fair use?" I am finishing a novel that will be published in the fall and am using some quotes in a manner similar to your usage.... I have an attorney looking at my work, but your comments will be helpful. thank for you very much.... continued success.

A: Although I've never consulted an attorney about it, I do consider using such quotes "fair use," especially if I find the quotes used in other publications such as "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations."

The Copyright Act of 1976 has four tests to determine if a use is "fair use": the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use).

While a novel is certainly not nonprofit and may be somewhat considered educational, the purpose and use of the copyrighted phrases is not by itself for commercial value--it stimulates thought in the mind of the reader.

Reprinting one or two dozen words from a 2,000 word article or 100,000 word book is not enough to degrade the value of the copyrighted work, especially if the name of the author and copyright holder are printed along with the work.

Knock on wood, I haven't been sued yet.

Keep on reading, and I'll keep writing! Cheers!

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