Featured Interview With Eric J. Gates
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in the UK but started my nomadic existence at age 14. I’ve 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 I can talk about. I used to be an International Consultant who spent more time in airports than anywhere else, speak several languages, and my specialty, Information Technology Security, brought me into contact with the Military and Intelligence communities on numerous occasions. I’m also an expert martial artist, holding 14 black belt degrees in distinct disciplines and I’ve taught Police and Military personnel, as well as the public. These days my life’s much quieter as I write thriller novels, drawing on my experiences with the confidential and secret worlds that surround us.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I learnt to read at an early age and feel as though there’s never been a moment when I haven’t had a book in my hands since. I started writing in my teens having ‘liberated’ an old Underwood typewriter from my Dad’s office, completing a first novel, now thankfully living in a box at the back of a filing cabinet, at age eighteen. All my travelling resulted in plenty of ‘dead time’ on planes and hotel rooms which allowed me to develop my craft as a writer. Some eleven years ago I decided to make this my profession and have produced seven full-length suspense thrillers and a non-fiction ‘how-to’ book for new writers, with another novel on the way now. I draw heavily on the experiences I’ve had during my work as a security professional in developing the storylines. What? You thought they were just fiction? There’s far more going on out there than you think!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve had the good fortune to meet a couple of bestselling authors over the years who have each given me insights into the craft of novel writing. Of these, the late British thriller author John Gardner, has had more influence on what and how I write today. It’s a debt I freely acknowledge; one which I can never repay.
Although I’m an eclectic reader, the genre that is my clear favourite is Thrillers. No other, in my opinion, can grab the reader and immerse them in a world where almost anything goes as they race to turn the pages of a complex, fast-paced tale of mayhem and chaos. Escapism at its purest, and, if it’s close to reality, then all the more scary for that!
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest thriller is ‘Outsourced’. In it a writer of thrillers (no, it’s most definitely NOT autobiographical) who’s lost his writing ‘edge’, receives a mysterious package in the mail. The contents of the package will change his life and that of many others. The package was sent by a retired professional assassin and the writer quickly discovers a high-tech Intelligence agency is trying to track it down and will use any and all means at their disposal to obtain it. Matters get far worse when he also finds out the sender wants it back, and his methods are far more violent and aggressive! Readers keep telling me it needs to be made into a movie – well, if any Hollywood producers are reading this, I’m on the web!
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