Interview/Giveaway with M.L. Buchman

I am so excited to have Matt Buchman on Redheads today. I love his Night Stalkers series. After reading the interview, make sure you enter to win a prize pack of the first two books in the series, The Night is Mine and I Own the Dawn!! (For US and Canada residents only.)

Crystal- First and foremost, Matt, I want to thank you for stopping by Redheads on this fine Valentine’s Day. I also want to say that your Night Stalkers series is addicting! But enough about me, we are here to pick your brain. For the readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you share with the class a little something about yourself?

Matt- Hi Crystal, and thanks so much for inviting me along. And thanks for being a fan. It seems that one of the most interesting things about is that I’m male. Not that I spent thirty years as a Project Manager, not that I’ve designed and built two houses, or rebuilt and single-handed a 50’ sailboat, and not even that I spent 18 months bicycling solo around the world. It’s that I’m a male writing romance. Well, I’m the mush of the family and I always have been. I cry at the end of Wizard of Oz. I wept the first time I read The Call of Wild and haven’t been able to pick it up in the decades since. I’m the one you’ll find all dreamy eyed at the end of watching Notting Hill yet again.

Crystal- Tell us how the Night Stalkers series came about?

Matt- I was writing a foodie thriller titled Swap Out! about a television chef who gets snarled up in a massive clandestine battle for political power. He needed to be rescued by a cool helicopter, so I went searching. On my way, I stumbled on the Night Stalkers, the real-life secret helicopter regiment that flies for the U.S. Special Forces. Grenada, Panama, Somalia, bin Laden’s compound, it was all these guys. And that, right there, is how my series came about. …all these guys. I asked myself, “What if they weren’t all guys?” and the series was born. It’s about the first women of SOAR and the men they happen to deserve. I fell in love with the premise and can’t stop writing stories in this world.

Crystal- What is your writing process like? For example, are you a dive right in and deal with details as they come, or are you a planner?

Matt- It varies, but I typically do a lot of baseline research. I read dozens of books about SOAR, memoirs of Special Forces veterans, blogs, websites, etc. Then I start with a character, typically the woman (I am male after all), and I just start writing. I add research and ideas as I go. By the end of the first few chapters I know roughly how the book will end, then I just start discovering page by page, paragraph by paragraph how the heck my characters are going to get there.

Crystal- Do you have a writing ritual you generally do while in the zone like listening to a playlist specifically for a book or characters you are writing? Or, are you are work around chaos and have a coffee IV drip going type of person?

Matt- I need something to distract my editor-brain so that my creative-brain has a chance. I typically play music, often loud music, rock n’ roll, opera, the playlist that my kid gave me to upgrade my sadly arcane tastes, almost anything. Give me music, ten minutes, and a computer and I’m off and running.

Crystal- How many books are you planning on having in the Night Stalkers series? The more the better in my opinion. ;)

Matt- Thanks for that. Wait Until Dark is number three, though each can absolutely be read stand-alone. The DAP Hawk, the gunship version of the Black Hawk helicopter, has four seats, so the original series has four books. Take Over at Midnight will be out later this year. My publisher has just contracted for two more in the Night Stalkers series because the next helicopter they fly is a tiny two-seater called The Little Bird. At the same time they contracted for three books in a spin-off series presently called Firehawk, which will start showing up next year. A Firehawk is the same Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter that I used in my Night Stalkers books, but rigged for aerial firefighting of forest wildfires. They’re the firefighters of the skies. I just finished the first draft of the first book, with crossover characters from the Night Stalkers world, and it was so much fun!

I also had a Christmas release with Daniel’s Christmas. A short novel that followed Daniel Darlington, the new White House Chief of Staff’s, search for love. Another favorite side character, Frank Adams, head of the President’s Secret Service detail, is asking for a July 4th short novel, tentatively titled Frank’s Independence Day.

Crystal- Now on to some more fun questions; what do you like to do in your spare time?

Matt- Write! No really. Until mid-January, that was my spare time. I’ve only just made the leap from corporate madness to full-time writer. What do I look forward to other than spending more time with my wife? Hmm… She got me hooked on quilting years ago, but I’ve barely had time to do any in the last few years and we have several cool designs we drew but haven’t started. I’m also looking forward to getting back on my bicycle, maybe getting in some more distance riding like I used to do. And there are about twenty cookbooks on the shelf that I want to start on page one and just cook my way right through them, I love to cook.

Crystal- Do you have a favorite food/meal/drink that you can’t live without?

Matt- Gads, yes! And I had to give them up. My blood sugar is fine, I’m perfectly fit, as long as I don’t try to live on black licorice and raisins, my two true writer-goody downfalls (I’d eat a bag of either in a single sitting). Favorite meals are all over the map. I make a mean Moo Shu Chicken, my wife’s Mulligatawny Stew is awesome, and our comfort food (other than pasta in any manner shape or form) is tostadas.

Crystal- Oh! Here’s a good one…how often do you get mistaken for a woman since you write romance novels before they realize you have a couple extra non-female body parts? Hehe!

Matt- Well, in person, the beard and the low-baritone voice are a bit of a giveaway. (I’m hoping to use the latter shortly to start making some of my own books into audiobooks as well.) At first, I was often reviewed as a woman, and then outed in the comments. Now, I typically include my picture on the posts, and the shock value seems little less. The latest typical reaction is, “You’re male? How did you write like this?” I always say, “From the heart!”

Crystal- Do you have any secret talents like mad beat boxing skills or can your burp the whole alphabet while standing on your head?

Matt- Hold your hands like you’re making the Vulcan “Live long and prosper” sign. Now, without moving the index or pinkie finger, bring the middle and ring fingers together. Then spread them back apart. Now both hands. Now both hands in opposite directions. I’m really, really good at this courtesy of a particularly dull lecture in AP Chemistry. I can also say the alphabet backwards, harder than it sounds. ZYXWVUT…

Thank you again for taking time to stop by Redheads today on the day of love. I will impatiently patiently wait for more of your addicting reads!

WAIT UNTIL DARK BY M.L. BUCHMAN – IN STORES NOW!!!!

Name: Big John Wallace

Rank: Staff Sergeant, Chief Mechanic and Gunner

Mission: To serve and protect his crew and country.

Name: Connie Davis

Rank: Sergeant, Flight Engineer, Mechanical Wizard

Mission: To be the best...and survive.

Two Crack Mechanics, One Impossible Mission…

Being in The Night Stalkers is Connie Davis’s way of facing her demons head-on, but mountain-strong John Wallace is a threat on all fronts. Their passion is explosive, but their conflicts are insurmountable. When duty calls them to a mission no one else could survive, they’ll fly into the night together—ready or not.

Praise for I Own the Dawn:

“A rousing mix of romance and military action thrills...Buchman blends tender feelings with military politics to keep readers riveted.”—Publishers Weekly

“I can’t wait for the next book.”—RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

“Filled with action, adventure, and danger.”—Booklist Starred Review

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M. L. Buchman has worked in fast food, theater, computers, publishing, and light manufacturing. It's amazing what you can do with a degree in geophysics. At one point he sold everything and spent 18-months riding a bicycle around the world. In 11,000 miles, he touched 15 countries and hundreds of amazing people. Since then, he has acquired a loving lady, the coolest kid on the planet, and lives in Portland, OR. For more information, please visit http://www.mlbuchman.com/.

To Purchase Wait Until Dark:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Books-a-Million

IndieBound

Chapters/Indigo

Sourcebooks

Discover a New Love

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