Interview with Jim Gilliam

Today we're talking with Jim Gilliam, author of Tarnished Hero

FQ: You are obviously a multi-talented person and are an emerging force in the publishing world. If you were only to be known for one accomplishment, what would that be and why?

GILLIAM: To be compared favorably with: Joseph Conrad and Jack London, and to be loved by my readers.

FQ: From a runaway to an airborne combat physician assistant is quite a leap. Briefly tell us what motivated you along your chosen career path.

GILLIAM: My parents were divorced when I was nine, I was an only child, and I thought it was my fault. That’s ridiculous of course, but that’s how kids think. Or, at least this kid. I ran away to the mean streets of New Orleans just prior to my fourteenth birthday. I survived on those tough streets, often sleeping on rooftops and under bridges. I ended up looking for work, based out of a Catholic mission for men down on their luck. I lucked out and found work as a deckhand on a sailing yacht the Windjammer II. A little later, I lied about my age and joined the Coast Guard. It’s all chronicled in my first novel: Point Deception. After being medically retired from the Coast Guard, I became an academic bum, changing my major in college like some men change their socks. Then I got serious about a career in the medical field and transferred from the University of Houston to the Baylor College of Medicine’s new Physician Assistant Program—I had a full scholarship. A few years later, I entered the Army as an airborne combat physician assistant, a vocation, I was apparently well suited for.

FQ: In Tarnished Hero, Tim Kelly is the type of hero that movies are made of. Perhaps you had someone in mind who might portray him in a movie? Any hints as to whom that might be and why?

GILLIAM: If I’m lucky enough to have any of my books made into movies—actually, two different movie producers have requested the synopsis of both: Point Deception and Tarnished Hero—I would hope Matt Damon would like to do it. He’s great in the Jason Bourne series.

FQ: Obviously your own service in the military has had an influence in your writing. Do you have a snippet of a story to tell that may have slipped into the pages of your work?

GILLIAM: Most first novels tend to be somewhat autobiographical, and that was the case in Point Deception, which soon took on a life of its own and basically wrote itself as did Tarnished Hero, to some extent. Here is my portrayal of fourteen year-old Tim Kelly’s first real day at Coast Guard boot camp, Cape May, NJ. Just substitute Jim Gilliam for Tim Kelly:

“At 0500 on Wednesday, January 2, Kelly was in a deep REM sleep. Without preamble, the door to the transient squad bay slammed open, the barracks trash cans were hurled the full length of the room, loudly crashing against the far wall, sounding like a mini train wreck, creating apprehension and confusion among the room’s twenty some odd occupants—all of them, new recruits.

Kelly rolled out of the bottom bunk and bounced off the floor, or deck, as he soon learned to refer to it.
“Okay you scum bags, life as you knew it is over!”

Totally disoriented, standing there in his underwear next to his bunk, his whole body was covered in goose bumps; it was bitter cold outside and the barracks heat had been turned down by the barracks watch during the night.

A bewildered Kelly just stood there that first bitter-cold morning, trying, without success, to figure out what had just happened. The beginning of his recruit training had commenced, literally, with a bang.”

FQ: As a onetime airborne physician assistant, was it easy to transition to a similar position in civilian life or was it a whole ‘nother ball game as they say?

GILLIAM: Actually, it was the other way round, I was a fully trained Physician Assistant when I entered on active duty with the Army. Later in my Army career I was a Surgical Subjects Instructor, at the Army Physician Assistant Program, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

FQ: There’s always that turning point in one’s life that make them pick up that pen and put it to paper. What was yours and will there be more books in the future?

GILLIAM: All of us are writers of nonfiction from an early age. We do essays and book reports in school and write work related memorandums and reports and letters—business and personal—after our school days are over. I was the medical service officer on a Navy ammunition ship cruising off the coast of Kuwait in 2008, when I decided to write my first novel. The task of the nonfiction writer is to simply convey information, while the task of the fiction writer is to evoke an emotional response in the reader. That is the very essence of showing versus telling. I’m currently working on my third novel: The SADM Project and here’s what I mean about evoking emotion rather than simply conveying information:

"His skin the color of old leather, attesting to years of operating in jungles from Bolivia to Cambodia and back again, the man in the faded Army fatigue jacket sat on the bench, the regulation duffle bag containing all his worldly possessions at his feet, his Thousand Meter Stare focused on the windows of the apartments across the street, at the strange race of civilians who still had the promise of hope his fallen comrades had secured for them."

As a reader, would: “The man, occupying the bench on Main Street, looking up at the apartments across the street is one of thousands of homeless veterans returning to civilian life from one of our nation’s wars, as reported by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.” Have the same effect? Not for me and I’ll bet, not for you either. Writers and readers are partners, and if a partnership is to work, both, must be attentive to the needs of the other.

To learn more about Tarnished Hero please read the review at: Feathered Quill Book Reviews.

Book Review - Tarnished Hero

Tarnished Hero

By: Jim Gilliam
Publisher: Abbott Press
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1458208255
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: October 21, 2013

Tanner and Goodman got a slap on the wrist in comparison to what Tim Kelly was going to get from Gunderson. Kelly was a no fear guy and life had been throwing him a few curve balls recently. His father, James, had been brutally beaten in a mugging and died as a result of it. Not that they’d ever been close, but there was one person Kelly had hopes for. Brenda Conrad had come into his life and he wanted her to stay there. He wanted that kind of closeness, something he could count on, someone who would always be there for him, but it looked like that relationship would be on hold for a while. Gunderson was going to make sure of that, darn sure.

“Congratulations,” Gunderson snarled, “I am delighted to hear that you have volunteered for combat duty with Patrol Squadron One Division Twelve based out of Da Nang. In the sunny Republic of South Vietnam.” Except for missing Brenda, that XO had no idea he just made Kelly a happy man, a very happy man. Gunderson had no sense of humor and his payback for a little prank didn’t seem to even disconcert his target. Destination: Point Deception, a patrol boat where he could be an ET and stay out of trouble ... maybe. Kelly’s “first taste of combat,” definitely wouldn’t be his last, but could prove to be his undoing.

How the heck could anyone be awarded the Silver and Bronze Stars and get clunked out of the Coast Guard with a less than honorable discharge? Easy if your name is Tim Kelly. His middle name was trouble, but in spite of the disgrace he’d survive and start that life with Brenda in Texas. It was a place he could call home, a place where he had good friends like Deputy Sheriff Dave Holt, who was going to marry his mother. Wedding bells were going to ring for Tim and Brenda. That was until she was “caught up in a turf war between two damned drug cartels.”

Seeing Brenda in a coma brought the fight back out in Kelly who exclaimed, “I’m going undercover to bust the cartel, or die trying.” It was no ordinary cartel, but rather the Campeche Cartel, one Kelly had tenuous ties to. Rudolfo Guzman, the kingpin of the organization, was like a father to him. In fact, Guzman had saved his life a couple of times. Colonel Garret, public safety guru and head of the Texas Rangers, could rewrite that discharge, but would it matter if Brenda didn’t survive? Could he avenge her shooting and would he be able to betray the very man who cared for him the most?

This action-packed thriller moves quickly as dramatic scenes explode in every chapter. Everything from the threat of bio-terrorism to nuclear attack creep into its pages. Modern-day issues such as human trafficking and drug running are real threats that Kelly wants to put an end to, issues that have touched his life. At times the transitioning from one scene to another was a bit difficult to follow, but the twist at the end pulls the seemingly disorganized events back into perspective. The light hand of an editor would have helped tighten up the work. Tarnished Hero is a tale you’ll want to read quickly in order to not miss any of the action and keep the storyline moving in your mind’s eye.

Quill says: If you want a fast-paced, dramatic thriller that knows no bounds, Tarnished Hero should be on your list of must reads!

For more information on Tarnished Hero, please visit the author's website at: www.pointdeception.com

Books In For Review

Here's a sample of books that have recently come in for review.  Check them out and then stop by our site, Feathered Quill Book Reviews, in a few weeks to read the reviews.





Jackpot: A Frank Renzi novel by Susan Fleet A serial killer murders lottery winners. Book 4 in the Frank Renzi series. Nigel Heath wants to be the next Boston Pops conductor. A compulsive gambler, he's deeply in debt. He's also deeply in love with Vicky, a Pops clarinetist. He wins the lottery and thinks his problems are over, but they're just beginning. Homicide Detective Frank Renzi is hunting a serial killer who targets lottery winners. Don't miss the exciting showdown between Frank Renzi and the killer. A prequel to the first three books in the Frank Renzi series, Jackpot takes place in Boston in 2000, before Renzi moved to New Orleans. Follow Frank Renzi and his relentless pursuit of justice in Absolution, Diva and Natalie's Revenge, the previous novels in the series.  

Tarnished Hero by Jim Gilliam In the early 1960's, Tim Kelly's Coast Guard career takes him to Galveston. Hoping to put his father's death at the hands of a union busting thug behind him. Kelly transfers to San Francisco where he meets Brenda Conrad and clashes with an overbearing and sadistic executive officer. Given a choice between courts martial and combat duty in Vietnam, he chooses Vietnam. After receiving the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in combat during an action where three of his friends are killed in action by our own Air Force. Kelly releases his rage in an Air Force officer's club, earning him a less than honorable discharge. Returning to the U.S. with the stigma of a less than honorable discharge, Kelly embarks on a new career as an undercover narcotics agent. After his rescue from the drug cartel when his cover is blown, he plans to marry Brenda, but before the wedding can take place Brenda and her best friend the daughter of the Governor of Texas are kidnapped and spirited to the cartel's secret island base off the coast of Yucatan.

Roscoe is a RAKster: You Can Be One Too by Janice E. Clark Roscoe's initials are R. A. K. and Nana says they stand for "random acts of kindness" because he is always helpful. Whenever he performs a RAK, she calls him a RAKster. She says anyone can be a RAKster, even you. Just do something nice for someone. It's easy. Try it!

The Trickster's Hat: A Mischievous Apprenticeship in Creativity by Nick Bantock In The Trickster’s Hat, bestselling author of the Griffin & Sabine cycle Nick Bantock invites you to lose yourself in order to become a better creator. Inspired by Nick's popular and mischievous workshops, the book's forty-nine perceptive exercises will encourage you to forget your destination while you meander through the wondrous world that awaits you in the periphery of your mind's eye.  

Reflections of Life by Jon M. Nelson A poetic look at life through a soldier's eyes. There's more to a soldier than serving and defending his or her country. There is real emotion and humanity inside the hearts of each and every one. In Reflections of Life you can feel the emotional look at humanity from a soldier's perspective. Author Jon M. Nelson expresses his experiences and raw emotion of his military career as well as an outlook on life in general. There are so many problems and issues that this world faces today, and he addresses many of them in his own poetic style.

On Linden Square by Kate Sullivan It’s the first day of winter vacation and Stella Mae Culpepper is bored. As she looks out from the window of her second-floor apartment, she can see all of the usual happenings on Linden Square, her city neighborhood. There are her neighbors. She knows them all by name—or by the names she’s given them, depending on their activities and what Stella Mae can see from her window. Stella Mae thinks she knows her neighbors but she doesn’t really. Everyone in the neighborhood is too busy minding their own business to pay much attention to anyone else. But now it’s the first day of winter vacation and a storm is coming. Not just any storm but a big, wonderful winter storm. It’s a blizzard! And when the snow finally stops and Stella Mae ventures outside to play, something quite marvelous happens on Linden Square.  

Tuki and Moka: A Tale of Two Tamarins Eduardo and his family live in a small town in Ecuador, not far from the Amazon rainforest. The rainforest is an important part of their lives. Each month Eduardo and his father travel by river from their town to the rainforest. There, using just a basket and a machete, they gather Brazil nuts. They are castañeros and this is how they earn their living. But the rainforest is not only important to the castañeros; it is home to many exotic species of plants, birds, and mammals, including two playful tamarins that Eduardo has named Tuki and Moka. So although it is difficult work being a castañero, Eduardo looks forward to his visits to the rainforest so he can play with his two friends. But one night, the peace of the forest is threatened by poachers, animal traffickers who illegally capture and then try to sell some of the birds and animals. Can Eduardo save his friends?  

Digger and Daisy Go to the Zoo by Judy Young Meet Digger and Daisy They are brother and sister. These dogs like to explore their world and see new things. Sometimes they agree with each other. Sometimes they disagree. But no matter the situation, one thing always stays the same--their steadfast love and concern for each other. In playful, simple stories written especially for the K-1 audience, author Judy Young explores the dynamics and nuances of the sibling relationship. In Digger and Daisy Go to the Zoo Digger tries to imitate the various animals they see while Daisy tries to tell him what he can and cannot do.  

Frog and Friends: Frog Saves the Day by Josee Masse Welcome to Frog and his world. He enjoys nothing better than spending time floating on his pond or visiting with his friends. He appreciates the simpler things in life and would prefer that things stay just the way they are—nice and peaceful. From acclaimed children’s writer Eve Bunting comes a beginning reader series featuring the delightful Frog and his friends Rabbit, Possum, Raccoon, and Squirrel. In Frog Saves the Day Frog and his friends mistakenly think a nearby train is a ferocious dragon and later Frog rescues a friend’s child from danger.

Author Interview with Jim Gilliam

Today we're talking with Jim Gilliam - author of Point Deception.

FQ: On the back cover, we learn that like the protagonist in your story, you too ran away from home at 14 and joined the Coast Guard.  Would you tell our readers about that experience?

I was nine-years-old when my parents divorced. I was an only child and I thought it was my fault. I was an avid reader and I retreated to the sanctuary of books where the hero was a teenage boy like Frank Nelson in the Gunboat Series of Books for Boys. These books became my reality. When I finally succeeded in running away from home I only had enough money for bus fare to New Orleans where things happened pretty much as described in the book. I lived out of my suitcase in a locker at the Trailways Bus Depot for awhile, I stayed at the YMCA for a time, I stayed in a flop house for fifty cents a night, I even slept on a roof top under a ventilator duct.  I was living at a Catholic mission for homeless men until I got my dream job on the yacht Windjammer II. I had a series of jobs including working for the Port of New Orleans under the docks replacing old pilings. My mother was a notary and when I left home and I purloined one of her notary seals which I used to obtain a legitimate delayed birth certificate from the Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics. That's how I was able to join the Coast Guard at the tender age of fourteen.

FQ: In addition to sharing the induction into the Coast Guard with Tim Kelly, your protagonist, is there any more of Jim Gilliam in Kelly's character?

Oh yes. The book started as a fictionalized autobiography. All of the characters in the book are based on people I actually knew growing up. So I would say that my protagonist Tim Kelly was about 80% Jim Gilliam.
 

FQ: Rucho is one nasty man.  Was he a fun character to write or were his scenes difficult?

Interesting that you should single Rucho out. He was real and he was the typical school yard bully. I tried to describe him as he really was. I heard he kicked an aging history teacher in the chest during a recess period. The teacher died a day later from a fatal cardiac arrhythmia as a direct result of a cardiac contusion. That guy used to kick my butt on a regular basis until I finally learned how to fight and turned the tables on him. Funny, he never bothered me after that. All bullies are nothing more than cowards.  

FQ: The combat scene on board the Point Deception was very realistic.  Was is written from experience or via a very active imagination?

A little of both. Unfortunately I've seen more than my share of violent death. After the Coast Guard, like Jack London, I bummed around a bit, working as a deputy sheriff, a medical technologist, and finally a navigator on a geophysical survey vessel operating out of the Australian port of Darwin. When I had enough I got serious about life, enrolled in college and became a physician assistant. I did a surgical residency in the Bronx--a lot of trauma and death and dying there--and decided to join the Army as an airborne combat physician assistant. I spent four years in Central and South America providing medical support for the Contras and others. The Point Deception was based on the real Point Welcome. The book is dedicated to Lieutenant Junior Grade David C. Brostrom, USCG and Engineman Second Class Jerry Phillips, USCG killed in action by elements of the U. S. Air Force 11 August 1966. I knew both men, they deserve to be remembered. In the book I attempted to recreate what I imagined that attack was like. It was probably more terrible than I described.  

FQ: Mary Beth and Brenda are two women who stand by their man, no matter what.  How important was it to you to build these characters into the story?  Do you think that through them, their men are more "human"?

Tim Kelly needed the stability of a good woman in his life to make him a whole person. I've been lucky enough to have known some really fantastic women in my life including my mother and my current wife Laura. They helped shape my character. Brenda made Tim, as you say, more human. As for Rodolfo Guzman, there really was such a person, and I met him when I was twelve-years-old. He was reputed to be a boss in the Mexican Mafia. In the book, I made him the good bad guy; the man I knew certainly was. The real Rodolfo was crazy about a woman from my home town of Port Isabel and they later married. Love makes us all human. Don't you think?
 
FQ: There was a definite camaraderie between Kelly and his Coast Guard friends.  Was this something that you too experienced in the Coast Guard and if so, was it important for you to include it in your book?

The book began as a fictionalized autobiography that almost immediately took on a life of its own becoming a Coast Guard story. Enlisting at age fourteen, for a very important part of my life, it was my honor and privilege to be a member of this select group of truly outstanding professionals known collectively as: the United States Coast Guard. I sent Admiral Papp, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, a copy of Point Deception. In his thank you note he said, "Remember you will always have a home with the Coast Guard and be part of the Coast Guard family." I will always cherish that sentiment. 
 

FQ: You mention a sequel to Point Deception.  Would you tell our readers a little about this new story?

Here is a brief synopsis of The Campeche Reprisal the sequel to Point Deception. Undercover narcotics agent Tim Kelly is rescued after seven days of torture at the hands of the Campeche Drug Cartel; he plans to marry Brenda Conrad, the love of his life. When Brenda and her best friend, the daughter of the Governor of Texas, are kidnapped by the Cartel and taken to a secret location in the jungles of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Tim recruits a local Mayan rebel leader to help him rescue the two women. It should be fun to write.

To learn more about Point Deception please visit our website and read the review at: Feathered Quill Book Reviews.