Author Interview - Robert Bidinotto

I'm delighted to welcome to my blog today Robert Bidinotto, author of the bestselling novel Hunter. Set in Washington, D.C. during a wave of vigilante killings, it’s the tale of two strong, idealistic loners. Dylan Hunter is a crusading journalist with a mysterious past, working to expose outrageous leniency in the criminal justice system. Annie Woods is a beautiful security officer at the CIA, sworn to track down the unknown assassin of an Agency employee. They meet after a brutal criminal act of violence against mutual friends.

As the parallel investigations by the CIA and the police begin to intersect in surprising ways, Dylan and Annie fall passionately in love. But they don’t realize that the shocking secrets they’re hiding from each other are propelling them headlong toward shattering personal conflicts—or that a terrifying predator is targeting them both.
 
I can vouch for the fact it's a great novel. Now, on with the interview... 

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You say that the failings of the US legal system formed the basis for Hunter's plot. Will future novels incorporate other areas of interest to you, such as environmental issues?

Maggie, my nonfiction background was writing serious journalism and commentary about current events and controversial topics. Now that I’ve turned to fiction, I find that I’m incapable of writing stories that do not have serious themes. Because I write thrillers, readers have every right to expect, above all, entertainment—colorful characters in fast-paced plots with lots of action, romance, and suspense. But in a Bidinotto thriller they also will find provocative perspectives on important topics. My goal is not only to keep readers turning pages late into the night, but also to encourage them to rethink the conventional “wisdom” on various topics. So, call these “thrillers for thinking people.”

Let me stress that, in my stories, the action doesn’t grind to a halt while characters just sit around pontificating at each other. That’s boring. Instead, I weave important themes into the very fabric of the characters and plot. The conflicts, confrontations, suspense, and story resolution all revolve around the characters’ values and viewpoints. So, the reader’s emotional investments in the characters and their fates become part and parcel of the ideas.

That was my approach in Hunter: it dramatizes corruption and leniency in the criminal justice system. But readers will find even more controversial themes in Bad Deeds. It’s set in the environmentalist movement—another long-time interest of mine. But let me assure you, my perspective is not “politically correct.”  And the third novel in the series, Winner Takes All, tackles just about every political controversy that has emerged since the 2016 presidential election. It is the most complex story yet—and many readers think it’s the best.

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Let’s imagine a showdown between Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and your Dylan Hunter. Reacher has the brawn, but can he compete against Dylan Hunter’s brain? Tell us how Dylan Hunter would win!

Ouch. First of all, I love the Jack Reacher character and have enjoyed most of Lee Child’s thrillers. Second, fictional characters—whether Lee’s or mine—can do pretty much anything the author wants them to; so Lee and I can always imagine and invent ways in which Dylan Hunter could defeat Jack, or vice versa. Now, if you’re asking about a physical confrontation between the very smart, very ruthless, and very large Jack Reacher, vs. the very smart, very ruthless, and considerably smaller Dylan Hunter—well, I don’t think the boxing commissioner would allow such a match.

Both guys also fight dirty, however, and maybe Dylan would have a few tricks up his sleeve that Jack wouldn’t expect. Who knows? Either way, things would get bloody. If your question is about something more than a physical fight—well, I’m sure that Dylan, with his money and background, could come up with a lot of high-tech spy gadgets to even the odds.

With its passionate love affair between Dylan and Annie, Hunter marries crime fiction with romance. Do you see yourself ever joining the growing ranks of male romantic novelists? Or perhaps exploring other genres besides crime/thrillers?

Pure romance novels?  Probably not. However, after I’ve given Dylan a good run, I do have ideas for novels outside the thriller genre. Stay tuned. 

To what extent has your interest in philosophy, in particular the Objectivist movement of Ayn Rand, influenced the character of Dylan Hunter?

All writers are products of past influences. From Ayn Rand’s writings, I’ve certainly drawn a romanticized outlook on life. I’m not a literary naturalist or so-called realist, in the sense of dramatizing a cynical, downbeat, or defeatist outlook. My heroes and heroines have moral codes and values; they are strong protagonists, not playthings of fate and circumstances; they make hard choices and pursue their values relentlessly, and with integrity; and most of the time they are victorious. So, that’s one way Rand has influenced me.

Another is Rand’s focus on justice. Dylan Hunter’s view of justice, and commitment to it, is unconventional and quite “Randian.” The justice theme was explicit in Hunter, which dealt with the criminal justice system. But that same theme will be explored, in its many facets, in all the subsequent books, too. Justice is the philosophical thread that will tie them all together. Stylistically, I think I owe some things to Rand, but to others, too. I’ll let readers draw their own comparisons and conclusions.

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Does your interest in philosophy extend to spiritual and religious issues and if so, do you ever envisage writing fiction around those areas?

Yes, and yes. Although, given what I just said about Randian influences, some people might expect to be able to predict how I’ll approach these issues. They’re likely to be surprised. 

What fiction authors and books have influenced your writing the most?

I hope nobody presumes that, in mentioning the following names, I’m suggesting that I write like any of these amazing authors. For their influence on me in how to write stories built on substantive philosophical, psychological, and political themes, I’d say that, in addition to Rand, there is Shakespeare, Hugo, Dostoyevsky, Ibsen, Edmond Rostand, and George Orwell. I also love Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons—a dazzling play about intellectual independence and personal integrity. All these great writers demonstrated that you can entertain readers and say something important at the same time. Two of my favorite thriller authors—Brad Thor and the late Vince Flynn—showed that you could also build nail-biting thrillers on serious political themes.

Many other thriller authors have influenced me in terms of how to craft a gripping action tale and create memorable heroes. Besides Brad and Vince, I would add Lee Child, Stephen Hunter, and Daniel Silva to the contemporary top rank. I love the earlier novels of Jack Higgins, Nelson DeMille’s “John Corey” thrillers, the “Spenser” series by the late Robert B. Parker, the mysteries of Robert Crais (especially his Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels), and the old classic thrillers and mysteries by Alistair MacLean, Donald Hamilton, and Mickey Spillane. Of course, many, many other writers outside the thriller genre have influenced me over the years, from Charlotte Bronte to J.K. Rowling to Robert Heinlein to J.R.R. Tolkien.

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Would you ever accept a traditional publishing deal or will you stick with self-publishing? How do you see the future for self-published authors?

I have traditional publishers for some foreign editions of Hunter, because I don’t have easy access to foreign markets. After self-publishing the audiobook edition of Hunter, I also accepted a publishing offer from Audible for the audio editions of Bad Deeds and Winner Takes All. That was mainly because it’s costly and time-consuming to publish audiobooks—even though I’d probably make more money in the long run by publishing them myself.

But as for my future English-language print and ebook editions, I plan to stick to self-publishing for a host of reasons. Today, an author will probably do far better by self-publishing. A publisher will take most of your rights and royalties, usually in exchange for a tiny advance. By self-publishing, you won’t surrender or share those rights and royalties with anyone. You also keep total control over every aspect of your book: its content, cover, pricing, and marketing. A publisher’s unilateral decisions about those elements can kill your book’s commercial prospects, which happens frequently.

Many writers think that a publisher will take the burden of marketing off their backs. Not true—unless your name is Grisham or Child or King. You’ll still have to do the promotion yourself. All that a publisher can do for you--maybe—is get your book into some bookstores for a couple of months, before it is remaindered and/or goes “out of print.” At a time when more and more bookstores are disappearing, and more and more book buying is moving online and toward ebooks rather than print, it makes less and less sense to hand over your precious manuscript to a publisher—then let them reap the lion’s share of the rewards forever.

The future for self-publishing authors is bright. Never has there been a better time to be a writer. No “gatekeepers” can keep you from being published anymore. You can publish as much as you want, as fast or slow as you wish, at whatever length, in whatever genre—or none. You have complete freedom now. That said, competition for reader eyeballs is ferocious. Competing with millions of other titles, your book had better be good, and you had better learn how to market it.

Tell us more about your second book, Bad Deeds.

Bad Deeds is another vigilante thriller, the sequel to Hunter. It features the same hero and heroine—Dylan Hunter and Annie Woods—and many of the same supporting characters. Here’s the basic story premise:
 
At a cabin in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest, Dylan and Annie seek to heal the wounds from their ordeal at the hands of Adrian Wulfe, the twisted psychopath featured in Hunter. To build a life together, Dylan promises Annie that he’ll abandon his violent ways. But ideological zealots and Washington’s political elites have conspired to terrorize and plunder the hard-working locals. These victims have no protector against the bad deeds of the powerful and privileged . . . . . . except for one man. A man as ruthless and violent as they. Because in the face of injustice, Dylan Hunter cannot walk away—even if it costs him the woman he loves.  

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And book three in the series, Winner Takes All?

Here's the storyline of Winner Takes All:

Engaged to be married, mysterious journalist Dylan Hunter and CIA officer Annie Woods are eager to put their violent past behind them, for good.

But then an investigative reporter is found mysteriously murdered. An idealistic presidential candidate is targeted for destruction. And a horrific day of unspeakable terrorism rocks Washington, D.C.

Soon, Dylan’s investigation puts him in the cross hairs of a power-hungry billionaire and a cold-blooded assassin. A deadly conspiracy of dangerous men aims to install their puppet in the White House. And these predators are willing to do the unthinkable to bring America under their total control.
The stakes—political and personal—couldn’t be higher. Because to stop them, Dylan Hunter must make an irrevocable choice. It’s a decision that will, finally and forever, seal his fate . . . including his future with the woman he adores.

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Finally, I was very taken with the photo of your cat, Luna, who appeared as a character in Hunter. Can we expect her to reappear in Bad Deeds? Does she, with typical feline arrogance, consider herself your muse?

Luna is the only real-life character I’ve imported into my stories. She not only appears in Bad Deeds; she actually plays a pivotal role in the story. Really! If you want to see how a pet cat can help create serious, nerve-wracking suspense in a thriller, well, you’re just going to have to read the book. Luna also graced the pages of Winner Takes All, and she will continue to appear in future Dylan Hunter stories, too.
 
As I wrote the novels, the real-life Luna did decide she was my muse. She often lounged on a blanket at my office window, sunning herself, interrogating passing birds and squirrels, and voicing her literary advice while I wrote. It sometimes made me self-conscious, I tell you!
 
One wonderful thing about writing fiction is that the author gets to “play God.” You can make your Story World whatever you want it to be. That includes defying mortality. Whatever may happen to me or to the real-life Luna in the future, readers can rest assured that Luna, Dylan, Annie, and the other characters they enjoy and love in the Dylan Hunter Story World will live on forever in the novels.   

(Isn't Luna gorgeous? I wish I had a literary muse as pretty as she is, but no doubt she'd insist on being inserted into my novels and dispensing writing advice as well! - Maggie)

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Thank you, Robert, for letting me interview you!

It's been a pleasure talking with you, Maggie, thanks so much for your thoughtful questions and your generosity in letting me chat with your own fans here.

More about Robert Bidinotto...

You can find out more about Robert, read other interviews with him and check out his blog at www.bidinotto.com.