Turmoil in Paradise: Trouble Shooter or Hitman follows a trouble shooter that is sent to a tropical paradise to track down a problem for his client. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

I was interested in the concept of someone stealing gold during the process of extracting gold from ore which was discussed in a joking way by engineers I met at a gold processing plant where I was once engaged on a design project. I decided to weave a story around this theme and based the action in tropical North Queensland where I once worked for a while.

Drug running and biker gangs fitted neatly into the theme of gold theft.

The other locations in the story are based on places where I have lived and worked.

The people in the story are all based as composites of people I have actually known over my lifetime. For instance my major female character, Natasha, the Russian violinist was modelled on a young woman I once knew. I also knew a man who I modelled her father on.

The ship’s captain and the incidents at sea were based on conversations I have had in the past with similar ship’s captains enhanced with research on real life incidents of pirates and storms at sea.

Sam Gawler is an intelligent and cunning character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

The story needed a male hero and Sam Gawler was dawn from my former life as an engineer and was built on a type of fictional male thuggish hero like James Bond or Jack Reacher, a loner, a tough guy, but in this case a hitman working for a corporation with the best personal intentions but brutal methods. He had a tragic past and tough family background. He also had diverse sexual inclinations.

My own personal life experiences were also factors I drew from in building Sam Gawler’s personality and history.

The ultimate emotional turmoil between Natasha and Sam Gawler was based on a real-life relationship breakup as was the relationship between Gawler and Amanda.

Gawler’s emotions about his homosexual tendencies were based on research.

I was very interested to note that the Literary Titan reviewer said she liked Sam Gawler and wanted to learn more about him. It was a wonderful emotion for me to read that someone had become very fond of and interested in the fictional character I had created and wanted to know more about him. Part of the fascination with him is that he is a loner and difficult get to know deeply.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Some details of the lives of women and men associated with biker gangs were something I was interested to explore as well as the lives and activities of other people involved in drug running. The methodology of hiding the drugs on ships was actually discovered from research as was the use of the electronic monitoring device and the drone.

The spate of killings during the drug war in Melbourne was drawn from true life and many of those named as having been were actual historical figures.

I also wanted to talk about the motivations of anti-vaxxers and that concept was drawn from research.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I am thinking about the story of a multi billionaire who lost everything he inherited through his greed to have more. It would be based on a true life individual who not so long ago became infatuated with and engaged to a well known 50 year old faded diva who pawned his 10 million dollar engagement ring and publicly burned her wedding gown to smite him. Its a sad, ugly story and I am not yet sure whether I should go ahead.

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