Timebomb follows Rick Fernscale into the crosshairs of a ruthless globalist organization behind a new apocalyptic scheme. What draws you to the military thriller genre? 

I  have always wanted to write books ever since I was 17 years old. And I always knew that one day I would write thrillers, as that is a genre I am most interested in. I have now written five of them plus eleven non-fiction books. Since primary school, I’ve always been fascinated by the military, and I have read thrillers written by the likes of Tom Clancy, Andy McNab and Chris Ryan. Frederick Forsyth’s books have also been a great source of inspiration. They all depict a world in which problems can be solved by military action without any negative consequences. Of course, in the real world, that never happens, but fictional books often depict a society in which there are no negative consequences to a hero’s actions. Other influences on my  Rick Fernscale books have been the 1982 Lewis Collins film Who Dares Win (known in the USA as The Final Option) and the British SAS TV series Ultimate Force from the mid 2000s. The hugely popular American TV series 24 was also an influence, and I have watched every episode on the box set three times. The hero of that series, Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, has some similarities with Rick Fernscale, as he is ex-special forces, does not suffer fools gladly, and believes he can solve most problems with his fists and his gun, just like Rick.

Is there a part of Rick’s personality that reflects your own experiences or outlook?

I think there is some truth in this assertion. Like myself Rick doesn’t suffer fools gladly and often sees a simple solution to every problem which involves instant action. Like myself, he enjoys Chinese and Indian food and his favourite leisure pastime is cycling but apart from that we are different in personality. Rick is very physical unlike me and believes  that a lot of the world’s problems can be solved with high explosive. I am a bit more cerebral than that and believe that negotiation and compromise is often better than military action which often has undesired consequences, particularly for the civilian population.

Do you choreograph major action scenes before writing them, or do they evolve on the page?

They just seem to happen in my mind, and I write them down. My own writing technique is that I picture the scenes inside my mind’s eye as though I were watching a film, and then I describe what I’m seeing. I don’t know much about unarmed combat, so devise moves that seem plausible. I do know a bit about guns, though, as I was once a member of a rifle club.

Do you see more missions ahead for Rick Fernscale?

My original intention was just to write three books featuring the character. But it is always possible that Rick will return at some time in the future. As long as there are bad guys in the world, we’re going to need people like Rick who can take them out quickly and efficiently.

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