Tursiops Syndrome Interview

Does this book have a special meaning to you?

Every story I write has a special meaning to me. 

This one stems in part from early associations I  had with dolphins. I worked one high school summer at the Gulfarium in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, where I got to know them on a personal basis. I have since interacted with them in the wild on several occasions. They aren’t just trainable. They sometimes initiate the interaction. Marine lore is replete with stories of dolphins aiding shipwrecked sailors. It seemed like a perfect thriller plot, a “mad scientist” whose trained dolphins become pawns in an international terror threat.

        Of course, “mad” scientists are often overdone, so I sought to imbue my anti-hero with something more than scientific interest in the species, perhaps to the point of obsession. So too, the hero and heroine of my novel display some affection for dolphins during the course of the story, interacting with them aboard the boat which poses as a marine research vessel. Hickory and Kevin both display affection for the animals.

        I intend to tell more dolphin stories in the future.

        

Where do you get your storylines from?

Storylines are everywhere. I get ideas from reading newspapers and from televisions news stories, and sometimes storylines just appear fully clothed in thin air. I read several newspapers and news magazines. It’s not difficult to stretch a real-life murder into a mystery story, especially when the end of the real story isn’t known. It usually requires that I simplify the real-life story to make it a logical and entertaining adventure. The hardest part is drawing the character arcs and personal backgrounds to make them conform and not disrupt the emotional impact for which one strives.

Was this book easier to write than others?

Tursiops was easier to write than The Grand Turk File because I had a better innate grasp of the primary plot points. I opened it with an action scene set in a foreign land that had at one time been prominent in the news. That took a minimum of research, but a lot of imaginary sketching. It was the connection between that scene and the slower paced scenes that followed that required the most thought and rewrites. When you move a story halfway around the Earth it is sometimes difficult to maintain a readable pace.