How has traveling across the US formed your storytelling?

From my days as a child traveling by car from my first home in Pittsburgh, PA to Southern California, I would imagine confederate soldiers coming out of the swamps to attach us northerners along the highway. The swamps we saw in places such as Illinois led me to this. I was only six years old and an active imagination and already someone who found the American Civil War a fascinating subject. Once we got to the deserts of the great southwest, it was more cowboys and Indians according to my father. So yes, there was an influence there. In later years stories would pop into my head during hours of driving and I'd imagine those stories into bigger stories, whether it was driving down the Rocky Mountains from Flagstaff, AZ to those musical corners in Winslow. AZ.

As a news anchor do you gain inspiration from real life stories?

Yes but more like disdain. Real life is what we live and with the vastness of crime especially against children and of course the political discourse of a divided country, it's often a time when I put away my imagination. Then again many of those real life stories are really good and positive stories which I think maybe I'd like to create a script or book around.

Have thrillers always captured your imagination?

Certainly, but long ago it was more difficult because you had to work your way through complications and I wasn't ready to do that until the last 10 years or so. You always look back and ask "What did I leave out," or "What could I have done better?"

Who are your thriller author heroes?

Not sure I really have any. I've always been thrilled with Nicola Machiavelli, the Florentine. Logical person and that always fascinates me, logic I mean. There was an author who wrote books about the Confederate horse officer called Mosby. Robert Skimin was someone I read a lot in Junior High. Then again I loved the Mosby stories.

Why did you choose a PI rather than a detective in your novel?

More freedom. The PI is actually new to his field coming over from being a reporter/journalist. Freedom to be himself more than a cop has the rules he must play by.

Where did the idea for :05-Seconds To Die come from?

Some is personal experience, which there is a lot of in the book. The Italian and other European travel in the book covers a lot of places I've been and expanded upon. I wanted to do a fast paced book which read like a movie. The title is sort of an homage to the end of the James Bond film "Goldfinger." I always thought it was a clever ending.

How does Casey Order differ from Lancer as a personality?

They have similarities. Casey is more outspoken and outrageous than Lancer, who is more reserved. Lancer is also more calculating but both are really good men. Lancer will think things through where Casey Order will take action right now and maybe regret it later but he acts faster.

Do you have a new book project in progress?

Actually I do. I've started a new book on major league baseball, called (tentative title) "The Day Baseball Died." That's about all I can say right now.

What is your writing process – planner or panster or a combination of both?

Oh, definitely both. I outline where to start, where to finish and some rules for the inside, and then begin writing.

Where can readers find you and your books?

I love it when readers go to http://www.bobbrillbooks.com, because I make more money and I get to see the direct response from readers. I can also be found on Amazon and a hole lot of other platforms. If you would rather anyone can google me as "bob brill" and they'll find many, many references and I do come up first. a combination of both?

Bio

A native of Pittsburgh, PA and a hardcore Pirates and Steelers fan, Bob began in radio career in 1972 and worked all over the western US, several times in the L-A market. He's currently a news anchor at the all-news radio station in Los Angeles, KNX News 97.1 FM

Bob has won multiple broadcast awards including an Edward R. Murrow Award (among others) for anchoring KNX's storm coverage in 2011.

Bob made his mark with the UPI Radio Network when a gunman went crazy in a San Diego fast food restaurant and Bob covered the story. It was his first big break. He later became a UPI National Correspondent and Bureau Chief. He has interviewed presidents, covered Super Bowl games and Hollywood as well as major news stories.

He lives in L.A. He has survived earthquakes and a beating during the 1992 L-A riots while covering the story, which was recorded on audio tape.  More information about Bob can be found at:  BobBrill

A hard-nosed private investigator learns from a former movie star of a plot to take down humanity for greed and profit. P-I Casey Order teams with Ginger Queen and the pair are charged with foiling the plot of a coalition of brutal criminal gangs. With the world’s premier sporting event set to take place in Los Angeles, the criminals plan to execute a massive hack that could devastate economies and wreak havoc across nations. With the help of various law enforcement agencies, their own wits, some strategically placed friends and a lot of luck, can Order and Queen survive? Filled with relentless action, sharp dialogue, and unexpected camaraderie, “5 Seconds to Die” is an adrenaline-fueled journey that explores the lengths two unlikely heroes will go to protect the world. The clock is ticking—are you ready to hold your breath until the final second

Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925