Aloha to Myke Cole and SHADOW OPS: CONTROL POINT

I discovered today's guest, Mike Cole, through Limecello's Blog (at this link). Upon reading that Myke was a veteran, I invited him to join us here at SOS Aloha. From his bio,

As a secu­rity con­tractor, gov­ern­ment civilian and mil­i­tary officer, Myke Cole’s career has run the gamut from Coun­tert­er­rorism to Cyber War­fare to Fed­eral Law Enforce­ment. He’s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deep­water Horizon oil spill. All that con­flict can wear a guy out. Thank good­ness for fan­tasy novels, comic books, late night games of Dun­geons and Dragons and lots of angst fueled writing. 

Kim:  Why did you join the military?

Myke:  I joined the military for a couple of reasons. My first two tours in Iraq were as a "security contractor" (which is a nice way of saying "mercenary.") Now, I'm not ashamed of that at all. Even as a private contractor, I risked my life and furthered the mission there, and knew plenty of other contractors who were dedicated to making things better out forward. That said, when I got home, I would ride the metro with some T-shirt on that referenced Operation: Iraqi Freedom and folks would come over to thank me for my service. I'd respond. "Thanks, but I was a contractor." Their expressions would immediately turn sour. I'll admit that got to me. After the 5th time or so that it happened, I became determined to do something about it.

The other factor is that my grandparents were Jews who were liberated from the concentration camps by the Soviets. As a result, they became dedicated communists. Not surprisingly, after they immigrated to the US, they were persecuted during McCarthy and the Red Scare, and developed a real aversion to American institutions. So (also not surprisingly) my family had no military legacy to speak of. I kept thinking that if I am ever lucky enough to have children of my own, I don't want them to grow up with a negative view of the military I love so much. The best way to ensure they grew to honor the uniform was to wear it myself.

Peter Brett, Jennie Ivins, & Myke Cole
fantasy-faction.com 

Kim:  Which fantasy novelist do you admire? Who is your favorite comic book hero? What inspired you to pursuing writing your "angst fueled writing"? 

Myke:  If I have to pick a single fantasy novelist, it would have to be Peter V. Brett, the author of The Demon Cycle (the first book is THE WARDED MAN). Pete is a dear friend and mentor, but even if he wasn't, I'd still be in awe of his writing. The man has an economy of prose, empathy in character development and grasp of narrative pacing that is awe-inspiring. His writing remains the standard that I aspire to every time I sit down at the keyboard.

My favorite comic book hero is (not surprisingly) Captain America. Now, I'm talking about Ed Brubaker's vision of Cap, mostly from his Captain America Omnibus but also from Cap's appearances in the The Ultimates after Marvel rebooted the Avengers franchise.

It's impossible to put my finger on one thing that inspired me to pursue writing. It was, as it is for most writers, a combination of influences: some of it was social isolation, some of it was a family that hated math and science but lauded arts and letters, some of it was a love of the genre. A *lot* of it was Dungeons and Dragons, which while a game, is still based around writing, reading and story-telling. 

Kim:  I admire your openness to all book genres! I suspect you probably could write a kick ass romantic suspense! As a reader, what draws you to a story? As a writer, what do you want to convey to the reader?

Myke:  What draws me to a story as a reader is the same thing I most badly want to convey as a writer: compelling characters. Stories are ultimately about people. Watching others interact is really the most interesting thing in life and plot and setting are most often just the lubrication we need to get awesome characters interacting with one another. This is one of the things that makes romance such an interesting genre: it is a field *solely* interested with human relationships, distilling the story down to its most critical element immediately.

I put a ton of effort into world building and a solid plot, but I don't *worry* about it much. When it comes to creating characters and having them interact in a meaningful, resonant way? *Now* I'm sweating, because if you get that wrong, you're done.

Kim:  Tell us about your new book.

Myke:  Peter V. Brett's blurb describing CONTROL POINT as "Black Hawk Down meets the X-Men" is the best possible description I can think of. The book is exploring a future in which magic has reentered the world, forcing the government to draft draconian regulations to clamp down on the incredible power of sorcery. The government uses the Supernatural Operations Corps (SOC), the magic using arm of the military, as its main instrument to this end.

On the one hand, it's an action-packed story showing army direct action teams with sorcerers anchoring the stick. On the other hand, it's asking tough questions about what we as a nation do when confronted with threats we deem to be existential. 

Kim:  What's next for Myke Cole?

Myke:  Book II in the SHADOW OPS series, FORTRESS FRONTIER, is done and turned in. I'm currently outlining Book III, BREACH ZONE. I have a novelette on submission to a media tie-in franchise (gaming) which I hope will eventually lead to me writing novels in that universe. I have another original series plotted as well and I'm hoping to pitch it to my publisher soon. I'm also hopeful to break into writing for comic books and video games. I'm keeping up with my romance, trying to better understand the genre and think of an angle I can approach it from with my own writing.

Success for me looks like a life where I can earn a living do nothing other than continuing serving in the reserve and writing.

Mahalo, Myke, for sharing with us!  I am giving away a print copy of SHADOW OPS:  CONTROL POINT to one randomly selected commenter:

Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.
Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down--and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for.

To enter the giveaway, 

1.  Leave a comment about your favorite comic book hero or heroine.   

My favorite graphic novel heroine is Tia Stantan from Anne Elizabeth's PULSE OF POWER.

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 3, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on March 4.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii

To learn more about Myke and his books, check out his website at www.mykecole.com.