Pump Up Your Book Chats with Andy Straka, author of ‘Dragonflies: Shadows of Drones

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ABOUT DRAGONFLIES: SHADOWS OF DRONES

Shamus-Award winning crime novelist Andy Straka breaks new ground with this near-future science fiction thriller in which a former pilot and the ex-infantryman who saved her life search for justice in a world where surveillance by micro-drones is fast becoming the reality.

Former Army helicopter pilot Raina Sanchez is plagued by nightmares. She can’t erase the memories of being shot down in Afghanistan, of losing her foot in the crash, and the death of her commanding officer. When asked by an ex-military contact to participate in a secret drone operation with ties to the war, she jumps at the chance to exorcise some of her demons.

She joins Tye Palmer, the decorated ex-infantryman who rescued her from the flaming wreckage of her Kiowa chopper. As civilian private investigators, together they embark on a sensitive, risky effort: using cutting-edge micro air vehicle drones in an attempt to expose the son of media mogul Nathan Kurn as a campus date rapist.

But as Raina and Tye come closer to the truth about Kurn and his powerful allies, Raina’s loyalties take a potential detour when she begins to understand a chilling reality. In a world where surveillance devices as small as tiny insects are being piloted into places most would never imagine, public and private forces both large and small are maneuvering to control them with inevitable consequences. For Raina and Tye the danger didn’t end when they finished their military careers−the threat has just begun.

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Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

A: I first conceived of the Dragonflies novels as a long running series of near future science fiction thrillers featuring detectives and drones. I’ve always been something of a techno-nerd, going back to the days when I worked as a manufacturer’s representative for surgical instruments. As I dug further into the subject of drones (More correctly known as UAVs for unmanned aerial vehicles or MAVs micro air vehicles) I began to more fully appreciate the many implications of drone technology and a larger story with international ramifications began to take shape in my mind. The characters of Tye Palmer Raina Sanchez leapt out at me as former soldiers attempting to find justice for their former comrades-in-arms.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

A: For book 1, Dragonflies: Shadow of Drones, the most challenge aspect was sorting out the roles of the various characters and setting up the story for future books in the series. I thought Tye Palmer would be the protagonist at first. But as Raina Sanchez came on the stage, her character and back story began to dominate the opening of the series.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

A: Drones are here to stay and will continue to grow smaller and more sophisticated. Like Raina and Tye and the other characters in Dragonflies, more and more people will begin to directly experience their impact. Long term, drones have the potential to alter how we experience reality and interact with our world. Like any revolutionary technology, they have tremendous potential for good as well as evil. Many choices will need to be made—indeed are already being made—about how this technology will be deployed in both the private and public sectors. This tension underlies much of the action in Dragonflies. The comment I have heard over and over again from various experts in the course of my continuing research is that the type of drone technologies I am writing about are either no longer science fiction or very soon not to be. Like the early days of the Internet, it may be a few years before the public comes to fully appreciate the long term ramifications of this technology.

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

A: In eighth grade. I was a sports nut and wrote a mini-book, proudly published and bound between sheets of purple construction paper, about my life long hero, basketball legend Jerry West.

Q: Besides books, what else do you write? Do you write for publications?

A: My blog, “Prepare For Turbulence” can be found at www.andystraka.com.

Q: Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?

A: I live in Virginia on more than four acres tucked between two large farms and a reservoir. It’s a nice slice of country only ten minutes from shopping and the university town where we live. My wife and I are fortunate to be the parents of six children, four of whom are adopted from China. They range in age from twenty-six down to eight and four still live at home. We also have two dogs and I have had five different falconry birds over the past few years.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your childhood?

A: I grew up in a small town in upstate New York where I was first inspired to write. Went away to school at Williams College in Massachusetts, moved to Westchester County outside New York City where I lived and worked for a time before moving to Connecticut for five years, then finally settled in Virginia.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

A: I’ve retrofitted a 10×16 shed into a home office. It sits at the crest of a ridge on our property and during the winter months offers me an obstructed view of the Blue Ridge.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

A: I enjoy hunting (with my falconry bird) and hiking with my family. My wife and I also love to travel, although with a number of children still at home, the opportunities for this have been less frequent in recent years.

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

A: Since Dragonflies: Shadow of Drones has first been self-published as an original e-book distributed through by agent (no print version as of yet) I arranged for e-galley review copies to be distributed through NetGalley.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

A: Yes, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+, LibraryThing, & Linked-In. I wish I had time to be more active on each of these, but I try to keep up as much as possible.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

A: For fiction, the best promotion has been and always will be a good story. Meanwhile, the Internet continues to fuel change. Readers have been empowered by ebooks. They have more and more opportunities and different methods of finding new books, discovering new authors, and connecting to form communities, no matter where they be located. Successful authors stay engaged and seek out various ways of connecting with readers and communities. I’m excited that I have more ways than ever, including social networks and various Internet forums, to be able to connect with readers.

Q: What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

A: Not having enough hours in the day.

Good writing takes time. The older I get the more stories I have to tell and, it seems, the less time in which I have to tell them. (And I’m only in my fifties.:) Triage becomes important and commercial considerations nearly always play a role.

Q: What is the most rewarding?

See above. Connecting with readers and with other writers is almost always rewarding.

Q: How do you think book publishing has changed over the years?

Publishers of all stripes, large and small, are evolving in response to the massive changes brought on by ebooks and the Internet. The single biggest change in the last few years, however, is that authors can now legitimately publish their own work if they are willing to learn and to put in the time and effort necessary to produce a quality product. Large publishers have sold their titles mostly through brick-and-mortar bookstores for decades, and physical bookstores and libraries still play a vital role in introducing readers to new books and new authors. But physical bookstore margins are threatened by ebooks and Internet retailers and many stores are struggling to survive. What this portends for big publishers, small publishers, and self-publishers I don’t think anyone really knows. My opinion is that savvy booksellers, like savvy authors, will continue to adapt and evolve in order to facilitate successful connections between authors and readers. Change will be hard on many but embraced by many others. Who doesn’t love browsing in a physical bookstore, the heft and smell of the shelves and titles just waiting to be discovered? But who doesn’t also appreciate the at-your-fingertips speed, convenience, and reduced costs afforded by the Internet? I think many readers want both and the opportunity to choose for any given transaction which experience they wish to support at the moment. Book readers are among the very best and brightest people in the world and I trust and respect them whether they love my books or choose not to read them. They are the ones to whom I’m telling my stories.

ABOUT ANDY STRAKA

Publisher’s Weekly has featured Andy Straka as one of a new crop of “rising stars in crime fiction.” He writes the bestselling Frank Pavlicek novels starring an ex NYPD detective turned private eye and falconer (A WITNESS ABOVE, A KILLING SKY, COLD QUARRY, THE NIGHT FALCONER, FLIGHTFALL) and is the author of two widely-praised thrillers, RECORD OF WRONGS and THE BLUE HALLELUJAH.

Andy retired early from a career in medical sales to pursue his passion for writing. A licensed falconer, he lives with his family in Virginia where he hunts, hikes, and rails against the powers that be. He has also managed to survive a longstanding stint as a stay-at-home Dad, which makes neurosurgery look like tiddlywinks. An admitted technogeek, he opens a new series in 2013 with the near-future Sci-Fi thriller DRAGONFLIES: SHADOW OF DRONES.

Visit his blog “Prepare For Turbulence” at www.andystraka.com or stop by www.dragonfliesbooks.com

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Dragonflies: Shadows of Drones Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

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Monday, August 5 – First chapter reveal at Cindy’s Love of Books

Tuesday, August 6 – First chapter reveal at The Book Barista

Wednesday, August 7 – First chapter reveal at Literary Winner

Friday, August 9 – First chapter reveal at Raven Reviews

Monday, August 12 – Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book

Tuesday, August 13 – Book featured at Working for the Mandroid

Wednesday, August 14 – Book reviewed at Vic’s Media Room

Friday, August 16 – Book featured at As the Pages Turn

Tuesday, August 20 – Guest blogging at The Writer’s Life

Wednesday, August 21 – Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking

Thursday, August 22 – Guest blogging at The Story Behind the Book

Friday, August 23 – Interviewed at Review From Here

Tuesday, August 27 – Book featured at Between the Covers

Wednesday, August 28 – Interviewed at Examiner

Friday, August 30 – Interviewed at Broowaha

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