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Interview with Paul Mark Tag, author of Prophecy

Book Summary: Shortly before the great Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood of 1889, a 19-year-old girl enters a church and places an envelope inside a bottle and into a safe. Minutes later, a wall of water engulfs the town and kills over 2200 people. What happens 120 years later when the bottle is discovered—and its contents become ensnared in a worldwide quest for rare genetic material—is the intriguing story behind Prophecy by Paul Mark Tag.

Prophecy

At the epicenter of the ensuing maelstrom, Dr. Victor Mark Silverstein, the Naval Research Laboratory's preeminent scientist, and his loyal assistant tangle with greedy U.S. senators, the CIA, and a Middle Eastern organization for verification and control of the "prophecy gene." The hunt begins for a present-day carrier who could confirm the gene's potential and prompt development of a synthetic replacement. At stake is theological chaos for the world's religions—and the power to control the planet.

About the Author: Until he retired in 2001 to write fiction full-time, Paul Mark Tag’s work revolved around meteorology and his career with the Naval Research Laboratory. Prophecy is his second novel, following his thriller, Category 5. Tag lives in Monterey, California, with his wife, Becky.  Please visit the author at www.paulmarktag.com

LAUREN SMITH: What inspired you to start writing fiction? 

Paul Mark Tag:  First, Lauren, I’d like to thank you for this opportunity to discuss my book. 

To answer your question, since I was a child, I’ve loved to live in the world of make-believe. One of my first memories is of my mother yelling to me outside, around the corner of the house, asking me to whom I was talking. Of course, I was talking to one of my make-believe friends. I think that my reply was “Nobody.” Later in school, I wrote stories and poetry. 

Fast forward to adulthood, and I found myself going to Penn State, majoring in meteorology. My education there transitioned into my career with the Navy as a research scientist. I sometimes wonder, if I had to do it all over again, if I should have gone into writing from the start. I’ve decided that the truth is two-fold. First, I would have starved to death starting out. Second, importantly, I later realized that I didn’t have enough life experiences or the maturity to write (fiction) then. But when I reached the age when I could retire from the federal government, I jumped at the chance to tackle fiction writing head-on.

LAUREN SMITH: What did you do to prepare for writing your book? You were a meteorologist and could draw on your work experience, for instance; but what about the locations and historical references – did this involve travel and research? 

Paul Mark Tag: My first novel, Category 5, had a meteorological premise that revolved around hurricanes. The old saw is that you should write what you know, and so I did that with my first book. Afterward, because I couldn’t think of another meteorological premise that was good as that in my first novel, I deviated for Prophecy, going off into genetics and the genome. 

I must say, though, that for me, the premise, once I’ve figured it out, is not that important to the story. I guess that sounds odd. Sure, it sets the backdrop around which the story evolves but, ultimately, whether I’ve written a page-turning thriller, which is the genre that I prefer, comes down to the plot and the characters. I think of the premise as the basket in which all of the plot and character eggs roll around in. 

You ask about the locations and historical references. My readers want to be transported into a world of excitement and interest. And that includes fascinating locations and places where they’ve probably never been. In terms of travel, I go to, I’d say, 90% of the locations in my books. For example, for Category 5, my wife and I spent a week in Bermuda where all of the final action occurs in the book. In Prophecy, we did the same for Washington, DC, siting locations for each of the many chapters that occur there. And when I say siting, I mean that I identify an actual location where I imagine the action to occur. I try to be authentic. For example, I used the actual phone number (pay phone) that Mohammed Abu Saada calls when he reaches Samantha Thurston at the Union Station Metro in Washington, DC (Chapter 51). Further, when I’m comfortable with the location, I take its GPS coordinates. If you go to my web site, www.paulmarktag.com, you can look at the Google Earth images for nearly every chapter. There are a few locations in Prophecy that I did not personally visit: for example, the Cairo Airport locations in Egypt. Still, the airport locations that you can see on my web site are the ones where I’ve imagined the action to have occurred. 

Now, with regard to historical references. In the case of Prophecy, it is the Johnstown flood of 1889. The book starts out just prior to that disaster unfolding. Again, I use historical events to make things interesting. The great Johnstown flood of 1889 occurred just 30 miles from where I grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania. Growing up there, I heard references to the flood. However, it wasn’t until I visited the Johnstown Flood National Memorial (run by the National Park Service) did I realize how momentous a catastrophe that was: over 2200 people lost their lives when an earthen dam gave way.  Because that tragedy was so devastating and the reasons that it happened so interesting, I decided almost from my first visit there that I would incorporate that event into a book someday.

LAUREN SMITH: Do you feel that tying in actual historical events gives your books additional credibility and/or a frame of reference for your readers?

Paul Mark Tag: No, I don’t think that the use of historical events gives my books any additional credibility. A frame of reference, perhaps. I think the use of actual events ties my fiction into an unfolding narrative with which the reader can perhaps identify.  Although I make up a lot of stuff, the locations and historical events are based on facts, something that I hope might draw the reader in when he or she decides whether to purchase or read my fiction. 

LAUREN SMITH: What is your attraction to writing about protagonists who must overcome a huge obstacle to save the world? 

Paul Mark Tag: My attraction, perhaps, is more related to the genre of thriller. I like fast-paced, world-hanging-by-a thread fiction; that’s why I’ve read nearly all of Tom Clancy’s books. As you know, there is often a clock ticking in a thriller. Unless something is done, and soon, bad things will happen. Compared to my first novel, Category 5, I start the clock ticking very early in the story line for Prophecy. 

Specifically, though, I should address your question with regard to the protagonists. It does give me satisfaction (and I think the reader as well) to have characters who are clever enough to solve a major problem by themselves. Do you ever have “hero” or “heroine” daydreams? I do this all the time. I imagine myself in some tough situation, and I’m there to be the hero. I think that a lot of us root for the little guy or gal who surmounts all obstacles, defies all odds, and is there to save the day. 

LAUREN SMITH: Are any of your characters based on anyone or any type of person you know?

Paul Mark Tag: Not really. People ask me that all the time. For example, since Dr. Silverstein is a meteorologist, like I was, they figure that I patterned him after me. I wish that was true. I gave Silverstein a photographic memory and a genius IQ. I can only wish that I had either of those traits. Because he’s so smart, Silverstein is arrogant and ridicules others who don’t use logic or facts as well as he does. I hope that I don’t have any of these latter qualities. 

Without exception, I think, my characters are composites of everyone I’ve known. I’ll give you an example. In my first book, Category 5, I go much deeper into Silverstein’s background than I do in Prophecy. To illustrate how intelligent and driven he is, I provide an anecdote for him. It’s said that you never wanted to go into his office to ask a question without some sort of plan to extricate yourself. The anecdote was that if you made the mistake of asking Silverstein the time, that he would also explain to you how a watch functions. And then, he’d follow up with how to make a better watch. That story was an actual anecdote told of Herman Wobus, a meteorologist with whom I worked early in my career—and who was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known. We had a PA (public address) system back then. If you went to ask Herman some scientific question (because we knew he would always have the answer), you had to make sure you had an excuse to leave his office. Otherwise, you’d end up there all day. One way of making that happen was to have someone call you back to your office via the PA system. 
At the time, I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have known the man. 

LAUREN SMITH: How long did it take you to write the book – (was it longer or less time than you expected)? 

Paul Mark Tag: It took me 2 ½ years to write my first novel, Category 5, and about the same to write Prophecy. I didn’t know how long it would take when I started.

LAUREN SMITH: Was it difficult to transition from years of scientific, technical writing to fiction? 

Paul Mark Tag: That’s a good question. When I started writing fiction, I figured that, based on all my experience writing technical papers, that it would be a snap to transition to fiction. Not so. First, writing a story that someone might find interesting to read is a whole lot different from writing a technical paper that is normally pretty dry and can put you to sleep. That’s why I spent 5-6 years learning the art of storytelling by way of writing short stories. Arline Chase, author and publisher, was my mentor. Writing short stories is a “bite-size” way of learning to write. Most of my short stories I wrote in a couple of weeks, up to a month in time. 

Do you want to know the single item that I had to unlearn—in making the transition from technical writing to writing fiction? It’s the sentence structure. Scientists often use passive sentence structures (“The laboratory was prepared for the experiment.”). Passive sentences tend to make you fall asleep. In fiction, it’s important to write active sentences (“We prepared the laboratory for the experiment.”). 

LAUREN SMITH: The glossary and cast of characters is quite helpful – was there a particular reason you wanted to include this feature? 

Paul Mark Tag: I’m glad you asked that question. When I read a novel, particularly a complicated one, I usually make a cheat-sheet for the characters. I have trouble remembering all the names. When I wrote my first novel, I decided to include a cheat-sheet for people like me. I did the same for the glossary where I detail some of the technical terms I use in the book. 

LAUREN SMITH: What surprised you the most about this process? 

Paul Mark Tag: I assume that you mean, “the process of writing and publishing.” In terms of the process of creating the manuscript, I don’t think that much surprised me. It was just a lot of work. The hard part is to find a publisher, and I didn’t realize that might prove impossible for me.

After I completed Category 5, I queried numerous agents looking for someone to represent me. I couldn’t find anyone. So, I decided to self-publish with Print-on-Demand (POD) publisher, iUniverse. By the time I had completed the sequel, Prophecy, I had sold over 1000 copies of Category 5, not a small accomplishment for a first-time author with no formal publisher. So, I figured that it would be easy to find an agent for my second book, what with my record. Not so. I queried 123 agents and a few publishers and came up dry. Those agents who would talk to me said that it was next to impossible to sell a new fiction author to a publisher. So, I returned to iUniverse. To answer your question, this aspect of writing proved to me the most surprising—and the most disappointing.   

LAUREN SMITH: What tips would you offer to anyone writing fiction for the first time? 

Paul Mark Tag: I get asked this all the time. My advice is to start with short stories in order to learn the art of telling a story that someone will want to read. You’ll need a mentor (like I had) or, you can take classes in creative writing. Another approach is to read a lot of self-help books (and magazines) on writing. I used those to supplement what Arline Chase taught me. 

LAUREN SMITH: What can we look forward to in your next book? 

Paul Mark Tag: I have already begun the third book in the series. The same protagonists, Silverstein and Kipling will return. However, because Kipling has become such a strong character on her own, she will be the lead in book 3. Also, I’m returning to my roots, to meteorology. As you know, both protagonists are meteorologists. I’ve felt guilty ever since I changed science (to genetics in Prophecy). So I’ve decided to tackle global climate change in the next in the series. It’s one of the scientific topics of this decade, and I would be a fool to ignore it. 

In the meantime, I plan to publish a book of fourteen of my short stories later this year.  The title will be The Errant Ricochet: Max Raeburn’s Legacy. I cover a gamut of genres with these stories; I think there’s something for everyone. 

LAUREN SMITH: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you would like to include?

Paul Mark Tag: I’d just like to thank you for this opportunity. 

LAUREN SMITH: Thank you for taking the time to be part of this interview!