The Write Place

1. Introducing Stan Gallon, author of the new book  Darkest Days.  Enjoy the interview, you will want to run out and buy the book.
2. Congratulations on your first publication.  I understand Darkest Days is a political thriller with a twist.  Can you expand on this?

 

Too many Political thrillers follow a formula where the U.S. has to struggle against some external enemy.  Darkest Days asks: What if the enemy was an enemy within?  What if the United States were transformed from a democracy into an authoritarian regime?  And what would it take to save our selves from that end?

 

 

2. Tell us a more about Darkest Days.

 

All over the world, the enemies of the United States Plot its destruction, and enemies are everywhere:  from the deserts of the Middle East... to the jungles of Central America... to the very heart of the United States

 

Darkest Days begins with a tragedy:  Air Force One crashes into the ocean and the President is confirmed dead. A new Washington regime is quickly rushed in. 

 

It continues with an attack:  An apocalyptic explosion tears through Yellowstone National Park with foreign terrorists named as the culprits.

It ends with one soldier:  Long operating secretly in Sudan, Army lieutenant Adam Burch receives word that both of his parents have vanished. Going AWOL, Burch returns to the United States to find them. Instead, he finds a nation under siege from within. Freedom is a memory, fear rules with an iron hand, and those in power are willing to sacrifice millions of lives to achieve their sinister goals. The future lies in Burch’s hands.

 

 

 

 

 

3. For those that might not like books about politics, tell us why we should read yours.

 

Darkest Days is first and foremost an intense thriller that is starkly realistic and a fast paced read. It’s about our American way of life being threatened.  This is something that is critically important to each and every American.  Keeping the people well divided and at each other’s throats serves as an excellent distraction to push unconscionable domestic and foreign policies without submitting to the very scrutiny that is a key factor to any successful democracy. In today’s world that could lead to the extinction of humanity, and that is no exaggeration. 

 

Darkest Days takes the information overload that confuses us, cleans it up and puts it all in context.  There is an end result we should all be aware of that no one is talking about, an end result that may be much closer than most of us know.  My novel tells the story of how we could meet that bad end if we as Americans do not take charge over out of control leaders who have forgotten their sworn duty to serve the people of the United States, as well as the constitution.    

 

 

 

4. I know you been asked this many times, but what made you become a writer, and why this type of book?

 

From the window of my 11^th floor apartment in Arlington, Virginia I could see the Pentagon about 2 blocks away.  My wife and I lived there for more than 3 years and watched the Pentagon’s western façade being demolished and then rebuilt.  Everyday as I drove into Washington I passed the blackened hole into which American Airline’s flight 77 crashed.   The vast Pentagon parking lot, where my wife learned to drive, was no longer open to the public. It was a reminder of how much life had changed since 9/11.

 

Sitting at my desk next to the window through which I had a view of Capital Hill, the White House, the Pentagon, and the Potomac River, I started writing Darkest Days in November 2004, although the idea for Darkest Days was formulated some time before.  It was born when the Patriot Act was passed, grew when our leaders deceived the American public in order to sell us on a non-existent Iraq threat, and matured when the integrity of U.S, elections were threatened in 2004 with the introduction of paperless electronic voting machines. 

 

Throughout my life I heard stories from both my parents about their lives, growing up in societies where freedom was a dream and where oppression, brutality, and tyranny were the way of life.  In these societies, leaders employed deception and manipulative tactics to mold public opinions and manufactured consent for illegal or unconstitutional acts under the guise of national security and patriotic duty. So, it was even more frightening for me to see the seeds of tyranny being planted right here in the U.S.

 

Through Darkest Days I am hoping to show where such self-serving interests could lead if we as American citizens allowed our government to act with impunity in a society that seems to have forgotten to expect accountability. I want to remind the public that tragedy can be exploited and emotions can be manipulated. I want to urge each and every citizen to be an independent thinker, a researcher of facts, and a participant in the political process, not as democrats or republicans, but as Americans.

 

 

5. I understand you are a lawyer practicing in Washington D.C.  Tell us a little more about your background.

 

I am an attorney, who worked in the areas of international law, pharmaceutical products liability, medical malpractice and litigation. 

 

I’ve always been interested in history, literature, politics, biology, psychology, Linguistics, astronomy, physics (science in general really), travel, and a tomn of other stuff.  I guess you could say I’m naturally curious. 

 

I try to swim about 100 laps a day, but lately it’s been more like 50-80 with my schedule.  I also enjoy biking, hiking, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, and of course, reading.

 

 

 

6. You are currently writing another book.  Would you like to give a hint as to what it’s about?

 

Writing is a fluid process.  I write about topics that are relevant and place them in a context that entertains.  All I can really say at this stage is that it will be another international thriller, with a slightly tighter focus.  It is a novel I have been piecing together in my mind for a long time, but felt because the subject matter was premature for the times, I had to hold back.  But times have changed, and I am ready to let all out.