![]() The freedom to mold the story and character lines allows me to entertain without being confined to the rigors of investigative or courtroom testimony provided under oath. But what I can do is vaguely describe and change some unclassified and judicially concluded FBI investigations, or mimic them with slightly varied nuances in my fictional world. I will take many FBI secrets to my grave. Government, I could not-but never would nor even desired to-spill the beans. With a top-secret clearance and direct access to some of the most sensitive information within the FBI and U.S. In addition to being truthful, accurate, and concise in FBI report writings for the past 30 years, I also had another internal requirement: I had to keep my mouth shut. None of those adjectives are applicable to writing fiction. FBI FD-302s, 997s, and other reports have to be truthful, exacting accurate, and concise. The biggest difference between my previous real FBI life working undercover and my post-career writing FBI fictional thrillers is simple-I can’t get shot or stabbed sitting at my kitchen table pecking away at computer keystrokes.Īnother luxury of now being a writer rather than a special agent is that I have tremendous literary and procedural licenses and can literally “make shit up,” which I could not do for the past 30 years. All of my fictional characters are based in whole or part on real people I know and interacted with while in the FBI. Every personality-whether good or bad-was unique, and that allows me to capitalize upon that previous relationship without having to dream up fictional characters. Suffice it to say that I have more than enough material, content, characters, and experiences to last me a lifetime-or at least enough to fill this next chapter of my life. I worked with victims, witnesses, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges. I met their families I drank beer with them and went on vacations with them. I investigated, interviewed, and worked undercover against hundreds, if not thousands, of bad guys. During those 30+ years, I worked with thousands of fellow special agents and cops. Like all novice writers, an FBI fictional thriller writer needs tons of fresh, interesting, and unique material to attract, entertain, and maintain audiences. It is relatively easy since those crazy experiences and characters once existed and are almost all based on personal experiences in my real FBI life. With my wife still working but our kids long gone, my days now are spent quietly at the kitchen table with our dog at my feet, slapping away at a laptop computer, and coming up with crazy fictional FBI stories and characters. I am, by nature, a solitary person, comfortable being alone for long periods of time. I’ll do the next best thing now-write about that captivating life. It is a huge relief, but at the same time, it’s still difficult to accept that those incredible FBI challenges will never be available again and that chapter of my life is closed forever. ![]() After 30+ plus years of sticking my head in the lion’s mouth on almost a daily basis waiting for the massive jaws to clamp down, that one potential bad day is over forever. Chuckle if you will, but it is the honest truth. The biggest difference between my previous real FBI life working undercover and my post-career writing FBI fictional thrillers is simple-I can’t get shot or stabbed sitting at my kitchen table pecking away at computer keystrokes.
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