We are delighted to welcome author Stephen Templin to Omnimystery News today.
Stephen's new Special Operations Group thriller featuring SEAL Chris Paladin is From Russia Without Love (September 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to catch up with him to talk more about his books.
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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about your writing process.
Photo provided courtesy of
Stephen Templin
Stephen Templin: Recently, I've discovered the joy of doing more outlining — seriously. Before, I was less patient with outlining and wanted to jump to the writing. But sometimes when the writing started, I wasted hours navigating to the next scene, and meandering through it, rather than writing it. Or wrote myself into a pit that I had to delete a week's worth of work to crawl out of it. Or struggled through a scene I was less passionate about.
Now, I've learned to enjoy the process of collecting great scenes, and it doesn't seem so much like "outlining". When it comes time to write, I write more, and I have more fun. For readers, that means getting the books faster, and I think they'll have more fun, too. Having said this, it's still important to remain flexible. If a character wants to go against an outline, I let the character go — so the experience doesn't feel forced — and that's where some of the magic comes from, too.
OMN: And where do you most often find yourself writing?
ST: I know authors who write in coffee shops, but I prefer my office: a powerful PC with a high speed internet connection, a loud (and sometimes quiet) eclectic musical playlist, and easy access to books and videos for reference and inspiration. And the view outside my window: brick homes, massive oaks, a cardinal, blue jays, squirrels, rabbits, and a 3-legged cat that never gives up.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
ST: The best advice I've received as an author is "write." And that is the advice I'd first give to aspiring authors. It sounds so simple, but I hear far too many "writers" who haven't finished writing their first novel. And among those who do, they rarely write the second.
OMN: Tell us more about the cover design of From Russia Without Love.
ST: I chose the artist Nuno Moreira for his ability to communicate in addition to his artistic talent. This is our second book together. On this cover, I wanted a flaming oil rig and some Russian flavor. The oil rig was a bit of a challenge: finding the right rig, perspective, flame and so on. But after one email we sorted it out quickly and Nuno went off to create the first draft of the cover. When he showed me the result, I was surprised that he'd significantly changed the font from the previous book — usually there's uniformity in the font style throughout a series, but the change fit the story so well that I couldn't resist. The final challenge was the flag — Nuno's cover has a fighting, gritty feel to it, but my readers and I are quite patriotic, so we had to make sure the flag was presented in a respectful manner, too. After a couple email exchanges, the cover was complete. As a result, I'm happy with how it turned out.
OMN: What's next for you?
ST: I'm over 15,000 words into writing the sequel, but I like the title so much, I'm saving it as a surprise.
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Since elementary school, Stephen Templin felt a need to write, dreaming of becoming a novelist. After high school, he completed Hell Week, qualified as a pistol and rifle expert, blew up things, and practiced small unit tactics during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. Later, Steve left the Navy and became a missionary. Then for fourteen years he lectured as a tenured professor at Meio University in Japan, where he also practiced the martial art aikido. Currently, he lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at StephenTemplin.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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From Russia Without Love by Stephen Templin
A Special Operations Group Thriller
Publisher: Stephen Templin
SEAL Team Six veteran Chris Paladin left the Navy to become a pastor, but CIA spook Hannah Andrade pulls him back into Special Operations Group to locate the White House Chief of Staff's kidnapped son-in-law before he is executed by Greek terrorists. Cantankerous Army Delta Force operator Sonny Cohen reunites with Chris and Hannah as they race the clock to save the hostage.
In Athens, Chris and his teammates discover that Russia is secretly behind the kidnapping, part of a murderous plan to attack the flow of natural gas in Europe. The Cold War has heated up again.
Chris and his crew's rescue quickly changes into a mission to capture-or-kill a Russian spy.
— From Russia Without Love by Stephen Templin
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