Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester is very happy to shine our Friday spotlight on Thriller author Brad Taylor. Brad Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel (ret), is a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces, including eight years with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, popularly known as Delta Force. Taylor retired in 2010 after serving more than two decades and participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as classified operations around the globe. His final military post was as Assistant Professor of Military Science at The Citadel. Brad has written fifteen New York Times bestsellers. His 16th book, END OF DAYS, was released January 11, 2022. When not writing, he serves as a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies. He lives in Charleston, SC with his wife and two daughters.
Brad, where can people find your work? (Besides Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester–though they should totally check here first!)
My books are available everywhere books are sold.
How can we follow your work and share your awesomeness?
Please visit my website at www.bradtaylorbooks.com. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @bradtaylorbooks.
What kind of research went into writing your latest book, End of Days? What cool facts and findings didn’t make it into the book, but you loved discovering?
Because of covid, I was unable to travel for research for END OF DAYS. Due to that I decided to use locations I’d already visited. Luckily, only about 10% of my research trips actually make it into a book, and I mined that for this one. It was quite difficult, because I always like to get what the military calls, the “sights, sounds, and smell of the battlefield”, meaning you always learn more from being on the ground prior to an operation than just listening to someone talking about the culture or terrain. Because I had never used most of my research, I had a treasure trove of pictures from previous research trips, so I was able to figure it out.
What is your favorite research story?
As for my most “favorite” research story, it would be my trip to Lesotho, Africa for Operator Down. I was rolled up as an American spy and held for about eight hours in interrogation. It wasn’t fun, but it certainly helped the research. While it was a bit unnerving at the time, every bit of information I gleaned from that experience made it into the book…right down to the decorations on the walls.
What is one thing that most people don’t realize about you?
Most people don’t realize that I’m basically an introvert. I spent my entire military career in jobs I couldn’t discuss, and now I’m in a position where I have to be in the spotlight, to a certain extent. I used to be the guy in the corner at a party who didn’t talk about what he did, now I’m supposed to get on stage and talk to hundreds. It doesn’t come easy to me.
What has been your favorite adventure during your writing career?
Being able to travel the world with my wife, Elaine, whom I call the DCOE—Deputy Commander of Everything. We were separated a lot by deployments when I was in the Army, so being able to travel with her on book research trips all over the world and book tours has been great. My favorite adventure would probably be our spur of the moment hydrofoil trip from Hong Kong to Macau to see the casinos while researching The Widow’s Strike. We had a 24 hour layover and just decided to go – and then almost got on the wrong ferry to get home. That, of course, also made it into a book.
What do you consider the most challenging part of the writing process? And how do you overcome that?
I’d have to say the most challenging aspect of the writing process at this point is keeping the tactical parts of my books fresh and new. There are only so many ways to track a terrorist, or write a fight scene. I’m constantly challenged on coming up with creative and unique methods to shape these scenes so that each book is exciting and different for the reader. In the real world, it’s the same ol’ same ol’, because that’s just the way it is, but for a reader, I want to design something new each time. And that’s hard.
Brad, thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions! Good luck with the rest of your book tour.
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