Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Brandon Phillips

What inspired you to write “Foreign & Domestic”?

Phillips: First and foremost, it was a story I wanted to read: it is a story, and characters that I was not finding on the open market. The more the team grows towards being a naval force, the more the story becomes the tale that I want to not just write, but to read as a fan of the genre(s).

How did you come up with the names of your main characters?

Phillips: The lead main character is Cameron Grey. Cam is named after two of my favorite hockey players. It is a name I have had in mind for many years. His brother is David Grey. “David” is the middle name of someone who is used as the base layers of the character. He originally was going to be a good friend of Cam and the others, but my editor thought it was confusing to have three definitions of what a “brother” was, so he grew to be Cam’s blood-related brother, not just a brother-in-arms or really good friend.
Dominique Kargl came from a random name generator.
Calder Lundstrom also came from hockey lore. The Calder trophy is given to the Rookie of the Year. He is the most temperamental and juvenile of the group: so, Calder.

Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?

Phillips: There is a lot of “me” in my writing. For example, one portion of the story is about fleet building – this is essentially my way of saying “this is how I would do this.” That is one of the great things about speculative fiction is you can wrap messaging inside a story that makes it more palatable to the reader. Also, as the series moves along my goal is that it pushes the boundaries between tech-thriller and sci-fi because of the speculative technologies and space opera tropes that are the underlying themes of the Armada world.
I have a full-time-plus day job so I write on nights and weekends.

Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?

Phillips: There is a plethora of knowledge available online – even from other authors. My wife pushed me over the edge to the point that I had to decide if this was a hobby or something that I needed to try and make worth the hours I was putting into it. People can be brutally honest. I sent my WIP to two of my best friends. They could have skewered me over it, but they didn’t. If you want to be a writer, the only person holding you back is yourself. And even if you aren’t the best with grammar, that’s what editors are for – before I knew better, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to edit as I went along.

What is your favorite genre, book, and/or author?

Phillips: Anything by JRR Tolkien. Especially the posthumously published stories of Middle Earth. “Tom Bombadil” is sheer genius. It is doubly special to me because I bought it at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris.

What are you working on next?

Phillips: I am about 20% of the way through the rough draft of the third novel in the “Texian Armada Saga.” It is tentatively titled, “Union Jack.” Its focus will be on the South Pacific Ocean and Europe.

Interested in checking out the book for yourself?

Find it for purchase here or Kindle Unlimited

Interested in submitting your book for review? Visit my review page for guidelines and submission requirements.

review