Welcome to DouglasDeBono.Com, the Cyberspace Home of author Douglas De Bono

Welcome to DouglasDeBono.Com, the Cyberspace Home of
author Douglas De Bono.

Reader Mail

I received some great reader mail these last three months. Keep sending it!

MoJo Asked the following:

Are your characters real or fictional?

My Answer:
I have a mix of historical and fictional characters. All of the books have a factual basis (e.g. POINT OF HONOR occurs during a period when the UNSCOM inspectors were kicked out of Iraq, BLOOD COVENANT is based on congressional testimony regarding backpack or suitcase nukes). Against these types of back drops I have populated a fictional cast mixed with historical figures to tell a story.

Is Harvey Randall retired or active?

My Answer:
At the end of BLOOD COVENANT, Harvey and the Bureau parted company. Harvey never fit the cookie cutter mold imposed by the Bureau's top floor management. However, when I thought about writing Harvey out of the story line I received a great deal of protest. So Harvey remains a rather roguish character dancing the fine edge of law and order.

What is his area of specialty?

My Answer:
Harvey is a spy hunter. This is alluded to in POINT OF HONOR and BLOOD COVENANT. In my new TERROR WARS series, we get to meet a younger Harvey. His mentor is Cecil Bixby. Cecil is close to retirement by the time we first meet him ROGUE STATE (circa Fall 2000). Since the TERROR WARS series starts in 1979 and progresses thru the present, we see his development. The tension for Harvey is his desire to catch spies balanced against the political pressure to not rock the Chinese boat. FIREWALL (due out the end of this summer) introduces us to Harvey as he leaves the FBI Academy and joins the Bureau.

Finally, Harvey was never designed to be a central character. That honor is reserved for Jim Harper, Damon Layne, Hayden Burke and Louis Edwards. However, Harvey has become an increasingly important character thru 6 books (the 4 currently published, and the first 2 in the TERROR WARS series).

Then there was Sharon who wrote (Note, I answer to a lot of names):

Hello Lackey, You sure don't waste words. Your newsletter is chocked full of information. Our world is certainly becoming more and more volatile. Will we survive? Inquiring minds want to know.

--YWFS

Gordon Ryan wrote:

I am an American author, currently living in New Zealand. I've just discovered Point of Honor and am reading it via Pocket PC. My first effort at that type of reading. Probably initiated by the fullness of my home bookshelves. Many thanks for the enjoyment I am experiencing with Point of Honor.

[Gordon has a website at http:// www.gordonryan.com]

I wrote back:

I did not realize until your note that POH was even available in electronic format. I signed the contract 2 months ago, but only Blood Covenant had shown up. I checked around and there are places where all four books are available. The e-book gives me global reach and provides an entry price that doesn't scare people away. Are you using a PDA or something bigger? [Editor’s Note: It’s a PDA!]

BTW: Point of Honor is a good book to start with. While they stand on their own, the books do follow each other so Blood Covenant, then Reap the Whirlwind and finally Rogue State.