The following questions were posted by other viewers; click on the question if you'd like to read the author's response. If you have a question you'd like to pose to the author, you may do so here.
Q: How do you pronounce 'Apparite'?
A: It's pronounced "Uh-PAIR-it," or, if it's easier, like saying the words "A parrot."
Q: Who is Raymond Benson, the person quoted on the main page?
A: He's a well-known author who was picked by the James Bond people to write the recent 'continuation novels' of the Bond series (the original author, Ian Fleming, died decades ago). In addition to those popular works, he's written the definitive guide to the character James Bond, a guide to the musical group Jethro Tull (one of my all-time favorite bands), and has a new work coming out soon entitled Sweetie's Diamonds. Many thanks go to Mr. Benson for reading Under Cloak of Darkness and commenting so kindly on it!
Q: Who was your real-life inspiration for John Apparite?
A: There's no single person that I had in mind, but the easiest way to look at it would be to imagine a cross between myself in a physical sense (I'm basically the same size as John Apparite), plus the bravery, moxie, and courage (mixed with combat ruthlessness) of famous WWII soldier Audie Murphy, plus the quiet, even-tempered, measured demeanor of my good friend Joe Longo. If you've never met me or Joe then you're outta' luck, so you can just basically imagine Audie Murphy as the main image and you'd be pretty close to it!
Q: Why aren't there any photos of you on your book or web site? And what's the building on your Amazon.com page where most people have their picture?
A: I'm trying to stay in the background on a national level as far as my private life is concerned; for one thing, the true-life stories of authors are often quite dull, and for another, I'm trying to separate my day-job from my writing-job for now. I'd prefer to be a shadowy, behind-the-scenes presence for the time being, hence the lack of detailed personal information and photos of me on my book, web site, or places with national exposure. However, if you show up at a book signing (while I'm still having them), you can see what I look like and even chat for a bit. And the first person (the first who doesn't personally know me, that is) to guess the identity of the building labeled "Where I was born" on my Amazon.com author-book page will get a free copy of UCOD. Just e-mail me with your guess.
Q: What books did you read to prepare to write this one?
A: Since I was trying to replicate a fifties style in my book, I took a look at a couple of old Graham Greene novels and a couple of Bond books as well. I especially liked Greene's habit of using long, compound sentences, linking thoughts and descriptions together with semi-colons and dashes, rather than having short, choppy sentences in quick succession, which is what people seem to most commonly do now. I particularly liked the rhythm of long sentences and, despite what some may think, I believe it's a style that is not terribly difficult to read (as long as the sentences make sense, that is!) Strangely, it was only after I'd written the book that I thought I'd check out some of the present-day authors in my genre like Barry Eisler or Robert Ludlum. And what I found was this: I didn't want to be influenced by present writers, or be at risk for cribbing, albeit unintentionally, any of their ideas or plots. So I've begun to look backward again for my literary inspirations, most recently reading the great Eric Ambler from the forties. Again, the writing style is a bit more like my own; slightly archaic, but authentic, I think, for the time period in which John Apparite is living. Are you sorry now that you asked?
Q: Are there any things about the book you wished you could change now that it's out?
A: Absolutely--there's a few annoyances for me even now when I read UCOD, which I'm sure is common for most authors: there's sentences I wish I could take another crack at; a typo or two; and a few paragraphs that slow the book's pace that I now wish I could just remove. On the other hand, the UCOD's gotten very good reviews so I'm not going to stew over any minor gaffes or awkward sentences at this point. As for AMOR, I'm sure the same will be true after I've re-read that one, too!
Q: Is there some hidden meaning to the book? What points are you trying to make with it?
A: Sure--thematic elements in a book make for more interesting reading, I think. The broadest, most obvious theme in UCOD is the constant struggle between Apparite's emerging emotional, human side and the difficult, dehumanizing aspects of his duty. This theme recurrs in other characters to a lesser degree (for example, in J's remarks to Apparite just before Apparite leaves the car to assassinate Robert Kramer; the White Oriental rushing into the butcher shop; the nurse comforting Apparite against orders when he falls ill). I also touch on the dangers of men in power using the resources of the government to foster personal aims (the overthrow of the Guatamalan government in 1953 being my example in UCOD), though this point is not specifically aimed at the Bush administration as some might guess (in fact, this danger exists with any administration, at any time). There's also some aspects of the nature of sacrifice touched on in the book, especially the idea of individuals being sacrificed for the greater good--even if the individuals are sometimes utterly innocent, like the by-stander in the Reading Room. I purposefully tried to include these things so--hopefully!--the book will have some resonance for the reader even after putting it down.
Q: If a Superagent is supposed to be anonymous, why give them a name at all?
A: While a man like the Director would want to 'sheep-dip' an agent, removing his old identity, it might prove too dehumanizing to an already stressed-out agent not to have ANY identity at all. Burn-out would come quicker, and in a practical sense one would like to interact with an 'employee' using SOME semblence of a real name, regardless. In the Director's case, he recognized this potential problem at the start of his agency, and always gave--privately--his agents real-sounding names that they used with each other (he, however, still remained anonymous, recognizing that he should never be identifiable by any moniker). Those other false identities, however, are lost--even my sources that had heard of 'John Apparite' did not know, for example, the pseudonyms given by the Director to Agent J or Agent G, among others.
