AFN Clarke Says Who Needs a Therapist When You Can Write? @AFNClarke #amwriting #thriller

Who needs a therapist when you can write?

By AFN Clarke 

There is a strong case for saying that writing is a form of therapy.  I’m not a psychologist or counselor but as an author I believe that writing has been a major vehicle for becoming a more whole and emotionally, mentally and spiritually healthy individual. In fact, writing my first book saved my life.  Having served in Britain’s Parachute Regiment for many years with two tours of service in Northern Ireland I left totally broken.  I had nearly died, lost most of my insides, suffered countless surgeries and was miraculously expected to return to ”normal life”.  A story sadly very familiar to those returning from Afghanistan today.

For my own sanity I desperately had to make sense of what had happened to me, and the only way I knew how was to write about it.  So I shut myself away for weeks and wrote till I could write no more.  That deeply personal outpouring became the basis for my first book Contact.  It was an instant bestseller and is still selling strong today. I had found my voice and have never looked back.  But more importantly, I had taken a step towards finding myself, and that was more vital than any outward success. That same feeling pervades my writing process today.

For me, the books I describe as “great” are those that I can connect to from some place deep within myself.  They may not be of my experience but they feel real, they transport me from the known to beyond where I have been before and expand my horizons as an individual in an authentic way.  That invisible connection to my emotions is what differentiates an “ok” book and a great book.

So how do authors achieve that? We often write flawed characters whose weaknesses may be our own.  While we may want to stay in denial our characters cannot.  So we are forced to confront our own demons so our characters can deal with theirs. Our stories often take us where we never intended to go and in doing so, kicking and screaming, we are forced to grow. I experienced that with Contact, with all 5 fiction books thereafter right through to my latest thriller The Orange Moon Affair.

In fact, the whole process of writing is a growth experience in itself: getting over the panic of writers block; admitting your first chapter sucks and starting all over again; subserving your own ego to that of your characters so their life becomes more important than your own; admitting failure and still moving on; spending hours of research to write 2 lines; searching for that elusive perfection that seems just out of your grasp – and as if that isn’t enough - writing the last word and expecting elation but instead you’re surprised by deep depression for the adventure is over and the real world is not nearly so interesting a place anymore. What could be more growth inducing than that?

If you can master that AND the sweet smell of success when you’re adored, wanted, desired, in the limelight, bigger than life and suddenly an authority on everything - then you have truly traveled an incredible journey.

Who could not say that writing is the best therapy after that?

AFN CLARKE is the son of a British MI6 operative, pilot, sailor, screenwriter, father of four who’s lived all over the world, served in the British Army and recovered from the physical/emotional traumas of war.  His bestselling memoir Contact was serialized in a British newspaper and made into an award winning BBCTV film.  He’s insatiably curious, loves heated discussions and has a rascally sense of humor. He now writes fiction of various genres – thrillers (The Orange Moon Affair and An Unquiet American); human drama (Dry Tortugas), humor/satire (Dreams from the Death Age; Armageddon), horror (Collisions) with more coming soon.  For more information visit http://www.afnclarke.com, connect on Facebook or Twitter (@AFN Clarke)

The Jonas Trust Deception, another Thomas Gunn thriller by bestselling author AFN Clarke, follows The Orange Moon Affair, a "hard to put down", "5-star novel by a 5-star author". Thomas (ex-Special Forces) goes on high alert after a desperate message from his journalist friend, Morgan. She's in danger. But where? And why? Rushing to her ranch he finds it being torn apart by a highly-trained female assassin of East European descent, with a mysterious butterfly tattoo on her neck. An image that sends his mind reeling. Dread seeping into his soul.

In her ongoing investigations, Morgan may have uncovered something even more explosive and far-reaching than the Orange Moon conspiracy.  If so, her enemies will want both her and her information destroyed. Racing to follow tangled leads, Thomas and his girlfriend Julie are thrust into the deadly path of Mexican drug cartels, corrupt politicians, unscrupulous financial brokers like Jonas T Purdue, the FBI, the UK intelligence services and their arch nemesis Marika Keskküla. What deception binds these unlikely "players" together? What's their power struggle really about? And even more personally disturbing, why the constant links back to a secret mission in Afghanistan, that Thomas has tried so hard to forget?

Outraged by the feeling of constantly being "played", Thomas decides to turn the tables on the faceless "puppeteers" by taking an action so bold, so dangerous, and so unexpected, that even his team fear he's lost his mind. Has he? Or can he expose the "vermin" at the top and finally eliminate them forever?

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with A.F.N. Clarke on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.afnclarke.com/

Author Interview – AFN Clarke

Who designed the cover of The Orange Moon Affair? I design my own covers. From an early age I have been able to draw, and indeed find design and drawing relaxes me and takes my mind off work and the problems of life. When I wanted to drive racing cars, I designed my own Formula Ford, built it and raced it professionally. When I was first published, I disliked the covers the publishers did for both the hardcover and paperback editions intensely, so when I retrieved the rights for those books, I redesigned the covers myself and have continued to design the covers for the seven published eBooks that are currently available on Amazon. Whether they are successful or not, is for the reader to judge.

Will you write other books in the same genre as The Orange Moon Affair? Absolutely. I already have the next two books in the Thomas Gunn thriller series underway following on from The Orange Moon Affair. They are challenging but fun to write and stretch my skills, which is I think, the only way an author can grow. I hope my readers enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

How much of the book is realistic? The definition of “Fiction” is “literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describe imaginary events and people”. Having said that, I think that fiction works best when the “imaginary events and people” are based strongly in reality. My characters are composites of people I have met, known, talked to, worked with and some that I have simply observed. They live in a world we understand because that world is our current experience. So I would say that the book is 100% “realistic” and yet still fiction.

How important do you think villains are in a story? I think villains are important in certain types of stories, the most obvious being in thrillers, suspense, espionage, action and adventure and in true stories of course where they’re real.  But that role in other genres may equally be played out by someone who simply evokes strong emotions and creates dramatic tension, so that the energy of the story is carried forward through the actions of that character and the reactions of others to him/her.

The danger of villains is when they are written one dimensionally.  For a villain to be believable and create greater depth to the plot, they have to be multi-dimensional, a little more complex than your traditional “bad guy”.  Then an author has more ways of tapping into that villain’s character to play with the dark and the light, and to hold a reader’s attention.  Mind you, that’s just me – sometimes a Bond-movie-type-of-book with the villain that’s pure evil whom we love to “boo” is greatly entertaining and just what we need.

Do you have to travel much concerning your books? My parents lived and worked abroad for most of my life, so I have been in the fortunate position to have lived and worked in many countries around the world. I was born in Hong Kong, lived in and went to school in India, lived in Iran, then Libya where I worked for a Geophysical Survey company and learned to write computer code. In the Army I was sent to Cyprus, France, Northern Ireland and Germany and have travelled extensively in Italy and Spain. For twenty-five years I lived in the USA and have travelled to New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Malta, Sicily, Austria, and Egypt. All these countries and their cultures find their way into my books.

The Orange Moon Affair - by the bestselling author of CONTACT - is the first book of a compelling new thriller series, an action-packed conspiracy with a hero and heroine you hold your breath for. If you enjoy the action of Robert Ludlum, the intensity of Brad Thor and the international intrigue of Daniel Silva, then this book’s for you!

Ex-British Special Forces soldier Thomas Gunn is drawn back into his old life of international intrigue and danger following the murder of his billionaire father. The deeper he digs the more complicated the puzzle becomes until he finds himself working for MI5 uncovering a global conspiracy that puts the freedom of the western world at grave risk. His girlfriend Julie becomes his accomplice surprising him with her loyalty, strength of character and physical prowess.

While traversing the globe being shot at, shot down and losing loved ones – a haunting question tears at his soul – was his father really at the heart of this evil conspiracy? Or was he a pawn in a larger more insidious game that even he could not control?

Seeking the final answer could cost Thomas dearly, ripping from him all that he most loves and cherishes and leaving him questioning his past, his future and what kind of person he is or wants to become. The final outcome depends on him. Or does it?

As a former Captain of Britain’s elite Parachute Regiment and son of an MI6 operative the author brings his own unique and eye-opening experiences to the character and exploits of Thomas Gunn, as well as an unsettling blurring of the lines between fiction and reality when exploring the ruthless abuse of power and position for personal gain.

“… The Orange Moon Affair is timely, eye-opening, fast-paced … you will find you want to turn the next page, and the next page, and the next … the first of the Thomas Gunn series … you don’t want to miss them!”  5 Stars, Remy Benoit.

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Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG13

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Connect with AFN Clarke on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.afnclarke.com/

AFN Clarke – Inspiration Is A Strange Thing!

Inspiration Is A Strange Thing!

by AFN Clarke

Many people have asked me a question that most authors get asked frequently – what inspires you to write? And I am sure there are as many different answers as there are authors!

For me from the time I was a child living in and traveling to different places all over the world including so-called “exotic” locations like Hong Kong, India, Iran, Libya, Turkey, Spain and Italy – my inspiration to write was simply the overwhelming desire to fully communicate my experiences of those countries, cultures and landscapes to family and friends.  Life was an adventure and so I wrote about it from the time I could form my letters and put pen to paper.

As I grew older the inspiration remained similar – to entertain, communicate and inspire by using words to create new worlds in which my readers could immerse themselves and explore for a while.  But each book also has its own reasons for having been written and probably reveals as much about myself as it does about the characters and story it presents.

My first book Contact started out as a way of coming to terms with the world after returning from combat physically and emotionally wounded. I was lost, angry, sad, wanted the average person to know what a soldier went through day after day waiting for a stray bullet or an explosive device to shatter their life or end it; wanted families of veterans to understand why their loved ones seemed different, distant, and burdened. That it became a bestseller was gratifying, but it was not essential to me.  In fact it was greatly unexpected.

My inspiration was always the experience with my men and the communities we patrolled, witnessing the strength of the human spirit to survive against all odds.  My motivation was the desire to ensure those lives lost and lives torn apart meant something and were not forgotten in the noise of political and religious rhetoric. That maybe politicians would understand the cost of war and not engage in it quite so lightly or quickly.  Sadly that lesson seems not to have been learned, as veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan tell me how “Contact” – written so many years ago  - still manages to resonate with their experience in recent times.  Eerily and heartbreakingly so.

Now I only write fiction and I love to write many different genres because each genre provides a new medium of communication.  My second book Collisions was inspired by my own unsettling experience of PTSD; An Unquiet American is a politically provocative thriller inspired by my concern over the rise of extreme conservative elements in US politics and the eroding of democratic principles; Dreams from the Death Age and Armageddon are satires which were a blast to write and were inspired by my desire to question some of the absurdities of life today by humorously projecting where we might end up in the future; Dry Tortugas is a more personal novel inspired by my relationship with my daughters.  And my latest book The Orange Moon Affair is the first of an ongoing page-turning thriller series inspired by my love of history, intrigue, international espionage and concern about the dangers of unmitigated power in the hands of unscrupulous individuals and groups.

They all sound like serious topics for a work of fiction, but I guess that’s because what I’m most passionate about is exploring and making sense of the world around me – seeing things through different eyes and perspectives that expand my vision and push the envelope of my thinking – and doing the same for my readers.

So what inspires you?  What makes your blood boil or your heart sing? What animates your conversations and makes others take notice? Hold that thought and you may have the seed of your next book, painting, song, dance, social campaign, or career.  Inspiration is a strange and personal thing – but without it the world would implode in its own mediocrity.

AFN CLARKE is the son of a British MI6 operative, pilot, sailor, screenwriter, father of four who’s lived all over the world, served in the British Army and recovered from the physical/emotional traumas of war.  His bestselling memoir CONTACT was serialized in a British newspaper and made into an award winning BBCTV film.  He’s insatiably curious, loves heated discussions and has a rascally sense of humor. He now writes fiction of various genres – thrillers (The Orange Moon Affair and An Unquiet American); human drama (Dry Tortugas), humor/satire (Dreams from the Death Age; Armageddon), horror (Collisions) with more coming soon.  For more information visit http://www.afnclarke.com, connect on Facebook or Twitter (@AFN Clarke).

This new expanded edition of AFN Clarke’s bestselling and controversial book CONTACT is a raw, visceral, “no-holds-barred” account of combat from one of the men we paid to kill. When first published it caused a furor for its devastating honesty and chilling revelations.

Clarke vividly recounts his experiences of two tours in Northern Ireland (in Belfast and Crossmaglen) as a Platoon Commander with Britain’s elite Parachute Regiment during the blood soaked 1970′s. Soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan comment on how relevant the book still is today, as the dangers, political agendas and religious roots underlying the conflict are eerily and heartbreakingly similar to their own more recent experiences.

Clarke takes us to heart of the action.  We feel what it’s like to live each day with senses on high alert, waiting to be ripped apart by the accuracy of a sniper or a well-hidden bomb.  We enter the private world of soldiers ordered to hold the lines in an ancient quarrel they have little affinity for, but whose consequences are deadly.  We experience their emotions, fear, courage, humor, bravado and the anguish of death.

This expanded edition continues from where the print version ended, revealing the untold nightmare Clarke lived through having nearly died, with half his insides missing, suffering from PTSD and being expected to return to a “normal life”.  A story of the scars of war that affect generations.  Of heartache, courage and hope for peace.

“I am an ex soldier who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and this is an excellent account of what it was like. I only wish we had an officer like Captain Clarke.” pm, 5 Stars Amazon UK“.. its honesty and passion cannot be denied .. Mr. Clarke has sent out a powerful and disturbing early warning signal.” Maurice Leitch, Daily Telegraph.

“..a major contribution to our understanding of war and how people act .. Contact is the work of a brave writer.” Kevin Toolis, Irish News.

“As a civilian it’s hard to imagine what’s it’s really like to be a soldier in combat but this book opened my eyes. I highly recommend it …” KTHuffy, 4 Stars Amazon USA.

CONTACT was reviewed by soldiers who served with Captain Clarke as verification of his recollections.  It was first published in the UK in 1983 by Martin Secker & Warburg, was serialized for 5 days in The Mirror and became an instant best seller. In 1984 it was published in paperback by PAN Books, by Schocken Books New York and made into an award-winning BBC TV film.  And in 2012 came the expanded ebook edition, which all these years later is still selling strong.  Readers outside the UK are invited to visit Amazon.co.uk for soldier’s reviews and comments.

AFN Clarke is a full-time author and writes fiction of various genre – fast-paced thrillers (An Unquiet American), poignant human drama (Dry Tortugas), humorous satire (The Book of Baker Series - Dreams from the Death Age; Armageddon; Genesis Revisited), psychological horror (Collisions); and the Thomas Gunn suspense series (The Orange Moon Affair) with more coming soon. Visit the Amazon Kindle Store or afnclarke.com for further information.

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Genre – Autobiography / Biography & Memoir

Rating – 18+

More details about the author

Connect with AFN Clarke on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.afnclarke.com/