“Five By Five” is the name for our series of written Q&A interviews with writers and musicians. The name actually refers to audio signals, which ties in with our regular podcast. Five By Five is another way to say “good signal strength” or “loud and clear,” but can also mean “exceptional quality,” which certainly lines up with the artists we speak with. Now with that out of the way, on to the book!
Following the success of his debut novel, “The Able Archers,” author Brian J. Morra returns with a sequel, “The Righteous Arrows” (Koehler Books, April 16).
In the sequel, readers reconnect with American Kevin Cattani and his older Soviet counterpart, Ivan Levchenko in the mid-1980s for a chilling Cold War saga of superpower confrontation. After Cattani barely escapes with his life from an East German bunker, he and Levchenko find themselves on opposite sides of the Soviet Union’s brutal war in Afghanistan, where Cattani supplies the Islamic resistance with advanced weapons to kill Russian troops. In facing new homegrown adversaries, both men question the roles they play in the deadly superpower duel.
In this interview, Brian goes into the history behind this story and how real-life events played a role. He talks about the lessons learned from “The Able Archers” and how his work as an intelligence officer came into play.
"The Able Archers" was your debut novel. What were some of the lessons you learned that you applied to "The Righteous Arrows"?
I learned a great deal about the writing process from my experience with “The Able Archers,” but I think I learned even more from writing the television treatment for that book. Writing for TV taught me a lot about brevity and story arcs and that influenced the final manuscript of “The Righteous Arrows.” I also applied lessons about dealing with conflict and character development–at least I hope I applied them! I think one becomes a better writer by composing in different forms.
What about this time period–the 1980s–inspired you?
Ah, the 1980s. I was an intelligence officer during the 80s and it was a formative time in my life. Also, I find that there is an interesting paradox in America’s collective memory of Cold War history. Despite the fact that the Cold War reached its second climax during the 1980s, most people in the US think of the 1960s and the Cuban Missile Crisis when they recall the Cold War. I find it ironic, because during the 1980s there was great consternation in the media and in academia about Ronald Reagan’s policies toward the Soviet Union as causing a new Cold War, which seems to be forgotten in large part.
I believe that the 1980s are better understood in Europe where the deployment of new NATO nuclear missile systems and fears of provoking the USSR reached a fever pitch in 1983 and 1984. To answer your question about “inspiration,” I think I am inspired to educate readers about the critical events of the 1980s Cold War and how those events reverberate in today’s geopolitics. These events ought to be as well known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
What kind of research was needed?
My research differed for “The Able Archers” and “The Righteous Arrows” in the following way. In regard to “The Able Archers,” I relied a great deal on my own memory of events and I conducted research with aim toward validating those memories. For events I had no personal connection with, I had to conduct research. One example from “The Able Archers” would be the “Petrov ICBM incident.” I had less personal involvement in many of the events in “The Righteous Arrows,” although I had some. For example, I did a great deal of research about how the Soviet military conducted operations in Afghanistan during the war in the 1980s. I wanted my depiction of the climactic Soviet raid into Pakistan to be based on the way that Soviet Spetsnaz forces really fought.
I read that you’ve worked as an intelligence officer. How did this inform your books?
As I have mentioned, my experience as an intelligence officer is central to my writing. It would never have occurred to me to write these historical novels had I not had that experience. I think my experience allows me to write realistically about how intelligence works and the challenges that one confronts as an intelligence officer. The feedback I have gotten from people in the intelligence field and from special operators has been very positive.
Any real-world stories that found their way into these books?
Oh my. My books are historical fiction, so they are based on real events. I also tap into my personal memory and write from that perspective. At times, I get a sensation of time travel. When composing a scene that is based on personal memory, I get into a zone where I travel back to the event. Sometimes I can hear the dialogue and see faces from those long ago times. At times like those, I feel I am transcribing rather than composing.
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