Jungleland by M.T. Bass

Please welcome M.T. Bass author of Jungleland

M.T. Bass will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Jungleland

by M.T. Bass

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Adventure

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INTERVIEW:

How did you come up with ideas for your books?

It’s kind of crazy where the ideas come from. Sometimes I have a crystal clear vision of a character—like Rebecca in Lodging,the high school heroine in a romance set in Liberal, Kansas, during World War II. She haunted me for a long, long time until—like twenty years later—my girlfriend, Lora, told me about Mrs. V, a 100-year-old woman she knew and how she was reading Keith Richards biography. And then it hit me: I saw her as both a young girl and a grandmother at the same time and her story finally came to me.

Other times I see a specific scene that inspires me, like the opening of Murder by Munchausenwith two cops tracking down a killer robot in the warehouse.I know I was reading about Alaska bush pilots for fun, but I must have watched Animal Houseand Treasure of the Sierra Madrewhen I came up with the idea of Waxy and Albert becoming involved in a sordid treasure hunt against the backdrop of building the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in Somethin’ for Nothin’.

I knew the Hawk character from My Brother’s Keeperwould develop into a series and one of the stories on the list would be as a mercenary pilot in the Congo civil war. Of course, I had no idea what would happen, but here fifteen years later, I got back to it and figured things out in Jungleland.

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I just start writing based on my original characters or the scenes that inspired the story. And sometimes I get pretty far along before I know exactly how the novel is going to end.  I think I was three-quarters of the way done with Somethin’ for Nothin’and had no clue how I was going to finish things up—which is actually kind of odd because it’s one of those tales that starts at the end of the story with an airplane crash. It feels like being up on the high wire and working without a net. Anyway, it suddenly all came to me and I was able to wrap up the whole story in less than 100 words.  I am pretty proud of the ending.

Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?

I spent quite a bit of time “auditioning” critique groups and finally settled in on two that I regularly attend—well, at least, when we’re not under the stupid COVID-19 restrictions. One has suspended meetings and the other one is holding them on Zoom. While there are always good pointers on grammar and stuff, the most important thing for me is getting feedback from people who don’t know what is going on with my characters and the story. I ”generally”(see above question) know what is going to happen, so hearing their impressions of what they expect, gives me a fresh look on how well I’m unraveling my story.

Do you have an all-time favorite book?

Catch-22is absolutely, positively my all-timefavorite book. The whole story is simply inspired mayhem with a cast of “colorful” characters worthy of a wigged-out, Looney Tunes Russian novel. And here’s an added bonus: the Mike Nichols version of the movie is also one of my favorite films. I don’t know how he pulled it off, but he holds true to the story. It inspired me to pay homage to Joseph Heller with my book, In the Black.

Can you tell us a little about the black moment in your book?

Well, without giving everything totally away, this is a romance—but one that takes place during a brutal civil war. And there’s just no glossing over things…

Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

Right now I’m coming up on the halfway point of the rough draft of Motherless Children,the fourth novel in my Murder by Munchausen series. I’m also researching the third in the White Hawk Aviation Stories, which takes place during the air races at the Cleveland National Airshow in the seventies.  And I’ve got an idea for another Griffith Crowe story called Outside the Wire. It’s keeping me pretty busy.

Sometimes my favorite characters aren’t the heroes and the villains. I really like writing the “supporting cast.” Which secondary characters do you like best?

BLURB:

“There are only two types of aircraft:  fighters and targets.”

~Doyle ‘Wahoo’ Nicholson, USMC

Sweating it out in the former Belgian Congo as a civil war mercenary, with Sparks turning wrenches on his T-6 Texan, Hawk splits his time flying combat missions and, back on the ground, sparring with Ella, an attractive young missionary doctor, in the sequel to My Brother’s Keeper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:

“Break left,” I radioed Angel, jammed the throttle forward, and yanked the stick back and to the left in a climbing turn to circle around on the enemy position. I searched back over my shoulder for a road or trail leading out of the area to anticipate their possible direction of movement. There was a small scar coming down off the hill to the southeast.

As we came around three hundred and sixty degrees, lining up on the small section of the jungle where red and green tracer rounds floated up our way, the intensity of the fire began to wane as the rebels understood what was about to come their way.

“Take the trail. Southeast,” I radioed Angel.

He clicked his mike twice to acknowledge the one-two punch plan and throttled back to drift away in trail to follow up my initial attack on the enemy positions with rocket fire as they inevitably fled to melt back into the jungle.

I banked hard and began to dive down on the hilltop. The tracers began to concentrate on my nose. I lit up my guns, spreading the field of fire left and right with a little dance on the rudder pedals. I felt the Texan buck up a bit as rockets left the rails. I followed the plumes of their engines halfway to the target before I had to pull up, but noticed the intensity of the enemy fire had waned considerably.

“Way to go, Batman,” Angel radioed. “Let me just clean up this little mess you made.”

Behind me, Angel strafed the road and fired his rockets in so close that he seemed to clip the top of the fireball from the warhead explosions.

I circled back and took a path coming back up the road, stitching it with .303 caliber fire…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

M.T. Bass is a scribbler of fiction who holds fast to the notion that while victors may get to write history, novelists get to write/right reality. He lives, writes, flies and makes music in Mudcat Falls, USA.

Born in Athens, Ohio, M.T. Bass grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in English and Philosophy, then worked in the private sector (where they expect “results”) mainly in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing market. During those years, Bass continued to write fiction. He is the author of eight novels: My Brother’s Keeper, Crossroads, In the Black, Somethin’ for Nothin’, Murder by Munchausen, The Darknet (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #2), The Invisible Mind (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #3) and Article 15. His writing spans various genres, including Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Black Comedy and TechnoThrillers. A Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, airplanes and pilots are featured in many of his stories. Bass currently lives on the shores of Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio.

Author Links

Website:  https://www.mtbass.net/

Blog:  https://www.owl-works.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/owlworks/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Owlworks

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/author/mtbass

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5270962.M_T_Bass

Purchasing Links

Website: https://mtbassauthor.wordpress.com/scribblings/jungleland/

Apple iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/jungleland-white-hawk-aviation-stories-2/id1526689285

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jungleland-mt-bass/1137448962

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

M.T. Bass will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

RAFFLECOPTER:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3521