What is your book all about?
My debut novel ‘They Who Dared’ is about a top-secret organization posing behind the facade of a pharmaceutical company, ‘Project OV’ is the title given to the organizations advanced DNA manipulation experiment.
The ‘OV’ scientists have created miniature human ‘special operational beings. Max and his peers are the result of this project and are a young Spartan elite force in training to combat international terrorism and infiltrate enemy cells. However, as their group approach maturity and active service at the age of 18, they realize the true purpose of their existence, to be disposable throw away beings for the top-secret ‘OV’ organization. Max teams up with Flea, a tough and determined character. They both become part of a daring escape plan with the others in their group. They escape and set off in pairs on a dangerous journey evading capture, and searching for a pre-planned location where their hidden community plan to live hidden but free. We follow Max, Flea and their group in this thrilling adventure as they are mercilessly hunted by the organization. They will have to trek a huge distance, hide and fight for survival as will their fellow fugitives in this action-packed novel.
‘They Who Dared’ is available on Amazon in e-book and paperback. You can find my book here: They Who Dared Books
What inspired you to write the book?
I remember when I was a little boy my parents had a pond with an adjacent rockery in our garden. I would set up a camp for my little toy cowboys or soldiers amongst the rocky crags before bed time and imagine how they would be settling down overnight with next doors tom cat lurking around! One day I was sitting down relaxing and this memory came back to me. I picked up a pen and paper and started to develop a survival adventure story loosely based on that memory.
What is your target audience for the book?
Pre-teen – teen but it’s a book for all ages really, 8 to 80+ years of age!
What do you hope readers could get out from your book?
Hopefully, they find the book captivating and exciting. The book is about old fashion good and bad with adventure, danger and excitement thrown in, but there are moments of down time where conversation and reflection bring you closer to the characters. I hope the readers will enjoy my illustrations for the book cover and throughout the book too.
What are your future goals/plans for the book?
I would love to write and illustrate a follow up to this adventure, however I have to see how this one goes! I would love to have feedback on my novel: ‘They Who Dared’ by you at the ‘Authors Lounge’.
I completed the follow up books first chapter but decided to stop and put it aside. To be honest it was a great feeling of satisfaction that I saw my project evolve and then published and that was good enough for me.
And something more about yourself.
I’ve had a long career as an architectural TV & movie prop model maker, story board and scenic artist, illustrator, set designer, character developer, art director and production designer for commercials, cinema and television.
I was the Art Director on the television series ‘Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends’ (Series 1 to 10), set designer on Tugs, Jack & the Pack, production designer on Here Comes Mumfie, Orsum Island & Mike DA Mustang and I designed Thomas Land at Fuji-Q Highland, Yamanashi, Japan.
I was a display pilot flying various WWI and WWII aircraft and a pilot on the movie Flyboys plus a couple of TV series.
I now live in Cambridgeshire with Jane my wife, and Belka, the little blue Staffie, and I’m enjoying semi-retirement to the full but I do hanker completing a follow up book! You can see examples of my work here: Rob Gauld-Galliers
I would like to thank Chloe and ‘Authors’ Lounge’ for giving me this chance to tell you about my book.
A truly captivating read! I love how it explores the heroism and bravery of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.