I’m thrilled to have Thomas Locke (aka Davis Bunn) on the blog again. He has been preparing a film overview for producers who are interested in turning his FAULT LINES novels into a television series.  Thomas would like to share with you what they are now pitching, along with some of his reading habits below!

TV SERIES PITCH

Gabriella Speciale achieves the impossible.  She discovers a means to separate human consciousness from the physical form.  It all seemed so simple in the beginning.  Gabriella is an Italian psychologist based at UCLA, a woman in love with academics and the safe ivory-tower world of research.  Out-of-body experiences have been noted for centuries.  Only now there is a difference.  Gabriella finds a means to both control and direct the OBE.  She can, in effect, defy the laws of gravity, time, and position.  Her trial subjects can go anywhere, see anything.  And return.

Charlie Hazard understands little about the human mind, but much about the human spirit.  He has been brought in to perform the impossible; protect a group of international teckies and scientists seeking to break the bonds that define human existence.  But their technology has been stolen, and as he races against the clock, even time itself twists in unexpected directions.

Reese Clawson specializes in global risk analysis for an elite group of industry executives.  She infiltrates Gabriella’s group and steals the technology.  Her aim is as straightforward as it is perilous—sell this newfound ability to steal secrets to the highest bidder.

But her initial successes bring unexpected risks.  With increasing regularity, her test-subjects slide into a coma-like state.  Reese scrambles to maintain control and satisfy the demands of her clients.  For her, failure is just another way of drawing life’s last breath.

When Charlie uncovers the theft and Reese Clawson’s intentions, Gabriella is faced with an impossible choice.  Either she ditches her careful academic position, or she allows Clawson to undermine the fundamental paradigms of national security.

By accepting the challenge of growing beyond her academic comfort zone, Gabriella opens herself and her team to the vicious threats of companies who will stop at nothing to improve their bottom line.

Charlie Hazard risks everything to protect them, in and out of the physical realm.  His battle-hardened experience focuses upon what the others are unable or unwilling to accept.  This is a battle between good and evil.  The real question is, what side is worth dying for.

What you don’t know can kill you.

Thomas’ inspiration for the story

Three years ago, a dear friend and editor made a comment that completely changed the direction of the story I THOUGHT I was going to write for him.

He said, and I quote:  “I wish you would write a thriller about some concept with spiritual overtones, that has no overt spirituality.”

My knee-jerk response was, that dog won’t hunt.  Which he accepted with a semi-disappointed shrug.

But the hook was set.

I spent weeks finding myself hauled back to that comment.  Trying to find a what-if that fit the impossible concept.

The result is this story.

 

As a security expert, Charlie Hazard is all about taking control of the situation. But when the stunning Dr. Gabriella Speciale draws him into a secret psychological project, risk parameters are shattered. Every move brings him to the edge of one fault line after another, and Charlie struggles to stay clear of a maelstrom of entangled dangers.

The research team abandons the lab on the Florida coast and flees to a mountain refuge in Italy. The battles in Charlie’s mind are overtaken by real life attacks. He must grapple with the daunting realization that a conspiracy is taking hold on both internal and external levels. Can Gabriella be trusted, or is she just part of the scheme?

Leave behind your assumptions about the way the world works, and race along the unknown corridors of human consciousness in Fault Lines.

“I was not prepared for this. It is somewhere between spectacular and astonishingly compelling.  The concept itself is so daring that one can’t quite anticipate in any cautionary way what is coming. Locke’s writing has never been stronger.   The power of his style, especially in the presentation of situations, contexts, and geography is enough, more or less in and of itself, to make the book a gripping and intense experience. It’s the daring of the plot and the fact that it works that astound me most, however.  Ultimately the acid test is that after I finished, I could not let it go. My head is still full of it; and that is a very, very good sign.” Phyllis Tickle, Senior Contributing Editor, Publisher’s Weekly

“A truly remarkable work.  The interweaving of three stories is faultless, the tension explosive.  The story involving the intelligence community and military is extremely vivid and very well crafted.  A wonderful read.” Keith Hazard, Acting Deputy Director (ret), Central Intelligence Agency

Readers will love this storyline…A true psychological thriller that cannot be put down…An awesome jaunt into a world that may be closer than we think. Suspense Magazine

Are you a re-reader? Why, or why not? And if you are, what are some of the books you have read over and over?

My first mentor, a year after I started writing, was Arthur C Clarke, author of 2001 A Space Odyssey. When we first began, he set several conditions. The first was, I must read a minimum of one book each week from a bestselling author, a living author, working in my chosen genre. It was a formative rule, one I now apply to all students I mentor.

What is your optimal time to read ~ do you prefer to read in one long block, or do you also read for five minutes here or there when you can?

I read constantly. My idea of a self-indulgent day is having a great book and all the time in the world to binge-read.

I’d love your thoughts on novellas. Are you thumbs up or down? Or does it depend?!

The length of the story is not the issue. A want-ad can captivate me, if it is well written, surprising, strong dramatic elements, and good characters.

Are you faithful to a genre, an author, or simply quality writing?

Quality, quality, quality.

What book have you read this year that you could not put down, and why?

Ready Player One, selected as the top read by Entertainment Weekly, Variety, People, etc. The book deserves its success. But what I love most is the story behind the sale. The book was turned down by every NY publisher. In desperation the agent sold rights to a couple of European publishers. The story, as they say, became an overnight success ~ it only took thirty months. Then it was finally sold back into the US, where it has become a massive hit, and now Steven Spielberg has last month agreed to direct the film.

Thanks Thomas!

Thomas Locke is a pen-name for Davis Bunn, a professional novelist for twenty-four years, with sales in excess of eight million copies in twenty languages.  He has appeared on numerous national bestseller lists, and his titles have been Main or Featured Selections with every major US bookclub.  Locke serves as Writer-In-Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University, and lectures in Oxford’s new creative writing program.  In 2011 his novel ‘Lion of Babylon’ was named a Best Book of the Year by Library Journal.  The sequel, entitled ‘Rare Earth’,  won him a fourth Christy Award for Excellence in Fiction in 2013.  In 2014 he was granted the Lifetime Achievement award by the Christy board of judges.  In November of this year, his most recent release entitled Trial Run was awarded the Best Book of 2015 by Suspense Magazine.  In the past twelve months, he has appeared on the cover of both Southern Writers Magazine and Christian Retailing.  He has written and presented a 40-part series for Moody Radio which was broadcast nationwide.  He lectures around the world on aspects of creative writing.

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Buy at Amazon: Fault Lines or Koorong

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