Bob, describe yourself for our visitors.
I’m just an average guy. Husband to a wonderful wife and father to four terrific kids. When I’m stuck at home, I like to watch and analyze movies (for a time, I was a motion picture production major in college before switching to English, and I reviewed movies for years), play with our dog, Logan, a border collie-sheltie mix, and play computer and board games with the family. When we can get away, we love to travel, spend time on the beach; we love water sports—swimming, sailing, jet skiing, scuba diving; we hike, camp, fish. I’m a voracious reader.
I subscribe to something like two dozen magazines, read about 50 novels and 50 nonfiction books a year. I haven’t had time lately to keep that pace, but every chance I get, I’ll read.
I listen to soundtracks, mostly. My favorites are Last of the Mohicans, Braveheart, Enemy at the Gates, The Fountain, Master and Commander. I have about 1,200 now. I also like “classic rock”: Pink Floyd, ELO, The Eagles, Planet P, Alan Parsons. Throw in some Radiohead, White Stripes and a broad range of Christian musicians—Third Day, Steven Curtis Chapman, The Kry, Randy Stonehill, MercyMe—and I’m happy.
My wife and I attend a Presbyterian church. For years, we were leaders in a church ministry called “Couples in Christ,” but we’re between ministries now.
How do you find time to connect with God?
Everyday before I write or edit or whatever it is I have to do that day, I read the Bible, pray, spend quiet time with God. In the evenings, I try to sit out on the porch for a half-hour or so. I look up at the stars, talk to God. Each day, I pray individually with my children and wife. And of course, He’s with me when I write.
Who are your favorite authors? Favorite books?
I tend to read mainstream thriller authors, primarily: David Morrell, Lee Child, Thomas Perry, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Rollins, Tess Gerritsen. Some mild-fantasy: Neil Gaiman, Tim Powers. These are authors I discovered years ago, when CBA wasn’t really competing with mainstream in these fields. Recently, I’ve been getting into the new generation of suspense writers in CBA: TL Hines, Melanie Wells, Chris Well, Tim Downs, Ted Dekker, Mark Andrew Olsen, Brandilynn Collins. Not only are they writing suspense from a Christian perspective, they’re incredibly talented. I’m not sure that combination existed ten years ago.
I read fiction to relax, nonfiction to learn. Most of the time, I’ll have two nonfiction books going: one for research, one for personal growth. I like John MacArthur, John Piper, Michael Horton, RC Sproul, CS Lewis.
In line with my reading habits, two books tie for my very favorite: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and Mere Christianity by CS Lewis.
Tell us about your journey to publication.
I wrote magazine articles for years. Every few years, I’d get a screenplay finished. I sold three screenplays, but none made it to the screen. I wrote the screenplay to Dekker’s Blessed Child, which sold to Gener8xion Films. I hear they’re finally planning to put it into production, after three or four years. The contract for my first book happened pretty fast. It’s a perfect example of preparation breeding opportunity. For years, I had worked part-time, usually late in the evenings or in the very-early mornings, developing a handful of stories, outlines, summaries and a few chapters of each story. Really, they were proposals for each story. I met an editor who wanted me to write a children’s book, but the series she had in mind fell through. She asked if I would be interested in writing for adults. I sent her the proposals and she liked them. The first proposal became Comes a Horseman. So, getting the contract was relatively easy. Preparing to get it took a long time.
Tell us about your current book?
It’s about four men who head to the Canadian wilderness to get away from it all after a tough year. The run into a group of people who are field-test a weapon and terrorizing a small town with it. The bad guys run a video game company and besides having fun, they’re filming the death and destruction to make a game they’re developing more realistic than anything that’s come before. The campers have to decide whether to run for their lives or help the townies. They do help and the fun begins.
How did you come up with ideas for this book?
At first glance, Deadfall appears to be a plot-driven story. But, really, it’s about the characters: who they are, how they behave in extreme situations, why they do the things they do. That’s where it all started for me. I was thinking about a few people I know, some with excellent character, some with corrupt spirits. I wondered what made them either strong and good or self-serving and mean. I wondered what would happen if you tossed the two personalities into a somewhat restrictive environment, where they had no choice but to battle it out. Who would win? Why? I wanted to know what it would take to drive the good guy to a point where he had to reach deep within and see if all that goodness was enough to survive when the forces of evil are trying to take him out. That curiosity made me build a story around the characters.
List your three most recent books.
- Comes a Horseman (2005)
- Germ (2006)
- Deadfall (2007)
What’s next for you?
Oh, where to start? My young adult stories just went from a four-book series to six books. The first two will release together in July. The Deadfall follow-up is a recent decision, which means rescheduling two pressing books: a Comes a Horseman-style “big” story about vigilantes and the story I’m writing with Andrew Davis, the director of The Fugitive, Holes, and The Guardian. We’re developing the story together. I’m writing the novel, and we’ll both write the screenplay. Then I have the Recoil series after that, which follows the life of a sniper that I first introduced in the short story I contributed to the James Patterson anthology Thriller.
Where can visitors find you online?
www.robertliparulo.com… They can email me through the website. I love hearing from readers and try to answer any questions they have. They can also enter to win books, unabridged audio recordings, and an iPod Nano.
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