Interview With Author Michael Finlayson

 

 

 

 

1.        What inspired you to write this book?    

You may find it hard to believe, I admit I am not an avid book reader and sadly most of the 600 plus books I possess are in the main non-fiction with technical and historical bias. The thought of writing a novel never really occurred to me until the early hours, one morning in the mid 1990’s when I awoke to the sensation, I had just lived through a totally traumatic series of events only to realise it had all been a dream from which I had escaped unscathed! Well perhaps not, for the rest of that day my mind was focused on the myriads of events the dream had embedded in my head, and I just could not shake myself back to my conscious self. Several weeks passed throughout which the dream continued to haunt my very existence, I found myself toying with scenarios and sub-plots with which to counter the aggressors. I’m sure my dear late wife thought I was going a bit mad, but she encouraged me to pick up a pen and make a few notes saying, “if you think it will make a good book then write it”. I am sorry to admit this all happened almost thirty years ago when I had no idea how to use a computer, and so the initial manuscript took quite some time to complete starting with an electric word-processor with a very small LCD window. I soon upgraded to an IBM 486 PC and the finished work was saved to a set of five 3.5inch floppy disks and there it stayed due to lack of confidence until December 2022. More of that later in note ‘3c’.

 

2.        What exactly is it about — and who is it written for?   

                                                                              The essence of the story was imprinted on the night my dream took place. It all began with a man having tried his hardest to keep afloat the family business, realised he had failed to do so and as a result felt totally despondent. Deciding to drown his sorrows in the time-honored manner he eventually staggers onto a super-yacht just to take a look at what could have been.

                                                                              The owner of the yacht returns in the early hours amid a personal crisis for both him and his shipping company and immediately set sail together with his beautiful daughter and the yacht’s crew, it is the daughter who finds the stranger aboard out in the mid-Atlantic! The plot twists and turns from a suspected smuggling operation which eventually leads the nsuspecting strangers to face a group of Neo Nazis intent on holding the world to ransom through a sophisticated donor-missile system. The main characters are thrust into several days of utter mayhem amid a blossoming love affair, one of which by simply having found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. ‘Reichsburger Resurgence’ is written for fans of action adventure with an intriguing and I feel utterly believable plot line tied by an emotional thread holding things together.

 

3.        What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? 

I would like to feel the readers will find the story:

a.       Intriguing. The storyline of the book finds our heroic strangers battling against all the odds as various facts force them to reconsider their original intentions. Several false starts eventually lead them to face a formidable foe.

b.      Emotional. There is ample cause for emotional turmoil as the small group face up to the many dangers, they encounter let alone the unexpected feelings generating between two of them.

c.       Thought-provoking. I have written the story in the belief that if you stop to consider how technology is marching on relentlessly the possibility of such a threat to the fragile peace the world balances upon it’s entirely possible this type of situation could easily become reality. Consider this fact; In December 2022 we witnessed several high-ranking German officials arrested, they included an Aristocrat, a judge, senior police and military figures, politicians etc. The authorities had uncovered a credible plot to overthrow the Federal Government of Germany and replace it with a Republic form of government using force if necessary! This news broadcast I saw at 06.00 hrs. on 7^th December alone prompted me to retrieve my manuscript from the floppy drives to revise and update the contents.

d.      Above all enjoyable. I hope the readers find the story an enjoyable read, moments of tension are relieved periodically by humour and emotion, the nice kind although there are several moments of the not so nice kind.

 

4.        How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design?     

The title originally decided was ‘Terror in the Tyrol Mountains’ however following the actual news broadcast on December 7^th, 2022, when numerous members of the Reichsburger Movement were arrested en-masse in various locations in Germany following the foiled 2022 German coup d'état plot to overthrow the FDR in favor of forming a republic I decided to re-title the work to ‘Reichsburger Resurgence’ due to media reports saying Germany has seen a growth in the Reichsburger Movement. The cover design is of my own imagination and features a scene within the novel. I used my experience within the railway industry to imagine how such an underground base could be built without anyone noticing its construction, albeit during WW2. The cover design shows high ranking Reichsburger members secretly arriving at the base with our hero filming their triumphant arrival at gunpoint, the crate contains the all-important computer hardware required to hold the world to ransom.

 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!?        

Writing fiction for the first time I found it to be engrossing, it was not easy and took quite some time, but it’s worth every step! Here are a few suggestions to keep you going:

1.      Write regularly, I only wrote in the evenings and occasionally at weekends primarily due to work: Even if it’s just a sentence or a paragraph, my downfall was re-reading the chapters over and over as I soon found you can change a perfectly good sentence or paragraph for no reason. It took a long time for me to realise this.

2.      Read something else. Other people’s style of writing can help you find a better method of expression in your own.

3.      Your first draft does not have to be perfect. Mine certainly was not. You can always revise and delete, if necessary, later.

4.      Ask for feedback. I was guilty of the opposite; my one-track mind prevented me asking ‘outsiders’. If you can get a truthful answer, it may prevent disappointment.

5.      Stay with your passion: Authenticity is my watchword. Write what you know and what you’re passionate about. Research fully what you don’t know about, ensure credibility in your work.

6.      Don’t be afraid of rejection or lack of self-confidence. I shelved my work for almost 30 years before I saw the opportunity.

7.      Take some time out, I found although not sitting at the PC my mind was forming plots and sub-plots, if this happens to you – make notes! You can’t always remember those wonderful ideas, trust me.

8.      Doing more homework before you start, it can be far more difficult than you first thought! Time is by far the biggest constraint, so please factor in all those lonely hours.

 

6.      What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?

I think the book world is suffering due to the mass migration to digital platforms, social media in particular.

I am new to the whole scene, but I believe the publishing industry remains buoyant though perhaps a larger proportion is self-published work now rather than in previous times. I have opted to offer e-book and audio-book versions, I am not so sure these are as popular today as in recent times.

 

7.      Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?

Yes, without doubt, the railway related scenarios are all acquired from my lifelong interest and my early working career as a British Rail Engineering locomotive mechanical engineer. I worked in this industry for ten years until I found shift work disagreed with me quite dramatically.

 

8.      How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?

My writing style is basically to write as I visualise the story forming, as if I was there in the moment so to speak. I imagine myself dealing with each issue and attempting to resolve the issues as (A) a good guy or put my other head on and (B) be the bad guy, is the best way I can describe it.

I can’t really offer a reply to the second question other than to say I perhaps fall into the styles of Tom Clancy, Lee Child and James Patterson with a nod to my all-time heroes Ian Fleming and Frederick Forsyth – I wish!

 

9.      What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book?          

Confidence! I found myself constantly re-editing many times as I read the work over and over, whether I overcame this I can’t honestly say. The initial printed transcript lay dormant on a shelf and saved on five 3.5inch floppy drives for almost thirty years before I saw the news item, it was then I felt I had an opportunity for some updating and slight revision. The actual storyline remains true to the original draft with certain subject matter altered to reflect life some thirty years on.

 

10.  If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours?

If people wish to read a plausible tale which makes them think hard about the consequences of modern technology in the wrong hands, then ‘Reichsburger Resurgence’ is the book for you. I feel certain they will find the story exciting, emotional, compelling and thought-provoking. I also hope it raises concerns given today’s technological world and the perils we are facing with its incessant march forward. Thankfully this is a work of fiction but the events of December 7^th, 2022, were indeed fact!

 

11.  Is there more to follow?

Yes, I am currently working on a sequel to ‘Reichsburger Resurgence’. If you read it, you will understand.

 

About The Author: Michael Finlayson was born into a Glasgow working-class family. Leaving school aged fifteen, he secured an apprenticeship at British Rail Engineering as a mechanical fitter. He moved to Nottingham, followed by Merseyside, pursuing various self-employed roles in the motor industry, road haulage, and finally as owner of a Joinery Manufacturing business for eighteen years until retirement. A brief spell in aircraft engineering added to his diversification. His interests are railways and photography. He has published articles in various railway magazines over the years. For more info, please see: www.michaelfinlayson-author.com

 

 

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum