Jan Thompson Interview

Q: How long have you been writing, and what other careers or jobs have you had?
A: With the goal of publication, I have been writing since 1996. I was also a computer database programmer and website developer for many years. When our family grew, I became a homeschool mom from preschool through high school. Today, as an empty nester, I juggle helping with the family business and writing my books.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Zero Day?
A: Zero Day is book 2 in my Binary Hackers series of inspirational near-future cyberthrillers combining techno-thriller and Christian romance. We met Kelvin in the first pages of Zero Sum (book 1) shortly before he was whisked away to parts unknown. In Zero Day, we pick up his story some months afterward. No longer of any use to the governments who once coveted his cybercriminal mind, disgraced hacker Kelvin Gallagher finds himself languishing in Prague while waiting for his enemies to find him and end his sufferings. Along comes a Mossad agent, Yona Epstein, who was once a friend, but is now determined to take him home in a body bag.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for this story?
A: I started writing Zero Day when I wondered what would happen to a hacker who straddles the fence between wanting to do what is right while doing all the wrong things. Whereas in Zero Sum (book 1), I explore the problems with cybernetic implants, Zero Day (book 2) takes us behind the scene to the other side, to the people who made those implants for a nefarious purpose, and to the moral battles in their minds.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: There are several takeaways, and my readers might find more, but one of the main things that was on my mind the entire time I wrote Zero Day was this verse: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7–8).

Q: How do you choose your settings for your books?
A: Each of my series has a different thematic setting. For example, Vacation Sweethearts is all about beaches and mountains, places that I have visited and remember fondly. Protector Sweethearts is set in North America and Europe. For the Binary Hackers series, the base of operation is in Atlanta, Georgia, but some of the characters end up in Europe when their activities intersect with Protector Sweethearts, a sister series set in the same story world.

Q: Do you base your characters on people you know, or are they totally made up?
A: They are all products of my overly active imagination. I have a lot of fun creating characters for all my books. It’s actually more interesting to make up new characters because I can give them quirks and idiosyncrasies. Due to the fact that I came up with each character myself, sometimes it’s very hard for me to kill them off in my novels. I try my best to find a way for them to live to fight another day.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A: I am revising Once a Hero, the next book in my Protector Sweethearts series. As mentioned earlier, this series is related to Binary Hackers. In fact, the events in Zero Day come after Once a Hero, even though the former is released one month before the latter.

Q: If money were no object what vacation would you like to take and why?
A: What a great question! Ever since my son was little, I’ve wanted to take him to visit all fifty states in the USA. Well, through grade school, we only managed to visit all of six wonderful states. It would take a lot of time to see the rest of the country, but it would be fun.

Q: What is the silliest thing you have ever done?
A: I don’t know if this is silly to other people, but I have driven to the store to get just one specific item but left the store with a whole cart full of stuff…all but that one thing I went to get. If I remembered it before I left the parking lot, I would laugh at the silliness of it and walk back into the store. Often, I drove all the way home before I remembered what was missing from the grocery bags!

Q: What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
A: Saying goodbye to my father in the hospital several years ago was one of the most difficult things for me to do. He had fallen in his house and broken a bone, but when he was at the hospital, he caught ICU pneumonia. He went downhill very quickly due to his Parkinson’s disease. I flew all the way there twice in two months to see him at the hospital. Both times, he was intubated and could not speak. I remember that he became alert when he heard my voice, and he grabbed my hand. I prayed for him for God’s perfect will to be done. The next time my brothers called to give me an update, my dad had passed away in the night. God took him home. I praise the Lord that he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior a year before he passed away. He made it to Heaven! Some day, I will see him again in perfect health.