By Adam Messer
“Don’t give up. And don’t feel as if getting a literary agent is the only way to get published and to get your words out there. – People need your stories. Don’t take constructive criticism personally. And all the rest will fall into place!” – Brian Cotton.
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Brian Cotton and I am the author of the Foxy Valdez thriller series. Books 1 and 2, WEAPONIZED and HARDENED, are now out in most major ebook and book retailers. Book 1 is free on Kindle and has amassed 360 and counting positive reviews and ratings. Book 3, SANCTIONED, will be out later this year. Hopefully by the end of the summer! I have also written the short novella, PARALLEL, a time travel story different from my main series.
Apart from writing, I am a long-suffering Carolina Panthers fan (Keep Pounding!) and am married to my beautiful wife, Chrissy, and have three beautiful children. I love gaming and reading (of course). Along with reading, I have a love for cinema and am not so quietly lamenting the downfall of movie theaters. Christopher Nolan and John Woo are my biggest influences.
What genres do you write and why?
I mostly write in the action-thriller genre. I have always had a love for thrilling stories, especially ones delving into black ops and covert espionage. I grew up on Tom Clancy, Stephen Hunter, and Robert Ludlum. Ludlum being my favorite author. My current favorites are Mark Greaney and Gregg Hurtwitz. All of these masters of the thriller genre shape my writing. I love the feeling of reading about characters who are clever and resourceful and masters of their craft. Be it spying, shooting, or a combination of both!
I also have a love for sci-fi. While I have written a short sci-fi novella about time travel, I do aim to explore this genre more in the future. I am especially fond of cyberpunk, time travel, and post-apocalyptic thrillers in the REMAINING vein.
What is your earliest memory of reading?
My earliest memories of reading were the Scholastic Book Fairs growing up in elementary and middle school. The look and feel (and smell!) of all those books always fascinated me. Back in those days, I would snatch up and consume the movie tie-ins for movies I was looking forward to seeing as well as sports books by Matt Christopher and R.L. Stein’s GOOSEBUMPS were my favorites.
When did you know you wanted to write? How did it happen?
I knew I wanted to write when in fourth grade, we were given a creative writing assignment based on Thanksgiving. I wrote a story of a time traveling Pilgrim who got stuck in modern times and told the story of the Mayflower to a group of kids who found him while playing in a park. My teacher loved the story and told me I was a good writer and it was then that the idea of writing came to my mind and it stuck with me ever since. Creative writing assignments were always the most fun. While I was regrettably a poor student for much of my public education, I was always on my “A-Game” when given a creative writing assignment. My teachers always picked mine to be read in front of the class, which disturbed the introverted young Mr. Cotton!
What’s one of your favorite scenes in one of your books?
One of my favorite scenes in my books was a scene at the midpoint in WEAPONIZED where the main character, Foxy, is captured and put through an interrogation with two of the book’s main antagonists. Instead of cowering, Foxy turns her sarcasm and defiance to an 11, and doesn’t give an inch to her captors, even if deep inside she fears what they might do to her. That’s what I love most about characters in thriller books. Those larger than life personalities that come out when the odds are stacked against them.
What makes a good character? A bad one?
I think that having a well-rounded character makes a good one. A character can be hyper-competent, but if he or she doesn’t have fears, things they worry about, and never get scratched in a fight, to me, are boring. I want to know what makes a character tick. What are their deepest fears. How the enemy can use those fears in the story to bring out the worst in even the best people. A bad character, again, is one that feels like a cardboard cutout. Who doesn’t make mistakes, doesn’t pay for their mistakes, and always gets away clean. There are no clean getaways for a good character. Even if they accomplish their mission at the end of a book, there is always a cost to a good character.
What moves the story for you?
For me, it is pacing. I love a well-paced book and have always strived to make great pacing a priority in my own writing. A book can have lots of great action and, no matter how well-written and exciting, can turn boring quickly if there’s nothing in between the fights. There must be quiet moments where we learn about the characters and the plot is allowed to advance without racing to the next gun battle. Same for beautifully written books. If there’s nothing happening on the page, all that beautiful language won’t save it.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book is 1984 by George Orwell. I feel it is so profound and there is a lot of truth in it. It is timeless. Written in such a way that, here in the United States, both sides of the political aisle will use the exact same quote to prove how the other side is Big Brother. It’s really fascinating to see.
What do you want to say to your audience?
Thank you for taking a chance on a new writer! I hope that I can continue to entertain you with more Foxy Valdez novels as well as some standalones I have tucked away for the future!
What advice do you have for new writers?
Don’t give up. And don’t feel as if getting a literary agent is the only way to get published and to get your words out there. People need your stories. And if literary agents don’t see the value in your story, don’t see if having a “market”, there are plenty of good small presses who don’t require an agent to give you a chance. I wasted about ten years of writing trying to prove myself to literary agents. It wasn’t until I found my publisher, Next Chapter, that I was able to be free from writing for agents and now write for audiences. It is slow going, don’t think you’ll get rich quick (most writers can only write as a second job!) or that you’ll find your audience instantly. It took almost a year of being published for WEAPONIZED to gain some traction with readers. Be patient. Write what you love. Don’t take constructive criticism personally. And all the rest will fall into place!
Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Please, Dan Morgan, for the love of God, get the Panthers a pass rush this off-season!
Website: briancottonbooks.com
Follow me on Facebook: Brian Cotton-Author
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Action Pulp! 
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